Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude

As a boy, young Hill was blessed, inspired and motivated to high achievement by his calm, patient stepmother who loved him dearly. It was she, who motivated "a problem child" to develop character and motivate himself to work hard to become educated and an achiever.

In 1908, while working for a magazine and attending college, young Hill was assigned to interview Andrew Carnegie, the great steelmaker, philosopher and philanthropist.

Andrew Carnegie was so impressed with his interviewer that he invited him to his home as a guest. Hour after hour each day during the three-day visit, the two men discussed philosophy. The elder romanced the lives of philosophers and the impact their philosophy had had on world civilization to the younger, who listened with rapture.

In his discussions, Carnegie made it a point to express in simple, clear language the principles involved and the concepts of each of the philosophers he romanced. And he told something more: how to apply those principles in everyday living as they pertain to an individual, his family, his career or any human activity.

A challenge. Andrew Carnegie knew human nature. One way to motivate an aggressive extrovert with a high energy level who has drive and stick-to-itiveness, and whose reason and emotions are in balance, is to challenge him. The young guest was just such a person. And he was challenged.

"What is there in the climate of this great nation whereby I, a foreigner, can build a business and acquire wealth ? or anyone can achieve success?" asked Carnegie. And before Hill could answer, he continued, "I challenge you to devote 20 years of your life to the study of the philosophy of American achievement and come up with an answer. Will you accept?"

"Yes!" was the quick response.

Andrew Carnegie had an obsession: Anything in life worth having was worth working for. He was willing to give the young author his personal time to consult with him and letters of introduction

to the outstanding Americans of his day, and to reimburse him for any necessary out-of-pocket expense, such as traveling to interview people. But it was clearly understood that Napoleon Hill would have to earn his own livelihood.

In the following 20 years, Hill interviewed over 500 successful men. Among them were Henry Ford, William Wrigley, Jr., John Wanamaker, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas A. Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Hubbard, J. Ogden Armour, Luther Burbank, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and Julius Rosenwald.

And Hill did earn his own livelihood ? by applying many of the principles he learned from Carnegie and the men he interviewed. And in 1928, he completed the eight volumes of The Law of Success ? books that motivated thousands to acquire wealth or to become outstanding achievers.

On the recommendation of Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia, Napoleon Hill became an adviser to two Presidents of the United States: Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. He influenced certain decisions they made that affected the course of American history.

When, exactly twenty years after the interview with Andrew Carnegie, The Law of Success was published, it had a worldwide impact. Seven years later, while be was an adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt, he began writing the manuscript for Think and Grow Rich. It was published in 1937. More than ten million people have read the book.

A profitable discovery. In 1937, Think and Grow Rich was given to me by Morris Pickus, a well-known sales executive, sales counselor and lecturer. The philosophy in so many respects coincided with my own that I sent the book to every one of my

sales representatives throughout the United States. (At that time, I owned and operated Combined Registry Company, a national sales organization that specialized exclusively in the sale of accident insurance.)

Bingo! I hit the jackpot, for I made a profitable discovery. I found a working tool that would motivate sales representatives to motivate themselves to increase their sales and profits ? and something more: to acquire wealth through responding to an inspirational, self-help action book.

"Now, what has relating the story about Carnegie, The Law of Success and Think and Grow Rich to do with Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude?" you ask. My answer: "If it were not for each of them, the manuscript for this book would not have been written. But it was written, and it was first published in 1960 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.