Mitch Horowitz - Secrets of Self-Mastery

SECRETS OF SELF-MASTERY

The Napoleon Hill Success Course series

The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim
The Power of the Master Mind
Secrets of Self-Mastery

The Napoleon Hill Success Course series

SECRETS OF SELF-MASTERY

MITCH HOROWITZ

Inspired by the Teachings of

NAPOLEON HILL

An Approved Publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation

Published by Gildan Media LLC

aka G&D Media

www.GandDmedia.com

Copyright 2020 The Napoleon Hill Foundation

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained within. Although every precaution has been taken, the author and publisher assume no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

First Edition: 2020

Front cover design by David Rheinhardt of Pyrographx

Interior design by Meghan Day Healey of Story Horse, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request

ISBN: 978-1-7225-1020-6

eISBN: 978-1-7225-2180-6

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my friends on the path

Contents

When Things Start Happening

We often hear that a single idea can change a life, or change the world. Thats an inspiring thoughtbut its incomplete.

Excellent application and execution of an idea are vitalperhaps even more so than the idea itself. A billionaire investor once told me: There are a lot of great ideas out there. But when I invest I look for great execution more than great ideas. Great execution is much rarer than great ideas.

A friend whose startup this investor funded, which is now a worldwide consulting firm valued by the Financial Times at more than $700 million, said that this same financer told him: I invest in people. That is not a bromide; it is a cast-iron principle. The investor wants to ensure that hes backing people who are consistently resourceful, decisive, capable of pivoting in almost any situation, and who are constitutionally averse to rigidity, sloppiness, guesswork, and apathy.

My wish is that Secrets of Self-Mastery, the third book in the Napoleon Hill Success Course series, will give you the tools to become the kind of person worth backing, financially and otherwise. Inspired by Hills lessons, this book introduces, explores, and reinforces the widest range of self-development ideas found in his work, as well as more recent ideas that complement, reinforce, and expand on Hills own. Each chapter includes Action Steps, which provide specific exercises and personal experiments.

Id like you to regard Secrets of Self-Mastery as a field guide to personal effectiveness. Effectiveness, in short, means the ability to act on and progress toward a well-defined aim. Do you possess a definite aim in life? If you doand if you hold to it with sincerity and passionyou have already accomplished a great deal. Most people lack a real aim, a point Hill emphasized and to which I return often in this book. Once you have determined your aimwhich this book will also help you discover and clarifyyou must possess the personal effectiveness to act on it. Without that, even the most finely honed idea will take you nowhere. Genius appears in action.

Some readers are surprised when they encounter Hills Think and Grow Rich for the first time. They expect a strictly mind power approach to success. But for Hill, mental strategies, vital as they are, make up just one component of the long road toward success. Absolutely critical are organized planning and intelligent effort. People who never read Think and Grow Rich, or who just skim it, never learn this fact, and come away with a misimpression of Hills program.

Writing in Think and Grow Rich in 1937, Hill put it this way with his emphasis in the original:

KNOWLEDGE will not attract money, unless it is organized, and intelligently directed, through practical PLANS OF ACTION, to the DEFINITE END of accumulation of money. Lack of understanding of this fact has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that knowledge is power. It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.

For clarity, I should note that Hills program can be used not only for money or entrepreneurship but for any ethical aimwhich is to say one that respects the rights and needs of others, whatever your private goal. Hill described his program as comprising not only the steps essential for the accumulation of money, but necessary for the attainment of any definite goal. He required only that your goal be clearly defined and uncompromisingly passionate.

I believe in bold promisesand I believe in supporting them. Hence, I never make a promise lightly to a reader, and I vow this to you: If you follow, practice, and persist in the methods in this book you will become the person who attracts resources, customers, backing, audience members, and opportunities.

I write this with confidence because I have experienced the effects of Hills work myself. Although we all face our own complexities, as well as personal and sometimes social challenges, human nature is remarkably consistent. What transpires in the course of one persons experience can be applied in the life of another. In that spirit, let me describe how Hills ideas have personally affected me.

For several years, I read Think and Grow Rich in a lackadaisical manner. As a longtime writer and publisher of self-help and metaphysical literature, I thought I already got itthat is, I believed that I had a handle on many of the motivational ideas and techniques in Hills work. I was wrong. And it took a special turning point to make that clear to me.

In fall of 2013, I found myself facing a difficult crossroads in life and work. Personal challenges and industry shifts had shaken up my longstanding career as a publishing executive. A job that had once seemed familiar, secure, and even comfortable suddenly appeared threatened. I began to think seriously about how to broaden my work, not only as a publisher but also as a writer, speaker, and narratorareas that I had hoped to grow further in, and upon which I knew I might someday depend for my sense of purpose and livelihood. As it happened, my instinct eventually proved right. Within about four years our company had a new corporate owner, shakeups ensued, and I was soon off on my ownand happily so thanks to one key decision.

In late 2013, I decided that it was time to return to Think and Grow Rich, but in a new way. I determined to approach the book with a sense of hardcore seriousness: no more skimming, cherry picking, or casual in-and-out reads. Rather, I approached the book and its ideas as though my life depended on it. I did every exercise from start to finish, even the ones I thought I already got.

In Zen Buddhism this is called beginners mindand it is an immensely powerful approach to life or a specific project. I find an example in the career of the Austrian gun manufacturer Gaston Glock. Whatever your attitude toward guns, Glock created an enormously innovative handgun with no previous experience in either firearms design or manufacturing. The engineer had previously worked on curtain rods and field knives. In 1982, Glock succeeded in modeling his lightweight, plastic handgunand surging past far more experienced competitorsbecause he approached its design unburdened by concepts of what couldnt be done, or what hadnt worked in the past. In effect, Glock used beginners mind. This resulted in a dramatic innovation that shook up the munitions industry.