Introduction: Within this report I will cover the biblical admonitions regarding the getting of wealth, a short biological

sketch of Napoleon Hill, followed by a survey of his concepts on company good results. The reader will be astonished at several of Hill's brilliant and simultaneously common sense ideas of acquiring wealth. This section will concentrate around the good contribution Hill produced. Element two (separate article) I will cover the unfavorable and out right dangers in Hill's philosophy of achievement. To begin this evaluation, I would be negligent as a Christian not to mention the Biblical admonitions against the "deceitfulness of riches" Matt. 13:22 and our Lord's warning that "you are not able to serve God and Mammon" Luke 16:13. As Christians we are instructed to "seek initial the Kingdom of God" Matt. six:33. In case there's any confusion at this point I usually do not equate dollars as being evil. The distinction I see is stated from the apostle Paul when he tells us that "For the Enjoy of Dollars will be the root of all evil" 1st Tim 6:10. When the reader is always to take anything at all away from this evaluation, it ought to be the best way to method the subject of gaining wealth and success and excellence in business by getting totally conscious of the private motives behind this wish. Have you been influenced by the methods of this planet? Consider this: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall acquire the whole globe and eliminate his soul?" Mark eight:36. As Christians we must need success and excellence in our endeavors not simply to be a witness for Christ but also to bring glory to God. The Bible offers us guidelines on existence if followed will not result in poverty. Negatively, we're neither to become a "sluggard" Prov. 20:4 nor "to love sleep" Prov. 20:13. Positively: "...diligent hands bring wealth" Prov. ten:4 "The plans from the diligent result in profit..." Prov. 21:five. And lastly, from Prov. 31:10-31; could be the praise provided for the noble or virtuous lady. To begin this review, let me state up front that I see some optimistic guidelines for reaching accomplishment and excellence in company in Napoleon Hill's book. Conversely, you can find sections and materials in Hill's book which might be antithetical to Christian beliefs and practice that the reader ought to be conscious of. 1st I will offer the briefest biographical sketch and then a survey of several of the positive material inside the book. In the concluding section I'll point out a few of the Biblically speaking problematic regions of Hill's theories. This review is limited to Hill's book "Think & Grow Rich" and not to his work in future years, although I will comment on it. Napoleon Hill was born on Oct. 26th, 1883 and died Nov. 8th 1970. Hill is best known as the author of one with the best selling books of all time called "Think & Grow Rich." Napoleon Hill is the father of what can be described as individual accomplishment or motivational literature. Hill's biographer, Michael J. Ritt, Jr., tells us that he was born in poverty in a one-room cabin while in the town of Pound, Virginia, a rural area. At the age of 13, he began writing for small town newspapers. He used his earnings as a reporter to enter law school, but had to drop out for monetary reasons. The turning point in his career happened with his assignment, to write a series of articles about famous men and to interview the wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Hill learned that Carnegie believed the process of accomplishment could be explained in a simple formula that could be learned and put into practice from the average person. Carnegie was impressed with Hill and subsequently commissioned him and provided him with letters of reference so that he could interview over 500 successful men and women to discover and publish this formula for success. This project went on for 20 years and culminated in Hill becoming an advisor to Carnegie and the publication of "Think & Grow Rich." The knowledge obtained from the interviews with the leaders of industry is where you find the value of Hill's book. It is amazing on how many of Hill's tips are used as quotes for practical encouragement. A number of the more typical quotations of Napoleon Hill are: o Think and grow rich

o Desire could be the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating need which transcends everything o Your big opportunity may be appropriate where you are now o If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way o A goal is a dream with a deadline o Lack of loyalty is one from the major causes of failure in every walk in existence o Perseverance: The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those that fail o Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit o Thoughts mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and burning desires are powerful things o The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail o First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into tips and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination o If you're not learning while you're earning, you're cheating yourself out with the better portion of your compensation o It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed We find that much of Hill's book is an analysis of the capitalist system in America and how it works. Hill believed that he had discovered a principle that allows the regular every day people to achieve achievement. Hill called his good results teachings "The Philosophy of Achievement" and he considered freedom, democracy and capitalism, to become important causative factors in his discovery. Hill's tips would not work in a Marxist or a centralized planned economy because the tyrannical regulation and taxation would destroy anyone's ability to strive for success since the fruits of achievement could be provided to others who would squander it, since it had no intrinsic value to them. Hill believed in personal honesty and in not cheating your fellow man or employees. The cheat or dishonest person would eventually be seen for what he is. A leader has to become one of moral and ethical integrity. Hill believed that you achieve good results by doing superior quality work, treating your customers as number one at all times and how anyone can become successful if they overcome their individual shortcomings. Hill also incorporates a lot of good, practical business advice like finding new opportunities created by what we would call today as disruptive technologies. Also key according to Hill, is having a written enterprise plan and not deviating from it, along with not being afraid to make mistakes as long as you grow and learn from the mistakes. If you find your strategy to become in error you must be able to reformulate your plans. Hill believed that most people never succeed simply because a lack of ambition or self discipline. Relating to discipline, Hill said: "If you don't conquer self, you will probably be conquered by self." Today there's a course on enterprise success called Personal Mastery which is influenced by Hill's research. The beginning of Hill's philosophy began initial with a thought, hence the title "Think & Grow Rich." Initial you formulate a plan mentally. It involves need, belief and passion, (absolutely essential for accomplishment) auto-suggestion (a controversial area of his research) obtaining specialized knowledge, (very helpful) using the imagination, (portions of this are very controversial) organized planning, (very helpful) decision making, persistence, the master mind group, (portions of this section is very helpful) the last three regions transmutation, the subconscious mind and ultimately the brain are also quite controversial and unproven. One thing is certain; ideas most certainly do have consequences. Within this respect, company success beginning first with an idea are not able to be questioned. As said, you'll find many positive suggestions in "Think & Grow Rich" such as organized planning, and finding a group of people who assume like you, and then turning those plans into reality. how to draw a cat. Hill was a believer within the fact that all successful people were

successful because they are able to find like minded people who think as they do and who could be recruited into a business venture with them. Then their abilities, talents and passion could be utilized for benefit in the business venture. Hill is basically saying: "don't hang around with people who don't assume like you do." Stay away from damaging people since their negativity will affect you. Our parents were correct in warning us against hanging around with the wrong crowd. Hill's company good results concepts focused on goal setting and making sure that decisions are carried through with consistency. Within the area of responsibility, it means that you are responsible for your own outcomes, and it is important that failures are not something to fixate on. Everyone has failures, and we must learn from them, including figuring out what caused them to happen. Most failures involve a breakdown of vision, or a failure to plan to take advantage of a new situation that may have arisen. An individual that is focused on achievement must not fixate on failure. We can learn from mistakes and grow. Mistakes can be turned into successes. Hill's ideas on leadership are well thought out. His eleven points on the attributes of leadership are excellent and exactly the traits you would hope any business leader would have. Likewise, the ten major causes in failure of leadership are also very perceptive. His 31 major causes of failure are points which are surprisingly accurate reasons for every person who tries and fails in enterprise. His 28 questions for self analysis are helpful to avoid self-deception. However his teaching on transmutation of sexual energy has probably offended or shocked many as sounding sexist. It is accurate according to Hill that sexual energy can be turned into creative energy and not simply wasted in vain physical affairs. It is also accurate to acknowledge that behind every great man one usually finds a great lady. Some of the many constructive things that can be learned from "Think & Grow Rich" can be summarized by citing several of his ideas relevant to organization, such as "Failing to plan is planning to fail," "Perseverance: The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those that fail," "A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits," "It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed" and "The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does." Hill's philosophy of success was grounded in the real world to a large extent as can be seen by his statement that: "Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence," and "Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness." As the reader works their way through the book, they will see that much of Hill's work boils down to setting goals, and making sure that important decisions are acted upon thus insuring your good results. Hill is saying that you must put your plans into action. Hill was a believer that a group of people on the identical wave-length and positively focused is substantially greater than a group of disorganized individuals. Of all the successful leaders Hill interviewed, all of them attributed their success to getting able to see opportunities, and most importantly, in finding people who can be delegated to help achieve success. It is not enough to work hard, one must also find like minded people, and inspire them to work hard as a team on getting things done. This idea of recruiting and inspiring individuals so that they be delegated various responsibilities reminds me of what J. Paul Getty once wrote, "I would much rather receive 1% of the efforts of 100 men than 100% of my own." Much of the materials in Hill's book has been tremendously helpful for those individuals involved with network marketing. To illustrate this Hill said: "It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed." Those involved in the Network Marketing industry will understand appreciate this concept. Hill tried to systematize steps to become successful in this book and to a large degree he was successful if one confines his work to the real planet or typical sense concepts. In my next writeup I'll look at several of the dangers in Hill's work. Stay tuned!