Think And Grow Poor

-Devlyn Steele

"You can't achieve whatever the mind can conceive and believe."

-Devlyn Steele

You can't achieve! That's right, I am saying that just because you can conceive and believe something, it doesn't mean you can achieve it. I know...I know...according the grand master himself...Napoleon Hill, and his famous book Think and Grow Rich, you can. In fact, I don't care what self help book, seminar or lecture you read, listen to or attend, you will be told this. It is one of the foundation principles of self help that has been adopted from Hill by most. It is also a foundation principle to being a visionary. 

So how can I say, you in fact can't achieve simply by conceiving and believing? Am I saying there is more to it, like desire maybe? If I was, well Hill and the rest of the gang all agree desire is needed, so that is not it then. Could it be maybe that it is missing the willingness to get into action and stay persistent?  No Hill and the gang write about that too. How about faith? No, that's out there as well. We can go through all the self help books and list all the attributes to success and you can learn and possess them all, and I will still say that does not mean you can achieve.

Blasphemy! I just committed a cardinal sin in the self help world, not only am I refuting the Grand Master himself,  and all the programs out there, I am telling you that you can't achieve by using these principles. In the world of self help, I am supposed to tell you that "You can do it!" Follow these steps and create your success. After all, isn't that supposed to be my job, to "motivate" you? The idea that you can't achieve doesn't sound too motivating does it? To tell you the truth, I have never been into motivating anyone, maybe that's why I am not too good at it?

Motivation, to me, is often like a Red Bull, it can pump you up for a moment, but the crash is hard and it might not be all that good for you. I prefer to inspire people to create real change. With that in mind, why am I saying that you cannot achieve?  Let me start by asking you a few questions:

• 1) Can you conceive yourself in a better body? Do you believe it can happen?
• 2) Can you conceive your career improving? Do you believe it can happen?
• 3) Can you conceive your relationship life getting better? Do you believe it can happen?

Ether one of these items or all, or many other items that you can conceive improvement and do believe you can do it but you are not achieving. Furthermore, I bet I can give a spot quiz (remember those) to everyone reading this article and you would know principles of success. We have all read so many of these books that we know these principles. You probably know them better than you remember high school algebra, and it can be as useless.  These principles are useless because we do not know how to solve the equations of our life even though we know the formulas. 

According to Hill he researched and studied 100's of the most successful men in order to understand the principles of success, and according to Hill the "secret" that all these men knew and that you would uncover that "secret" in the book. Although in a top down world, these principles have foundation of truth and can be applied to create success. However, in the world in which I work, bottom up, meaning you and me...these principles can remain algebraic formulas that serve no real purpose.

Right now, regardless of any self help principles of success, you know at least 100 ways you could improve your life. You could eat better, exercise, drink less, quit smoking, learn another language, go to night school, turn off the TV, read, have conversations in your relationship, and the list is really endless. The fact that you know how to improve your life, doesn't mean you are doing it, does it? The fact that you can conceive and believe something, doesn't mean you can do it either.

You see, the human psychology to create success is more complex than simple formulas, a dash of conceive with two dashes of believe, a pinch of effort, a dash of faith, and a teaspoon of persistence, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes and viola...success. I wish it was that easy, then all we would have to do is buy one of these books, attend a workshop, go to a lecture, and we are all on our way to perfect lives. 

It is not that we do not know how to create better lives, we are blocked by something within us. These blocks can be caused by a variety of factors. It can be connected to self worth, self esteem, self love, fear and much more. If you do not love yourself, feel empty inside and use food as a way to try and fill up the pain, knowing the principles of a good diet and conceiving and believing will not change the behavior. I can give explanation after explanation of different types of blocks. There are so many causes why we self sabotage, self destruct, get paralyzed and not do what we know we should or do what we know we shouldn't even though we can conceive and believe in a better life and success.

If you are like most of us, your bookshelf is lined up with all those books that were going to change your life. You might even be wondering what is wrong with you. Why can't you make it work? You understand it, in fact, you probably know the material by now better than the author, and you still can't seem to execute. Before you go and buy that next book thinking "this time I will find what I need," slow down.

We need to take a look at the foundation on which you are trying to build on. Let's build a better foundation so we can start doing what we already know we should without buying another book. Start first by forgiving and accepting yourself. I love this State Out Loud affirmation: "I forgive myself and accept myself as I am." Then move on to loving yourself, "I love myself and am getting better every day."

Then try and apply this one principle to your life, "I resolve to be my personal best."

The point is, we are human, and that comes with all sorts of baggage and that's okay. You can forgive, accept and love yourself, and you can make everyday better by being your personal best. Build a strong foundation, and in time you will know how to apply those algebraic formulas to your life. Build your foundation...and be nice to you!