I wish to be of service to my fellow men as I journey through life, and I wish to carry with me wherever I go, a disposition of sunshine and good fellowship. To do this I have adopted a guide which I shall endeavor to follow in dealing with my fellow beings as this guide I adopted in my boyhood days, and a part of it I picked up from observation as I grew into a more mature age and as I learned from personal contact with men and women that life is pretty much what we make it – that we largely control our own destiny and our progress on this earth. For the benefit of those who may wish to emulate me in adopting so much of my daily guide as may conveniently be put into use by them in their own dealings with their fellowmen, I submit a copy of it as follows:
To train myself so that never under any circumstances whatsoever, shall I find fault with a single person, no matter how much I may disagree with him or how inferior his work may seem to be, so long as I know he is sincerely trying to do his best.
To respect my country, my profession, and myself. To be honest and fair with my fellowmen, as I expect them to be honest and fair with me. To be a loyal citizen of the United States of America. To speak of it with praise, and act; always as a trustworthy custodian of its good name. To be a man whose name carries weight wherever he goes.
To base my expectations of reward on a solid foundation of services rendered. To be willing to pay the price of success in honest efforts. To look upon my work as an opportunity to be seized with joy and made the most of, and not as a painful drudgery to be reluctantly endured.
To remember that success lies within myself – in my own brain, my own ambition, my own courage and determination. To expect difficulties and force my way through them. To turn hard experiences into capital for future struggles.
To believe in my proposition heart and soul. To carry an air of optimism in the presence of those I meet. To dispel ill-temper with cheerful news, kill doubts with a strong conviction, and reduce active friction with an agreeable personality.
To make a study of my business. To know my profession in every detail. To mix brains with my efforts and use system and method in my work. To find time to do every needful thing by never letting time find me doing nothing. To hoard days as a miser hoards dollars. To make every hour bring me dividends, increased knowledge or healthful recreation.
To keep my future unmortgaged by debts. To save as well as to earn. To cut out expensive amusements until I can afford them. To steer clear of dissipation and guard my health of body and peace of mind as a most precious stock in trade.
To avoid procrastination in all of its various forms, and never, under any circumstances, to put off until tomorrow any duty which I should perform today.
To endeavor to give something to the world in return for the food and raiment which the world gives me, and to so live in the pursuit of my daily occupation that I will make those with whom I come in contact happy.
To reap a rich harvest of happiness from the thought that my aim in life shall be to give happiness, help and encouragement to those around me, and to expect reward in a generous proportion to the seeds I sow which generate them.
Finally, to take a good grip on the joys of life. To play the game like a man. To fight against nothing as hard as my own weaknesses.
So I may be courteous to men, faithful to friends, true to God – a fragrance in the path I tread.
Source:
Napoleon Hill
The Clayton Citizen
Clayton, New Mexico
December 7, 1916
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Over Thirty Years Ago
…Seems Like Yesterday (Who was that?)
It was well over 30 years ago now, and although the VHS tape the team was reviewing after a loss was so graining that no one, including Coach Mason, could identify the freshmen football players, I can still remember that visage to this day in High Definition.
I had never played football before in my life and I had no clue what to do. During a game, as we were ready to score from the two yard line, I was given the esteemed position of wide receiver. Wide receiver is where the newbies were placed. I was told to line up and block (whatever that means). I recall vividly not being sure if I was allowed to even hit the guy in front of me without getting a penalty so… I didn’t do anything and before I could even think twice, the opposing player threw me to the ground and easily stopped our team from scoring.
When Coach Mason saw the pathetic failed attempt at a block on the video he shouted, “That was a terrible block…who was that?” Uh-Oh!
No-one knew, and for obvious reasons I wasn’t offering any suggestions.
Sometime later, It was at practice when this amazing over the shoulder catch…caught Coach Mason’s attention. He grabbed my face mask and said, “Who is that?” I confidently replied, “Forschino.”
“Great catch, Forschino!” Now he knows my name!
Unlike Tom Brady’s freshmen team, we never threw the ball. Well, there was this one unforgettable time….
In Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich, we are introduced to a man by the name of RU Darby and how he stopped drilling three feet from hitting the gold…so much gold he would have been rich had he not given up. He sold off the equipment to the junkman who did his due diligence and he found the abundance of gold three feet from where Darby called it quits. There are many life lessons to extrapolate from that true story. One highlight is this:
We are to be refined by our experiences not defined by them.
Developing persistence in his life, RU Darby went on to be one of the most successful insurance salesmen in the country, amassing riches. Meanwhile we have no record of the junkman after his fortune of hitting gold. Had Mr. Darby hit gold, his life may have drifted off into obscurity; however, we know RU Darby because he did not allow his experience to define him. His life story literally has impacted and inspired millions of people to never give up!
In the 13th Principle of Success “Learning From Adversity and Defeat,” Napoleon Hill said, “Every defeat, every disappointment and every adversity carry seed of equal or greater benefit.”
We are fortunate to be surrounded by a plethora of people who have fallen short of their goal and continued.
Michael Jordan, the great Chicago Bulls 6 time NBA Champion who never experienced defeat on the highest stage… said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Now…back the one time the ball was thrown…
It was the last game of that freshman year. We lost every game up to that point and yet somehow we were in a position to win this game. The play was called: Half-Back Option. This is where the running back has the option to run or throw it to the wide-receiver. That would be me. We practiced this play all year. Not once did the running back exercise his option to throw the ball… not once.
The play began and I easily ran pass the safety covering me. I was wide open. My thought was: Ruben must have kept the ball and is running…so I stopped running. (Till just now, over 30 years later, it didn’t even occur to at least try to block for Ruben as he ran with the ball). Well, he wasn’t running. That makes two of us…and you guessed it, as I stopped running…the ball sailed over my head.
Whatever our 2023 experiences were, let us choose to be refined by them and not defined by them.
After 30 years, I still hear Coach Mason screaming as though it was yesterday…. “For-schi-no! Why did you stop running?”
Well, at least he now knows my name and I am still running…?
As we keep running, may God richly bless us in 2024 with His abundance that adds no sorrow!
Psalmist Chad
Certified Instructor
Napoleon Hill Foundation
Chad@jitk.org
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Do you have a list of books that go well with each Principle of Success? Send your suggested list to Uriel at um17pma@gmail.com
Do you have a poem that goes well with one of the Principles of Success? Please share with me too.
Uriel Martinez
Director of Distance Learning
The Napoleon Hill Foundation
um17pma@gmail.com |
