The Man Before the Secret

August 5th, 2008 · No Comments

Before The Secret became a huge commercial success, Napoleon Hill had it all figured out.

Around the year 1908 journalist Napoleon Hill was both challenged and given an opportunity by Andrew Carnegie to spend twenty years of his life interviewing the most successful, brilliant, and influential minds of the day without any offer of monetary compensation. He accepted the challenge, and among the people went on to study were notable businessmen and inventors Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Teddy Roosevelt, John Wanamaner, Charles Schwab, Wilbur Wright, and Dr. Alexander Graham Bell.

Napoleon’s goal was to uncover the key common elements that underpinned extraordinary success and to share this knowledge with the rest of the world. The results of his efforts were published in 1937 in his bestselling book Think and Grow Rich.

Far from a dusty old relic, the topics he wrote about would many years later become a cornerstone of the new age, manifest your destiny movement. For example, the title of chapter one is “Thoughts are Things”, and the book’s opening notes mention the phrase “the secret” sixteen times, not including the occasions when he refers to the concept as “Carnegie’s secret”, or “this secret”.

Yet despite the sale of almost 20 million copies, most of the book’s concepts never became mainstream, so when a number of his ideas were re-introduced in the 21st century in conjunction with “The Secret’s” books and DVD’s, much of the content was thought revolutionary when in fact it was almost a century old! Actually, the key ideas that Napoleon documented and “The Secret” re-introduced are timeless in nature and have benefited humanity for countless centuries. The first step in successful utilization of this knowledge begins with awareness.

In the video clip below he recounts how Andrew Carnegie shared with him the life changing idea that:

“everyone comes to the earth plane blessed with the privilege of controlling his mind power and directing it to whatever ends he may choose.”

He also touches on the concepts of gratitude, choice, and ultimate personal responsibility. Check it out:

Did you actually watch it? I know, I know, seven minutes is an eternity in internet time! Over the next few postings I will go through some of Mr. Hill’s work in more detail because I find it fascinating and because I believe that his ideas are both powerful and relevant. Many people, myself included, can benefit by becoming better acquainted with the priceless knowledge that he captured. Stay tuned!