How to own your own mind by Napoleon Hill
About The Book
Are you tired of failing? Are you feeling frustrated about your mindset? Do you want to change the way you deal with challenges but don’t know how? If your answer is yes, then you will find answers to these questions and many more in this summary. It will make you realize that you do not need to pay any price to become a successful person. All you have to do is train your mind and follow the principles given in this summary.
Who can read this Book
* People who want to be successful
* People who are feeling lost or confused in life
About the Author
Napoleon Hill is an author whose main focus has been on writing self-help books. Hill’s books focus on success and how to achieve it. ‘The Napoleon Hill Foundation’ was established to honor his teachings.
Introduction
“Your Mind Can Overcome Any Situation”
“Think Positive”
Do you get annoyed when you hear these common phrases? Of course there is logic in this, but how positive do you think exactly? How can you use your mind to overcome difficulties? If you speak the truth, then understand that your mind is your enemy. You try to get what you want but you always fail.
You want to live with a better mindset but it never happens. Eventually you will give up trying because you are afraid of failing. Maybe you are tired of trying to keep a positive attitude. But this summary will help you to change your mind. You will learn that before taking any action, it is important to think about it, which is very important for taking every major decision in your life. You can train your mind to recognize opportunities and take immediate action on them and most importantly, you will also know about your purpose and the way to achieve it. So are you ready to control your mind?
Creative Vision
Creative vision is not something that people mention in their daily conversations. One might think that this term fits more in the field of art and literature, but for philanthropist and industrialist Andrew Carnegie, creative vision is something that everyone should master.
According to Andy, creative vision means the ability to identify opportunities and take action on them. Imagination is an important element of creative vision.
Andrew further explains that there are 2 types of Imagination – Synthetic and Creative.
Synthetic imagination means combining ideas and principles to create an original idea. But in today’s time nothing is completely authentic. Almost everyone has some or the other idea, so synthetic imagination means rearranging old ideas and creating something new from them.
The best example of a person who used synthetic imagination is Thomas Edison. He used two old principles for this discovery of incandescent electric lamp ie producing light due to heat, it is colloquially called bulb. The first was energy and the second principal was the electric lamp. Both these principles were already being used at the time of Edison. However, electric lamps did not last long. The light used to burn in it because it had pieces of wire which were connected to electric energy. This used to produce a white glow. Electricity used to burn the metal of the electric lamp quickly, so Edison came up with the idea of using charcoal instead. Charcoal could burn for many hours with electric energy. Edison got an original idea from two old ideas which was used for many years.
Another type of imagination is creative imagination. This happens when a person creates a new idea. The artists and writers whom you like use only their creative imagination. They do not know where these ideas and visions come from but they do come to them.
Now let’s go back to Edison. Where did he get the brilliant idea of using charcoal in the lamp? In many interviews, Edison had said that he got an idea and he just took action on it. Exactly the same applies in the case of those artists whom you like so much. Often, they don’t know where they got their lyrics, tune or plot from. This is the specialty of creative imagination.
Creative vision requires your imagination. In other words, you should start developing your synthetic and creative imagination to get what you want. While developing your imagination, you have to remember a few things –
The first is the Definiteness of Purpose principle. Thought of financial gain can boost imagination. No matter how small it may sound, but money makes life easy to some extent. It also brings popularity with it.
Second is the master mind principle. This happens when a group sits around a table to find ways to improve a product or come up with a good business idea. This is a good way to use imagination because everyone carries only one purpose in their mind.
Third is the Going the Extra Mile principle. Suppose a woman does the work she likes. For example, let’s say that Anna likes to save animals. She loves animals so much that she wants to find more ways to spend time with them. Ana’s passion for animals stimulates her synthetic and creative imagination.
Fourth is the Applied Faith principle. Whatever you believe in, your faith can be a great source of imagination. There have been many such famous people in history who could become what they wanted to be because of their faith.
Fifth is Organized Individual Endeavor principle. It is a direct approach to stimulate the imagination to create something. An example of this is Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent electric lamp
Organized Thought
Have you ever thought about your Thoughts before? Have you paid attention to how you think? Like most people, your answer will probably be no. If you want to get what you want, then it is important to know how you think, so you have to organize your thoughts. You can do this in two ways: through inductive or deductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning is called when your thoughts are based on assuming unknown facts. When the sky is cloudy and there is some darkness, then you go out carrying an umbrella with you, this is inductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning means when your thoughts are based on known facts. For example, Peter is called a bachelor because he is not married yet.
They do not tolerate reasoning opinion. Opinions cannot be trusted and they can be dangerous too, but why? That is because Opinions are biased, that is, it has more inclination on some side and sometimes there is lack of knowledge or information in it. Therefore, to organize your thoughts in an accurate way, you should not listen to the opinion of others.
Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between fact and opinion. These are some of the things that Napoleon, the author of this book, wants people to know about Opinions –
It can be trusted only when the opinion is based on facts. Rene is one of those who has his own opinion on everything. She definitely keeps her views in every conversation. She always takes care that whatever she says should always be based on facts.
Opinion is seen as free advice. Many times, in a particular situation or problem, we should also listen to our friends and family. When Diana has to take a big decision in life, she always listens to her partner, her best friend and her parents. But she definitely cares so much that instead of blindly trusting someone’s opinion, she looks at it first.
We should keep double checking the source of our information from time to time. This keeps your mind alert and sharp. Brandon likes to keep himself updated with the news of the world. He always takes care that he reads the daily news. Different media outlets give him all the information he needs. But Brandon doesn’t blindly believe everything he reads. Instead, he does his research. He also makes sure that the media outlet or report he is reading is authentic and well-known. Apart from this, Brandon also knows that every news report can have its own different opinion regarding any issue. That’s why he makes sure that he reads only the reports of unbiased reporters and journalists, that is, those who do not unnecessarily support any one side. It is because of taking information thoughtfully that it helps Brandon to think in the right way.
Question everything. Keep collecting more information until you are sure that something is based on fact. Organized thinking takes time and the most important thing is a controlled habit. Unless you make it a controlled habit, you cannot do organized thinking.
Think of it in such a way that your mind is like a camera. Many information is stored in it. If you do not know what to focus on, then your mind will keep capturing everything. Means in other words, useless information from all over the world will go on adding in your mind. It will be filled with useless propaganda, gossip and useless things. Controlled habit will help your camera to stay focused. It will also zoom in and see a rare bird among thousands of trees. Means by focusing you can store the information which is important, which is useful, in your brain.
Where do you start when it comes to controlling habits? You do this through definiteness of purpose. Now for example, you want to be healthy and fit. You complain that how much your weight has increased. Then you decide to be more aware about your health. However your desire to be fit and healthy is only a desire. You are still eating what is not healthy for you. You are not following healthy lifestyle. You haven’t made any changes to your surroundings. Willpower is required for a controlled habit.
You have to be aware and make efforts to reach your goal. Now suppose you want to improve your organized thinking but this can only happen through repetition. You don’t believe everything easily anymore. You do research to know more about the things you want to know. The above example is more of an example of physical repetition. Although it is effective, but you should also do mental repetition. A good example of this would be affirmations.
Emile Coue, who was a psychologist and a pharmacist, strongly believed in the power of Thought Habit or Affirmations. He has a mantra which his followers call “The Health and Success Formula”. This mantra was: “Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.” It may seem stupid to repeat this sentence daily, but whoever understands how powerful a person’s thoughts are, will never underestimate this mantra.
Penelope finally got the courage to open her own bakery. Baking had always been her passion. Penelope knew that starting a business was a long and difficult journey. She would have to raise money and other resources to start the business, so Penelope made a list of everything she had to complete. She also kept in mind that she would do only one task in a day. Penelope showed fitness of purpose here. He put his time and effort on achieving his dream. Now because she will always work on her list, she also showed physical repetition here.
But apart from that, Penelope also kept practicing her daily affirmations. She kept telling herself that she is a capable person who will soon open her own bakery. He also reminded himself that it takes time for something good to happen, so he should be patient. Penelope’s affirmations kept her motivated throughout this journey. Whenever she felt disappointed or frustrated, her habit of affirmations gave her energy.
Also, don’t underestimate the Law of Attraction. Whatever energy you give to this world, the world will return it back to you. If you always make a habit of looking at the bright side, then positive things will start happening to you and the same thing can be said with negative things as well.
Controlled Attention
Controlled attention is as important as controlled habit. Napoleon stresses that controlled attention is one of the principles we need to be successful. There is great power in controlled attention. Napoleon also called it “mental dynamite”. Through controlled attention, you can remove all your doubts about yourself.
But how do we achieve control attention? For this you need 5 factors – Defeatness of Purpose, Self-Discipline, Controlled Attention, Autosuggestion and Power of Will. Let’s take an example of a person who needs money to define the above factors.
Harold is in dire need of money to pay his rent at the end of the month. Of course, Harold could just be stressing about money without doing anything, as most people do. But Harold can also use these 5 factors to earn some money. Harold shows his deftness of purpose and decides that he will raise money to pay his rent. This intention of his will keep him alert as to where he should invest his time and energy. Instead of scrolling for hours on his phone, he spends his time arranging money. Next is to bring self-discipline by controlling emotions.
Harold is not afraid to think that he will not be able to arrange the money. He does not let his doubt and hopelessness dominate him. It’s hard to make money in a short amount of time, but Harold knows that if his fear wins out, it won’t end well for him. His fear will force him to give up. The rest of the factors mentioned make the next factor which is controlled attention. Harold spends most of his time and concentration in earning money and this is also the meaning of controlled attention. Next is autosuggestion. Autosuggestion is called when Harold starts brainstorming. He starts looking for ways by which he can earn money. Now that he was good at repairing things, Harold could go around his neighborhood to see if anyone needed something repaired or maybe tutored their kids. Harold was very good at maths. Autosuggestion is a way of the mind to tell you that you can do it in a thousand ways in any situation.
The final factor is will power. No matter how bad the situation seems to you, there will definitely be some way to get out of that problem. Your will power is responsible for your determination and persistence. The first five neighbors whom Harold talked to may refuse to take his service, but it is possible that another neighbor may say yes to him and thinking that Harold did not give up trying.
These 5 principles will help Harold to earn money and these are the principles which were also followed by successful people in history. Now take the example of Thomas Edison here. Thomas Edison gives the credit of his achievement to those principles which he used to follow passionately. When he was asked to name the thing that is most important in the field of innovation, Edison made a list of it.
He emphasized on defining the thing that a person wants to achieve, that is, a person should know about his purpose in a definite way.
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After this, Edison explained very well what is the meaning of controlled attention and autosuggestion. Edison said that a person should be fixed on the purpose he wants to achieve. He should be engaged in that work with such a tune that he does not even know what the word “Impossible” is.
That person has controlled attention because he remains focused on what he needs. He puts in the time and effort to become a master of his craft and seeks help from like-minded people. He never wastes his time on those things which are not helping him to become successful and neither his failure, any obstacle or self-doubt can stop him. This is exactly like the principal of Will Power. Autosuggestion also manifests in such a way that if a person has faith then he will be able to achieve his purpose.
Edison also tells the common problem in most of the people. The problem is that most people give up before even starting. You put a limitation on yourself which stops you from even trying. You haven’t even started yet but your mental attitude has already failed you.
Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the modern telephone, also understood the importance of determination and persistence. Alexander did not make a telephone in the first attempt itself. He even proudly says that he does not even remember how many times he had failed. So was it disappointing for him? Yes. Did it stop them from trying again and again? no way . He kept trying until he was able to successfully transmit the sound through a wire.
Andrew Carnegie’s Analysis of Controlled Attention
When it comes to controlled attention, Andrew Carnegie used to praise it a lot. Anyone can easily apply it in any area of their life and can be successful in that area. Andrew sees controlled attention as combining the full ability of the mind for a purpose. In his own case, when Andrew had to make steel and sell it, he used every area of his mind. The secret of Andrew’s success was to focus all his attention on the steel. In other words, by having a specialization, you can increase your chances of getting what you want.
But what about industries that thrive on diversity? Like retail merchandising where there are departments like sports goods and clothes? Here Andrew says that controlled attention can flourish even in diversity. Specialization is still needed in retail merchandising. Like there is a manager in their clothing department who is an expert on what kind of blouses and shirts they should sell. They also have an expert in their sports department who tells which support equipment and machines will sell out quickly. That’s why controlled attention can be successful even in diversity.
Even in corporate jobs, you can achieve controlled attention. Where there are department, manager and rank and file employees for any specific area of the company. The Human Resources Manager never takes over the responsibility of the Chief Financial Officer. Same thing can be said for its employees as well. No employee of the accounting department looks after the work of the sales department.
If you are not able to decide in which field you should become a specialist, then there is nothing to worry about. Andrew advises that we should decide very carefully where to spend our time and effort. If you have an idea that what is the major purpose of your life, then it will help you in this also. This can lead you towards the right path. For example, Claire is currently a college student.
Right now she is deciding what she should specialize in. Although she is studying communications, but she does not like to choose a career related to her major. Claire is currently completing her education. She has also found out about some other careers that she can pursue. While completing her education, Claire had understood what she wanted to become. In the end, he decided that it would not be related to his major. Then he made up his mind to choose medicine. Claire realized that she wanted to help those in need. She came to know that she can help the most by becoming a doctor. Of course, his college degree didn’t go to waste. This helped him to become an even more effective physician. That is because she could talk more clearly with her patients.
Andrew does not think that having no specialization is a waste. This time can be used to improve your soft skills, such as communicating effectively, working in a team and becoming self-disciplined.
It is also not a wrong thing to change your specialization, if you feel the need to do so. Yes, you may have spent many years to excel in a specific area and stay focused, but your passion and desire may change. Yes, starting a new career in a new career will seem like you have wasted your time till now but time will be more wasted if you do not do what you always wanted to do.
Conclusion
First, you learned about creative vision. The ability to recognize opportunities and take action on them is called creative vision. You cannot have a creative vision without using your imagination.
There are two types of imagination: synthetic and creative. Synthetic imagination creates an original idea by combining old ideas and principles. Whereas Creative Imagination is called when someone comes up with a completely new idea.
You can use 5 principles to stimulate your imagination. These are Definiteness of Purpose, the Master Mind, Going the Extra Mile, Applied Faith and Organized Individual Endeavor principle.
Second, you learned how to practice organized thinking. Organized thoughts do not listen to opinions. If an organized mind listens to an opinion, it analyzes it completely.
You can achieve Organized Thought only through Controlled Habit. Controlled habit means when you consciously try to get what you want. We do this through physical and mental repetition.
Third, you understood about controlled attention. Controlled attention is as important as organized thought. There are 5 factors of controlled attention. These are definiteness of purpose, self-discipline, controlled attention, autosuggestion and will power.
Fourth, you know that controlled attention applies to every area of life, especially career. Specialization can increase your chances of success. It helps you to focus all your time, attention and energy in any one field or industry. The more you know about a specific field or industry, the more your chances of being successful will increase.
No one can stop you from getting what you want. Do not pay attention to the fears and doubts that are in your mind and make a plan to achieve your dream.
What is the real purpose of your coming to this earth? Once you know this, your mind, body and soul will be fully engaged in achieving it. Trust yourself, you absolutely can do this.