The Principle of Desire
Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and some failure. This is the point when 95% of men quit.
Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping us when success is almost in reach.
When the opportunity comes it has the habit of coming in disguise or slipping in unnoticed. It may come in the disguise of misfortune and this is why so many fail to recognise opportunity.
But when riches begin to come, that could be money, inner peace, or the accumulation of any type of wealth whether that be spiritual, mental, or financial, it comes so quickly and in such great abundance that we wonder where it was hiding all those lean years.
When you begin to think and grow rich you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind.
Success comes to those that become ‘success conscious’, and failure to those who indifferently allow themselves to become ‘failure conscious’.
Thoughts are things
Our brains become magnetised with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds. These magnetic forces attract us to opportunities, people, and the circumstances of life that harmonise with the nature of our dominating thoughts.
We must magnetise our minds with the intense desire for the riches we choose to attract.
Napoleon Hill speaks of a hidden secret that the book will reveal to those who study rather than just read it. He says the secret has been mentioned no fewer than 100 times throughout the book. It has not been directly named, for it seems to work more successfully when it is merely uncovered and left in sight where those that are ready and searching for it may pick it up.
He says the secret cannot be had without a price although the price is far less than its value, it cannot be had at any price by those who are not intentionally searching for it. It cannot be given away, it cannot be purchased for money, for the reason it comes in two parts and one part is already in possession of those who are ready for it.
He says a peculiar thing about this secret is that those that acquire it are literally swept to success with but little effort and they never again submit to failure.
As a word of preparation, here is a clue to which Carnegie’s secret may be recognised: all achievements, all earned riches have their beginnings in an idea. If you are ready for the secret, you are halfway there, therefore you will readily recognise the other half the moment it reaches your mind.
Somewhere as you read, the secret will jump from the page and stand boldly before you. When it appears you will recognise it, if you are ready for it, and the occasion will mark the most important turning point in your life.
It is widely thought that the hidden secret is that a thought becomes reality if the belief in the thought is strong enough.
Thoughts are powerful things when mixed with a definite purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for the translation of these thoughts into riches.
When a man desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel to get it, then he is sure to win.
It’s the power of our thoughts that count above everything else. Hill says if the significance of this statement could be conveyed to the reader there would be no need for the remainder of the book.
A burning desire
You must be willing to burn your bridges in order to maintain that state of mind known as a burning desire.
A burning desire is not like any ordinary desire.
Those who succeed will pass through many heart breaking struggles and spirit testing adversities. The turning point is the moment of crisis when they are introduced to their ‘other self’.
Our only limitations are the ones we set up in our mind. No one is ready for a thing until he believes he can acquire it. Until he has lit the fire of ‘burning desire’ in his mind