Page 144 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

of a philosophy of individual achievement my first impulse of thought was fear of
what people might say. The suggestion set up a goal for me, far out of proportion

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NAPOLEON HILL THINK AND GROW RICH

to any I had ever conceived. As quick as a flash, my mind began to create alibis
and excuses, all of them traceable to the inherent FEAR OF CRITICISM. Some-
thing inside of me said, "You can't do it-the job is too big, and requires too much
time-what will your relatives think of you ?-how will you earn a living?-no one has
ever organized a philosophy of success, what right have you to believe you can do
it?-who are you, anyway, to aim so high?- remember your humble birth-what do
you know about philosophy-people will think you are crazy-(and they did)-why
hasn't some other person done this before now?"

These, and many other questions flashed into my mind, and demanded attention.
It seemed as if the whole world had suddenly turned its attention to me with the
purpose of ridiculing me into giving up all desire to carry out Mr. Carnegie's sug-
gestion.

I had a fine opportunity, then and there, to kill off ambition before it gained con-
trol of me. Later in life, after having analyzed thousands of people, I discovered
that MOST IDEAS ARE STILL-BORN, AND NEED THE BREATH OF LIFE IN-
JECTED INTO THEM THROUGH DEFINITE PLANS OF IMMEDIATE ACTION.
The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives, gives
it a better chance of surviving. The FEAR OF CRITICISM is at the bottom of the
destruction of most ideas which never reach the PLANNING and ACTION stage.

Many people believe that material success is the result of favorable "breaks."
There is an element of ground for the belief, but those depending entirely upon
luck, are nearly always disappointed, because they overlook another important
factor which must be present before one can be sure of success. It is the knowl-
edge with which favorable "breaks" can be made to order.

During the depression, W. C. Fields, the comedian, lost all his money, and found
himself without income, without a job, and his means of earning a living (vaude-
ville) no longer existed. Moreover, he was past sixty, when many men consider
themselves "old." He was so eager to stage a comeback that he offered to work
without pay, in a new field (movies). In addition to his other troubles, he fell and
injured his neck. To many that would have been the place to give up and QUIT.
But Fields was PERSISTENT. He knew that if he carried on he would get the
"breaks" sooner or later, and he did get them, but not by chance.

Marie Dressier found herself down and out, with her money gone, with no job,
when she was about sixty. She, too, went after the "breaks," and got them. Her