Of Mind and Body

T minus four days till the end of the month.

T minus two days till I end my working career at the Plantation.

T minus 61 pages till the end of "Think and Grow Rich".

Why do I always leave it so close!

But, even though I've got to put down "The Game of Thrones" to finally finish Napoleon Hill's masterpiece, I have to say these last two chapters really do encompass the use of both body and mind in achieving your desires in life.  And I promise you, I will try to be as PG-13 as I can about this.

Got your attention?  Good!

Lets start with Step Nine of gaining riches or whatever your desires are.  I know he's just talking about riches, but hey I think it can be used for any circumstances.  That step is The Power of the Master Mind!

So the Master Mind is technically not mastering your mind.  It actually is a focus on a group that will help assist you with creating plans and executing them for the accumulation of your intentions.  It's not to say that your mind isn't important in the formation of these ideas and dreams.  It's also not to say that individuals haven't been very successful  on their own. But they also must suffer from great headaches and panic attacks trying to keep everything straight with no support system in place.  And as success grows bigger and bigger, obviously there is only so much one person can handle.

So what Napoleon Hill suggests is finding a core group of people of many talents and different knowledgeable fields, but all have to be on the same page about their purpose, and what the desire is that needs to be achieved.  And, as it is true with all energies out there, the more minds you have, the more thinking power you have.  It also takes some of the stress off the dreamer, not having to know and remember everything on their own, giving them more freedom to do what they want to.

It reminds me of a story that was spoken about earlier in the book.  Henry Ford spoke of the time he was labeled as ignorant, from his lack of schooling and barely knowing how to read.  Yes the man who pretty much created the factory and car culture in America as we know it, barely went to school.  So he sued the people who labeled him that and, in court, had to prove that he wasn't ignorant.  So the lawyer kept naming all these random facts about presidents and wars and spelling tests (which I know I would have failed at spelling out loud as well, and I have a bachelor's degree).  Finally, frustrated as all hell, he looks the lawyer straight in the eye and says "Why do I need to know all this nonsense?  If I wanted the answers to these questions I would ask one of my staff to answer them!"  And even though it seems like it would show the court that he was stupid, it actually showed quite the opposite.  It showed that the was smart enough to surround himself with people who helped his vision but also filled in those gaps of knowledge that Henry Ford didn't have himself.  And that's what Napoleon Hill means by having a Master Mind group.  If you have a certain objective then you should certainly have a group of people who know how to get there.  And even for every day circumstances, I think asking questions and looking for help are two things that are certainly frowned upon in our society.  It's too bad.

Now what about body?

Well, that leads us into the Tenth Step of gaining riches and desires.  And this one will certainly surprise you.  It certainly surprised me.

The Mystery of Sexual Transmutation.

Yep, you read right.  It's all about sex!  Now, I have never seen this sort of suggestion appear on ANY leadership list, or success stories, or really anything pertaining to using sex as getting what you want.  Except for lewd jokes.

But I don't want you to miss understand this like I did for the first six pages of this chapter.  It's not just about the act of sex that makes people successful.  It's really about realizing the euphoric energy that you gain when you are in loving, sexual conduct (I REALLY trying to be good here) takes you brain waves to another level entirely. And that level can help people see solutions to certain problems, or even get new ideas. 

Now, I know all of our puritanical sensibilities are going in over drive right now.  How could a process that is so natural and desirable, yet so taboo from our cultural view point, be so important for the gaining of success in our lives?

Well, in so many words that Napoleon Hill stated in this sixteen page chapter.....

...... IT MAKES YOU HAPPY!  Now there's an epiphany.

Yes, by relaxing the body, freeing the mind, and creating those wonderful endorphins we hear about so much, it brings us to a happy state, which makes it easier for problems to be resolved and thinking to be clearer.

And since I think I can't be any more PG-13 then that, I'm going to stop now.  Goodnight!