New book review: Napoleon Hill's secret book
Outwitting the devil
Hey, today I want to share with you my notes on Napoleon Hill’s secret book:
Outwitting the Devil
70+ years
That’s how long this book went unpublished. His wife begged him not to publish it because she thought it was too controversial.
But his foundation published the book in 2011.
If you don’t know Napoleon Hill, he wrote Think and Grow Rich.
Alongside How to Win Friends and Influence People, Think and Grow Rich is probably the most read American Self Help book of all time.
Think and Grow Rich a good book too.
But some people think Hill is a fraud because he wasn’t really financially independent when he wrote Think and Grow Rich. I don’t really care because I find his books useful and you’ll meet a lot of rich and successful people who recommend it.
So here’s a high level overview of Outwitting the Devil because I found it to be really helpful especially for a season where you’re considering directionality.
Start:
The Drifter vs. Non-drifter
In the book, Napoleon Hill has a dialogue with the Devil.
Basically, he asks the Devil how do you control people, by what means, and how can people regain control over their lives when they’re down a negative path?
The first way the Devil controls people is by causing them to be indecisive and “drift.”
When a person begins to drift on any subjection, he is headed straight towards the gates of hell.
People who think for themselves never drift, while those who do little or no thinking for themselves are drifters.
A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind.
You probably know someone like this or have acted like this before in your life.
I know I have.
Once someone is drifting they tend to embody these emotions, claims the devil:
fear
superstition
avarice
greed
lust
revenge
anger
vanity
plain laziness
And it’s only a matter of time before they are drifting on every subject:
Food
Most people don’t consider their diet which leads to chronic indigestion which which destroys their power of accurate thought
Marriage / relationships
People drift into marriage without plan or purpose to convert the relationship into harmony
Occupation
People get a job with no definite aim or purpose except to make a living
Savings
People spend freely until the devil takes complete control through their fear of poverty
Environment
inharmonious and unpleasant home environments
Dominating Thoughts
Drift into the habit of negative thoughts
Leads to negative acts
I believe the most important one is the dominating thoughts.
If you could enter the conversation going on in some random person’s head it would probably be fear based:
scarcity thoughts around money
fear of judgement from other people
fear of failure
When you compound the effects of thinking this way it leads to what Hill calls “The law of hypnotic rhythm” where these negative thought patterns are simply controlling all of your life.
Drifter Summary:
“The first thing you will notice about a drifter is his total lack of a major purpose in life” “He will never reach decisions on anything if he can avoid it, and if he is forced to decide he will reverse himself at the first opportunity”
The Non Drifter
The opposite of a drifter is the Non-drifter.
“He is always engaged in doing something definite through some well-organized plan which is definite. He has a major goal in life toward which he is always workng, and many minor goals, all of which lead toward his central scheme”
How to notice a non-drifter:
The tone of his voice, the quickness of his step, the sparkle in his eyes, the quickness of his decisions clearly mark him as a person who knows exactly what he wants and is determined to get it, no matter how long it may take or what price he must pay
Essentially to put it in modern terms, the non-drifter is someone who lives with intention.
Alone in the Utah Mountains:
I remember feeling this during my 48 hour solo-retreat in the La Sal mountains when I was 18 years old.
It became abundantly clear to me that nearly every major problem in my life was downstream of living without clear intention.
Immediately after that trip I set my intention to become fluent in German and started getting better life outcomes.
I’ve forgotten this lesson here and there but every time I remember it I get better outcomes.
Tricks the Devil uses to catch you:
“The devil exists only in the minds of people who have fears”
The most useful weapons according to hill:
Flattery
“Flattery is a bait of incomparable value to all who wish to gain control over others. It has powerful pulling qualities because it operates through two of the most common human weaknesses: vanity and egotism”
I notice this in my life.
Some of the longest periods of drifting were induced by romantic relationships that shouldn’t have been.
Failure
“The majority of people drift as soon as they meet with opposition and not one out of ten thousand will keep on trying after failing two or three times"
According to Hill, you can flip failure on it’s head:
“Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent or greater advantage.”
For example, I once lost a last round of a sales interview that would’ve potentially paid 300-500k on target earnings because I prepared for every question except “tell me about yourself” and simply didn’t have a good story ready.
I froze and gave a weak answer!
That will never happen again.
It turned into an advantage through reflection. And about a week later had a massive win in a client situation.
The important word in that quote is “seed” of an equivalent or greater advantage.
He’s not saying every failure is good. He’s saying theirs a potential advantage on the backend if you reflect and improve.
Like Ray Dalio’s idea:
The same is true in sales:
You lose a deal once because you weren’t ready for a specific objection…
Next time you can be 100% sure to be ready for it and overcome it.
The protection against drifting:
“Do your own thinking on all occasions”
Similar to the Royal societies motto Nullius in verba (“take no one’s word for it”)
“Decide definitely what you want from life, then create a plan for attaining it and be willing to sacrifice everything else if necessary than accept permanent defeat
Analyze temporary defeat no matter of what nature or cause and extract from it the seed of an equivalent advantage
Be willing to render useful service equivalent to the value of all material things you demand of life and render the service first
Recognize that your brain is a receiving set that can be attuned to receive communications from the universal storehouse of Infinite intelligence (God) to help you transmute your desires into their physical equivalent
Recognize that your greatest asset is time and the only thing except the power of thought which you own outright and the one thing which can be shaped into whatever material things you want. Budget your time so none of it is wasted
Recognize the truth that fear generally is a filler with which the devil occupies the unused portion of your mind. It is only a state of mind which you can control by filling the space is occupies with faith in your ability to make life provide you with whatever you demand of it
When you pray, do not beg. Demand what you want and insist upon getting exactly that, with no substitutes
Recognize that life is a cruel task master and that either you master it or it masters you. There is no half-way or compromising point. Never accept from life anything you do not want. If that which you do not want is temporarily forced upon you, you can refuse in your own mind to accept it and it will easily make way for the thing you do want.
Lastly remember that your dominating thoughts attract through a definite law of nature, by the shortest and most convenient route their physical counterpart. Be careful what your thoughts dwell upon.”
In a nutshell:
Be definite in everything you do and never leave unfinished thoughts in the mind. Form the habit of reaching definite decisions on all subjects.
I’m not sure if I 100% agree with the certainty of reaching definite decisions on all subjections but directionally believe this is helpful.
How to Improve Definiteness of Purpose (intention)
1. Definite definite purpose
2. Mastery over Self
3. Learning from Adversity
4. Controlling environmental influence (associations)
5. Time (giving permanency to positive rather than negative thought-habits and developing wisdom)
6. Harmony (acting with definite of purpose to become the dominating influence in your own mental, spiritual and physical environment)
7. Caution (thinking through your plan before you act)
Mastery over self:
Hill lays out the three appetites most responsible for one’s lack of self-discipline:
1. desire for food
2. desire for expression of sex
3. desire to express loosely organized opinions
When a man becomes master of these three appetites, he has developed enough self-discipline to conquer those of lesser importance
I liked what he said about food:
The majority of people poison, clog and stagnate the body sewer system… Improper eating is responsible for the majority of ills of the body, and practically all headaches
I’ve definitely noticed a direct relationship between food about the ability to preform at a high level yet schools do not talk about this at all.
Learning From Adversity
Failure is often a blessing in disguise because it breaks the grip of hypnotic rhythm and frees the mind for a fresh start.
I noticed this this year.
For example, I moved to Charlotte after ending a long term relationship, but that “failure” really helped me redefine my direction and get clarity.
Harmony and Caution
Hill was famous for talking about the mastermind.
Essentially, his idea is that the sum of human brains is much greater than the parts. He talks about brains as “receiving sets” from the infinite intelligence which amplify each other.
Whether that’s too woo-woo for you or not is fine.
But I definitely notice a superior brain storming ability when locked in with other people on a similar wavelength. And a deadening effect while around negative, pessimistic and cynical people.
So your associates are of utmost important even beyond your immediate skills and usefulness to each other because you will ultimately enter into Harmony and spiral up or down together.
I notice this in our sales team.
When our Founder is locked in with us, running full sales meetings and setting the tempo, we sell better, even though he’s not literally on the call with us.
That was some of the high level takeaways from the book.
If you’re curious, you can get the free PdF here:
https://www.simardartizanfarm.ca/pdf/Hill_Napoleon_-_Outwitting_the_devil.pdf
Thanks for reading.
What stood out to you? Did you find anything you really agreed or disagreed with? Feel free to let me know here, I’m curious to talk about these ideas with anyone who would like: