“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.”
– Napoleon Hill
Friday, [12:48] PM
Dear Friend,
I’ve found that attacking Napoleon Hill’s philosophy is akin to attacking somebody’s religion.
People react VIOLENTLY to any kind of logical analysis of Hill’s teachings.
Most would rather continue to live in a fantasy world than confront reality. And many times they’ll go to great measures to silence anybody pointing out the Emperor has no clothes.
(BTW, did you know Hill was completely broke in the final years of his life? W. Clement Stone had to step in and rescue Hill by giving him a figurehead position in Stone’s massively successful insurance company.)
For example… the quote above. Do you REALLY believe that’s true?
I WANTED to believe it… and for decades I chose to believe it, in spite of tons of credible evidence to the contrary.
For example… my mind can conceive certain appendages on my body being MUCH bigger than they presently are. And because Nap Hill said so, I chose to believe that appendage was growing longer and thicker day by day.
Heck, I even chose to help the process by taking pills and potions that claimed they could make that appendage bigger.
But I didn’t stop there.
I also did regular exercises designed to force blood into that appendage to help it grow bigger.
After DECADES of doing this, visualizing a freakin’ HUGE appendage and believing it with all my heart… I can simply look down and see that this appendage hasn’t grown in years.
Hey… wait a minute!
I was talking about my biceps. What did YOU think I was talking about, you pervert?
Well, even if I WAS talking about what your twisted mind thought, Hill’s formula STILL wouldn’t work.
Don’t believe me?
OK… apply the formula to an amputee. Even if you had 100 billion dollars to throw at this experiment… and you do EVERYTHING possible to get the amputee to conceive and believe he can grow a new limb… it ain’t EVER gonna happen.
OK, I admit… that’s a pretty extreme example. Instead, let’s apply Hill’s “think and grow rich” formula to your finances and see how that works out for you.
For the next 12 months don’t do ANYTHING different in your job or business. Keep everything “biz as usual” with one exception. Throughout the entire day, every day, I want you to imagine you having the most wealth your greedy little mind can possibly think of. Don’t actually DO anything… just think about it and visualize it as vividly as possible.
I’ll bet you dollars to donuts at the end of those 12 months your net worth won’t have changed very much at all.
Does that mean Napoleon Hill’s
“think & grow rich” philosophy is just B.S.?
Not really.
See, your thoughts control your actions.
Didja catch that? I said your thoughts control your ACTIONS… and it is your ACTIONS that can make you wealthy.
In fact, you can have a completely negative defeatist attitude, not believe you’re gonna get rich, yet take the right actions consistently and persistently… and…
You can get filthy stinkin’ honkin’ RICH!
Or… you can believe with all your might… have the undying faith of Peter (the only cat other than J.C. who walked on water) yet take no action… and you’re gonna stay poor and miserable.
In fact, Hill even included the “take action” part in many of his books… but for some inexplicable reason, most people ignore that part… including Hill later in his life.
During my 12 years with a badge and gun, pounding a beat in the inner city, nine of those years I also did the part-time entrepreneur thang. (Yes, I MEANT to spell it that way.) And EVERYTHING I tried during that time was a miserable failure, leaving me with a high five-figures debt… and a broken heart.
After nine long years of NOTHING ever working, when I started my first little mail order business I wasn’t exactly Mr. Positive Attitude.
In fact, I was quite negative and cynical. (12 years of being a cop contributed GREATLY to that attitude, too.)
But it didn’t matter… because no matter how positively or negatively you think about it…
2 + 2 = 4!
And NOTHING will EVER change that.
You see, direct response is a numbers business.
I know some really negative, cynical and nasty people who have made themselves unbelievably wealthy with direct response marketing. (BTW, you DO understand if you have an online business you’re a direct response marketer, right? Damn rookies! lol)
I also know some extremely positive thinkers, with more faith than God himself… who have always been, and will always be, completely broke…
‘Cuz they sit on their asses
THINKING about growing rich!
Poor bastards.
They bought in lock, stock and barrel to the EASY part of Hill’s formula.
But they’ve left out the most important part…
Taking ACTION!
I’ve discovered the “knights” who have joined me at the Round Table in my Marketing Camelot are some of the smartest, most positive-thinking and encouraging people I’ve ever met. Many have pitched in to help further my vision of making The Doberman Dan Letter a true Camelot… where we can share ideas and resources to help each other.
They understand action is the most important part of the success process.
The delusional few who mistakenly believe they only have to read a newsletter and THINK about growing rich to magically achieve their goals do NOT stick around my Marketing Camelot very long.
And I’m quite happy about that.
I don’t want them around me or my cherished subscribers.
If they DO slip past the castle gatekeeper, I HOPE I can help them get into action… but honestly, I kinda doubt it.
I’ve found successful people have a history of being DOERS… at least in SOME aspect of their lives.
And they are the “patches of light” in my life.
They are the reason I get out of bed in the morning and do what I do… because money alone is no longer enough of a motivator for me.
If you’ve studied Napoleon Hill’s stuff and still aren’t getting the results you’ve imagined so fervently for so many years… try adding the most important ingredient…
Consistent and persistent ACTION!
THAT is what will cause you to grow as a person and achieve what you truly want.
All the best,
