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The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons, Napoleon Hill’s 1,600+ page monstrosity published prior to Think and Grow Rich, contains a lot of useful information that can help you realise your potential. In this series, Joshua Moore covers each of these attributes in a practical way that you can apply to your life and work. Today he discusses the value of enthusiasm.
Also in this series:
- Lesson #1: The Master Mind
- Lesson #2: A Definite Chief Aim
- Lesson #3: Self Confidence
- Lesson #4: The Habit of Saving
- Lesson #5: Initiative and Leadership
- Lesson #6: Imagination
- Lesson #7: Enthusiasm
When did you last lose your cool?
Self-control is a skill we all need to master. We regularly find ourselves facing difficult circumstances, opposing views, contrary opinions and more. If we don’t remain calm, we can easily lose it and get angry, say things we don’t mean, offend people and damage our reputation.
Napoleon Hill’s thinking on self-control extends well beyond losing your temper. Self-control is an important aspect in all areas of life. It helps us to restrain ourselves from overflowing with enthusiasm and deterring people, from spending all our available finances, from giving people power over us and more.
According to Hill, a person who has control of themselves:
- Never slanders another person.
- Never buys into jealousy, anger, hatred, fear, etc.
- Will have the ability to use their imagination and enthusiasm to their benefit.
Last week I had to say ‘no’ to a request from a friend. My friend then tried to bait me into an argument, but I exercised my self-control and ignored the remarks. It was not easy saying no or not to respond, however the importance of self-control prevented the argument from escalating and a potential friendship from being damaged in the process.
Although we might harm others with our lack of self-control, we can also harm ourselves. Drinking to excess, smoking and over-eating are just the obvious points. We also harm ourselves inside, fuelling our aggression and anger towards others. The person who has self-control has the power to forgive and to move forward rather than destroying themselves with emotions that bring no benefits.
If maintaining self-control is hard when it comes to smoking (which I’m pleased to say I stopped over a year ago), it is even more difficult when it comes to internal emotions.
In my own life I have had to find the inner-strength numerous times. When I was little, I used to get beaten up at school a lot. I was also a victim to emotional bullying for a long time, too. ON a few occasions I sat down and contemplated how to get even with the people who had made me miserable. However, I realised that in doing so I was only doing more harm to my emotions. I ended up forgiving these people and I am still acquaintances with a few of them now.
I know a person who has dealt with being sexually assaulted and still managed to let go of their anger towards the perpetrator in order to prevent it from destroying their life. I am sure you can think of several instances in your own life too where someone has maintained their inner-strength, which has allowed them to move on despite difficult circumstances.
Actions:
- Do you maintain self-control in all areas? Consider your finances, your relationships, your work, your health, etc.
- What could you do to begin mastering control in one of these areas today?
- What benefits could occur in your life if you let go of fear, anger, etc.?
- What benefits could occur in your life if you apologise to those you have offended?
Joshua Moore is the founder of Moore Thought, a website dedicated to helping people tap their mind and reach their potential in life.
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