“The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.”
- Napoleon Hill, author
Man, I’m so sick of struggling, aren’t you?
That noblest of noble entrepreneurial traits. The Forger. The Struggler. The Pavement Pounder. The Stubborn, Get-Kicked-in-the-Groin-and-Keep-on-Two-Steppin’-Toward-Your-Big-Beautiful-Dream Maverick, with eyes firmly set on his prize, and heart teetering on her sleeve for all to poo-poo upon.
We all have things we do when that going gets tougher than we think we can handle. Me? I’ve been yelling a lot this year. Believe it or not, this hasn’t proven to be very effective, so I’m transitioning to new, more productive strategies.For example, I’ve been climbing a local mountain at the crack of dawn once a week since the middle of May, and I hung up two awesome hammock chairs on our porch so Allen and I would have a place to sway, rock, and BREATHE while we attempt to shake off the stresses of building our dream business and living our lives. And just four days ago, I finally started reading “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.This book could not be more ubiquitous on the Recommended Reading shelves of the business-minded, solo or otherwise. And even though I’ve known its backstory — that the turn-of-the-century mega mogul Andrew Carnegie delivered unto Napoleon Hill a secret for infinite wealth, and Mr. Hill spent the next 20 years interviewing 500 other successful mega moguls and flipping ALL the information out into this handy little page turner — I’ve ignored its riches.
Oops. My bad. Turns out this trippy ditty is a fun, frenetic, heady, and rollicking exploration; a wily, run-on riddle that feels like it’s trying to mess with your cranium. Yet, at the same time, it’s like a Dick ‘n Jane reader, full of simplistic stories of Faith, Desire, Perseverance, Opportunity, Goal Digging, Magic by Muscle, and high gusto Imagination.
It’s not a frivolous “Greed Is Good” campaign, which the title had led me to believe for years. No no no. It’s a book that’s trying to cut through the B.S. of time and space and say something meaningful about our Human Potential — which is something we see decidedly less of every day of every month of every year.
And as a Content Lover, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the extra perk that keeps me smiling as I read it:
Its sentence structure and dated language is absolutely brazen and utterly spectacular!
You can tell the editor was hands-off on this one. Oh, what a privilege and pleasure it is to see a passionate dynamo allowed to say what he wants and embrace his ticks, quips, and renegade turns of phrase!
As Epiphanies, Inc. rolls out reviews later this year, this one will definitely get on the First Dibs list. If you decide to read it, get out your highlighter, cuz you’ll be going to town with it!
