Simply G's Blog: Rich Man, Poor Man The Story of Napoleon Hill-By JM Emmert-Part #1/3

The greatest achievers say that in a lifetime of setbacks and comebacks, the truest sense of accomplishment is not found in the realization of the goal, but rather in the will to continue when failure breeds doubt.

And so it was in 1927 when 44-year-old Napoleon Hill tried challenging himself to action. He struggled to shake off the “living death” that had enveloped him for more than a year and left him wondering whether to fall quietly into the abyss or rise again.

An assassination attempt in July 1926 had failed, but the fear it had instilled in him had been all encompassing, paralyzing him both physically and mentally. He had met disappointment and failure before and brushed them aside, racing furiously after the rainbow that he was certain would lead him to untold success. But this time, the man who had been in constant motion all his life found himself at a complete standstill.

Appalachian Childhood

Oliver Napoleon Hill was born in Wise County, Va., on Oct. 26, 1883. For young Napoleon, the wealthy industrialists he came to admire in later years were far removed from this primitive land where poverty, illiteracy and superstition reigned.

Nap, as he was called, was 10 when his mother passed away, leaving his father to care for him and his brother. James Hill was ill-equipped as a single parent and had difficulty in taming his son’s increasingly wild nature. Napoleon was enamored with the outlaw Jesse James, carried a six-shooter on his hip and went about the county terrorizing its citizens.

But James Hill soon remarried, and his new wife Martha quickly established herself as a force in the two-room log cabin. Napoleon, still pained from the loss of his mother, found a guiding light. Martha saw the boy’s potential and encouraged him. She told him he wasn’t a bad boy, and that he just needed to direct his energy toward accomplishing something worthwhile.

She suggested he use his overactive imagination to become a writer. When he welcomed the idea, the well-educated Martha spent the next year tutoring him. She promised to buy him a typewriter if he gave up his six-shooter. “If you become as good with a typewriter as you are with that gun,” she said, “you may become rich and famous and known throughout the world.” Napoleon agreed to the deal.

The Hand of Destiny

At 15, he landed a position as a freelance reporter for a group of rural newspapers, followed a few years later by a job with Bob Taylor’s Magazine, a popular periodical that offered advice on achieving power and wealth. His first major interview was with the then richest man in America—73-year-old Pittsburgh steel magnate Andrew Carnegie—and that interview changed his life.

Hill intently listened as Carnegie recounted his extraordinary accomplishments and proffered his theories on personal achievement. “It’s a shame that each new generation must find the way to success by trial and error when the principles are really clear-cut,” Carnegie told him.

What the world needed, Carnegie suggested, was a philosophy of achievement, a compilation of success principles from the country’s greatest businessmen and leaders to show the commonality of their stories, and serve as inspiration and enlightenment to those wanting more in life.

He issued a challenge to Hill: Commit the next 20 years, without compensation, to documenting and recording such a philosophy of success, and he would introduce him to the wealthiest and most successful men of the time. Hill jumped at the opportunity.

And so, for the next two decades, between numerous business ventures and starting a family, Hill went about fulfi lling the pledge. He met with Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, King Gillette and other contemporary giants.

Carnegie believed that “defi niteness of purpose” was the starting point for all success—that “the man who knows exactly what he wants… has no diffi culty in believing in his own ability to succeed.” The concept became the foundation for Hill’s later writing and professional focus.

- See more at: http://www.success.com/article/rich-man-poor-man#sthash.TtCMXY72.dpuf

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GJ Reynolds also known as “G” is a Passionate, Playful & Powerful Warrior Entrepreneur, Author, and Life Transformer. He is also a Visalus Founding Promoter, Ambassador, Co-Founder of the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge, business developer, coach, mentor, trainer, public speaker and radio host. He teaches others how to have fun reclaiming their Life, Health & Prosperity! G is driven to assist others to reach their full potential and having their magnificence to shine. He loves to teach and work with like-minded entrepreneurs and professionals who choose to reclaim their personal power and transform their life, health and prosperity. He lives a life of purpose, on purpose and for purpose. He enjoys the process of his personal, spiritual, and professional journey, while assisting others to do the same. G is at his best when he is learning, teaching, inspiring, creating, organizing, and leading the way! He also enjoys communicating with others that are of like mind and is on a mission to assist millions of people to transform their lives! Need a little help?

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