Napoleon Hill's Golden Rules

Auto-suggestion, which is nothing more or less than an idea held in the mind, through thought, is the only known principle through which one may literally make oneself over, after any pattern he or she may

affirm to yourself that you are attracting to you the necessary forces, people, and material things with which to attain the object of your life work, or your definite aim in life.

To every sincere, inquiring mind, Nature declares, “Tell me what you want. I can get it for you.” But the majority do not know what they want; nor do they want the same thing twice in succession. That is why more dreams do not come true. Adopt a “chief aim” in life.

The time is not far ahead when some sort of music will be considered a necessity in every shop where men and women are working with their hands. Music produces harmony and enthusiasm, both of which are essential if the maximum efficiency is obtained by the workman. A man cannot be highly efficient unless he loves his work and his environment—his working surroundings. With the right selection of music, a workman’s production could be increased from ten to fifty percent, without fatiguing him in the least.

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton has said, “The longer I live, the more certain I am that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy—invincible determination—a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory. That quality will do anything that can be done in this world—and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a two-legged creature a man without it.”

the best (and one might say the only) way in which old habits may be removed is to form new habits to counteract and replace the undesirable ones. Form new mental paths over which to travel, and the old ones will soon become less distinct and, in time, will practically fill up from disuse.

Your mind may be likened to the sensitive plate of a camera. The “chief aim” held before your mind, through the foregoing chart, may be likened to the object of which you wish to make a clear, definite picture. When this picture becomes transferred permanently to the sensitive plates of your subconscious mind, you will notice that every act and every movement of your body will have a tendency toward transforming this picture into a physical reality.

After you have committed this self-confidence building chart to memory, make a habit of repeating it aloud at least twice a day. All of your thoughts have a tendency, within themselves, to produce appropriate or corresponding activities in your body, but thoughts which are followed by affirmation through spoken words will crystallize into reality in much less time than those which are not followed by expression in words. Going still further, thoughts which are followed by both spoken and written words will crystallize into physical reality in still less time than those which are inhibited and merely held in consciousness silently. Therefore, we not only strongly recommend that you will memorize this self-confidence building chart, but we also suggest that you write it out and repeat it aloud at least twice a day for at least two weeks.

Reposing in your brain is a sleeping genius which can never be aroused except through the exercise of self-confidence. When it is once aroused, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. You will surprise all who knew you before your transformation took place. You will brush aside all obstacles and sweep on to victory, backed by an invisible force which recognizes no obstacles.
A careful analysis of the successful men of the world shows that the dominating quality which they all possessed was self-confidence.

I pointed my finger at the glass and said, “There is the only person on earth who can help you, sir; and unless you sit down and become acquainted with the strength back of that personality, you might just as well go ahead and ‘punch a hole in Lake Michigan’ because you will be no good to yourself or to anyone else.”