“There are no limitations to the mind, except those we acknowledge.” – Napoleon Hill.
Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, has sold more than 15 million copies. It is probably the best-read how-to-do sales book ever written and it set a new standard for motivational thinking. It has been translated into dozens of languages world wide and is still on the shelves at most book stores.
I read it around 1987 and have had a copy in my own library for years. It resurfaced recently when our managing director Shirley Porter decided to hold afternoon discussions with any of our sales team who were interested. We started out with just a few and it has expanded to more than 15. Our discussions entail what each chapter meant to us and why Hill recommended reading each chapter several times and making notes on goals and thoughts.
I pulled out my old copy of Hill’s book and looked at some of the notes I had written into it. As my colleagues shared their thoughts and ideas, the passion with which they shared their own feelings about each chapter had an immense impact on the entire group. Although we’ve read only 16 chapters, it has made me realize, once again, that Hill was decades ahead of his time.
Sure, the book reveals his “money making secrets”, but it is also roadmap – or in modern day vernacular – your GPS of the future.
If you think clearly and carefully about who you are and what you want to achieve in life, nothing will stop you.
Many of us who have chosen to be managers, coaches and/or trainers have often echoed ideas from Hill’s book. Although it’s less than 300 pages long, it packs a lot of food for thought. The discussions we hold not only bring us together on an afternoon late in the week, but have created a bond among both new and experienced agents.
I haven’t become a millionaire yet, even after reading his book so many times, but there’s still hope for me. There have been times I might have been, but somehow that goal has eluded me!
But I do not measure my achievements in monetary goals alone. As my late parents taught me, the road to riches is not in what you have in the bank or how many properties you own or how many vacations you take to faraway places. It’s how people think of you. What kind of reputation do you have? Are you a fair and just person? Have you been community minded?
If you are, then indeed you have become rich. Hill asks, “Does your occupation inspire you with faith and hope?” I would have to say that after four decades at ours, I’ve never lost faith in human nature and have never ever lost hope that, regardless of the tides of the economy or new styles of brokerages, the use of other services will ever segue into the internet or other types of current media.
Thank you, Napoleon Hill, for coming back into my life so that I may share these thoughts with my readers today.
Hill’s book should be on every agent’s must-read list and every broker’s weekly meetings.
Stan Albert, broker/manager, ABR, ASA at Re/Max Premier in Vaughan, Ont. can be reached for consultation at stanalb@rogers.com. Stan is now celebrating his 43rd year as an active real estate professional.
Stan Albert, ABR, ASA is a consultant with Re/Max Premier in Vaughan, Ont. He can be reached for consultation by email. Stan is now celebrating his 45th year as an active real estate professional.
