Monday, June 5, 2011

          "If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

 - Thomas A. Edison

 When Andrew Carnegie, the great steel magnate, commissioned Napoleon Hill to codify his philosophy of success into a form that could be taken to the world, he imparted to Hill that his first test of any man's potential for future success was to measure the man's willingness to go the extra mile – to render more and better service than that for which he is paid and to do it in a pleasingly positive mental attitude. His second test was to determine whether or not the subject has a definite major purpose in life and a plan to attain it. When you consider that most people are hoping to be afforded a shortcut to a vague notion of some kind of success they hope to achieve some day, is it any wonder that most people sorely underachieve in life? This is an indictment of mankind that I take no pleasure in leveling – primarily because it is an offence I too have been guilty of committing.

 I don't think most people have any clue what they are capable of accomplishing in life. Some people suffer from a lack of willingness to go the extra mile; they are just not willing to do what it takes to accomplish a significant goal. More often than not, however, people suffer from either a lack of clarity or a lack of belief that they can actually achieve their goals – and the two are linked. If you are not crystal clear about what you want, you cannot possibly have any kind of detailed plan of how to attain it. It does not engender faith to shoot for a goal you don't clearly understand and have no idea how to attain. Clarity alone can be magical.

 You are a miracle; between 75 and 100 trillion living cells all working together to produce an animated life form created in the image of The Almighty. You have more potential than you have any idea what to with as no human being uses more than even a sliver of his or her mental capacity. Understand that you have been endowed with the seeds of greatness and engineered for success. Get clear about what you want, create a detailed plan to get it, and get to work. Armed with a goal, a plan, and initiative, you will start to believe. When belief crystallizes to absolute faith you will astound yourself with what you will accomplish.

 

Jeff Young