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by ayb |
An article from the other day (The Art of Persistence) has started a very interesting discussion (see here) into some of the principles that Mr. Napoleon Hill suggested in Think And Grow Rich.
I’d like to expand on it a bit in this entry.
The debate is centered around the third of four steps Mr. Hill discusses in the book: A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
You can get involved in the debate here, but in the mean time I’d like to expand a little bit into how I interpret this.
Mr. Hill says that you should keep your mind tightly closed against bad influences – and takes the time to emphasize that they may be close to you. Perhaps even related to you.
The world is like a big football field. Every one of us picks a position on that field – the position we each want in life – and tries to get there.
Close friends and relatives can have an incredible impact on your life. Probably more than you realize. And sometimes they do things that can box you in and limit your potential for reaching out to achieve your goals.
The specifics in your life may vary, but the influence is there – whether you like it or not. It could be a parent or grandmother that keep telling you to eat even though you’d like to lose ten pounds. It could be the close friend that tells you to stop working so hard – even though your business has nowhere to go but up. Perhaps it is even the college roommate that convinces you to skip class and go drinking on that sunny afternoon because the class is so easy and you can learn it all later.
On the football field of life, this influence pushes you in many directions – and most of the time, it is not where you want to be.
If you truly want to reach your ideal place in life, sometimes you need to take action to ensure you stay on course. That’s not to say you should never talk to that person again, mind you – just don’t forget to keep your eye on the prize.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Definately and framed the way you said I agree and always have- friends and family most definately can hinder your success through misplaced caring, masking jealousy or fear that they will be left behind in the dust, but this is not so bad it is a human quality really that we all possess to some extent. You need to listen to your close friends yet act in your own best interest anyhow, not ignore them or cease to see/communicate with them because they are not backslappers all the time. It`s all encompassing Hills philosophy and that`s why I don`t like it, it`s us and them, the do`s and the don`ts the can and the can`t the winners and the losers which is a frightful existence and a horrible/ignorant outlook on life.
When we feel something does not add up or seem “right” we need to look deepen, and that`s what I try and do. Free thought is what it is all about.
More to the point, to seek to stay positive very often does not induce positive action.
Positive action is more what we should strive for but this positive thinking jibe is just not conjusive to change and/or openmindedness imo, at some point you need in this life to take a negative view and so take positive action in order to move forward, get my meaning and how it relates to persistance?.