Years ago Napoleon Hill wrote the book Think and Grow Rich. After reading it and experiencing multiple studies on the book I have realized a few principles he highlighted I
have seen lead to successful results in my life and others. I must confess I was skeptical the first time I read the book because my life is not all about becoming wealthy. I desire to live a meaningful life that makes a significant impact and is rich and full in other ways.
The following three principles serve us in leading ourselves and others to move toward the results we desire.
Passion
Napoleon Hill refers to this as a burning desire. Accomplishment in life requires some degree of passion. For years I was a strength and conditioning coach for athletes. This was the revealing ground of how badly an athlete wanted to be successful. There were at least three types of people.
Obsessed – no matter what the cost these athletes would work as hard as they could. They would put in extra work, do extra reps, and were all consumed with their goal.
Driven – this individual could be either internally or externally pushed. Maybe a selfish goal drove them, but once they accomplished it, they required help from outside motivation to get them to keep going.
Participant – these people showed up each day but did just enough to keep me off their case.
What determined the level one performed was their passion for the team and/or individual goal they had. If they had no clear goal they most likely were a participant or worse.
Consistency
Leadership expert John Maxwell says “consistency compounds.” What does this mean? Think of something you have started and struggled at. Maybe it was swinging a bat, hitting a golf ball or playing an instrument.
When I was in college I had a friend teach me how to play guitar. I have NO rhythm. I had to think about and talk aloud the pattern to get it. Each day I would practice a little and over time improved. I am not a musician by any stretch of the imagination, but I can make decent music now because I consistently practiced.
Maybe you are building a team, business, family or something else. Each day we must plant seeds, water, and allow them to grow in time. This requires consistency.
Persistence
The first time I did a study on Think and Grow Rich I was challenged to read the chapter on persistence fourteen days in a row and if I missed a day I had to start over. That is boring! In reality it was developing my persistence muscles and helping me understand the excuses I made when I wanted to avoid the task.
Whatever we are pursuing will be an uphill climb and we will want to quit. The theme in the lives of all people who achieve results is they persist. The salesperson who gets the sale does not quit after the first no. The marriage that struggles requires both people to persist through the difficulties, get help, and heal. The business that hits hard times discovers ways to push through, innovate, and get results.
As a leader how would you rank yourself in each of these areas on a scale of one to five? How hot is your passion? Are you willing to persist and consistently show up? If you want a resource to think into this topic more go here for a study I co-created with retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant and fellow John Maxwell Team member Mike Lightner on Think and Grow Rich to help strengthen your mindset as a leader in these areas and more. Lead Well.
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