Home Personal Growth The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as Told to Napoleon Hill

The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as Told to Napoleon Hill
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Learn the key ideas of the book by Napoleon Hill

The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as Told to Napoleon Hill

Andrew Carnegie's rules to achieve success

What exactly is success? According to Andrew Carnegie, success is “the power with which to acquire whatever one demands of life without violating the rights of others”. To achieve it, the first thing we need to do is look inside ourselves, then link our inner world to our everyday life, and once we have done so, enlist the help of others. This can all be achieved by following the principles of Napoleon Hill, who having learned them directly from Andrew Carnegie, the great American entrepreneur and philanthropist, relates them with great detail, in his book The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as told to Napoleon Hill.

The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as Told to Napoleon Hill
Read in 18 min.
Listen in 23 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/9

To live a successful life, you must clearly define your purpose and remember that we all end up becoming a version of what we believe to be true

How can we define success? Over time, different people have given this commonly used word many definitions. Of course, it is always linked to achieving some kind of goal, and the word does have a universally positive meaning, but we all have our own individual ideas about what success really is.

According to Andrew Carnegie, success is the power with which to acquire whatever one demands of life without violating the rights of others.

To do this, you must first turn your attention within, and focus on your mindset, then connect your inner being to your practical life, and finally, enlist others to help you on your journey. All this is achievable through a series of steps that Napoleon Hill illustrates brilliantly in this book, having learned them personally from the great entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

Let's start from the beginning.

There are two key pillars that uphold the basis of any successful existence: knowing one's purpose and being aware that what we believe to be true shapes our reality. Most people, rather than live proactively, exist out of mere inertia. For these people, life drags on devoid of goals, and they never go beyond dreaming and wanting more, and all they ask or expect for themselves is to work for a minimum wage, and make a living.

But if we are able to discover an interest that makes us feel good, one we like and which excites us, creating a strong desire to pursue it, then our life will be full of colour, and this interest will provide us with a priceless compass. Not so long ago, pain was attributed to feelings of guilt, whereas nowadays it is increasingly linked to a sense of inadequacy. In a world so full of opportunities, it is essential to find one's purpose and place, whether it be cooking for others, or helping businesses find customers through Google ads.

Furthermore, we must always remember that we are masters of our own destiny. The way our lives unfold is determined almost entirely by our mind, our personality and our thoughts. Unless we genuinely believe that we will be able to do something, we will never succeed. However, if we are firmly convinced that we are capable of something, our brain will automatically push us to take a series of practical actions to help us achieve it, because these actions are aligned with our beliefs. Conviction and persistence together can help us achieve anything.

A very simple example can demonstrate this concept, one which can then be applied to any other situation or sector.

Imagine a student who is feeling discouraged after getting a bad grade in their first test for a new subject at school. If he or she is convinced that they "have no talent" for that subject, what is likely to be the outcome? Simple: they will stop trying. Anyway, it is useless, "they have no talent". If, on the other hand, the person is sure of his or her capabilities, they will automatically become motivated by their initial setback, seeing it as a simple bump in the road, which will indeed push them even harder to prove themselves.

The human mind only knows the limits we or others impose on it and every road to success begins with a clear vision of one’s purpose and goals, until they become almost an obsession. At that point, our subconscious will work tirelessly until the goal is achieved.

  

The key ideas of "The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as Told to Napoleon Hill"

01.
To live a successful life, you must clearly define your purpose and remember that we all end up becoming a version of what we believe to be true
02.
To be successful, we must take care of our body and mind, and be selective about where we choose to focus our attention
03.
Cultivating creativity and developing an attractive personality are both highly underestimated
04.
To be successful, it is vital to know how to manage the emotions linked to failure, and to learn from them
05.
Carefully refine your habits, be disciplined, and organise your thoughts
06.
Once we have mastered our inner world, we need to move onto practical management: to be successful, we need to learn to manage our time, to plan and learn to go above and beyond what is necessary
07.
Other people have an enormous influence on our journey to success. They can inspire us and, if we deserve it, help and support us
08.
Quotes
09.
Take-home message
 
 
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