Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich had a profound effect on the business world and the way in which people conduct business. However, The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons, Hill’s lesser-known 1,600+ page monstrosity published prior to Think and Grow Rich, contains a lot of useful information that can help you reach your potential.

The Law of Success covers a wide variety of theory, philosophy, case studies and the 15 attributes for success (note: presumably the arithmetic that delivered the book’s title included the introductory chapter). Over the coming weeks I’ll be covering these 15 attributes in a way that you can (hopefully) apply to your life and work.

The first principle in the book is known as the Master Mind.

What is a Master Mind?

A Master Mind is when two or more people come together in a spirit of harmony. It is believed that when they come together they will engage a third, greater mind, which will allow new ideas to come to them.

Translating this into modern speech, a Master Mind is simply what we would call a ‘meeting’ or a ‘conference’ between two or more people. Boards of Directors and senior staff do this in business all the time. The third mind engaged is not a mind, of course, but represents the creative energy between two or more people who get together to improve something.

A good example of this in my life was late last year. I was flying back from Brisbane with a business partner and together we mapped out a whole new strategy for the business in 2010 on the plane. This new strategy would never have been created if it wasn’t for us working together with an objective in mind.

Get a posse together

The first positive step towards success (either in business or on a personal level) is to establish a group of like-minded people who are dedicated to achieving success.

The idea is to meet with this person / group twice a week (on the phone, in person, etc.) to explain situations you are facing and to come up with ideas for going forward. Twice a week is the minimum frequency recommended by Napoleon Hill.

A word of warning from the author: be very careful about who you choose to join your Master Mind. You want to make sure you are all dedicated to the common goal (each individual’s success, the business success, etc.). If there is no harmony within the group, it’s unlikely that you’ll come up with creative ideas that will produce positive outcomes.

Actions

• Think of a time in your past when a group of people (including you) have worked together towards a goal. How did things turn out? Did you achieve more than what you would have on your own?
• Find one or more individuals with whom you can work harmoniously and whom you wish to help achieve a goal in their lives (and vice versa).
• Try to meet this person or group of people twice a week (minimum once a week). Listen to each other’s situations (or the situation if you are both in the same organisation) and come up with actionable ideas for each member’s benefit.
• Review your progress in your next meeting, and consider bringing other people into your group if they will add to, and derive benefit from, the whole group.

Joshua Moore is the founder of Moore Thought, a website dedicated to helping people tap their mind and reach their potential in life.