The Law of Success Book Summary - The Law of Success Book explained in key points

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The Law of Success summary

Name: The Law of Success
Rating: 4.6 (809 reviews)
Author: Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill

The 15 Most Powerful Principles for Wealth, Health, and Happiness

4.6 (809 ratings)

26 mins

Brief summary

The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill is a timeless self-help book that offers practical strategies for achieving success in life. It provides a comprehensive framework for overcoming obstacles, developing self-discipline, and mastering the art of persuasion and leadership.

Topics

Personality Success Routines & Habits Confidence

Table of Contents

The Law of Success
Summary of 9 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Learn some 1920s wisdom that still hasn’t gone out of style.

Author Napoleon Hill is like the grandfather of the self-help book genre. Even though his heyday was in the early twentieth century, many of his ideas continue to fill the pages of today’s top motivational and secrets-of-success books. The times may have changed, but people are still people. It was one of the author’s specialties to look at human nature and figure out which of our habits can lead to success, and which can lead to ruin.

In his first 15-volume book, the author lays out a series of lessons that you can take to heart and start putting to use immediately. These lessons will inspire you to take your dreams out of the theoretical phase and into the real world through decisive action.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

the principles of the Master Mind;
how auto-suggestion can make you a better public speaker; and
why you should always follow the Golden Rule.

The foundational concept underpinning success is known as the Master Mind.

Success shouldn’t remain limited to a select few. You may think there’s a wide gap separating you from the titans of industry – like the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, or the automobile innovator Henry Ford, but you’d be mistaken. These weren’t men born with the advantages of wealth or family connections. They went from having next to nothing to accomplishing things few people had even dreamed possible.

As we’ll see in the 15 lessons that we cover in these blinks, what made their achievements possible are the kinds of principles that any able-minded person can learn and master. Before diving into the lessons, though, we need to come to grips with the foundational concept on which all 15 lessons are built. That concept is called Master Mind.

The key message here is: The foundational concept underpinning success is known as the Master Mind.

Have you ever been in the same room as someone else and intuitively known that they’re not on the same wavelength as you? That you simply understand, without speaking to this person, that your personalities are going to be like oil and water?

Well, the same way your mind can pick up on bad vibrations, it can pick up on good ones as well. Not only that, when you have a meeting of minds with someone who has a compatible personality, and an open and receptive mind, you can tap into their archive of knowledge, just as they can tap into yours. Now, when you have a team of people with the right minds and personalities, you can collectively harmonize and form a Master Mind, which can go on to create truly amazing things that would otherwise be out of reach to a mere individual.

This is an important point. Carnegie, Wrigley, Ford – these men weren’t alone in creating their fortunes. Each one made it a point to spend time with his peers and to help one another succeed. For example, Ford went on regular retreats with the inventor Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone, the founder of the world-renowned tire and rubber company that bears his name. They shared priceless wisdom and benefitted immensely by expanding their sources of knowledge.

But remember, Master Minds are only created through harmonious personalities and intentions. Nothing will ruin the arrangement more quickly than inviting in a negative personality with selfish intentions.

Success requires a definite chief aim and self-confidence.

No matter whose success story you most admire, there’s one primary asset that assured that person’s triumph: their brain. If you took away all of the money, the personnel, the factories, and the tools, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie would all be able to restart their businesses in no time. Because power comes first and foremost from the mind. In other words, power comes from the use of organized knowledge.

So, the first step to success is gaining and organizing knowledge. And as we covered in the previous blink, one of the best ways to do that is through harmonizing with other knowledgeable minds. But a wealth of knowledge is nothing unless you put it to use. Which brings us to the first two lessons.

Success requires the habit of saving, as well as initiative and leadership.

As far as so-called “secrets of success” go, saving money isn’t exactly a mystery. You already know that you should save money. But actually doing it is harder. This is why the third lesson is entitled: The Habit of Saving. Sometimes, learning how to do something requires concentrated, repetitive behavior in order to create a habit that will pay dividends in the long run.

The key message here is: Success requires the habit of saving, as well as initiative and leadership.

Success requires both imagination and enthusiasm.

All of the lessons mentioned in these blinks so far lead back to one lesson in particular, the fifth lesson: imagination. This is because, by definition, imagination is the ability to organize knowledge into new and creative systems. But not only that. To become successful, you must overcome fears and convince yourself to take action, which requires the creation of positive mental images that are essential to effective auto-suggestion. You must instill confidence, positivity, and picture yourself achieving your goals if you’re to succeed.

The key message here is: Success requires both imagination and enthusiasm.

You must learn the importance of both self-control and doing more than what you’re paid for.

Enthusiasm is essential to taking action and doing, rather than just sitting at home and thinking about doing. Success requires enthusiasm. But it also requires self-control. Without it, your enthusiasm and willingness to take action can lead you to any number of negative consequences.

The key message here is: You must learn the importance of both self-control and doing more than what you’re paid for.

Make sure you have a pleasing personality and always do your best to think correctly.

We’ve now reached Lesson Nine in our journey through The Law of Success. This brings us to the importance of having a pleasing personality. Now, some might think of this as a call to simply always be smiling, shaking hands, and dishing out compliments. But it’s not as simple as that. A pleasing personality must go hand in hand with genuine interest.

The key message here is: Make sure you have a pleasing personality and always do your best to think correctly.

Concentration and cooperation are two more keys to success.

If there’s one lesson that contains a “magic key,” it’s Lesson Eleven, which stresses the importance of concentration. Now, we’ve already gone over diligence and staying focused on your goal, but concentration is so essential it has its own devoted lesson in The Law of Success.

As Hill defines it, concentration is more than just staying focused. It’s “the ability, through fixed habit and practice, to keep your mind on one subject until you’ve thoroughly familiarized yourself with that subject and mastered it.” In other words, concentration is the path to self-mastery.

Think of any failure as merely temporary and embrace a more tolerant outlook.

For many of us, a fear of failure is closely associated with fear of poverty. Along with worrying about what people might say if we fail in our endeavors, we also fear that if we follow our dreams we might end up penniless.

Fortunately, there’s one simple fact that can help vanquish this tireless enemy: failure is only temporary. For the vast majority of ambitious people out there, failure can be seen as nothing more than a setback. Not only that, failure is often a blessing in disguise. We learn from failures, we stiffen our resolve and become both wiser and stronger. So let’s look at failure by the name it more accurately deserves: temporary setback. In that light, is there really anything to be afraid of?

By following the Golden Rule you’re sure to stay on the right path to success.

You’ve probably heard it before: Do unto others as you’d wish them to do unto you. It’s a sentiment that has been around a long time, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningful. This is, in fact, the essence of the Golden Rule, and the last lesson the author has to offer in this series.

The key message here is: By following the Golden Rule you’re sure to stay on the right path to success.

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What is The Law of Success about?

The Law of Success (1928) covers 15 valuable lessons that you can use to get motivated about turning your plans and dreams into reality. You can put these practical lessons into practice today. They’re designed to help you turn words into action, gain self-confidence, and thrive in any environment.

Who should read The Law of Success?

Inspiration seekers
Salespeople looking for tips on success
People interested in how to gain self-confidence

About the Author

Napoleon Hill went from being raised in a small cabin in Virginia to being one of the foremost authors on the subject of success. He worked as a salesman and as a journalist before becoming the author of one of the top-ten best-selling self-help books of all time, Think and Grow Rich (1937).

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