Who is that fat, happy man in this black-n-white photo? Show this photo to 100 people today and probably none of the 100 will know who it is. Do you? I seriously doubt it. And why should it matter? Anyone who can’t afford a color photograph probably doesn’t have much to teach us about building wealth anyway, right?
That fat, happy man happens to be the 2nd richest person in modern history. Know who he is yet? Probably not. (If I asked you who the #1 richest person in modern history is, would you know that? If you guessed “Bill Gates” – you’d be off by about 19 spots on the list. The #1 richest person in modern history was John D. Rockefeller. So who is this #2 person that we’re talking about and why does it matter?)
First, the reason this person is important to you is this: If the 2nd richest person in modern history offered to teach you the secret of success, do you think it might be worth your time to listen? Please say “YES!!!” Because that is exactly what Andrew Carnegie did.
At the height of his success, power, and wealth, Andrew Carnegie wanted to teach the masses how to become successful – something the wealthy and powerful of the world typically frown on. “Keep the masses dumb and dependent and you can control them forever” has been the mantra of many powerful people throughout the ages. For Andrew Carnegie to purposely offer his wisdom and secrets to ordinary people was and is a BIG deal! And he also opened the door to the secrets of other wealthy and powerful people. His efforts probably helped create more millionaires than any other person in history by providing know-how and promoting the idea that ANYONE can become successful!
It was 1908 when a young, unemployed reporter by the name of Napoleon Hill was summoned to meet with Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie offered to introduce Hill to the world’s most powerful and wealthy people if Hill would agree to compile their collective wisdom and write “a new philosophy of success” using all he would learn. Though almost penniless himself, and with no promise of financial help from Carnegie, Hill jumped at the opportunity to work on this project and promised to complete it—which he did.
Over the next 20 years, Hill interviewed over 500 of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world to find out their secrets. From these interviews, Hill wrote and published several books and became a multi-millionaire himself. His most famous book was titled, “Think and Grow Rich” – published in 1937, this is still one of the best selling success books on the market today.
One of the first interviews Hill conducted for his research was with Andrew Carnegie himself. During this interview, Carnegie introduced Hill to the concept of Time Budgeting – which Hill credited for much of his own success.
Here was Carnegie’s daily schedule – can you do something like this yourself?
8 hours a day for Sleep
8 hours a day for Work
4 hours a day for Recreation & Health
2 hours a day for Extra Service to Others
2 hours a day for Study and Prep
Are you getting enough sleep every night? Are you out of balance with work vs. fun (I know I am right now)? Do you serve others and spend time improving yourself through reading and education, etc.? Carnegie didn’t have more hours to work with than you do but his Time Budget helped him get a LOT accomplished!
No comments:
Post a Comment