Copyright Copyright © 2017 The Napoleon Hill Foundation Portrait of Napoleon Hill copyright © 2017 by Tim Botta Front Cover: Randall Friesen Distributed through the Book market by Hachette Book Group, USA 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 assumes no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Published 2017 by Gildan Press an imprint of Gildan Media LLC. www.gildanmedia.com First ebook edition: 2017 Interior design by Meghan Day Healey of Story Horse, LLC. ISBN 978-1-469-06652-3 E3-20170408-JV-NF Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Introduction The Power of a Single Focus 1 The Miracle of Your Definite Chief Aim 2 How to Know What You (Really) Want 3 But Is It Good? 4 Refining Your Aim 5 Never Give Up The Art of Intelligent Persistence 6 When Wishes Fail Closing Note A Meditation on Fear About Napoleon Hill About Mitch Horowitz Also by Mitch Horowitz The Napoleon Hill Success Course series™ A Preview of The Power of the Master Mind Appendix The Sixteen Laws of Success To the members of my Master Mind group. P N H T B ORTRAIT OF APOLEON ILL BY IM OTTA Introduction The Power of a Single Focus “Man’s clarified desires are seeds containing the power and plans of self- expression.” —N G EVILLE ODDARD I have spent more than twenty years as an author, publisher, and personal seeker in the world of positive-mind metaphysics and motivational philosophy. Experience has taught me this: No single factor under human control is of greater consequence than one passionately felt and clearly formed aim. And no modern writer has been more persuasive on this point than Napoleon Hill. As Hill described it, beginning in 1908, at the urging of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, he began an intensive study of the traits that produce personal greatness in any field, from finance and science to art and politics. He codified these traits into his 1937 classic Think and Grow Rich, as well as in many other books, articles, and lectures. Although Hill identified (depending on the book) sixteen habits of high achievers, he emphasized one principle above all others: The necessity of a Definite Chief Aim. Hill placed so much stock in this one core principle that he often capitalized Definite Chief Aim, which I refer to in this book as your DCA. A definite aim is not a vague wish or desire to “be rich” or to “be successful.” These kinds of random thoughts, Hill taught, often lead to apathy, unfulfilled dreams, and failure. Rather, an authentic Definite Chief Aim means a specific, concrete goal on which, outside of the requisites of health and family, you base your entire existence. Although your DCA can, and should, be bold and even audacious, it must also be reasonable. Hill did not believe in chimeras or undirected daydreams. He believed in action. And effective action can be undertaken only by people who possess, or are ready to acquire, the training needed for scaling life’s heights. The starting point of all action, and of all greatness, Hill insisted, is this one passionately felt and cherished aim. It is the closest thing life grants us to a magic formula. Does that claim sound fanciful to you? Do you doubt that a clear, focused aim can radically change your life? Let me tell you a short personal story—you’ll hear many others in this book, but this one is my own. Like Hill, I began my career as a journalist. But I was unhappy. I didn’t want to write about other people’s trials and accomplishments. I wanted to forge my own, and in my own way. Leaving journalism, I felt directionless. I sought and attained a successful career in publishing. For a decade or so I thrived in the field—but something was missing. I didn’t feel that I squarely stood for anything. I was still working on other people’s dreams. As the new millennium dawned, and I entered my mid-thirties, I found that I missed writing—but that seemed like a path long left behind. In the summer of 2003, a few months before my 38th birthday, a special opportunity arrived. The editors of Science of Mind magazine—a positive-thinking monthly founded in 1927 by minister and writer Ernest Holmes—asked me to interview All-Star pitcher Barry Zito. Barry made positive-mind metaphysics a central part of his training program. Interviewing him and writing the piece, “Barry’s Way,” helped me rediscover my passion and direction as a writer. I didn’t fully know it at the time but I had found my DCA: To be a historian of alternative spirituality and self- help movements. (I am also, as you’ll see from this book, a “believing historian.”) Although I might not have gotten the message then, Barry’s father, Joe Zito, apparently did. Two weeks after the article appeared, Joe, who I had never met, called me and, in his drill-sergeant voice, commanded: “Mitch, you stick with this thing!” Within three years—coinciding with the birth of our second son—I had my first book contract with Random House. Much else followed. People asked how I could possibly find time to write as a father, husband, and publishing executive at Penguin. (Being a writer doesn’t mean quitting your day job.) All I could reply was: “I want to write more than I want to sleep.” That remains true today. And that’s the hallmark of a Definite Chief Aim: something that is clear, action- oriented, doable, and evokes uncompromising passion. I firmly believe that if you really want to find your aim in life, this book, and others in the Napoleon Hill Success Course series, will lead you to identify and act on it. The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim is my first of ten volumes that take a deep dive into Hill’s ideas. All of these books help you better apply Hill’s principles, in whatever circumstances you find yourself. This book is based closely and faithfully on the principles, terms, and concepts of Napoleon Hill. Most of the book’s anecdotes, reportage, and exercises are my own, and, as you will see, many sections (particularly those dealing with the arts and sciences) are contemporary. But all are inspired by the work of Napoleon Hill. In certain cases I emphasize an idea of Hill’s that is especially relevant to 21st century readers, such as starting over after setbacks, or altering a Definite Chief Aim if conditions demand it. Each chapter contains one or more boxed “Action Steps”—additional exercises that work out your mental and emotional muscles, and give you fuller use of the ideas we explore. You can return to the Action Steps, as well as the Takeaway Points at the end of each chapter, as refreshers. I pledge this to you: I do not sell fantasies or propagate ideas that I have not personally and effectively used myself. Neither did Napoleon Hill. This book is for practical dreamers—and actual doers. It is not for people who fantasize while drifting to sleep at night in front of a flickering television with a bag of chips lying on their chest. It is for people who hunger, above all else, to pursue their business, art, profession, invention, or special calling in life. Those are the people who almost always succeed, one way or another. A miracle, in the classical sense, is a bending of natural laws by Divine intercession. For our purposes here, I define a miracle as a favorable deviation from all reasonable expectancy, such as the realization of a cherished but remote goal. This kind of a miracle, which is very possible, begins with the formulation of one clear, passionately felt aim, backed with intelligent action. Let me put it another way. I once described Think and Grow Rich in a single sentence: “Emotionalized thought directed toward one passionately held aim—aided by organized planning and the Master Mind—is the root of all accomplishment.” (If any of my terms are unfamiliar jump ahead to the appendix where I define Hill’s “Sixteen Laws of Success.”) A definite aim is the foundation of any form of achievement. I have experienced this in my own life and witnessed it in the lives of others I know and admire, some of whom you will meet in the pages ahead. I have also watched capable people indecisively stumble from mediocrity to mediocrity—until the importance of having a DCA seeped in, and changed everything. In writing this book, it is my fondest hope that you witness the power of a definite aim in your own experience. The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim shows you, step by step, how to understand and apply Hill’s principle, whatever your goal or values. Without a firm grasp of this idea, none of Hill’s other lessons (or any motivational lessons for that matter) will work for you. As you will discover, having a definite chief aim will serve you whether you want to make money, express yourself in the arts, become a leader in your field, or defeat injustice and evil. Some of us want all these things. But the door of greatness cracks open only to those who approach their dreams with one special, overarching focus—a Definite Chief Aim. Let’s find your aim together. 1 The Miracle of Your Definite Chief Aim What do you want out of life? Be very careful how you respond to that question. It will make the difference between success and failure. Those who answer in a hasty or lazy way, or with bland generalities—like “I want lots of money”—are destined to go nowhere. The same is true of those who reply in a scattershot way, naming a plethora of wants and desires, many of which are self-contradictory, such as being a great leader and also having lots of leisure time, or traveling to exotic locales while also raising a young family. But the person who can respond to the question of what he wants from life with one clear, definite, and passionately felt aim—that individual is going to succeed. Did you notice the emphasis I gave to the word passionately? Your aim must be not only focused and specific—it must be so deeply held that, next to health and home, you desire it more than anything else. It must be something that you are willing to stake your life on. I don’t mean that in a figurative or colorful way. I mean it with complete seriousness. Your Definite Chief Aim, or DCA, must be more than a mere want or desire, something that is likely to change as circumstances change. No. It must be an obsession: overwhelming, persistent, and single-minded.