The Humble Beginnings of Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill [1883-1970] was not born into wealth; this one simple fact, when considering where his life led him, served as even more proof that the man knew of what he spoke, wrote, and taught.

Hill was born in 1883 in Pound, Virginia, an Appalachian mountain town in the US state of Virginia, USA.  The home he was born into is described as an “impoverished, one-room cabin” and Hill’s family struggled financially throughout his childhood and early adulthood.

Hill’s mother passed away when he was only nine years old, and his father remarried two years later.   Not long after that, at the very early age of thirteen, Napoleon Hill went to work for several small-town newspapers, working as a “mountain reporter”.  This was the very humble beginning of the writing career that would give birth to one of the world’s all-time best sellers, Think and Grow Rich.

Early on the intention of Hill’s fledgling writing career was to help him fund his way through college. He used what he earned as a teenage newspaper reporter to pay for law school, but was forced to withdraw when he did not have the funds to continue his law degree. In the end, the financial struggles of Napoleon Hill proved to be to the distinct advantage of him and every other person who has gone on to achieve wealth thanks to Hill’s work.

A Serendipitous Return

After leaving law school, Napoleon Hill returned to journalism as a means of support. It was a serendipitous move that not only paved the way for the rest of Hill’s life, but also for millions of others who came to be influenced by Hill’s later works.

In the early 1900′s one of Napoleon Hill’s assignments was to interview selected persons of fame and fortune and to feature each in a series of newspaper articles. In 1908, this assignment led him to the door of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-born billionaire-steel magnate and philanthropist.

The Mentor: Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie [1835-1919], who like Napoleon Hill was born into virtual poverty, saw great potential in Hill, and encouraged him to do more than simply finish his series of articles. Carnegie encouraged Hill to carefully study the persons whom he was writing about, and to take on the very large task of interviewing as many as 500 people of wealth and success with the end-goal being to decipher what it is that the rich and successful have in common, and deducing this down into a simple formula for success that any person could follow—man or woman, born to wealth, poverty, or average means. The only financial support that he offered Hill for the endeavour was a modest reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses that Napoleon Hill would incur in travel and interviewing the selected subjects.

Hill, of course, accepted Carnegie’s challenge and rose to it and beyond. In the course of researching the formula for success that any man or woman could follow, he interviewed no less than 500 of the most successful and wealthiest people in the world at the time. His research put him into contact with many hugely famous names in a wide variety of professions, including the political arena where Napoleon Hill would also later serve, going on to become the advisor to two American Presidents.

Deducing The Formula

For all time Andrew Carnegie believed strongly that any person could become wealthy and successful.  He also strongly believed in a formula for success and wealth; he believed that formula, once discovered, would prove to be a basic, timeless strategy based on a core set of principles.  He believed that those core principles would become readily apparent after interviewing, researching, and analysing the lives, beliefs, and actions of those whom he considered to be true successes. Proving this and deducing the formula was the task that he set Napoleon Hill.

This formula, in simple terms, was to Think And Grow Rich.  Readers of Napoleon Hill’s books know this to be the common thread of the super successful.  The nay-sayers, who deny this formula to work – are predominantly not wealthy people.  That surely says something in itself!

Napoleon Hill – In His Own Words

Napoleon Hill speaks of his meeting with Andrew Carnegie and of, possibly his most famous saying:
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve” 

 

The Protégé: W. Clement Stone

W. Clement Stone [1902– 2002] was a businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author.  Was a prodigy of Napoleon Hill and has mentor, Dale Carnegie.

W. Clement Stone's father died when he was 3, leaving the family impoverished because of his gambling losses. At the age of 6, Stone began hawking newspapers on Chicago's South Side, while his mother worked as a dressmaker. At 13, he owned his own newsstand.

At the age of 16, Stone went to Detroit to help his mother in the insurance agency she had opened there. He went from office to office, making cold calls [he called them gold calls] to sell casualty insurance and he was soon making $100 a week.

One of his favorite expressions when describing his cold calling and sales abilities was that he "...Mowed them down". He devoured the Horatio Alger stories, where poor boys overcome adversity to make good.

Stone dropped out of high school to concentrate on selling insurance. He eventually received a diploma from the Young Men's Christian Association Central High School in Chicago. The remainder of his formal education consisted of a few courses at Detroit College of Law and Northwestern University.

Much of what is known about W. Clement Stone comes from his autobiography "The Success System That Never Fails." In that book, he tells of his early business life which started with the selling of newspapers in restaurants. At the time, this was a very novel thing to do, which deviated dramatically from the normal practice of young boys hawking newspapers on street corners.

At first, the managers of restaurants tried to discourage him from this practice, but he gradually won them over, due in part to his politeness, charm, persistence and the fact that by and large, the patrons of the restaurants had no objection to this new way of selling his newspapers.

From there he graduated to selling insurance policies very successfully in the offices of downtown businesses. His mother was the initiator of his new career, and together they did quite well, she as the manager of the business, and he as the salesperson.

Stone ran $100 into millions with a strong desire to succeed and by putting into practice the principles in the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.  He was the living example of the proverbial rags-to-riches protagonist in Horatio Alger's stories he loved so much.

Ultimately he was the Founder and long-time Chairman of Combined Insurance Company of America.  With its origins in the years of the ‘Great Depression’ amidst adversity, it was to become one of the largest insurance company in the world – arguably second only to Aetna Insurance.

One of his many favourite sayings was –

“If you have everything to gain, if successful

And nothing to lose if not, then by all means try.”

The Publisher of this copy of Napoleon Hill’s famous book, had the good fortune to work for W. Clement Stone in 1972, met the man in person, and came under a lot of his teaching.

It is from that background that “SYSTEM-300K’™ has been developed to help others benefit from the teachings I was fortune enough to be the recipient of.  And to show and teach others how that it doesn’t matter their background or education, anyone can become successful through applying the principle of a POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE – as coined by Mr. Stone.

Think and Grow Rich

It took Napoleon Hill some twenty years before the first fruits of his labor were produced. The first introduction to Hill and Carnegie’s formula did not come in "Think and Grow Rich", but in a home-study course called “The Law of Success“. The research and information that he gathered in the formation of that course did, however, serve as the foundation for Think And Grow Rich, the book that is known as the “cornerstone” of financial success literature and which has launched numerous careers, and countless numbers on to success and wealth.

SPECIAL NOTE:  For the moment we have put "SYSYEM-300K" on hold, so please disregard the links that now don't work as much of the information contained in here is left for the benefit of those who wish to learn more.  We have the Resell Rights of much of what is above and will make thatinformation available to those who wish, in due course.

And my friend, if read and practiced this, will

Change your life and guarantee your success also.

 

STILL SKEPTICAL?

 

SYSTEM-300K™ - The above is the background to the development of this ‘SYSTEM’ and the fundamental teachings and philosophy behind it.  Anyone, doesn’t matter their background, education or level of skill [or lack of] can become exceedingly successful in life.

Is a Co-operative type of “Home-based” business using the exact same principles that Napoleon Hill teaches. It is designed specifically to help people who want to be helped, to develop their very own business.

We achieve this by supplying people all the basic knowledge needed, the ‘tools’ with which they work, and the support needed to succeed.  This is not about one person getting wealthy at the expense of others.  It is very much about everyone helping everyone else to become equally successful.

It is a ‘Mindset’ change designed for the changing times of our world today.  It has well been said “The opposite to bravery is not cowardice but “CONFORMITY”.  Today 95% of us never become successful because we are caught in the trap of ‘Conformity’

We conform to what we are taught – to what ‘society’ expects of us – to what our friends and peers think.  We judge and condemn things on the basis of ‘conformity’ – not on what our own instincts tell us.

SYSTEM-300K™ is certainly not a ‘scam’ as there is real value for money here – in fact, for what’s involved it could be considered far too cheap.  But then, it’s all about helping people.

It also is certainly not a “Pyramid Thingy” as there is no one ‘at the top making money at others expense’.  But then again, a ‘pyramid’ is the perception people wrongly have because they ‘conform’ to popular beliefs.  When in actual fact they probably work for one – or have: