by Napoleon Hill
Available in 122 free installments
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"Tom Dempsey didn't kick that field goal, God kicked it," said Lion linebacker Wayne Walker.
"Interesting. But what does the Tom Dempsey story mean to me?" you may ask.
Our response would be: "Very little ? unless you develop the habit of recognizing, relating, assimilating and using universal principles and adopt them as your very own. Then follow through with desirable action."
And what are the principles you could apply from the Tom Dempsey story, whether or not you are physically disabled? They can be learned and applied by children and adults:
? Greatness comes to those who develop a burning desire to achieve high goals.
? Success is achieved and maintained by those who try and keep on trying with PMA.
? To become an expert achiever in any human activity, it takes practice . . . practice . . . practice.
? Effort and work can become fun when you establish specific desirable goals.
? With every adversity there is a seed of an equivalent or greater benefit for those who are motivated with PMA to become achievers.
? Man's greatest power lies in the power of prayer.
To learn and apply these principles, turn up your invisible talisman to the PMA side.
When Henley wrote the poetic lines, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul," he could have informed us that we
are the masters of our fate because we are masters, first, of our attitudes. Our attitudes shape our future. This is a universal law. The poet could have told us with great emphasis that this law works whether the attitudes are destructive or constructive. The law states that we translate into physical reality the thoughts and attitudes which we hold in our minds, no matter what they are. We translate into reality thoughts of poverty just as quickly as we do thoughts of riches. But when our attitude towards ourselves is big, and our attitude towards others is generous and merciful, we attract big and generous portions of success.
A truly great man. Consider the example of Henry J. Kaiser, a truly successful person because his attitude towards himself is big. Companies identified with the name Henry J. Kaiser hold assets of more than one billion dollars. Because he is generous and merciful to others, the speechless have been made to talk, the crippled have been restored to useful lives, and hundreds of thousands of persons have received hospital care at a very low cost All this grew from seeds of thought planted within him by his mother.
Mary Kaiser gave her son Henry the priceless gift. She also taught him to apply the greatest value in life.
1. The priceless gift: After her day's work, Mary Kaiser would spend hours as a volunteer nurse, helping the unfortunate. Often she said to her son, "Henry, nothing is ever accomplished without work. If I leave you nothing else but the will to work, I will have left you the priceless gift: the joy of work."
2. The greatest value in life: "It was my mother," said Mr. Kaiser, "who first taught me some of the greatest values in life. Among these were the love of people and the importance of serving others. Loving people and serving them, she used to say, is the greatest value in life."
Henry J. Kaiser knows the power of PMA. He knows what it can do in his life and for his country. He also knows the force of NMA. During World War II he built over 1500 ships with such rapidity that he startled the world. When he said, "We can construct a Liberty Ship every ten days," the experts said, "It can't be done ? it's impossible!" Yet Kaiser did it. Those who believe they can't repel the positive; they use the negative side of their talisman. Those who believe they can repel the negative; they use the positive side.
That is why we must be cautions when we use this talisman. Its PMA side can get for you all the rich blessings of life. It can help you to overcome your difficulties and to discover your strengths. It can help you step out ahead of your competitors, and, as with Kaiser, it can turn what others say is impossible into reality.
But the NMA side is just as powerful. Instead of happiness and success, it can attract despair and defeat. Like all power, the talisman is dangerous if we do not use it properly.
How the force of NMA repels. There is a very interesting story, which illustrates how the force of NMA repels. It comes out of one of the southern states. There, where wood-burning fireplaces are still used to heat homes, lived a woodcutter who also was an unsuccessful person. For more than two years, he had supplied a certain homeowner with firewood. The woodcutter knew that the logs could not be larger than seven inches in diameter if they were to fit this particular fireplace.
