Putting words into action

Putting words into action

Recently a friend of mine showed me a list of famous Napoleon Hill quotes. Since Hill is the author of “Think and Grow Rich,” one of my favorite motivational books, I read the quotes closely. Here are a few that have helped me in life and in business.

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”

Often we find ourselves overanalyzing our situation in life. We think of something we want to do, then we try to come up with a plan to do it. The plan isn’t quite right, so we plan some more. We plan and plan and plan and plan some more.

I’ve come to realize that planning is one way of not taking the action we need to take. When we put effort into doing instead of planning, we get much more accomplished.

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”

Too often, we spend energy on things that are not that important. We don’t take time to think about what we really desire. Sometimes we know what we desire, but we get distracted from the actions that will move us toward those desires.

When deciding what to do, we should always ask ourselves if that action will move us toward our desires. If it does, we should do it. If not, we shouldn’t.

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.”

Many times we give up on our desires too easily. We hit an obstacle and abandon our dreams. How many times were we close to reaching our goal when we threw in the towel?

One of my favorite sports figures when I was growing up was Jim Valvano, the late coach of the N.C. State basketball team. Even as he was dying from cancer he urged people to “never give up.”

In 1983, Valvano’s team won the NCAA basketball tournament despite being heavy underdogs. Several times in the tournament the team was behind late in the game, but the players never gave up and won the championship.

“The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going.”

Consider the three parts to this quote in reverse order.

First, we must know where we’re going. We’ll never get to where we want if we don’t first decide on the destination. It has been said that someone who doesn’t know where they’re going will surely get there.

Second, we must take the action necessary to get there. Once we know where we’re going, we have to take the steps to get there. Action is the key.

Finally, then and only then will the world make room for us to accomplish our desires. When we know our desires and do what we know we need to reach them, the path to success becomes clearer and easier.

Steve DeVane
This free e-book helped me discover the steps to success.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *