One of my all time favorite books is Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. It is an amazing book and if you have not read it I suggest you get down to your local bookstore or get on Amazon.com and order. Read it and then read it again. It is an amazing reference book if you are seeking personal success in your life. I find for myself the more I reference it the more success I achieve in all areas of my life.
The verse I want to share with you is in chapter 2 on Faith in a discussion on autosuggestion. Rather than trying to explain it I will just write it out in full and then let you pull from it what you will. (To get the full effect pull out you own copy of Think and Grow Rich, dust it off and take a look at it!) And ladies it is an old book just replace man with woman where appropriate:-)
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will~
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
“Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”
These are truly words to live by and to teach our children. These concepts can make the difference in our own lives but our children need to learn them for success as well. Recently I was able to use this while teaching my 4 year old daughter a very valuable life lesson.
About a month ago I took the training wheels off my daughter Ella’s bike. She learned very quickly to ride as long as someone helped her get started.
The next day Ella and her older sister Donna were out very early practicing Ella’s new found skill. Ella was convinced she needed Donna’s help to get started pedaling. I recognized that if Donna continued to help her she would never learn how to get started on her own. I explained this to Donna and Ella and told Donna she could not help Ella start pedaling anymore.
Ella became very upset and started to say things like, “I can’t” and “I will never be able to do it.” I was unable to get her calmed down and I could see that what she thought was diminishing any of her ability to even ride with help getting started. So I put the bike away and told her when she could say, “I can” she could have it back.
This was a very difficult task for a 4 year old child. But she really wanted to practice so she reluctantly calmed herself down. I then coached her to say out loud, “I can do it.”
Now Ella rides like a pro!
It took a few times for her to say “I can do it” before she actually believed what she was saying but when she did the results were amazing. Within five minutes she had conquered starting herself pedaling on her bike. When I could see that she was struggling some I could see her saying to herself, “I can do it” over and over. It was amazing to see what Napoleon Hill described in auto-suggestion in action in a four year-old.
These concepts are just as important to teach our children as they are for us to practice in our own lives. As most of us parents know that our children learn best by example. If they see us practice this they will pick it up in their life as well.
So if you are looking for a positive change in your life, start by thinking you can do it and then watch as the amazing story of your life unfolds! For more wisdom to live by study the book “Think and Grow Rich” as it is full of valuable nuggets to apply in your life to help you achieve the success you desire.
If you want to learn more about what inspires me daily visit my Website Here.
