17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Among my first batch of books...with greatest influence on attaining personal achievement in life!, July 21, 2006
The first batch of significant books that had the greatest influence on me in terms of attaining personal achievement includes mostly Napoleon Hill's books:
- The Law of Success;
- Think & Grow Rich;
- The Keys to Success;
- Success through a Positive Mental Attitude;
- Succeed & Grow Rich through Persuasion;
The others were from Clement Stone, Dale Carnegie, & Earl Nightingale.
That was the early 70's when I had just started work as a young engineer.
The author, Napoleon Hill, had impressed me most by his relentless dedication in spending some two to three decades of his life in pursuing & researching the success secrets of the rich & famous...with a little help from Andrew Carnegie, of course.
As matter of fact, many of the famous people he interviewed were also favourite role models of mine e.g. Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, just to name a few
Till this day, I have never forgotten what he said:
"The most powerful instrument we have in our hands is the power of our mind."
I have never ceased to be fascinated by the simplicity & the potency of his ABCs of personal achievement: CONCEIVE, BELIEVE & ACHIEVE!
It is certainly enlightening to note that even Stephen Covey had drew inspiration from Napoleon Hill's work even though he never made that credit. He only admitted that the
7 Habits had its origins from "200 years of success literature in the United States." That remark itself is self explanatory.
Anthony Robbin's Mastery program as embodied in his books as well as his audio/video resources is no exception, even though he has been influenced in larger extent by NLP.
If you look at & compare the 17 principles of personal achievement in 'The Law of Success' &/or the 13 Steps to Riches in 'Think & Grow Rich', one can obviously see the uncanny resemblance of the 7 Habits & the Mastery principles...in one way or another.
At this juncture, let me outline the principal theme of each book:
The Law of Success: the original course on the fundamentals of success - all the seventeen essential principles of personal achievement;
Think & Grow Rich: The seventeen essential principles are reframed & condensed in terms of thirteen concrete steps to wealth creation (in actuality, this is a condensation of the Law of Success);
The Keys to Success: a further elaboration of the seventeen essential principles with concrete suggestions, exercises & advice;
Success Through Positive Mental Attitude: joint authorship with Clement Stone, with a further emphasis on developing a positive mental attitude;
Succeed & Grow Rich Through Persuasion: joint authorship with Clement Stone, with a further emphasis on developing master salesmanship & networking;
[It is pertinent to note that Clement Stone actually built his insurance business empire with these principles.]
My most productive, personal learning experience from Napoleon Hill's work is the understanding - & application - of his success principle #1: Develop Definiteness of Purpose.
[Very surprisingly, J Y Pillay, former Chairman of Singapore Airlines, - who had been credited for building the airline to what it is today, A GREAT WAY TO FLY! - also credited his work axiom to this same success principle, but he attributed it to an ancient Hindu scripture known as Bhagavad Gita.]
I am certainly gratified to note that Napoleon Hill's work had casted so much influence on - & empowered - so many people in the world, including myself.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No