Page 141 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

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NAPOLEON HILL THINK AND GROW RICH

WALKING UP AND DOWN BROADWAY LOOKING FOR A "BREAK"- WITH-
OUT SUCCESS. Countless others have come and gone, many of them sang well
enough, but they failed to make the grade because they lacked the courage to keep
on keeping on, until Broadway became tired of turning them away. Persistence is
a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated.

Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them
these: -

a. DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE. Knowing what one wants is the first and, per-
haps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong
motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.

b. DESIRE. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in
pursuing the object of intense desire.

c. SELF-RELIANCE. Belief in one's ability to carry out a plan encourages one to
follow the plan through with persistence. (Self-reliance can be developed through
the principle described in the chapter on auto-suggestion).

d. DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Organized plans, even though they maybe weak
and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.

e. ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. Knowing that one's plans are sound, based upon
experience or observation, encourages persistence; "guessing" instead of "know-
ing" destroys persistence.

f. CO-OPERATION. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation
with others tend to develop persistence.

g. WILL-POWER. The habit of concentrating one's thoughts upon the building
of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose, leads to persistence.

h. HABIT. Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and be-
comes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all
enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of cwt8 of courage. Every-
one who has seen active service in war knows this.

Before leaving the subject of PERSISTENCE, take inventory of yourself, and de-
termine in what particular, if any, you are lacking in this essential quality. Meas-
ure yourself courageously, point by point, and see how many of the eight factors
of persistence you lack. The analysis may lead to discoveries that will give you a