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Episode 612 · Jul 5, 2022

Napoleon Hill's 17 Principles of Personal Achievement

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George Wright III dedicates this episode of The Daily Mastermind to walking you through Napoleon Hill's 17 principles of personal achievement, the framework Hill developed before he wrote *Think and Grow Rich*. If you want to structure your goals, routines, and affirmations around proven principles, this episode gives you a clear map.

George points out that Andrew Carnegie, worth over $400 billion in today's dollars, challenged Hill in 1908 to research the topic of success. What Hill produced was a set of timeless disciplines that millions of people have used to build extraordinary lives. Here is a summary of all 17 principles so you can study and apply them.

Why Definiteness of Purpose Comes First

Principle one is definiteness of purpose, and Hill places it at the top for good reason. Without a clear purpose and a plan, most people drift through life. Every other principle depends on this one. Before you build habits, join a mastermind, or practice positive mental attitude, you need to know exactly what you are working toward.

How the Mastermind Alliance Multiplies Your Results

Principle two is the mastermind alliance: two or more minds working in harmony toward a common definite objective. George emphasizes that success does not come without the cooperation of others.

"The mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective."

Pair this with principle twelve, teamwork, which Hill describes as harmonious cooperation that is willing, voluntary, and free. Together, mastermind and teamwork form one of the most powerful combinations in the framework.

What Applied Faith, Enthusiasm, and Positive Mental Attitude Have in Common

Three principles deal directly with your inner state. Applied faith (principle three) is the mental state through which your aims and plans are translated into reality. Enthusiasm (principle eight) is faith in action, the burning desire that radiates outward in how you speak and carry yourself. Positive mental attitude (principle seven) is the right mental attitude in all circumstances.

"Success attracts more success while failure attracts more failure."

All three ask you to take ownership of the mental environment you create every day.

How Going the Extra Mile and Personal Initiative Drive Action

Principle four, going the extra mile, is about rendering more and better service than you are currently paid for. When you do, the law of compensation kicks in. Principle six, personal initiative, is the power that starts all action. As George notes, no person is truly free until they do their own thinking and have the courage to act on it.

Why Self-Discipline and Accurate Thinking Are Inseparable

Principle nine, self-discipline, begins with mastery of thought. Hill's point is direct: if you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Principle ten, accurate thinking (what George calls focused thought), pairs perfectly with this. Controlled attention (principle eleven) extends both: it is the ability to focus the power of your mind on a definite objective and keep it there.

"If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs."

The Remaining Principles: Adversity, Vision, Health, and Habits

George rounds out the 17 with principles that are easy to overlook but just as critical. Adversity and defeat (principle thirteen) reminds you that many so-called failures are only temporary setbacks and can prove to be blessings in disguise. Creative vision (principle fourteen) is developed through free and fearless use of imagination, not a gift you are born with or without. Sound health (principle fifteen) starts with a health consciousness, the same way financial success starts with a prosperity consciousness. Budgeting time and money (principle sixteen) acknowledges that both are precious and finite. And habits (principle seventeen) bring everything together: you are where you are because of your established habits, thoughts, and deeds.

A pleasing (or attractive) personality (principle five) rounds out the list as the quality that determines whether you are liked or disliked and whether others choose to cooperate with you.

Action Steps

  • Write out all 17 principles and review them weekly so they become part of your daily thinking, not just concepts you heard once.
  • Identify which principle you are weakest in right now and focus your next 30 days on building that one habit.
  • Form or join a mastermind group of two or more people who share a common goal and meet consistently.
  • Practice going the extra mile in one area of your work this week, before you are asked or paid for it.
  • Audit your daily habits against principle seventeen: are your current habits moving you toward your purpose or away from it?

Napoleon Hill's framework has guided millions of people for over a century because the principles are not trends. They are disciplines. George Wright III's invitation is simple: study them, teach them, apply them every month, and let them carry you toward the life you were meant to live. It's never too late to start living the life you were meant to live.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. My name is George Wright III with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education so that you can create your ultimate destiny. I hope you're having an amazing Monday. It's episode 23. And what I'd like to do is give you today a guide to structure your goals, affirmations, routines, and so on in the month of March. So what better way to do that than to go where success leaves clues, individuals that have been super successful. And I wanted to use an example of something that millions of people have followed over the years to create massive success. And so I turned to Napoleon Hill. It was Napoleon Hill in 1908 that was asked by Andrew Carnegie to do an interview, and he challenged him to do research on the topic of success. And Andrew Carnegie at the time was one of the most successful men in the world business-wise. In fact, Andrew Carnegie was worth in today's dollars over $400 billion. That's more than most of the most successful people in the world added together. And I'll tell you, success definitely leaves clues. And so I wanted to go back to Napoleon Hill because prior to writing Thinking Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill wrote The Keys to Success, The 17 Principles of personal achievement. And I'd like to outline these 17 principles or lessons in today's episode. I want to do that so that you'll have something you can listen to over and over. And if you don't have time to right now, you can go back and write it down, study, learn, teach, and apply these principles in the month of March in order to catapult you to your success throughout the coming year. So let's go ahead and get started. I'm going to outline each of these 17 principles and lessons and give you a quick highlight. And then I encourage you to study them over and over. So let's start. Lesson one definiteness of purpose You see definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement Without a purpose and a plan people drift aimlessly through life Lesson number two the mastermind alliance The mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others. We discussed that in our first episode. Lesson number three, applied faith. Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans, and purpose may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent, and faith is absolutely a requirement. Lesson number four, going the extra mile. Going the extra mile is the action of rendering more and better service than that for which you were presently paid. When you go the extra mile, the law of compensation comes into play. This goes along with how you do anything is how you do everything. Going the extra mile is something you don't hear about a lot lately, but it is a key principle in helping you to be successful. Lesson number five, a pleasing personality. Personality is the sum total of one's mental, spiritual, and physical traits and habits that distinguish you from others. It's the factor that determines whether one's liked or disliked by others. But I'd like to say this is an attractive personality that you really want to acquire. Lesson number six, personal initiative. Personal initiative, sorry. Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of what you begin, right? It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own. Lesson number seven, positive mental attitude. We talk about this a lot. Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success while failure attracts more failure Positive mental attitude helps you to get more of what you focus on Lesson number eight enthusiasm Enthusiasm is faith in action It is the intense emotion known as burning desire It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one's voice and countenance. So lesson number eight is enthusiasm. Lesson number nine, self-discipline. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Isn't that interesting? Self-discipline begins with the mastery of thought. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Lesson number 10, accurate thinking. The power of thought is the most dangerous or the most beneficial power available to man, depending on how it is used. Accurate thinking, or as I like to refer to it as focused thoughts. Lesson number 17, controlled attention. Controlled attention leads to mastery in any type of human endeavor because it enables one to focus the power of his mind upon the attainment of definite objectives and to keep it so directed at will. Controlled attention, also known as focus. Lesson 12, teamwork. You don't hear about this a lot. Teamwork is harmonious cooperation that is willing, voluntary, and free. Whenever the spirit of teamwork is dominating influence in business or industry, the success is inevitable. And I do believe that teamwork coupled with mastermind is a powerful principle. Lesson number 13, adversity and defeat. Adversity and defeat. Many so-called so-called failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise. Individual success usually is an exact proportion of the scope of the defeat the individual has experienced or mastered Many so failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise Isn that interesting And it perspective right Lesson 14 creative vision Creative vision is developed by the free and fearless use of one imagination. It's not a miraculous quality with which one is gifted or is not gifted at birth. creative vision. Lesson 15, health. Sound health begins with a sound health consciousness, just as financial success begins with a prosperity consciousness. Lesson 15 is health. Lesson 16 is budgeting time and money. Boy, that's one we all struggle with. Time and money are precious resources, and few people striving for success ever believe they possess either one in excess. Now, lesson number 17, it's your habits. Developing and establishing positive habits leads to peace of mind, health, and financial security. You are where you are because of your established habits and your thoughts and deeds. So with that, those are the 17 principles that I wanted to outline to you. I encourage you to study them, and we're going to be talking about these over the coming month because I believe they're not only principles that millions and millions of people have basically used and benefited from, but they're timeless disciplines that you must have and you must implement in order to create your ultimate destiny. As always, my goal with the Daily Mastermind podcast and the mobile app is to help you provide resources, support, and mastermind ideas to create your ultimate destiny and unleash your potential. I listened to Les Brown the other day at an event I was at, and he said, you have greatness inside of you, but you got to be hungry. And I believe that you can do it. And I look forward to talking with you some more tomorrow. So have an amazing day.