Napoleon Hill's "one definite purpose"

[smallstar]

Cheers,

I'm currently reading Napoleon Hill quotes, the term "one definite purpose" seems to be popping up over and over again. It sounds grand that you should have a purpose and sacrifice anything for it - but wait a second - this "anything" includes your friends, your family, your health, your nightly sleep, your sanity, your life and your soul.

"The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim."

This just seems plain ridiculous to me. Why should you have exactly one purpose to suck you dry? Why not 2-3 with purposes with equal priorities, why not 10-20 purposes with different priorities? Why can't you have a "balanced life, strong on all areas but emphasizing X and Y" as your purpose? Why can't your purpose be life itself?

[Dave Kaminski]

This can be easily done, IMHO.

I have one - it's a core value. Jesus has one too: "Treat others as you would like to be treated"

You don't have to focus your core goal ridiculously, just make sure it fits you.

Mine isn't exactly set in stone in terms of wording, but it makes sure my actions 90% of the time are helpful in making the lives of others happier and healthier. I must admit i still allow myself 10% destructive time!

[dor]

Originally Posted by smallstar

Cheers,

I'm currently reading Napoleon Hill quotes, the term "one definite purpose" seems to be popping up over and over again. It sounds grand that you should have a purpose and sacrifice anything for it - but wait a second - this "anything" includes your friends, your family, your health, your nightly sleep, your sanity, your life and your soul.

"The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim."

This just seems plain ridiculous to me. Why should you have exactly one purpose to suck you dry? Why not 2-3 with purposes with equal priorities, why not 10-20 purposes with different priorities? Why can't you have a "balanced life, strong on all areas but emphasizing X and Y" as your purpose? Why can't your purpose be life itself?

well in modern language, perhaps its a 'mission statement'...but i think he was referring to people who just drifted from one thing to another, never really committing - or people who just 'fall into' their careers.

granted things have changed a lot since he wrote that - people now not only change jobs more than in his day , but they change careers .....

Lets look at an example: walt disney, -
walt had one chief aim - it first came into being because he focused on making great cartoons - if he didn't focus on that he never would have pushed animation to the points that he did (and people forget he was adored as avant garde in his day because he was a great inovator)
eventually he expanded to live action films and reality itself (theme parks ect)

now what if walt just came to hollywood, tried stunt man one week, acting the next, editing the next...

now granted its good to explore and try different paths if you're not sure and sometimes one path can take you in a direction you didn't expect, but the gist is, focus.

[judge45]

I think NH is referring to when you desire something, you focus hard on that one thing.

I don't think he means forsaking everything else, he just means be focused on the thing you desire the most.

To bring something into your reality, you have to be very determined, but at the same time don't neglect the rest of your life.

HTH

Jeff

[Taking Action]

I Agree Jeff, very much like Walt Disney's purpose, it is an inner self consuming goal. All other things in your life should be part of achieving that goal or purpose. As for forsaking all else, only if other things in your life will take your further away, would you forsake them.

In all actions, as Wallace Wattles said, in all decisions, ask if it will 1) move you closer to your goal and 2) be in anyway harmful to anyone.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by smallstar

Cheers,

I'm currently reading Napoleon Hill quotes, the term "one definite purpose" seems to be popping up over and over again. It sounds grand that you should have a purpose and sacrifice anything for it - but wait a second - this "anything" includes your friends, your family, your health, your nightly sleep, your sanity, your life and your soul.

"The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim."

This just seems plain ridiculous to me. Why should you have exactly one purpose to suck you dry? Why not 2-3 with purposes with equal priorities, why not 10-20 purposes with different priorities? Why can't you have a "balanced life, strong on all areas but emphasizing X and Y" as your purpose? Why can't your purpose be life itself?

How on earth could your purpose "suck you dry"? Your purpose is something that energizes you. It's the path you are here to follow.

[Liara Covert]

Hi smallstar.
A purpose can be one thing or many things. The posts here offer varied ideas worth considering.

For some people, such as Australian Aboriginals and different Native Indians, purpose is indeed grounded in life itself. Their existence gains meaning though sharing and maintaining cultural practices and traditions. You could also make connections to penguins, birds and animals, whose primary purpose is linked to finding a mate, procreating and surviving.

You mention Napoleon Hill who relates purpose to "money conscious" and "poverty conscious" people. He believes you can realize your purpose 'step-by-step' through will-power and persistence. His ideas of achievement evolve based on how we receive material compensation as well as "the knowledge that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage."

[greatmind]

Originally Posted by smallstar

Cheers,

I'm currently reading Napoleon Hill quotes, the term "one definite purpose" seems to be popping up over and over again. It sounds grand that you should have a purpose and sacrifice anything for it - but wait a second - this "anything" includes your friends, your family, your health, your nightly sleep, your sanity, your life and your soul.

"The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim."

This just seems plain ridiculous to me. Why should you have exactly one purpose to suck you dry? Why not 2-3 with purposes with equal priorities, why not 10-20 purposes with different priorities? Why can't you have a "balanced life, strong on all areas but emphasizing X and Y" as your purpose? Why can't your purpose be life itself?

One definite purpose means clear cut goal in mind and this can be finding a parking space to your life purpose. If you want parking space then this becomes your one definite purpose, or if you want to go on vacation to Australia then this becomes your definite purpose, or if you want to become a singer then this is your definite purpose. You can have 10, 20, 50, 1000 purposes in life but they should be definite for that time frame. For example yesterday I was feeling like eating something sweet. But that was not one definite purpose. So I narrowed it down to three options ice-cream, chocolate, pastry. Again it was not one definite purpose. So I further narrowed it down to chocolate but again it was not one definite purpose. So finally I decided I want to eat a particular kind of chocolate and that became my one definite purpose for that time frame. And a few hours later in the evening I was relishing the chocolate which was given to me by my neighbour while it is very unlikely that my neighbour will buy that kind of chocolate. So now you know what one definite purpose means.

[thinkandbepowerful]

I think Napoleon is suggesting that we define a "definite purpose" that we are naturally inspired to fulfil because by living according to it, we fulfil an important part of ourselves and our life.

If your purpose is not aligned with the things that are most important to you in life, then it will feel like a drain to live by it and you will feel that you are sacrificing too much to stay true to it.

I consider my "purpose" to be the chief reason I was put on this planet - the underlying "why" I do what I do; *why* I am excited to get up in the morning so that I can do what I love to do - what I was put here to do.

And I agree with many of the other responses: if fulfilling your "purpose" does not fulfil the parts of your life that you value most (you mentioned: your family, your health, your sanity), then it may be worth re-defining your purpose such that it does excite you; such that you are automatically motivated to live by it because you can see how it allows you to fulfil the areas of your life that you value most.

[homestudycoach]

[QUOTE=smallstar;43726]Cheers,

I'm currently reading Napoleon Hill quotes, the term "one definite purpose" seems to be popping up over and over again.

I read this book years ago and it really did help to change my life. He does say that you should have a burning desire, but he also extolls the virtues of a family life so your not expected to give everything up.

If you can get hold of a CD called The Strangest Secret this is the audio version ish of Hills book "Think and Grow Rich". It's fabulous to listen to and really does explain how "definiteness of purpose" works

[alexb5784]

This post reminds me to look for my PDF copy of Think and Grow Rich on my hard drive.

Your definite purpose is usually your life purpose. But it can take you years to figure that out if you're just getting started. Or maybe you can read Steve's article on finding your life purpose in 20 minutes, checking out Is Your Genius at work (which I looove), and reading Steve's other post life purpose videos.

You don't have to sacrifice your "ultimate purpose" for your family and friends. If anything, they will encourage and support your purpose.

[janicelou]

It can.. But it's easier to develop, congour one thing at a time.

In one week do you think it would be easier to learn one math lesson or one math, one spanish, one science, one english lesson? Sure you could learn all 4 but if you spent the same time on one thing you would be far better at that one thing then if you spent the time learning four different things.

With that in mind, generally, to really be the best in something you need to focus 100% in the field. It's ok to have balance if balance is what your after. If you want to be the best at what you do having balance doesn't always fit in.

[Matthew Cluff]

Originally Posted by smallstar

Cheers,

I'm currently reading Napoleon Hill quotes, the term "one definite purpose" seems to be popping up over and over again. It sounds grand that you should have a purpose and sacrifice anything for it - but wait a second - this "anything" includes your friends, your family, your health, your nightly sleep, your sanity, your life and your soul.

"The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim."

This just seems plain ridiculous to me. Why should you have exactly one purpose to suck you dry? Why not 2-3 with purposes with equal priorities, why not 10-20 purposes with different priorities? Why can't you have a "balanced life, strong on all areas but emphasizing X and Y" as your purpose? Why can't your purpose be life itself?

Purpose is the reason you get up in the morning, day after day. It's what makes you get up and bed and causes you to do the things you do.

Having one purpose and allowing it to become an all-consuming purpose ensures that you will thrive in that one particular area. Take a look at any superstar athlete: they get up day after day, train, train more, and perform. They get exceptional at what they do because they only have the one purpose to pursue.

If you delve off in too many directions, you can get "good" at a lot of things, but not exceptional.

Napoleon Hill in "Think And Grow Rich" mentions this point about a definiteness of purpose. Having one sole purpose and dedicating your life to it allows you to become a master at it and you'll be compensated (eg. monetarily) accordingly.

There's a Law of Compensation that states you'll be compensated in accordance to (1) the need for what you do; (2) how well you do it; and (3) the difficulty there would be in replacing you. Points 1 and 3 are covered if you take care of (2) your ability to do it!

Discover your one primary purpose and live your life by it. Discover your natural talents and abilities, and then go on to pursue it in one concise, clearly-defined purpose.

To your success,
Matthew Cluff