Have you ever
read the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill? If you did, then I am sure
you have been astounded by the classic insights presented by the author. It
represents the distilled wisdom of distinguished men of great wealth and
achievement of America. I highly recommend that you buy a copy of it because it
will help you immensely in your pursuit of success.
According to
Napoleon Hill, there are three sources of knowledge, the Infinite Intelligence,
the Accumulated Experience, the Experiment and Research.
Infinite
Intelligence
From the word itself Infinite means endless, unlimited,
vast, immeasurable and eternal. Intelligence means acumen, aptitude, wisdom,
knowledge, and insights. If you combine the two, we have an endless source of knowledge
(walang hanggang kaalaman o katalinuhan).
Is it really possible to have all the answers in man’s quests for “hidden”
knowledge which he “needs” to further man’s thirst for progress? Most of
man’s inventions sprang not from the five senses that a man has but because of the
Infinite Intelligence. Man’s knowledge is limited to the five senses he is
using and yet most of America’s wealthiest persons and greatest inventors used
the Infinite Intelligence in order to create their own fortunes and mark in the
history of mankind.
The Five Senses
The five senses are hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste.
From these senses we are able to process information about our surroundings and
the objects around us. We can perceive what an event, thing or situation is all
about.
Without the sense of hearing, a deaf person will never be
able to decipher the sounds of the chirping birds, the honking of horns in the
middle of the traffic, the flapping of the leaves and most importantly the
sounds of I love you from his loved ones. He needs to use his sight sense in
order to distinguish what is happening in his surroundings. In our advance
society, we already have experts in sign language who teaches our brothers/sisters
on how to communicate with others. There are various available devices in the
market created for deaf people.1 In
fact, an inventor already created a device that allows deaf people to “feel”
the music by using their finger tips.2 Obviously,
without the aid of these devices and of other persons, knowledge coming from
sounds is limited and restricted to deaf people.
In the same way, without the sense of sight, how does a
blind person going to distinguish the different colors of the flowers? How is
he going to differentiate the buildings in the city? How is he going to identify
the cars around the streets, and the jeepneys that populate the roads?
Scientists said the some blind people can see through their ears. 3 In fact, they can even “see” visual images
when they dream. 4 However, a blind
person from birth never saw anything. He cannot see black because he did not
know what black is. He see abyss.
Infinite
Intelligence is abstract and intangible. I had a difficulty understanding its
concepts by just reading a couple of chapters. I had to reread the entire book
and I promised myself that I will never stop until I fully understand the very
detailed nature of this phrase.
There are factors or stimulants to which our minds can reach
the state of creative imagination. These are:
a.
Desire
for sex expression
b.
Love
c.
Burning
desire for fame, power, financial gain, money.
d.
Music
e.
Friendship
f.
A
Mastermind alliance between two or more people in pursuit of a common objective
g.
Mutual
suffering
h.
Autosuggestion
i.
Fear
j.
Narcotics/Alcohol
Based on the
above stimulants, a man can find himself in an above average plane of thought
where the five senses do seem of no use.
When you have
that burning desire to get rich and get out of poverty, you will burn all the
bridges in order to achieve your goal.
There was
this great warrior who succeeded by removing all options to retreat. It’s a win
or die situation. He ordered his soldiers to load all the equipments and
armaments that they will use in battling their enemy into their boats. Once
they reached the shore of their enemy, he ordered his soldiers to unload all of
their equipments and armors. After the soldiers have finished unloading their
stuffs from their boats, he instructed the soldiers to burn their boats. He
then shouted to them “You see the boats going up in smoke. We cannot leave
these shores alive unless we win! We have no choice, we win or we perish!”
Their enemy is powerful and vastly outnumbered his soldiers. They won.
It’s the same
thing in life, you need to burn your boats and will your mind that it is either
you win or you remain broke for the rest of your life. There is no retreat, no
comfort zone, and no looking back to the naysayers, to the negative people, to
the unhelpful “culture”, and to your nagging past of failures. It is a
difficult task and yet when you willed yourself into the realm of prosperity,
nobody can stop you. Yes, nobody can stop you.
Obviously,
Infinite Intelligence as a source of knowledge is too general to apply its
principles in stock market investing. However, it is a very useful tool in
discerning on what path you should take as far as getting rich is concern.
Maybe the road to success for you is not even stock market but rather other
forms of investment vehicles like real estate or business or anything that the
Infinite Intelligence may share with you. One thing is for sure though, if you
use Infinite Intelligence as a source of knowledge, it can lead to drastic
changes in your financial life so long as you apply its known principles.
Accumulated Experience
If you are
wise, you will learn from the mistakes of others. You will apply what the
learned has accumulated in their own lifetimes, by their own experiences. Indeed,
more gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has ever been taken from
the earth.
Remember the
old cliché, “Experience is the best teacher”? Experience has taught us to
respond better if a familiar situation appears before us. For example, you’ve
always been asked to speak or give some comments on special occasions. Being a
shy guy/gal, you always stutter when you speak. And then as you go along, your
mind becomes blank. This experience will help you become prepared the next time
you are asked again to speak. You visualize yourself delivering an excellent
speech in front of an appreciative and animated crowd. You began to prepare and
avoid the same mistakes again. You turn an experience into a lesson and you become
a better speaker.
Most of the
struggles, problems, difficulties and worries that you have encountered are already
experienced by other people. You are not the only person who has that kind of
problem. It was experienced by others already. These experiences have been mostly
recorded in the books. Read them, read the solution and act on them. Now,
sometimes, the problem has been encountered by your parents or your neighbors
or your friends or your classmates. You can ask them, their response and the
results that have followed so that you can make at least a perspective on what you
are going to do to your situation.
Research and Experiment
Sometimes,
you will encounter a situation you are not familiar with. The circumstance dictates
that you must respond into it by doing an experiment or research. In science,
when they want to test if a certain mix of chemicals is useful in curing a
disease, scientists do research and experiment. Since they do not know yet the
formula for curing a disease, they keep on experimenting until the right mix of
chemicals produce a positive result in curing a disease.
In life, it
also the same. You must research and experiment when knowledge is not available
through accumulated experience. You must use your creative imagination in
certain situations.
