Seven Classic Ways to Top Achievement

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” said Napoleon Hill, the legendary personal-development expert and author. For most of his life, Hill lived with the conviction that every failure carried with it the seed of equivalent advantage. Here are seven of his principles for extraordinary achievement:

1. Definiteness of Purpose.Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Without a purpose and a plan, people drift aimlessly through life.

2. Mastermind Alliance.The Mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others.

3. Applied Faith.Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalents.

4. Pleasing Personality.Personality is the sum of one’s mental, spiritual and physical traits and habits that distinguish one from all others. It is the factor that determines whether one is liked or disliked by others.

5. Personal Initiative.Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of that which one begins. It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own.

6. Positive Mental Attitude. Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success, while failure attracts more failure.

7. Enthusiasm.Enthusiasm is faith in action. It is the intense emotion known as burning desire. It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one’s voice and countenance.