Napoleon Hill’s Golden Rules summary

Difficult problems require creative solutions. Yet, when it comes to developing these great ideas, there are two difficulties: one is developing the idea, the other is convincing people how great it is. Often, the latter problem is the hardest to solve.

If you want to improve your skills in convincing others, then your best teacher isn’t a guru or businessman – it’s the poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

If you think back on your life, can you recall a time when you felt properly motivated after being harshly criticized or humiliated? Probably not, because if you want someone to do something the best way is through positive reinforcement.

In other words, if you want to improve the work performance of your employees, you need to use positive suggestions, not negative ones.

When you think about “praying” for something, your first thought might be to pray for the strength to be more virtuous, or for someone else to get well.

But prayer can also be used for more practical things, such as an improvement in your business performance.

Many people go through life with two main goals: material wealth and happiness. The good news is, you can attain both of these with just one characteristic: self-confidence.

How important is self-confidence? Well, to start with, you’ll never be happy without it, because if you hope to gain the things you want in life, you first need to believe that you deserve those things, and that takes self-confidence.

You won’t get far if you give up on a project at the first sign of trouble. If you want to turn an idea into a successful business, it’s going to take persistence.

If you feel you lack the willpower to stick with a task when it starts to get unpleasant, here’s some more good news: there’s a simple process for developing habits which will keep you persistent in achieving success.

It’s no coincidence that the students who go to the best schools tend to become our leading researchers, politicians and artists. Like the rest of us, they’re shaped by their environment, and in the case of a world-class school, shaped into world-class professionals.

Whether you realize it or not, you’re constantly being influenced by your environment and surroundings, since what you’re exposed to everyday impacts your thoughts, and your thoughts play a huge factor in determining what occurs in your life.

Here’s an all too familiar scenario: You’re at a party, and you notice someone familiar approaching you with a smile and a friendly greeting. She knows your name, but you’re drawing a blank and can’t seem to recall hers, or where it was you met her. Oh, the awkwardness!

While this kind of unfortunate embarrassment can make networking a challenge, the good news here is that a faulty memory can be strengthened.