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Self Improvement – Quick and Easy

By Ross Craft

For most people self improvement just doesn’t work. They buy self

improvement books, records and video courses that promise to help

overcome the barriers that keeps the person from success, but while the

course material might sound great, the personal flaw is elusive. The reason

self improvement doesn’t work for them is they are starting from the wrong

premise. Trying to find the personal flaw or personality defect that is

keeping you from achievement is actually a negative approach to achieving

self improvement and it just does not work.

Hi I am Ross Craft and I had a miracle in my life of recovering from two

medical death sentences and in the process learned what I am about to tell

you the hard way. I did not recover by trying to get rid of the blindness,

heart disease and autoimmune disease. I only recovered when I took the

positive approach and forgot about disease and started concentrating on

health. I started concentrating on getting healthy. I ate better food, I found

supplements, and I concentrated my mind on positive ideas for health. That

concentration included meditation and visualization. In my visualizations, I

saw myself telling my family that I was well and heard what they had to say.

I saw myself telling my doctor that I was well and his agreement. That

subtle difference changed my mental attitude and my mind body

communication. I had several medical specialists during my five year ordeal

and I later talked to three of them about my recovery. They all agreed that

changing my mental attitude saved my life. (My story is related in the book

“Learning to Dance in the Rain” available on Amazon).

Since recovering, I have been researching and discovering what others have

written about mental attitude and its effects on health, wealth, happiness

and abundance in general. This article relates the self improvements that

come automatically when you make up your mind to a definite major

purpose to pursue in your life.

One on the most fundamental characteristics of all successful individuals is

the fact that they've decided on what Napoleon Hill, author of Think and

Grow Rich, referred to as a definite major purpose. In addition to Hill’s

observation, a now famous twenty-seven year study was conducted on

graduates of a prestigious Ivy League school (Princeton). This study

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followed the lives and progress of all the graduates for twenty seven years.

At the end of the study, the results of were published and it was found that

the three percent of students who had written goals or as I would put it, a

chief major purpose, had more wealth and happiness than all the ninety

seven percent put together. They had decided early in life that their

endeavors in life would be about a major purpose. This was true even

though everyone in the class or school for that matter was the cream of the

crop as far as intelligence was concerned.

My definite major goal now, is to pass on what I learned and help as many

people as I possibly can learn how to consciously create their own reality,

via the books I write. All the outstanding people in history are identified with

their major chief purpose. Bill Gates’, (founder of Microsoft) , definite

objective was to make it possible for everyone to have a powerful laptop or

desktop computer sitting on their desk. Andrew Carnegie's definite major

objective, way back in the late 1800s, was to find a method to mass produce

steel, making steel low-cost to the point that numerous merchandise we now

take for granted might be made utilizing steel.

Jacques Cousteau's definite objective was to educate people concerning the

wonders of the sea. Napoleon Hill's definite objective was to spread his

Philosophy of Personal Achievement around the globe. Muhammad Ali's

definite main purpose was to be the best heavyweight boxer ever known.

Thomas Edison's definite main objective was to see the whole world powered

by electrical energy.

Hill noticed that all successful people the top 2% had a definite objective for

their life, and that the other 98% of people were primarily like rudderless

ships, not truly being aware of exactly where they wanted to go, not even

coming close to obtaining a definite main purpose. This is a tragedy, simply

because as soon as you identify your definite main purpose, a lot of

wonderful self growth happens instantly and automatically, which I'll outline

in a moment. But first, I want to let you know a story about Napoleon Hill.

You may be asking yourself why you should spend time focusing on or

learning about Napoleon Hill, and why he knew so much about achievement,

so I need to let you know more about his story.

Hill was born in 1886; He lost his mother at a really early age, which led to

his being a real problem child. He had a fascinating childhood. His father was

an itinerant preacher who usually left him alone without adult supervision,

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during the time he traveled to a variety of congregations. Hill didn't even

own a pair of shoes till he was twelve years old however he did own a

revolver that he carried with him. He was also known as a wild child, a

person to steer clear of especially if didn’t want any trouble.

Fortunately, his father remarried when Hill was in his early teenage years

and when his father introduced his son to his new bride; he did so by saying,

"This is my son, Napoleon, the meanest boy in the county," and then warned

her that he would probably just as soon smack her as look at her. His new

stepmother took Napoleon's chin in her hand, looked him straight in the eye,

and said with a smile, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with this boy. He's

just incredibly smart and still hasn’t found an idea (definite major purpose)

to which to apply his intelligence."

Hill wrote that this was the very first time anybody had ever described his

abilities or prospective in a good way, and it changed his life. His step-

mother played a big role in his life for a lot of years, which includes giving

him a typewriter and encouraging him to write, which eventually led to him

becoming the author of the best-selling book, after the Bible, in history.

In 1908, Hill was a writer for a magazine referred to as The Golden Rule

Magazine. Hill was sent to interview Andrew Carnegie, who at that time was

thought to be the richest man in the world, at Carnegie's estate in upstate

New York. Hill believed he’d be there for probably an afternoon, but

Carnegie took a liking to him and kept him there for three entire days.

Carnegie was nearing the end of his career, and at that point was mainly

concerned with the challenge of giving away most of his fortune. You may

not realize that Carnegie funded most of the public library system of the

United States, and gave away many millions of dollars just before he died.

His estate still continues to donate many millions even to this day.

Throughout the three days Hill was with Carnegie, Carnegie described in

great detail his dream of defining or explaining his philosophy of individual

achievement and making it available to the general public, so that anyone,

no matter what their circumstances, could attain anything at all they wanted

in life. After describing this philosophy for three days, he told Hill that now

that he had described his philosophy in great detail, he had a question for

Hill. According to Hill, this is, word for word, what Carnegie said to him:

"You now have my idea of a new philosophy, and I wish to ask you a

question in connection with it, which I want you to answer with a simple yes

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or no. The question is this: If I give you the opportunity to organize the

world’s first philosophy of individual achievement, and introduce you to men

who can and will collaborate with you in the work of organization, do you

want the opportunity, and will you follow through with it to completion if it is

given to you?" He told Hill that it would likely take twenty years to complete

the task.

Imagine that you are twenty-one years old, sitting in front from the richest

man on this planet, and he asks you such a question. What would you do?

What Hill didn't know was that Carnegie had already asked exactly the same

question to more than 250 other writers, several whom were considerably

older and more accomplished than he was, and had been unsatisfied with

their answer. He also didn't understand that Carnegie was timing him using

a stop watch he was holding under his desk to determine if, immediately

after hearing each of the facts of his philosophy for three full days, Hill could

make a definite decision about it within one minute. One of Carnegie's

beliefs was that an individual who couldn't make a prompt choice when he or

she had all the facts couldn’t be trusted to follow through using their

decision. Hill, the story goes, took specifically twenty-nine seconds to say

that, yes, he would grab the opportunity, and would finish it.

Within the next two decades, Hill interviewed virtually every successful

person within the United States of America, several of them with Carnegie's

introduction. A few of those he interviewed aren't as well-known these days

as they had been 80-100 years ago, but you'll recognize several names.

They consist of Thomas Edison, Clarence Darrow, the great attorney, William

Wrigley, Jr., Walter Chrysler, Henry Ford, James J. Hill, William Jennings

Bryan, John D. Rockefeller, F.W. Woolworth, Luther Burbank, the great

botanist, and Alexander Graham Bell. Hill also interviewed, and was an

advisor to, Presidents Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, and Franklin

Roosevelt. Hill wrote a number of Roosevelt's famous Fireside Chats, and it

was Hill, who coined Roosevelt's famous phrase, "We have nothing at all to

fear but fear itself."

Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich, he said, during the Great Depression, while

he was an advisor to FDR, "to keep himself positive," he stated, although a

lot of people had been afraid.

Something like thirty or forty million copies of Think and Grow Rich have

been sold, making it the second very best-selling book of all time,

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immediately after the Bible, and not a single word of marketing has ever

been used to sell the book. I highly advise you get a copy of Think and Grow

Rich, and any other book by Napoleon Hill, and read them as many times as

you can, if you’re at all considering individual achievement. Other books of

his that are highly recommended reading are The Master Key to Riches,

Grow Rich with Peace of Mind, and Success Through a Positive Mental

Attitude, which he wrote with W. Clement Stone, who, by the way, was one

of Jack Canfield's (Chicken Soup for the Soul) mentors. I've read Think and

Grow Rich more than 10 times, and many other successful folks I know have

read it several times as well.

At any rate, at the end of twenty years, Hill published a set of books referred

to as The Law of Success, which you are able to still get, based on the large

number of interviews along with the relationships he created using the most

successful people of his day. He stated that he actually utilized 621 of the

interviews in making his philosophy of success. The Law of Success outlined

sixteen principles of success he had learned from these successful people,

plus a couple of years later he added a seventeenth principle.

I tell this story at great length simply because I really want you to

understand that Hill's ideas aren't something he just made up. They came

from the actual expertise from the highest achieving, make-it-happen people

on this planet. Since Hill first published these ideas, millions of people have

employed them to become successful, and it's said that Napoleon Hill and his

philosophy have developed many more millionaires than anyone else in

history.

So, with that background, let's examine the first of Hill's principles, that of

Definiteness of Purpose. What Hill was actually noticing in each of the

successful individuals he studied was that every single one of them had

decided on a thing, some purpose, upon which to focus their mind. Your first

step to self improvement is to start looking for a definite purpose to start

focusing your mind on. Hill stated that adopting a definite major purpose

was the beginning point of all achievement. (Although at the time I didn’t

realize it, my decision to get well was my chief major purpose in life. Before

that decision, I was visiting a never ending list of medical specialists and just

trying not to be sick.)

When you decide on your major life’s purpose, it doesn't mean you need to

want to develop a transcontinental railroad or invent the personal computer

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or have some large purpose. Your definite major purpose should be what

you want to do, big or little. It's your life and you should do what you

desire. I would like to add, that what you happen to be capable of

undertaking is many times greater than you probably think it truly is. And,

when all is said and done it actually isn't any tougher to accomplish

something big than to do something small.

It's all a matter of what you want to do with your time. To decide on doing

something really big, you may pay a bigger price tag that would mean you

couldn't do something else with the time and resources you'd use in

achieving your goal. Individuals who do something large do so due to the

fact they feel a good deal of passion about doing it, so it doesn't feel like a

sacrifice to them. I work a lot of hours, but I adore what I do, and would

rather do what I do than something else. I understand that Bob Proctor (star

of the movie The Secret), for instance, feels the exact way, even though he's

continuously busy operating on his definite major purpose.

Hill noticed that there are a number of very effective advantages which you

instantly gain whenever you adopt a definite purpose in life that is to say,

when you focus your thoughts on something you genuinely want and take

action to acquire it.

1. The very first of these benefits is that you quickly begin to create several

positive and really valuable qualities, such as self reliance, individual

initiative, imagination, enthusiasm, self-discipline, and concentration of

effort.

In the event you’ve ever wondered why particular individuals appear to have

these qualities, and others don't, you now know. Those that have these

qualities have adopted a definite goal. They've decided to focus their

thoughts on the attainment of a definite purpose, and as quickly as they do,

all kinds of inner resources immediately become available. Know this,

whenever you focus your mind on something it is easier to concentrate your

action of carrying it out which makes what you concentrate on take place in

reality.

This is partly how that occurs: you mind becomes clearer, you feel self

sufficient, your imagination comes alive, and also you get enthusiasm and

self discipline and are able to see yourself with your goal accomplished. You

are able to visualize the end result because you now know what the goal is.

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2. The second benefit of adopting a definite objective and focusing your

mind on it really is that it encourages you to specialize and it attracts to you

the specialized information you need to attain your purpose. When you

concentrate on something you want, your thoughts sends out a type of radar

that attracts you to the information you'll need that will help you get what

you desire.

Let's say that your goal is to be a wonderful mother or father. As soon as

you adopt that purpose, your mind begins to demonstrate self reliance. You

start taking a personal initiative to be a far better mother/father, in other

words, you develop motivation. Your imagination comes alive, and appears

to effortlessly produce options to difficulties. You create enthusiasm for what

you’re doing, and you enjoy it more. You develop self discipline, and

performing whatever must be done no longer appears like work. You also

create concentration of effort, and don't get distracted by other uses of the

time and resources. And, you start to notice all of the resources of

information about the best way you can be a better father.

If, on the other hand, your purpose could be to develop a thriving company,

exactly the same qualities will come to you as soon as you adopt the

creation of the company as your purpose, however they will provide

information and ideas that will help you develop the organization as opposed

to turn into a much better parent. And, naturally, it is possible to apply these

qualities to different smaller targets. Please don’t assume that you need to

be so focused that you can't do other things in your life.

3. The third benefit of adopting a definite goal is the fact that it induces you

to budget your time and money and plan your day-to-day affairs in such a

way that results in the attainment of your goal. You could even stop wasting

your time watching The Survivor Series and American Idol and actually do

what will genuinely make you into a millionaire or anything else you so

choose to be.

4. The fourth advantage is that focusing your thoughts on a definite purpose

makes your mind much more alert to opportunities associated to your goal

and gives you the courage to act on those opportunities once they appear.

When I decided to go into the house rehabbing business, I remember how I

felt about buying my first house. Since I had a definite purpose and my

thoughts were focused on attaining it, I had the courage to go ahead and

take action even though I have to admit I was afraid.

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5. The fifth advantage of obtaining a definite objective and focusing your

mind on it is that it develops the capacity to reach decisions swiftly and

firmly. Effective individuals make choices as quickly as sufficient facts are

offered and adjust them slowly, if ever. The reason they're able to make

such decisions is their thoughts are centered on what they want.

As you read this, I hope you're noticing that several of the qualities you've

probably wanted to possess come, in accordance with Hill's analysis, just by

adopting a definite purpose and focusing your mind on the attainment of

that goal.

6. The sixth benefit of adopting a definite goal is that doing this so inspires

the cooperation of other individuals and attracts their favorable interest. This

can be one of the keys to getting more resources and more pull that will help

you. This can be how I got my buddy and other investors to invest with me

in my house rehabbing company as I needed them along the way. I had no

more pull than you do with such men and women when I started, but my

definiteness of purpose somehow attracted these as well as other men and

women to assist me, again and again, as I built my organization. The

identical thing will occur to you as you adopt a definite goal. You'll attract

the favorable focus and cooperation of other individuals.

7. The seventh benefit definiteness of purpose, according to Hill also brings

to you the Twelve Great Riches of Life, which are a good mental attitude,

sound physical health, harmony in human relationships, freedom from

worry, the hope of achievement, the capacity for faith, a willingness to share

ones blessings, a labor of love, an open mind on all subjects, self-discipline,

the capacity to understand folks, and financial freedom.

8. The eighth advantage, according to Hill, is that definiteness of purpose

prepares our mind for faith, which makes our thoughts positive, and frees

our minds from fear, doubt, discouragement, indecision, and procrastination.

it is possible to develop the faith you need, and once you feel this way,

absolutely nothing can stop you.

9. Lastly, the ninth benefit is that definiteness of purpose provides you with

an effective awareness and safeguards you from the influences of failure

awareness. Your mind become sold on succeeding and refuses to accept the

possibility of failure.

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I don't know about you, but I believe this is quite an impressive list of

advantages, just for adopting a definite purpose and focusing your mind on

attaining it. It's more or less a list of most, if not all, the things an individual

could want in life. So, now it is time for you to adopt a definite purpose, and

begin to work on attaining it so you'll be able to see for yourself exactly how

this operates.

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