2022-01
2022-01
Friday Jan 21, 2022
Friday Jan 21, 2022
Welcome back to PART 4 of Making 2022 You Best Year Ever with EPISODE #194 on “Perfecting the Skills of Organized Planning, Decision-Making and Persistence” as we continue our deep dive into Napoleon Hill’s Classic book, Think and Grow Rich, that has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
On this episode, you will learn:
✔︎ Review PART 1, 2, 3 to Reinforce the First 6 Chapters of Think and Grow Rich.
✔︎ Why the Skills of Organized Planning , Decision-Making and Persistence are important and Timeless Leadership Characteristics.
✔︎The Major Attributes of Leadership.
✔︎ The Major Causes of Failure in Leadership.
✔︎ Strategies to Improve Your Decision-Making and Persistence Muscles.
For those new, or returning guests, welcome back. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you who tune in, have been fascinated with learning, understanding, and applying the most current brain research to improve productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. This month, I decided to share my notes with you on a book that I have been studying every January since 2018, with Paul Martinelli, who has studied this book for most of his career. It was the book that my mentor Bob Proctor has studied for his entire life, over 57 years, and a book that some of the wisest people in the world have studied.
If you have been following our episodes of Napoleon Hill’s Classic book, you will recall how
PART 1 began with a reminder from Grant Cardone that “in order to get to the next level of whatever it is that we are doing, we must think and act in a wildly different way than we previously have been.”[i] We outlined all of the 15 principles that we will be diving into and in
PART 2[ii] we looked at the importance of positive thinking, being crystal clear with what we want, and choosing faith over fear in pursuit of our goals.
PART 3[iii] we examined the importance of putting these goals on autopilot with what Hill calls “autosuggestion” and then further honing our craft by studying, learning, and developing specialized knowledge that will separate you from others, making you truly unique with your talent that you’ll continue to perfect in your lifetime, while using your imagination to keep building and perfecting whatever it is that you want to create in your life.
Now we move into Chapter 7 on Organized Planning, Chapter 8 on Decision, and Chapter 9, my all-time favorite, on Persistence. If you think about it, we have developed our vision in the first six chapters, have probably created a plan to move towards what we want, and are using our mind, our five senses, and even thinking beyond our five senses with our 6 faculties of the mind that we reviewed on episode #67.[iv] These next three chapters are integral for making sure our plans stay on track, that we take continual action steps towards our crystal-clear vision, with a never give up attitude. Which leads us to…
Chapter 7 Organized Planning
This chapter holds some timeless secrets for success that are so important, you can go to Amazon and find hundreds of books that focus on “organization” whether in your personal or professional life. You can browse through Netflix and find shows based on the importance of keeping your home “organized” with the show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo[v] where she explains the energy that frees up when your home goes from disorderly to orderly.
Hill reminds us in the beginning of this chapter on the importance of organized planning when he states “if the plan you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan” (CH7, Page 117, TAGR) and that “temporary defeat should only mean one thing—the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan.” (CH7, Page 117, TAGR). Remember Thomas Edison “failed” 10,000 times before he perfected the incandescent light bulb.
“A QUITTER NEVER WINS AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS” Hill suggests writing this sentence out on a piece of paper “and place it where you will see it every night before you go to sleep, and every morning before you go to work.” (CH7, Page 118, TAGR). I remember in 6th grade, my teacher, Mr. Ron Walker had a poster above the clock in our classroom at Norman Ingram Public School in Toronto, with a beat-up kid trying to learn hockey. He has band aids all over him, cuts, and bruises, but at the top of the poster was written that phrase “A QUITTER NEVER WINS AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS.” I used to stare at that poster often, not because I wanted to learn that sport, maybe a bit because it was right over the clock that I kept my eye on, but that phrase would later be something that would become a habit and would lead me to places that most people would never see, because the win often occurs AFTER most people would typically give up. We’ll examine this on a deeper level in the Persistence chapter.
In this chapter, on Organized Planning, Hill writes about the TOP 11 Major Attributes of Leadership, and while all of them are important, the ones that stood out to me are that leaders possess:
Unwavering Courage “that comes from knowledge of self and of one’s occupation”(CH 7, Page 120, TAGR)
Self-control “people who cannot control themselves cannot control others”(CH 7, Page 120, TAGR)
Definiteness of Decision “People who waver in their decisions show that they are not sure of themselves” (CH 7, Page 120, TAGR)
Definiteness of Plans “The successful leader must plan the work and work the plan.”(CH 7, Page 120, TAGR)
The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For “One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity and of willingness, upon the part of the leaders, to do more than they require of their followers” (CH 7, Page 120, TAGR) and
Mastery of Detail of everything that pertains to “the leader’s position” (CH 7, Page 120, TAGR)
You will see how these characteristics of leadership all tie into the next few chapters we will be looking at.
Napoleon Hill also lists the TOP 10 Major Causes of Failure in Leadership in this chapter, and the first one is “The inability to organize details” (CH.7, page 122, TAGR) where “the successful leader must be the master of all details connected to that position” (CH.7, page 123, TAGR).
While I think ALL the 10 Major Causes of Failure are important to read through, and take an honest look at, the first one will set you up for success if you can master organization in your personal and professional life as the ability to organize details in our workplace begins with the ability to organize details within ALL the major areas of our life. I covered the nine environments of our life, on our episode that launched 2021 last January, on EPISODE #103 “3 Ways to Reset, Refuel and Recharge Your Brain”[vi] and I do highly recommend taking a 360 look at our life every year to evaluate where energy might be leaking that could be directed somewhere else. Our environments (that surround us) either inspire us or expire us. They either add energy and move you ahead or drain your energy and hold you back.
Whether this is fair or not, it’s easy to walk past someone’s work environment and notice if it’s organized, (giving energy vs draining energy) or sit in their car, and look around and notice if it’s kept clean, (giving energy vs draining energy) or open up their closet and see how their clothes are organized, (you get the picture) Our environments and how we keep them give anyone a glimpse into how we value organization in the major areas of our life.
The statement “How you do anything is how you do everything” which says a lot and means that the small details matter. Hill put the inability to organize details as his first Major Cause of Failure and he even leaves a spot open for you to add you own idea to this list, in spot #31.
He reminds us to “know thyself” and we couldn’t agree more. Our second episode on this podcast was called “Know Thyself”[vii] still remains as one of our most popular episodes. We launched our podcast with the topic of Self-Awareness to kick off our first social and emotional learning competency since to “know thyself” is the most substantial achievement we can have in our lifetime.
“The major value in life is not what you get. It’s what you become.” (Jim Rohn, American author, speaker and entrepreneur).
Hill reminds us that “you should know all of your weaknesses so that you may either bridge them or eliminate them entirely…you can know yourself only through accurate analysis.” (CH 7, Page 144, TAGR).
Do you know yourself? Your strengths AND weaknesses?
Hill offers a 28-question inventory to help us to self-assess ourselves, decrease our faults, and increase our virtues.
Chapter 8 Decision
Hill opens up this chapter by sharing that an “accurate analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced failure disclosed the fact that lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of failure.” (CH 8, Page 157, TAGR). He says that this is not a statement of theory, but a fact and that successful people “had the habit of reaching decisions promptly and of changing these decisions slowly, if and when they were changed.” (CH 8, Page 157, TAGR)
He shared that one of Henry Ford’s outstanding qualities was “his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely and changing them slowly.” (CH 8, Page 158, TAGR)
How do you make decisions? Remember that you “have a brain and mind of your own. Use it and reach your own decisions.” (CH 8, Page 159, TAGR).
Making decisions requires courage and “the great decisions which served as the foundation of civilization were reached by assuming great risks.” (CH 8, Page 160, TAGR). You can read through some examples that Hill provides of those famous people in history who made decisions that required courage. Some of them are so moving, that they inspired me many years ago, before deciding to move from Toronto to the United States, to purchase a poster that has been in my office ever since I made this move, with the word Courage is written on the top, along with the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that says “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision which no man could have dreamed would come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.” (Goethe)
This is true (with a committed decision all sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred) and cannot be experienced until AFTER the committed decision is made, and all other options or bridges are burned. Like we mentioned in PART 2 of this study, in Chapter 1 where “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat.” (CH 2, page 21, TAGR). Barnes did this when he found his way to New Jersey to meet with Edison, and Dr. David Sinclair did it when he left Australia for MIT.[viii]
Do you make decisions quickly and change them slowly?
“You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it and reach you own decisions.” (CH8, Page 159, TAGR).
Chapter 9 Persistence
This chapter is to me, the most important chapter of the book. It’s so important that I put a tab labelled PERSISTENCE instead of just a chapter number so I could refer to this chapter often when needed.
People who reach high levels of success in their life can usually tell you where they have applied persistence to get what they wanted, with the mixture of their will (one of the higher faculties of the mind). Successful people are often “known as cold-blooded and sometimes ruthless. Often they are misunderstood. What they have is willpower, which they mix with persistence” (CH. 9, Page 175, TAGR) to get what they want. The word “persistence” is “to character, what carbon is to steel.” (CH 9, Page 178, TAGR). “Without persistence, you will be defeated, even before you start. With persistence, you will win.” (CH 9, Page 178, TAGR).
STRENGTHENING YOUR “PERSISTENCE” MUSCLES
I was taught to use this skill in my early days of working with Proctor. There was an activity he would have us to do that was meant to develop “Persistence” so that it became a habit. He would have us read this chapter, for 14 days in a row. The entire chapter, every day, for 14 days, and if for some reason, you missed a day, you would need to start over again. This was much easier for me in the days before I had children, and I read this chapter often. Fast forward to 2019 when Paul Martinelli challenged us to read the chapter for 14 days in a row, I thought “that’s a piece of cake” and I took the challenge. I would have to say this was one of the most difficult things I have done in recent years and could see exactly how it builds your persistence muscles. I set my alarm to wake up a bit earlier than usual, and went to my office, and every morning, would read this chapter using the small light in my office, so I didn’t wake anyone else up in the house. I wouldn’t say it was easy but try it yourself and see how you do. It was smooth sailing for me until one morning I was at my desk reading, and one of the kids came into my office not feeling well, and I put my book down to solve her tummy ache and get her ready for school. The day had started, and I had missed reading the chapter. I didn’t have a block of time in the work day to do this, so I had to take something off my schedule, to get back on track. This activity will open your eyes to how different roadblocks will come your way, and take your eye off your goals, and without the use of your will, you would probably let that one thing fall off your radar. And you will have to start over again at day 1 if that happens. Try this challenge, and tick off every day that you read the Persistence chapter from start to finish and see if you can do this 14 days in a row. It’s an eye-opening activity that will give you incredible self-awareness. Try it, and let me know what you notice.
Never underestimate the compounding effect of consistency.
“A good example of the power of persistence is show business. From all over the world people have come to Hollywood seeking fame, fortune, power, love or whatever it is that human beings call success…But Hollywood is not easily nor quickly conquered. It acknowledges talent, recognizes genius and pays off in money only after one has refused to quit. The secret is always inseparably attached to one word—persistence.” (CH 9, Page 180, TAGR).
It requires discipline—the ability to give yourself a command and follow through.
Who do you know who is persistent?
If you are in the profession of sales, someone who is persistent will be conditioned to not take “no” for an answer in the sales cycle. When the customer says “no” the persistent sales representative will ask questions to see if there is any possible way forward. Asking questions helps them to discover if there is an opportunity, or not. They may uncover that the person said no because they just spent their budget with another company and had no more budget left to spend with you, even if they love your product. A persistent salesperson who can develop and maintain strong relationships with their customers would then be able to ask if it would be possible for them to cancel the order with the other company and purchase with you.
It may lead to an opportunity, or not, but without persistence, one would never know.
WHEN TO GIVE UP
There’s always the point where whatever it is we want is out of our reach, and when we have tried all angles, pushed past when most others would have given up, that I think it’s ok to give up, only if you put in your best effort. I don’t quote my Dad (Frank) often, as sometimes our best teachers in life teach us important life lessons the hard way without any sugar coating that would not lead to intended results. My Dad used to always say “What’s for you won’t go by you” which helped me a few times I didn’t get the job I wanted in my early 20s. I do still believe that saying to be true, and remember that force negates, that there is always a time that you will know you’ve given your best shot, and this opportunity just wasn’t for you.
Which leads us to the conclusion of this episode. I’ll see you next week as we move into the final chapters of the book, with Chapter 10 on the Power of the Mastermind, Chapter 11 (one of the most misunderstood chapters in the book) The Mystery of Sex Transmutation, Chapter 12, The Subconscious Mind and Chapter 13, The Brain.
I hope you are finding value in visiting these timeless principles, used by some of the wisest people in the world, to make your 2022, your best year ever. See you next week!
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REFERENCES:
[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 “Making 2022 Your Best Year Ever” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/
[ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #191 PART 2 on “Thinking Differently and Choosing Faith Over Fear” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-2-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever-by-thinking-differently-and-choosing-faith-over-fear/
[iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #193 PART 3 on “Putting Our Goals on Autopilot with Autosuggestion and Our Imagination” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-3-using-autosuggestion-and-your-imagination-to-put-your-goals-on-autopilot/
[iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #67 “Expanding Your Awareness with a Deep Dive into Most Important Concepts Learned from Bob Proctor Seminars: https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expanding-your-awareness-with-a-deep-dive-into-bob-proctors-most-powerful-seminars/
[v] Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/80209379
[vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #103 on “3 Ways to Reset, Recharge and Refuel Your Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-leadership-3-ways-to-reset-recharge-and-refuel-your-brain-for-your-best-year-ever/
[vii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #2 “Know Thyself” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/self-awareness-know-thyself/
[viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #191 PART 2 on “Thinking Differently and Choosing Faith Over Fear” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-2-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever-by-thinking-differently-and-choosing-faith-over-fear/
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Welcome back to PART 3 of Making 2022 You Best Year Ever with EPISODE #193 on “Making Your Goals Automatic by Putting Autosuggestion into Practice with Your Imagination“ as we continue our deep dive into Napoleon Hill’s Classic book, Think and Grow Rich, that has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
On this episode, you will learn:
✔︎ Review PART 1 and 2 to Reinforce the First 3 Chapters of Think and Grow Rich.
✔︎ Chapter 4: How to Use Autosuggestion to Set Your Goals on Autopilot.
✔︎ Chapter 5: Why We Must Acquire and Know How to Use Specialized Knowledge to Reach High Levels of Success
✔︎ Chapter 6: Why Imagination is Everything.
For those new, or returning guests, welcome back to Season 7 of our Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you who tune in, have been fascinated with learning, understanding, and applying the most current brain research to improve productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. This month, I decided to share my notes with you on a book that I have been studying every January since 2018, with Paul Martinelli, who has studied this book for most of his career. It was the book that my mentor Bob Proctor has studied for his entire life, over 57 years, and a book that some of the wisest people in the world have studied.
If you have been following our episodes of Napoleon Hill’s Classic book, you will recall how PART 1 began with a reminder from Grant Cardone that “in order to get to the next level of whatever it is that you are doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than we previously have been.”[i] We outlined all of the 15 principles that we will be diving into and in PART 2 we looked at the importance of positive thinking, being crystal clear with what we want, and choosing faith over fear in pursuit of our goals.
Before I began recording these episodes, I didn’t know how many it would take to cover these chapters thoroughly, but if you are like me, and just want to learn, keep listening and see if you can add anything new to your goal-setting/achieving process. We really could keep going all year, as each principle we could talk about for an entire month. Therefore, I think it’s important to revisit this book, every year, as we are working on new goals, to continue to improve our own process, and take our understanding of each principle, to a new level.
Whatever it is you are working on—a new job or position at work, or smaller steps to a huge vision that you have, it’s normal to be skeptical of anything new, especially when the ideas are so abstract. At first glance the title of this book sounds crazy. Think and Grow Rich! Sounds a bit out there. The only reason I am covering this book on this podcast, is because it is such a classic, and has the ability to challenge anyone’s “thinking” and the principles have been used successfully from some of the wisest people in the world.
I have met many people while working in the speaking industry who had successfully created beautiful lives with these principles, and they kept coming back to deepen their study, awareness and understanding. It’s a process. When I read about how Jim Carrey[ii] used these ideas when he first came into the film industry, visualizing his first $10M check, I wasn’t surprised at all.
For this episode we will move into chapter 4 on Autosuggestion, Chapter 5 on Specialized Knowledge, and Chapter 6 on Imagination. What I’m noticing is how these chapters all work together, like my mentor Proctor says, “like the colors of the rainbow” as we think back to PART 1 of this book study and remember this whole process began with the realization that we must think about what we want (or desire as Hill would say) with a high degree of clarity, increasing our awareness of the world, adding an unwavering belief and expectation around the attainment of what we want, (by choosing faith over fear, overcoming all obstacles) and then put this worthy goal on autosuggestion by repeating the 6 steps from the Desire Chapter twice a day (reading and writing out our vision).
If I were to want to STOP and FREEZE at any moment of these 15 principles, it would be right here, with the importance of understanding chapter 4 on autosuggestion because if we think about it, for anyone who has attained ANY level of success in their life, it began in their mind first and is best said with this poem by Walter D. Wintle.
“If you think you are beaten, you areIf you think you dare not, you don't,If you like to win, but you think you can'tIt's almost a cinch you won't.If you think you'll lose, you've lostFor out in the world we find,Success begins with a fellow's willIt's all in the state of mind.
I’m really starting to think that the “secret” in these pages lays somewhere with our ability to “think” and now Hill introduces the term autosuggestion or a way of self-conditioning our non-conscious mind.
Sounds deep, but exciting, at least I think it is. I’m sure this is why this book is the #6th bestselling book on Amazon, but I wonder how many people read the book this way and put this much thinking into each chapter. I definitely didn’t until Paul Martinelli walked me though each chapter of the book.
REVIEW WHAT WE’VE LEARNED in PART 1 and PART 2 to reinforce what we’ve covered before adding a new layer.
KNOW WHAT WE WANT: Begin with identifying what you really want. Clearly defined goals written as if you have already attained your goal. I’m so happy and grateful now that---and write out what you want by a certain date.
ADD FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS: Engage your emotions, feelings, and expectation which has a magical power that continues to drive what you are seeking, towards you, and you towards it.
GET YOUR SENSES INVOLVED: Use all of your 5 senses to see yourself in attainment of your goal, feel it, even put something in your physical surroundings that you can touch like I did years ago when I put a small cactus in my room in Toronto, to help me to visualize moving to this new location. This small cactus helped me to imagine (beyond my senses) the beautiful landscape and mountains of AZ when I looked outside of my window in Toronto, and could only see snowbanks, frost and icicles.
THE POWER OF REPETITION: Write and repeat what you want twice a day, with whatever method works for you. Grant Cardone uses a legal notepad, I read my goals out from where they are written on my wall, and write them on a notepad, and have seen others using letterboards where they have to take the time to write out their goals using letters, or whiteboards they can write on and erase their every day.
ACT AS IF WHAT YOU WANT IS YOURS: When someone asks you what you are working on, your language is imperative for the direction of where you are going. Do you say “I’m trying for xyz” or “I’m in the process of achieving xyz” that gives a whole different level of confidence. Whenever I hear someone say they will “try” something, it’s a clear indicator it’s not even on their radar. There’s no such thing as “try.” You are either doing something, or you’re not.
CHOOSE FAITH OVER FEAR: When you keep moving, past all obstacles, you will notice that new people, circumstances and situations will come your way to help you. There is no such thing as “something for nothing.” This only comes with hard work and perseverance.
Which leads us to the next step in the process with Chapter 4: Autosuggestion or “Self-Suggestion” (Chapter 4, Page 69, TAGR).
This chapter is best described with a quick lesson on how the mind works. I first wrote about this in my first book, The Secret for Teens Revealed[iii] (page 71) Lesson 2: What is Your Mind?
I first learned this concept while working with Proctor in the seminar industry, and it really did change the way that I think. The idea of creating order in our mind with the image of the stickperson originated from Dr. Thurman Fleet in 1934 and is a way of thinking of our mind. If you look at the image in the show notes labelled A, B and C of the stickperson.
Our conscious mind (A) in the diagram, is the part of our mind that we use when we are consciously doing something like reading, studying, learning, solving problems, or playing sports.
***Non-Conscious Mind (B)[iv] is the part of our mind that accepts whatever enters it. This is an extremely powerful concept and since I learned this BEFORE I had children, I was very careful of not playing the news around the kids, even when they were babies. We know that watching and listening to the negativity on the news is not good for us, as it all seeps into our mind when it’s in this submissive state (or a baby’s mind that is wide open to whatever you put into it) and this can change how we feel. That’s because what we are hearing is going right into our non-conscious mind and impacting our body and in turn, as adults, impacting our results. If you have young children, you can use this to their advantage by guarding their mind from negativity and adding positivity when you can, by whispering in their ear before they go to bed at night something powerful like “you will achieve all of your goals and live a wonderful happy life” as you send them off to sleep. Always be mindful of what you have playing in the background of your home. With this principle of autosuggestion, it really does matter.
It’s also important to think about this when we sit down to eat. Our mind goes into a submission state, when it’s not thinking, and anyone else’s negative thoughts can go straight into our non-conscious mind. It’s very important that we are careful who we surround ourselves with, as their thoughts can impact our mood, for this reason.
We have all “felt” this happen, and this image explains why.
Our Body (C): I know that you will know that our thinking and attitude can impact our health, since our body inherits what our mind expresses. Healthy thoughts, put our body in the best environment for health and conversely, when we dwell on negative situations, that can stress our body and can cause dis-ease. A healthy dose of optimism can go a long way with coping with life’s stressful situations.
Just by looking at the stickperson diagram, we can see how autosuggestion is one way to access our non-conscious mind so that we must be in integrity of what we are thinking, and feeling, creating the results we want. When our thoughts and feelings are lined up, it’s called PRAXIS and is the first step towards putting this principle into action. By repeating your goals twice a day, eventually, with time, you will believe what you are saying, build faith, and it’s the belief mixed with faith that will drive your behavior moving forward.
REVIEWING YOUR HIGHER FACULTIES:
Before we move onto the next chapter, Chapter 5, on Specialized Knowledge, I think it’s important to bring up one of the BIG IDEA’S I learned from working with Bob Proctor, who has been reading this book for his entire life (over 57 years). If you go back and listen to EPISODE #67[v], you will see BIG IDEA #4 where I explain the importance of learning to live beyond our 5 senses (or what we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch) that can be limiting. We can access new information, deeper flashes of insight, higher levels of creativity, if we learn to live with our 6 intellectual faculties that operate beyond our 5 senses for a competitive advantage. Napoleon Hill thought that intuition (or the sixth sense as he calls it) and imagination are so important that he added them to his chapters or principles that we will dive into in later episodes.
Intuition is a mental tool that gives us answers, by picking up the energy or feeling from another person or situation. Sometimes we feel we just know the answer, or we have a gut feeling. That is our intuition at work, and we must learn to develop and listen to it. With practice, we can learn to trust our intuition and become confident with that which we feel or know. Then, we can move confidently toward that which we want without any doubt, because we’ve used this higher faculty that instills a level of trust within ourselves.
Chapter 5-Specialized Knowledge
To further hone in on what we want, chapter 5 reminds us to add an understanding of specialized knowledge which separates you from everyone else, making you special with the knowledge you have acquired. In chapter 5 we learn that knowledge (general or specialized) must be “organized and intelligently directed” (CH 5, page 79, TAGR) “and is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.”
This makes sense when we think about everything we learn in school (general knowledge) that has no use unless we apply and use it in some way (specialized). Hill explains this is the “missing link in all systems of education … the failure of educational institutions to teach their students HOW TO ORGANIZE AND USE KNOWLEDGE AFTER THEY ACQUIRE IT.” (CH 5, Page 80, TAGR).
Henry Ford even said that he has a row of buttons on his desk that he can push to find out answers to anything he wants (general knowledge) and that any “person is educated who knows where to get knowledge when needed, and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action. Through the assistance of his Master Mind, Henry Ford had at his command all the specialized knowledge he needed to enable him to become one of the wealthiest men in America.” (Ch.5, Page 81, TAGR).
If you think about this principle and what it means, I think about why some books become best sellers, and others are still great, but are missing something. Think about Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that we covered on EPISODE #68[vi] on The Neuroscience of Personal Change. Why was Covey’s book so successful and named the number 1 most influential book of the 20th century, selling more than 40 million copies in 50-plus languages[vii]. I think one of the reasons was that it contained specialized knowledge (The 7 Habits) in a framework that showed us how to organize and use it, after we read the book.
We are taught what to do with each habit, with clear steps on how to implement this new and specialized knowledge into our life to manage ourselves, and others. Next, think about another book, Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now[viii] that might still be an incredible book, but it was missing something. If you have read this book, you might be able to recall something about it, or that Tolle worked with Oprah on a series to teach these concepts, or you might remember specifics about the book, but was there a framework to help you to apply what the book was teaching us? Can you remember anything about it? There were incredible lessons in this book, but they were not organized in a framework to help people to use and apply them.
“Knowledge is not power until it becomes organized in definite plans and action.” (Ch 5, Page 80, TAGR) and Hill reminds us that just because Henry Ford had little formal education, it didn’t mean that he was not “educated.” The word educate comes from the Latin word “educo” that means to “educe, to draw out, to develop from within. An educated person is not necessarily one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. Educated people have developed the faculties of their mind (that we reviewed with BIG IDEA #4 above) so that they may acquire anything they want, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.” (CH 5, Page 80, TAGR).
How to Use Specialized Knowledge to Reach New Heights?
How good are you at what you do? Are you continually looking to improve your talent? When you can take someone who has developed their talent in a way that comes natural to you, but amazes others, you have developed something unique. This must be improved, honed and further developed to continue to grow, expand and meet with success. Do you see how each principle in this book is a part of a formula? It’s a process…
Be sure that whatever your idea or goal is, that you continue to grow and refine it, adding more and more specialized knowledge to what you are building, which brings us to the last piece of the formula in this episode.
Chapter 6-Our Imagination.
The final part of this episode is when we add our imagination to the mix, to think beyond what we can see, and into the unknown world where our unattained vision lays.
Imagination is Everything[ix] according to author Earl Nightingale. All great inventions are created in two separate places: the mind of the inventor and the physical world when the inventor creates it. Our lives reflect how well we use our imagination, because when we hit one plateau of success, it will be our imagination that will take us to what’s next. When we create our crystal-clear vision, that we read and write twice a day, we are activating our imagination to do this. When we write and read our vision in detail it activates cells of recognition in our brain that when we imagine what we write, eventually our brain will accept and recognize what we are telling it, and it will go from feeling like a crazy pipe dream, to eventually something that you can see yourself doing. Then one day, what you imagined, becomes your reality.
Think of all the inventions over the past 50 years that changed how we live our lives. Someone had to think of how the world has changed in the past 10 years with the image in the show notes showing how Amazon has almost no stores, Uber owns almost no cars, Facebook creates no content, Airbnb owns no real estate, Netflix is not a TV channel and Bitcoin has no physical coins. All of these ideas began in someone’s imagination, and are transforming the world.
Did you know that in 2020, Jeff Bezos’ annual salary from Amazon was “$81, 840 which qualities as middle-income wage in his home state of California.”[x]
Bezos’ increase in wealth came in 2020 mostly from Amazon stock prices. He is now said to “make more in one second than most people make in one week. He makes about $8.9 billion per month, $2.5 billion per week, or $321 million per day”[xi]
Which brings us to one of the most famous quotes of this book. Napoleon Hill writes “If you are one of those people who believe that hard work and honesty will bring you riches, perish the thought. It is not true. Riches, when they come in huge quantities are never the result of hard work! Riches come, if they come at all, in response to definite demands, based on the application of definite principles, and not by change or luck.” (Chapter 6, Page 108, TAGR).
I’m sure we can all see how the Pandemic causes many of us to shop online, which meant there was a demand for what Bezos had created and Bezos was prepared and ready when this demand hit and I’m sure he had a clear pathway for his vision that wanted to build.
REVIEW OF PART 3
To sum up this episode, and prepare for Chapter 7 on Organized Planning, Chapter 8 on Decision, and 9 on Persistence, don’t forget to review the important steps in PART 1 and 2 that we went over in the past 2 episodes.
Next,
Review how our mind thinks: with the concept of the stick person so we can see how repeating and writing out our goals is an easy way to put them on autosuggestion.
Learn to live beyond our five senses: (or what we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch) that can be limiting. Revisit episode #67 and pay attention to the definition of intuition and imagination, since Hill felt they were important enough to list both of these in his 15 principles.
Keep Learning: by thinking of how you will continue to acquire and organize specialized knowledge that will take you to new levels with your craft.
Let Your Imagination Soar: Hill suggests reading the entire book first but coming back to this chapter “to put your imagination to work” (Ch. 6, Page 100, TAGR).
Remember this is all a part of a process. If it seems like there are many ideas stacked together, just keep reading, and thinking and each time you put in some more thought to the potential of these ideas, your awareness will expand, giving you a new level of confidence for whatever you are working on.
See you in a few days with the next 3 chapters.
FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi
Website https://www.achieveit360.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com
Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/
RESOURCES:
Chapter 4: Autosuggestion Published on YouTube July 28, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYOc329tEYQ
Chapter 5: Specialized Knowledge Published on YouTube July 28, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9KVZ0sQ7Q
REFERENCES:
[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 “Making 2022 Your Best Year Ever” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/
[ii] What Oprah Learned from Jim Carrey October 12, 2011 https://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/what-oprah-learned-from-jim-carrey-video
[iii] The Secret for Teens Revealed by Andrea Samadi, Published September 15, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Teens-Revealed-Teenagers-Leadership/dp/1976820030
[iv] ***If you have heard of the term sub-conscious mind used where I say non-conscious, it’s just because I have substituted non-conscious as a more recent term for what we used to call the subconscious mind.
[v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #67 “Expanding Your Awareness with a Deep Dive into Most Important Concepts Learned from Bob Proctor Seminars: https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expanding-your-awareness-with-a-deep-dive-into-bob-proctors-most-powerful-seminars/
[vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #68 “The Neuroscience of Personal Change: With Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-personal-change/
[vii] How Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits Guides Leaders in Times of Challenge and Uncertainty by Marcel Schwantes, https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/stephen-covey-the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people-leaders.html
[viii] The Power of Now by Eckert Tolle August 1, 2004 https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808
[ix] Imagination is Everything YouTube by Earl Nightingale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e25hRhKPm4M
[x] Mind-Blowing Facts About Jeff Bezos’ Wealth Published July 27, 2021 by Dawn Allcot https://www.yahoo.com/now/5-mind-blowing-facts-jeff-182204262.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABJswqzQ-kSEQG-_kMdVZLAFZZRj0X13NDhrKwPFWjvxnht_QzHjo0yPUi5ydMf8G33y7o8SmqRJeHTVTOo3ADKOGRmSXd2d5DGyWiTinM0qb-IoVUVzkXxHpDA0NIvj8BS3hF9mHF5OGCxjC8Fuf_ikfLkGkmENcWHExq_zvzrR
[xi] IBID
Thursday Jan 13, 2022
Thursday Jan 13, 2022
With the rise of mental health issues and with the COVID pandemic forcing less and less interactions amongst co-workers and leaders, senior leaders in many organizations are suffering numerous new ailments and challenges. With this workplace scenario continuing to be a problem, as times progress with more and more complications arising, many leaders are reaching breaking points in their personal lives. With no one to reach out to, many of these leaders may be suffering from what Nick Jonsson, the Co-founder and Managing Director of Executives Global Network in Singapore, calls “executive loneliness” that arises when top executives are exposed to extreme and prolonged stress, resulting in an increase in anxiety, isolation, and depression.
Watch this interview on YouTube here. https://youtu.be/b6TCGyysI-A
On this episode, you will learn
✔︎ What is "Executive Loneliness" and how has the Pandemic caused us to make our mental and physical health a priority?
✔︎ Nick's story and why he is passionate about talking about what others would rather shy away from.
✔︎ What is "smiling depression" and how to recognize when change is needed for yourself, and others.
✔︎ 5 Steps to Recovery outlined in Nick's book "Executive Loneliness"
✔︎ Where to begin to make changes with our physical and mental health.
✔︎ What increasing your activity looks like and how to measure it.
We just uncovered on EPISODE #188 “Putting Your Mental and Physical Health First”[i] the shocking statistic that “one-quarter of Americans intend to improve their mental health in 2022”[ii] and that according to a poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association, “almost 70 million adults resolve to find ways to improve their mental health this coming year”[iii] but Nick Jonsson, from Singapore, shows us that this is a global issue, and he wants to raise awareness of this phenomenon, no longer being quiet about the issues he has personally faced himself.
For those new, or returning guests, welcome back! I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind high performance strategies that we can use to improve our productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. My vision is to bring the experts to you, share their books, resources, and ideas to help you to implement their proven strategies, whether you are a teacher working in the classroom or in the corporate environment.
In his book, Executive Loneliness,[iv] Nick Jonsson outlines that most executives and leaders often do nothing to address this phenomenon of “loneliness” for fear of appearing unsuccessful and frowned upon. Worst, he shares that not addressing it exacerbates the negative and difficult feelings, to the point where it becomes more and more difficult for them to function. Ultimately, it takes a toll on their whole life.[v]
As we were looking for leaders around the world to launch of year, with a focus on physical and mental health, Nick Jonsson was the one I wanted to launch our year with to be our first interview of 2022. If you follow Nick on social media, (and I’ll put all his links in the show notes) you will notice that he puts his physical health first (which we have shown on this podcast is one of the top health staples to make an impact on your overall physical and mental health) –you will see him riding his bike, hiking, and training at his local pool.
Let’s meet Nick Jonsson and see what we can learn together with his experience and knowledge, to put our mental and physical health first this year.
Welcome Nick!
Nick, I like to open up the podcast with a question where we can get to know you a bit better, and just from looking over your social media posts over the holidays, it was more like a lesson in Geography, with health and wellness, and family tied in.
INTRO: Can you share a bit about what you’ve been up to over the holidays, that took you to 4 countries, with your family, and how you kept health at the forefront the entire time?
I saw you training the other day at your local pool in Singapore—how are things these days with COVID protocols over there? Still very strict?
Q1: It was important for me to launch 2022 with you, with your focus on mental and physical health, that’s our focus for Season 7 of our podcast. I know this is the question that most people ask you, and I’ve linked the podcast you did with From Survivor to Thriver[vi] so our listeners can learn more about you, but can you just a bit of your background with the 2 stories that coincided, to bring you to not be quiet around a topic that many people still shy away from?
Q2: I wonder if we can tie in this issue of executive loneliness, leading to an increase in anxiety, isolation, and depression, to something that our first responders might be going through these days or even those teachers who have been sent back to teaching online again, stress is at an all-time high in many sectors. I heard it described recently from someone working in policing who broke down and had to leave the field, to a desk job, and is on track for early retirement now, because all that pressure builds up over time (A good analogy I heard is like a garbage can getting filled up until the can overflows, just like the stress building up with a person until they can’t take it anymore).
You explain the pressure in the corporate world (all the meetings, being the first one in the office, the last one to leave, the one keeping it all together, and you still must be at your best and perform when there’s little time for yourself. I saw the parallel with many different sectors who are being pushed to the limits in a way that’s not far off from how you describe what you see with senior executives. Before we even begin to look at strategies and solutions for this serious issue, how would someone know that change needs to occur?
2B) Was the Pandemic an eye-opener for people to begin health programs?
2C) What are the trends you are seeing Internationally with working on the weekends?
Q3: I love how you’ve clearly outlined what you think is important with your 5 Steps to Recovery in your book. You walk the reader through all the steps with some very important things to consider in the early stages, since no one usually talks about these things and I do think it’s important that we do talk about the things that make us uncomfortable, for change to occur. Can you explain “smiling depression” and what to look for, and the support systems should we all know about?
Q4: And what about for someone listening, who might be in a rut themselves, and making any sort of change is difficult, so where do you suggest for someone to begin to make the changes that will instigate an improvement with their health instead of staying in that cycle that leads to more overwhelmed?
Q5: I love how you tie “Getting Healthy” into your book, and we’ve been focused on the Top 5 staples on this podcast (Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise, Relaxation/Meditation and Tools to Help Us with our Mental/Physical Health). It didn’t take me longer than a minute to skim through your social media pages when I was writing these questions to notice that you practice what you preach, which is awesome! I saw you relaxing with your son, at the cinema in Sweden, your sleep data (WOW) showing 15 hours of sleep (you must really have needed it) and a 120 km (74 mile) bike ride (woah!) I thought I was cool after a 7-mile hike!! Can you take us through what you normally do for training, and what tools do you use to measure your workouts, sleep and rest?
Q6: Is there anything important about your book that I have missed?
Q7: What are some ways that people could work with you? https://nickjonsson.com/page/work-with-nick
I’ve put all of the links to your social media accounts in the show notes, and I want to thank you very much Nick for speaking with me today, as this topic is timely and important. You’ve given us so many ideas to help our listeners who might be launching the year with some overwhelm, with some specific steps they can take to launch 2022 with their mental and physical health at the forefront of their mind, to truly make it their best year ever. Thanks Nick! Have an incredible Thursday!
FOLLOW NICK JONSSON ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Website https://nickjonsson.com/index
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jonsson.nick
Twitter https://twitter.com/NickJonsson
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-jonsson/
RESOURCES:
15 Male Celebrities Who Have Struggled with Depression by Ben Radding Feb. 22, 2019 https://www.menshealth.com/health/g26445823/celebrities-with-depression/
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #188 on “Putting Your Mental and Physical Health First” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-putting-our-mental-and-physical-health-first/
[ii] One-quarter of Americans Intend to Improve Mental Health in 2022 December 20, 2021 https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20211220/onequarter-of-americans-intend-to-improve-mental-health-in-2022
[iii] IBID
[iv] https://nickjonsson.com/page/mybook
[v] Roshan Teran, A Review of Executive Loneliness Published June 6, 2021 https://www.leaderonomics.com/articles/personal/executive-loneliness
[vi] From Survivor to Thriver Podcast with Nick Jonsson https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-38-nick-jonsson-if-we-can-talk-to-each-other/id1551758201?i=1000544204022
Monday Jan 10, 2022
Monday Jan 10, 2022
Welcome back to PART 2 of Making 2022 You Best Year Ever with EPISODE #191 on “The Importance of Thinking Differently and Choosing Faith over Fear” as we continue our deep dive into Napoleon Hill’s Classic book, Think and Grow Rich, that has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
Be sure to click here to access the images in the show notes.
For those new, or returning guests, welcome back to Season 7 of our Podcast I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you who tune in, have been fascinated with learning, understanding, and applying the most current brain research to improve productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. This month, I decided to share my notes with you on a book that I have been studying every year, with Paul Martinelli, who has studied this book for most of his career.
On our first episode[i] and PART 1 of this book study, where we cover the Author’s Introduction and Desire chapter, we opened with a quote from Undercover Billionaire Grant Cardone, who said, “In order to get to the next level of whatever you’re doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than you previously have been” and this is where I wanted to begin this episode, with reviewing Chapter 1 “Thoughts Are Things” with the idea that we must “think” in a wildly different way than we previously have to obtain NEW results in 2022.
On this episode, you will learn
✔︎ How to go from fear to hope, using faith, in pursuit of your goals.
✔︎ How to “think” wildly different than you did last year.
✔︎ Examples of people who “thought” their way to their goals, making their ability to “think” the best investment of their lifetime.
✔︎ The 6 STEPS you must take every day, that will put your goal on autosuggestion.
✔︎ Common mistakes made when goal-setting/achieving.
✔︎ 4 steps to overcome your fears, helping you to break through to new levels in 2022.
✔︎ How to becoming unwavering with our faith, helping us when obstacles appear.
How Do We “Think in a Wildly Different Way” to Get New Results?
The answer is--by expanding our awareness. I’m sure you see now why studying Think and Grow Rich by reading and thinking about every word we are reading is so very important. We could spend a whole year studying this book, which is why I think we should all keep reading it, gaining more awareness long after January and this book study ends.
Look at it this way. Remember the last lesson where we looked at how ideas are formed, and how it’s up to us to act on our ideas and bring them to fruition.
IMAGE: Levels of Frequencies of Thought
Look at the image in the show notes of the levels of frequency and think of this as an example of where you are now, or the thoughts, feelings, and actions you are currently living with, giving you a certain result. Then imagine all the lines above where you are now, leading to where you want to go. Think of these frequencies like radio stations. To tune into the radio station you want, you need to turn the dial to that frequency. This is exactly the same idea to think about when we want to tune into the frequency that our goals exist on.
And it won’t be with the level of thinking you have at your current level. That’s the whole point of Marshall Goldsmith’s book What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.[ii]
To ATTAIN your goal, or a new result, you will need to “think and act in a wildly different way that you previously have been” like Grant Cardone, reminded us. That’s because the goal is on a different frequency than where you are now. To hit this NEW target, you will need to think NEW thoughts, take NEW actions, that will create NEW results, and none of them will be what you are currently doing.
When I first saw this image, I remember wondering “well how on the earth do I magically get on the same level of vibration as the thing that I really want?” and the first time I did this exercise, I wrote down that I wanted to live in the United States (when I lived in Toronto at the time) and had no idea how I would ever make that happen. In the beginning, we don’t need to know all the details on “how” we will do what we want to do.
How Do You Move to a New Frequency?
Over the years, and once I had achieved a few goals this way, it became obvious how this works. Think back 5 years ago to the person you were then. You have probably grown and changed since then and may be nothing like the person you once were. You had new experiences that took you to a new frequency. It can happen with a new job, where you must think in an entirely different way than you had to with a previous job, or maybe you moved to a new location, like I did, and had new experiences that have changed you. Now you can see the importance of why Napoleon Hill called this book “Think and Grow Rich” because it is crucial that we change our thinking to obtain the new results we are looking for. When we change our thinking, we will have new experiences, that will change our conditions, circumstances and environment, changing our vibration or frequency level and put us exactly where we need to be for the attainment of our goal. Only then, will we be able to look back and explain how we did it to others.
Yesterday, I ran into my good friend Jeff Gould on the hiking trails, otherwise known as South Mountain Cowboy, who has been horseback riding on these mountains for the past 40 years and he looks younger than most of us who run up and down the hills daily. While chatting with Jeff this morning, who is a huge supporter of this podcast, he shared what he’s learning from the episodes, and that he’s always challenging himself to “think differently” by tuning into these episodes, which is probably what keeps him looking and feeling so young! I agreed with him that happiness comes naturally when we do what we love, continually challenge ourselves to grow, and live life doing whatever it is that makes us happy. It’s a simple formula really--we radiate energy when we are doing what we love and enjoy the most, aligning ourselves with more and more experiences, as we continually expand and grow in pursuit of our vision. Can you see how 2022 can be your best year ever? It just takes your vision, and your will to achieve it, and I love seeing people like Jeff, living their dream on a daily basis.
Jeff Gould, Southmountain Cowboy, on Telegraph Pass Mountain, AZ.
Edwin C. Barnes
In Chapter 1 “The Power of Thought” Hill talks about Edwin C. Barnes who also had a vision that he wanted to achieve when he “thought” his way into a partnership with Thomas Edison. Hill shares how Barnes had this burning desire to work with Thomas Edison. This was his goal, and was way out there for him, because he didn’t even know Edison, and was short on money to pay for his rail fare to get him to New Jersey to meet him. Barnes overcame all the obstacles he faced, and Edison described meeting the man he would eventually partner with by recalling the day he arrived. He said, “he stood there before me looking like an ordinary tramp, but there was something in the expression of his face which conveyed the impression that he was determined to get what he had come after.” (Page 2, TAGR). Edison recognized the look in his eyes and it’s what allowed him to eventually go into partnership with Barnes, who had no money, or influence to bring to the table, but he did have “initiative, faith and the will to win” (CH 1, page 4, TAGR) which was all Edison needed to see.
Barnes thought wildly differently to obtain what he wanted, and Edison picked up the energy or vibration that came from him, and it was easy for him to trust this was going to be a lucrative partnership.
There are more important examples in this chapter, that I hope you will read, to see why we should never quit when we experience defeat, and why persistence is a power that often gets a person what they want, but only when one persists long after most people would usually give up. Have you even seen this principle in action? I saw an example of this recently while researching Dr. David Sinclair, who we covered on EPISODE #189[iii] when I uncovered that he had to self-fund his trip from Australia to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to interview to work in their lab, which he did. He didn’t let his lack of funds stop him from finding his way to MIT and had many obstacles to overcome when he would eventually begin his work, when he experienced criticism for the direction he wanted to take, when other researchers questioned whether “aging was even a thing”[iv] to study. He had a clear vision of what he wanted and didn’t let any obstacles get in his way, even though he faced many that began in his early days and was just something he had to push through.
Chapter 2: DESIRE
Which brings us to Chapter 2: DESIRE and why we must know what we want, with a crystal-clear vision, and hold an unwavering belief that we can have it, and expect that we will have it, remembering this is where it all begins. That “all achievement, begins with an idea.” (Napoleon Hill). Barnes had a “burning desire” (CH2, page 19 TAGR) that “was not a hope. It was not a wish. It was a pulsating desire, which transcended everything else. It was definite.” (CH2, page 19, TAGR).
Barnes wanted to work with Edison, even though there was no evidence of these two meeting. It wasn’t like Edison and Barnes had been talking about this idea for a while, it was Barnes’s idea, and when he started to move this idea into form, I’m sure he thought it was crazy and something he wouldn’t be shouting out from the rooftops. Going from where we are now, to where we want to go, is a process.
You are never ready when you start something, but you will never be 100% ready. You just need to start and do the thing that you want to do.
When I moved from Canada to the US in early 2001, I remember following this process, and not sure of “how” exactly I was going to do it. Proctor would always remind us that we don’t need to know “how” we will do what we want, but just get it started and the way will be shown. That was true. The way will always be shown, along with a billion obstacles that will show up as well, to try to deter you from moving forward.
You just need to know WHAT you want and WHY, and this will drive your behavior. You can only explain HOW you did it after the fact, looking back, once you arrive there.
Do you know what you want? Do you have that burning desire that Edison saw in Barnes’s eyes? Remember, it’s difficult to see our own potential, but others can surely see it in us. That burning desire of what you want radiates from you, and others can pick up this energy, and like Edison did with Barnes, help move you to where you need to go. That’s why you can’t be shy about what you are working on. You will need all the help you can get, from as many different sources as possible. And there’s something else to consider.
“Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat.” (CH 2, page 21, TAGR). Barnes did this when he found his way to New Jersey to meet with Edison, and Dr. David Sinclair did it when he left Australia for MIT. I remember doing this when I left Toronto. There was no going back saying “oh it didn’t work out” because I had burned all ships and had no other options.
You must be committed with your decision (which is another chapter) but you will see how all of these chapters tie into each other. The Latin root word for the word decision literally means “to cut” so when you make a decision, you must never go back. You’ve burned your ships and cut all sources of retreat.
Which brings us to the important 6 Steps to Achieve Your Goal in chapter 2. You will notice that these steps are written with the idea of drawing finances to you, but these 6 steps can be used to bring ANY goal your way. These are the 6 steps I have written on my wall, that I read every day, and Grant Cardone, Uncover Billionaire says he does this as well, all 6 steps, every day, twice a day. I’ve watched him do it using a legal pad of paper in less than 3 minutes.
Either way, the 6 steps to put any goal into our non-conscious mind, so that it eventually happens on autopilot, without much effort, is as follows:
Write out a clear description of what you want.
You must be prepared to give something of value up in return for what you want. There no such thing as “something for nothing.” When you begin working on your action steps, it will become clear what you are giving up.
Set a date when you intend to have this goal that you desire.
Create your action plan, to carry out what you want, whether you are ready for it or not.
Write this out in detail!
Read what you wrote twice a day! “As you read, see and feel and believe yourself already in the possession” (CH 2, page 23, TAGR) of what you want.
It’s this simple, but not really, because most people won’t follow these steps. I was surprised when I watched Grant Cardone demonstrating how he WRITES and READS his goals twice a day, mostly because I know where this idea originated from, and most people miss that reading out loud part. Cardone didn’t. He knows these six steps and didn’t miss one of them. It’s easy to read this book, and grab some ideas to implement, and make some mistakes, and not do exactly what the book suggests. That’s why it’s called “Think and Grow Rich.”
Common Mistakes That Are Made When Setting Goals-That Will Guarantee That None of this Will Work?
People set goals on what they know they can do, or what they’ve done in the past. You will be sure to fail this way, because there is no inspiration in going after what we already know we can do. You need to really stretch yourself, and think of what you want, that takes you beyond where you have ever been before in this process.
You’ll be sure to fail if you don’t change your plans when they aren’t working. If your Plan A fails, do you have a Plan B?
Remember—you don’t need to know exactly how you will attain your goal. Just begin, do the work, and eventually you will achieve it, and only then will you be able to explain this process to others.
Chapter 2 has some examples of well-known, highly successful people who have put these ideas into action and ends with Hill summarizing the process for us when he says “I want to convey the thought that all achievement, no matter what it’s nature or purpose, must begin with an intense, burning desire for something definite. Through some strange and powerful principle of mental chemistry, nature wraps up in the impulse of strong desire that something which recognizes no such word as impossible and accepts no such reality as failure.
We must remember that there’s a difference between “wishing for” something and being ready to receive it. Remember that look that Edison saw in Barnes’s eyes? Do you have that look with whatever it is you want? If I was standing in front of you, and asked you “what do you really want” would you answer this question clearly and confidently, with that look in your eye, and be able to show me how you would use the 6 steps, with your action plan, or would this question catch you off guard, like when Proctor first asked me, and I wasn’t prepared to answer it?
This brings new meaning to the quote— “Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet.” How? Over time, we become better at what we do. Every day that we write and repeat our vision out loud, it etches deeper into our being. Our vision becomes who we are, and we never let it rest, until we perfect our craft and achieve our goals. Keep going and remember “if a person is not prepared when the opportunity arises, it will only make them look foolish.” (Earl Nightingale).
How Do I Overcome my Fears?
What happens when you begin moving towards your big, outrageous idea, and FEAR, or DOUBT starts to set in, ruining your vision, and making you want to give up? This will happen. It will happen more times than you’d like. Dr. Sinclair mentioned it happened to him when he finally got to MIT to work on his vision of creating anti-aging strategies and people he worked with challenged his ideas, urging him to reconsider his vision, and that “anti-aging” wasn’t a thing to do study. He talked about this on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he called home and was worried that he had made a mistake with his vision. It’s easy to see HOW this happens, when it’s not you who is experiencing the fear. Look at the image in the show notes where you see your INSPIRED IDEA that you are working on with focused thought.
I write about this in my first book, The Secret for Teens Revealed[v], and it’s something I learned from my early days of working with Proctor.
The Terror Barrier or The Change Mechanism
To break through to a new level, you will need to break through what Proctor called the Terror Barrier, and I re-named it The Change Mechanism in my first book. It’s what happens when you have a major shift in your life, and you begin to feel scared deep inside that maybe you have made a mistake. Your entire Central Nervous System starts to go off as you begin to think of this new thought.
I remember feeling this when I quit my teaching job, broke my contact with TDSB and went to work for Proctor for $10 an hour. It didn’t help that my Dad screamed at me that I would regret this decision for the rest of my life, but I really did believe that there was more I needed to learn. You will go through these 4 stages with your new idea.
Stage 1: Help I’m Stuck (Bondage).
When you are here, you are living in your comfort zone. Life is easy, because you are not stretching outside your comfort zone. There is no discomfort or fear. But, if you were to be honest, this type of life is playing it safe. You might know you are capable of so much more, but are afraid to take the necessary steps needed for this change. You are stuck here, in your old paradigm. If you look at the image in the show notes, I show a person who is thinking x thoughts in their conscious mind, with x thoughts in their non-conscious mind, getting x results. They are not doing anything new, and their results will stay the same. We have all been here, stuck, not sure of how to make a change.
Stage 2: I’m Frustrated
If we live life stuck for too long, you will become frustrated, because it’s natural that we want to BE, DO, and HAVE more with our life. We are either creating (expanding) and growing, or we are going the other way, disintegrating, not growing, and frustrated. The feeling of frustration can be motivating, and push you to make a change, and try something different.
Stage 3: I’m Making Changes, But Feeling So Uncomfortable
At this stage, you have taken a new idea (I label it a Y idea in my diagram) in your conscious mind, but your non-conscious mind still has the old X idea (or whatever you are currently doing) so there is cognitive dissonance at the brain level. The new idea might be a new job, moving somewhere else, or maybe an entire career change, and suddenly, in the middle of the decision-making process, your entire central nervous system goes out of control, and you are overcome with fear. It’s because your non-conscious mind is still operating with your old idea, or whatever you are currently doing, and you will think that you have made a mistake and question your decision.
At this point, we must understand that the opposite of FEAR is FAITH, leading us to Chapter 3 of the book. We feel fear because we lack understanding, FAITH is based on understanding, and when we have it, we can move forward, and never look back at our old life. We will only advance forward to new opportunity with understanding, and the use of FAITH.
It’s here that we BREAK FREE from our past, and experience the final stage,
Stage 4: Freedom
Freedom is achieved when we step outside of our comfort zone, feeling uncomfortable, but doing it anyway, and keep moving towards growth. You’ll see in my diagram the Y (or new idea) in the conscious mind, over time will create a Y idea in your non-conscious mind, and with time, you will notice that you made the switch, broke free from your past where you were stuck, into a more fulfilling life, creating new results.
You did this using faith that Hill says “is the head chemist of the mind.” (CH 3, page 45, TAGR).
How Do We Develop Faith?
“Faith is a state of mind that may be induced, or created by affirmations or repeated instructions..through the principle of auto-suggestion” (CH 3, page 46, TAGR).
We develop Faith by following the 6 Steps, writing and reading our goal out loud every day, twice a day, until it moves into our non-conscious mind on autosuggestion.
It’s a process. If you have never read your goal out loud before, I will tell you that it feels weird in the beginning. When I first started doing this activity, I would close my window, thinking my neighbors will think I’m crazy, especially when I did this process trying to win grant funding for some of the projects I worked on. The first time you do this, you will feel weird, until with time, your words flow quickly, confidently, and easily.
You will read your goals out loud “as if you were already in possession of them” (CH 3, page 48, TAGR). I found it helps to say something like “I’m so happy and grateful now that….” and whatever it is that you want “now that I’m awarded a $50,000 grant to work with students in our schools” or whatever it is that you might be working on.
This is the part where we may all have different beliefs with this process, but if you are like me, and believe that there is something bigger than you, you can call it whatever you want (God, Spirit, Infinite Intelligence) whatever you call it, you will feel it in this process. Hill wrote that “FAITH is the element, the chemical which when mixed with prayer, gives one direct communication with Infinite Intelligence.” (CH 3, page 49, TAGR).
We must have FAITH in our DREAMS, not in our DOUBTS.
This is a process, that comes from following the 6 steps of reading/writing our goals every day and doesn’t need to take a lot of time, Grant Cardone did it in less than 3 minutes. Faith is a state of mind that will develop as you become more self-aware, self-confident and with experience.
Remember—to Become Unwavering with our Faith
You must go through the Terror Barrier and match up your conscious mind, with your non-conscious mind.
You will continue to build faith through autosuggestion when you write and repeat your goals.
Pick one idea that you are working on, and as you move towards it, with new actions, you will develop more self-confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem.
This will lead to BELIEF….one day you will be working and think back to the early days when you didn’t have the level of confidence, faith and belief that you have today, and you will be grateful that you stepped outside of your comfort zone, through the fear, with faith at your side, into a new life that had more opportunity than you ever realized. Whatever it is that you are working on, remember with that understanding you can move past the fears, doubts, and uncertainties to hope, and this changes your entire mindset, giving you faith, fueling you to keep moving forward.
I hope you are enjoying studying this book with me as I’m diving deeper into my notes more thoroughly than I’ve ever done in the past. Some of the wisest people in the world have studied these principles, and it doesn’t matter what your background or level of education is. The playing field is equal for all of us. This book is the essence of success that can be used in anyone’s life.
I’ll see you in the next few days as we move onto Specialized Knowledge, Imagination and Organized planning next episode, with an interview coming with Nick Jonsson, from Singapore, the author of the important and timely book, Executive Loneliness: The 5 Pathways to Overcome Isolation, Stress, Anxiety and Depression in the Modern Business World.
FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi
Website https://www.achieveit360.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com
Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 “Making 2022 Your Best Year Ever” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/
[ii]What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith, June 12, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1846681375
[iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #189 on “Understanding Hormesis: Why Stress and Adversity Make Us Physically and Mentally Stronger” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-hormesis-why-stress-and-adversity-make-us-physically-and-mentally-stronger/
[iv] The Backlash Dr. Sinclair Faced from the Scientific Community Published Jan.29, 2019 with Joe Rogan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDdAI-X3y1o&t=618s
[v] The Secret for Teens Revealed by Andrea Samadi, Published September 15, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Teens-Revealed-Teenagers-Leadership/dp/1976820030
Thursday Jan 06, 2022
Think and Grow Rich Book Review PART 1 ”How to Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever”
Thursday Jan 06, 2022
Thursday Jan 06, 2022
“In order to get to the next level of whatever you’re doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than you previously have been. You cannot get to the next phase of a project without a grander mind-set, more acceleration, and extra horsepower.” Grant Cardone, author of the 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure [i]
Be sure to click here to access the images in the show notes.
MAKING 2022 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER: WITH CHANGE
I chose this quote to launch this episode, and our 7th Season of The Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast with Grant Cardone,[ii] who I’ve been watching for years before he starred on Undercover Billionaire[iii] when I saw him working with (at that time) 16 year-old Caleb Maddix[iv], teaching this young man, who is now in his 20s, how to truly make an impact on the world and live his life with a success mindset. Since the day I watched him coaching this teen, I realized he has a heart for helping our next generation to become successful, while inspiring the rest of the world with his 10x Rule book, countless programs that focus on financial education, and encouraging anyone who will listen to shift their mindset to make 2022 their Best Year ever. To do that, Cardone reminds us that we must all THINK differently and “change what we did last year.”
For those new, or returning guests, welcome back to Season 7 of our Podcast and Happy New Year! I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you who tune in, have been fascinated with learning, understanding, and applying the most current brain research to improve productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments.
I wanted our first episode to launch our 7th Season to be different from past years. Instead of releasing an episode with goal setting or achieving tips, I challenge you to do something different this year. We all know that in order to achieve different results in 2022, we must CHANGE and I’m pretty sure we all have a list of things that we want to do differently to really make a mark on this year, but to make sure I was on track, I thought I’d better check in with what Uncover Billionaire, Grant Cardone is suggesting we change this year, since his results are proof that he knows what he’s talking about. Cardone suggests in order to make this change, we must keep 6 things in mind that will drive us towards our goals.
We must have:
Discipline: By waking up early, watching the sunrise, and getting to bed early. This practice gives you 2 extra hours to launch your day, which translates into an extra month a year to work on your dreams or yourself. It will also help you to become highly motivated and will be a driver for your year, boosting our
Confidence: To further drive what you are doing and help you to fill up your calendar with meaningful work where you will create your
Action Plan with Activity: and be open to listening to
Feedback: From the marketplace (or your network) on how you can improve.
Surrounding Yourself with Your Network: Of other like-minded, successful people who will encourage you/holding you accountable. And there is only one outcome--
Success: This is Our Duty/Obligation. We Must WIN/SUCCEED in 2022.
To truly make an impact on this year, so it’s our best year ever, I think we should all take a look at what Cardone suggests and do whatever it takes so that we achieve our end result (or whatever it is we are working on) at the end of this year. But how exactly do we do this?
Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever by Studying the Best-Selling book Think and Grow Rich[v]
I challenge you to practice Cardone’s TIP #1 with me, and develop discipline by waking up early, and study the #6th All-time Amazon Best-Seller, Think and Grow Rich with me this month. This is a book that has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, that has timeless principles used by some of the greatest minds of the 20th century, and I hope that together, we will uncover some new ideas that will bring us all new results in 2022.
I’ve been launching my year this way since 2019, with Paul Martinelli, who co-founded and built The John Maxwell Team[vi], by diving deep into the many secrets within Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich book from someone who has studied and taught the principles within this book for his entire career. It was this book, that my mentor Bob Proctor[vii] was inspired by, and often opened up and quoted during his career teaching and speaking about wealth principles around the world, as he carried the same weathered copy around with him, reading, studying, as his bible, that he would open up first thing in the morning, and then again before he went to bed.
During the six years I worked with Bob, I knew this book was important to him, and there were times it sat in the middle of the table we were sitting at, and we all just knew not to touch it. I remember looking at it, thinking “what else could he really be learning from this book?” as the pages looked like they were about to fall out, and disintegrate. Napoleon Hill talks about a “secret” that is hidden within the pages of this book, and I have a few ideas of what I think the secret is. Bob would never tell us what the secret was, and would say “if I tell you, then you won’t look for it yourself” which is probably true.
Bob Proctor's original copy of Think and Grow Rich.
I used to think that the secret was that “all achievements begin with an idea” and we just have to gaffe this idea with a pencil, write it down, and act on it, (using the 6 steps that Napoleon Hill suggests in the Desire chapter) or someone else will surely launch it. But each time I studied the book, and the author’s preface, that describes this secret, I thought about it again, and each year, come up with a NEW idea or perception of what I think the “secret” is. Bob would say that books will have new meaning each time you read them because you change each year, and you see something in yourself that wasn’t there the last time you read it.
When you finish the book, and this book study with me, I wonder what you think the secret is in the book?
HOW TO READ THINK AND GROW RICH-WITH EFFORT
You’ve got to put some effort into this book study. It took me until 2019 to read this book properly. You know what I mean. You can read a book, flip through the table of contents, skim their meaning, grab some ideas, write them down, even apply them to your life, but then you put the book away, and don’t think about the ideas ever again. This is not the way to read this book, and it wasn’t until Paul Martinelli started teaching it to me, that I saw HOW to read Think and Grow Rich properly, uncovering the secret for myself, and finally putting it use, the way I think Napoleon Hill intended. I think. If Bob has been studying this book for more than 50 years (reading it twice a day), then I think I’m only scratching the surface of how it’s intended to be read and applied.
KEEP THE BOOK ON YOUR DESK SO THAT YOU READ AND IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS YOU LEARN
This book is always on my desk and opened often and I do highly suggest that you purchase a copy that you keep on your desk so you can refer to the pages on your own, and participate in the activities that I will suggest as we go through the important concepts of these 16 principles that really do have incredible power. I put a tab so I can quickly find the 6 steps to put any idea on auto-suggestion from the DESIRE Chapter (they are also written on my wall) and I practice them daily, and know all about the 30 Major Causes of Failure (so I can avoid them) in the Organized Planning Chapter, with my own #31 added to the end.
It was the successful founder of US Steel (the first corporation in the world with a market capitalization of over $1 billion, Andrew Carnegie,[viii] who encouraged the young reporter and author of the book, Napoleon Hill, to uncover why some of the most successful people in the world, became that way, using the principles that Hill would use to create this book. Carnegie thought it was a shame that many of the top leaders in the world, like Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, would go to their grave without sharing their knowledge and success strategies to help others. This book will change your thinking, open up the door to new ideas, help you to create new habits and results.
This is why I host this podcast, because like Hill, I think it’s important to share the most current research, and any success strategies (for free) so that we can all benefit from this information and apply it to our work and personal lives, since we just weren’t taught these concepts in school.
I’m grateful that this year, I was reminded of this book by my friend Hans Ajay[ix], who let me know he was studying certain chapters to launch his year. There are many ways to study this book, to make the principles seep into your mind subconsciously, and thanks to Ajay, I decided it was time to look at my notes over the past few years and share them on the podcast to launch 2022 with a new angle. In this podcast series, I will review all chapters of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, with my notes added, after years of study, and hope these ideas will challenge you to do things differently this year, perhaps with more intention, and that you continue to study this book for years to come.
I was so excited to see that even before I had released this episode, some of my social media posts have inspired some of the top leaders in my network, like Matt Stewart,[x] from Scotland, who runs the EntrepreneurMe programs with our next generation of entrepreneurs in the school market, to consider re-reading the book this year. I hope that you will join us, so that we can all make the change needed to make 2022 our best year ever, together.
In this series you will learn:
✔︎ How to apply the 15 success principles to your life, used by the most successful leaders of the 20th century like Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford.
✔︎ How to harness the power of your non-conscious mind, when you can create new habits, that you put on autopilot, and work for you, instead of against you.
✔︎ Create a clear vision of what you want to create in your life in 2022 to make it a year that is pivotal for the next few years to come.
✔︎ Create the mindset needed to attain this vision with a 6-step plan of how to do it.
Try something new this year and see if diving deep with me into the pages of Think and Grow Rich can make a difference for you, like it has made for millions of people all over the world, who have taken the principles seriously.
THINK AND GROW RICH PART 1:
INTRODUCTION/THOUGHTS ARE THINGS/
Author’s Preface and Introduction “What Exactly is The Secret?”
The book begins with the mention of this money-making “secret” that’s contained within the book’s pages and how Carnegie believed this “secret” should be taught in all schools and colleges and if it were taught properly would “revolutionize the entire educational system and that the time spent in school could be reduced to less than half.” (vi, Think and Grow Rich, 2003 edition).
As you read through this book, you’ll be reminded of this secret in the pages that jump out at you and every chapter mentions it.
I first thought this “secret” was that we must have an idea, and write it down, something that we really want. Then I thought about the VERY first thing Bob Proctor said to me when he met me was after finding out I was a school teacher, in Toronto, and he asked me “What I Really Wanted” to do with my life, and back then, the late 1990s, I definitely didn’t have a clear picture of my goals written out to go through with him step by step (like I do now). I was taken back a bit, because no one ever asked me anything like this before.
Hill says that “the secret will stand out to you when you are ready for it” and when it appears, you will recognize it. I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted back then but do now. If you’ve been following this podcast, you’ll agree that it’s clear that I want to make an impact on the field of education by bringing together simple neuroscience, with social and emotional learning skills, to help make life easier for future generations with these evidence-based strategies. I wrote down that I wanted to become an expert in the field of educational neuroscience years before I had taken a neuroscience course or understood the structure and function of the brain. I would never have gone on a podcast back then sharing my vision with the world and if you were sitting next to me, and this was written in my notebook, I’m sure I would never let you see that I had written that and might even hide it from anyone who might be looking.
Does this resonate with you? What do you think? Where are YOU in this process of what you REALLY want? Can you paint a clear picture of it for anyone who asks?
If you look at the image in the show notes (sorry I didn’t write neater, I didn’t think I would ever share these notes) you will see that we must first THINK to create an IDEA. Hill called the book Think and Grow Rich, and if there is a secret in this book, I now think it’s that “there’s work required, to actually think” and begin this entire process. If you aren’t sure of what your vision is, and it’s not yet clear, then sit quietly somewhere and use your imagination and intuition to think for a while.
Stuck With Your Vision? Ask Yourself These Questions:
What do others say you are good at?
What do you enjoy doing that you would do even if you weren’t paid for it.
Think of an area of life where you are dissatisfied. How would you like this area to improve?
It’s normal to want to be, do, have more in your life so that you can extend your services and help more people with your services. You can’t see your own potential, but you can be made aware of it. I think it’s really important to tell people where they are excelling in life, so they know what you see, that they might not be able to see themselves.
Once you have a vision, write it down and follow these steps for:
Applying the Power of Thought:
What’s your VISION? If I was to ask you “what do you really want?” would you be able to describe your plan clearly and confidently to me? Or would you hesitate, like I did when Proctor first asked me this question. Do you have CLARITY around this vision? It’s not an accident that Brendon Burchard, author of the New York Times Best Seller, High-Performance Habits, found that CLARITY[xi] was one of the habits that research found moved the needle more than any of the other habits for those who are high-performers vs non-performers, meaning that when you have clarity, you are more likely to make decisions that support your vision. Become crystal clear about who you are, and what you want, and you will be able to answer this question quickly and with confidence. The clearer your vision, the less doubt, fear and confusion you will have.
What’s your BELIEF around your vision? Your belief will drive your behavior and help get you out of bed in the morning and keep moving towards what you envision. Do you believe that you will receive your vision? Are you ready/prepared for it? When you are laser focused on your vision, it will be all that you can see. I talked about “Using the Reticular Activating System to Set Your Intent and Achieve it”[xii] earlier this year, that explains how there is a part of our brain (RAS) that will help you to achieve whatever it is that you are focused on (good or bad) so you might as well use this part of your brain to your advantage.
Do you EXPECT that your vision will come true? Expectation hooks you up with what you want and brings it closer to you. Have you ever heard that what you seek, is also seeking you? You will move towards it, and it will move towards you. Remember—you can be hooked up to what you want, but if you don’t expect it, you won’t bring it towards you. You also cannot force this, or it will not come. Force negates. You seek something first, then it seeks you.
What is your vision? What is your goal? Are you prepared? There is no such thing as something for nothing. You must do the work. Be sure to review EPISODE #67[xiii] on “Expanding Your Awareness with Lessons Learned from Bob Proctor’s Seminars” especially with BIG IDEA #5 how we bring an idea from our mind (spiritual realm) and bring it to fruition (physical realm) actually making it happen.
When I asked Bob about the quantum world that Dr. Dan Siegel[xiv] talks about in our interview, where there is this plane of possibility where we can create anything, Bob answered with “I believe the physical realm that we live in and the spiritual world, are all connected, like the colors of the rainbow.” When we take an idea, it comes in from spirit, hits our intellectual mind, and it’s up to us whether we move it into form.
Have you ever had an idea that you thought was brilliant, and you never did anything with it, and then suddenly you see someone else has created it? That’s because there is only one mind, and that we can all tap into these ideas.
This is how ALL ideas happen. They start in the mind of the person who creates it, and then after dedicated work, they hit their target, and people watching might say “Oh wow, that person is so lucky” not realizing the work that went into the attainment of the goal. There are usually years of hard work, persistence, of failures, wrong turns, course corrections, but all starting with that clear vision or idea with an end goal or target.
“Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet.”
How? Over time, we become better at what we do. Never let it rest, until we perfect our craft. Keep going and remember “if a person is not prepared when the opportunity arises, it will only make them look foolish.” (Earl Nightingale).
HOW TO CREATE YOUR VISION FOR AN IMPROVED 2022:
To review the INTRO and CHAPTER 1 of Think and Grow Rich, remember that to achieve NEW results in 2022, we must do something differently than we did in prior years. I hope that you continue to listen to this deep dive into Think and Grow Rich, and wake up early, with me, improving our discipline and confidence levels with this new habit.
EXAMPLE of ANDREA’S VISION:
Grant Cardone reminds us that “Average is a Failing Formula.” (page 70 10x Rule) and he suggests that we write our goals down in the morning/night as if we have already achieved them.
Here’s my FIRST vision of wanting to become an expert in educational neuroscience from January 2019, 6 months before I launched this podcast. I hadn’t even bought the new template for my website when I wrote this and was going to call the podcast Social and Emotional Learning Meets Neuroscience. I had no idea where this idea would lead to, but knew whatever it was, that it needed to have Neuroscience and SEL meshed together somehow.
Figure out what it is that you REALLY want, something that’s much bigger than you, (that you might not want others to see because it’s so big to you) and then believe that you can have it.
When I wrote this, I had no idea this podcast was going to become the top Top 15 Best SEL Podcasts for 2021, and Top 20 Best Neuroscience Podcasts for 2021 and would feature some of the leading experts in neuroscience, education and the brain, but I believed this vision was possible even when I didn’t know what an RSS feed was (that I now know drives ALL podcasts out to the world).
What’s YOUR vision? Do you have it written down? Did this episode give you some ideas on making 2022 your best year ever? Please do what Matt did and take a picture of you studying with me and let me know you have learned. It will help motivate others to do the same.
Remember: “All achievements begin with an idea.” (Napoleon Hill) and then you expand and refine your ideas as you progress towards them.
I’ll see you in the next couple of days where we will move onto DESIRE, FAITH and THE 6th SENSE.
FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi
Website https://www.achieveit360.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com
Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/
REFERENCES:
[i] Grant Cardone, The 10XRule https://www.amazon.com/10X-Rule-Difference-Between-Success/dp/0470627603
[ii] Grant Cardone Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever published on YouTube Dec. 30, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5QGEBkxuL0
[iii] Undercover Billionaire starring Grant Cardone https://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Billionaire-Season-2/dp/B091J1WPJL
[iv] Andrea Samadi interviews Caleb Maddix (Jan 4, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFKA6CPt_sI&list=PLb5Z3cA_mnKiiOxLqeDi_Jd2eG15S-ALF
[v] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_and_Grow_Rich
[vi] See Paul Martinelli’s work over the years as co-founder of the John Maxwell Team https://www.facebook.com/paul.martinelli/videos/1287039331710834/
[vii] The Secret to Think and Grow Rich Revealed by Bob Proctor Published on YouTube April 11, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU-_vjDssVA
[viii] Andrew Carnegie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie
[ix] Hans Ajay https://www.instagram.com/hansajayb/
[x] Matt Stewart https://www.instagram.com/entrepreneurme/?ref=badge&hl=en
[xi] Brendon Burchard on How to Find Clarity https://brendon.com/blog/how-to-find-clarity/
[xii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE “Using the Reticular Activating System to Set Your Intent and Achieve it” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-using-the-reticular-activating-system-to-set-your-intent-and-achieve-it/
[xiii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #67 on “Expanding Your Awareness with Lessons Learning from Bob Proctor’s Seminars” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expanding-your-awareness-with-a-deep-dive-into-bob-proctors-most-powerful-seminars/
[xiv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #28 with Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight: The Basis for Social and Emotional Learning” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/clinical-professor-of-psychiatry-at-the-ucla-school-of-medicine-dr-daniel-siegel-on-mindsight-the-basis-for-social-and-emotional-intelligence/