Napoleon Hill's 17 Laws of Success (Each Law Summarized)

Napoleon Hill is one of the most renowned authors in the business, motivation, and personal development categories. His most popular book, Think and Grow Rich, is recommended by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, and Daymond John who credited much of their success to this book.

In this video, I’ll summarize Napoleon Hill’s 17 Laws of Success and three tips for using these laws in your everyday life. And make sure to stick to the end because I’ll also recommend my favorite books by Napoleon Hill.

Napoleon Hill first introduced his 17 laws of success in his book “Law of Success.” He revised those laws a number of times throughout his life. Here are all of the laws in their entirety.

The 17 Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill

1. Definiteness of Purpose – Napoleon Hill said “There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Focus your actions and thoughts on one big and specific goal in life. You won’t make the progress you want to in life if you chase multiple, contradictory goals at a time. As “Tony Robbins said, Where your focus goes, energy flows.”
2. Mastermind Alliance – this is the habit of working in complete harmony with others for the attainment of a specific objective. When two minds come together, they’ll get ideas that neither one of them would get by themselves. And the more knowledgeable people you work with, the better quality ideas you’ll get.
3. Going the Extra Mile – Napoleon Hill said “Render more and better service than you are paid for, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment.” If you’re stuck at a certain level in life and you want to make a lasting change, you’ll need to take massive action in the direction you’re trying to go and maintain a strong momentum.

4. Applied Faith– Napoleon Hill explained “The mind has no limitations except those which conflict with the laws of nature.” Think and act as if you already have what you want in life and you’ll increase your chances of success dramatically. What are some limiting beliefs that don’t serve any beneficial purpose for you that you need to let go? Ask yourself this: what do you have to believe to reach the next level in your life?
5. Learning from Adversity and Defeat– According to napoleon Hill, “Often, opportunities come disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat.” In other words, use adversity and defeat as nothing more than lessons to learn from and signals that you need to change your plans. When you experience a setback, think about the new pathways to success that are opening up to you as a result of your new life circumstances.  Here’s another quote that’s pertinent to this law: “Look for the seed of an equivalent benefit in every failure.” In other words, try to think from the mindset that life happens for you, not to you.
6. Pleasing Personality – this is the habit of being generally respectful and friendly with people. This law doesn’t suggest being a people pleaser and a pushover. But, if you want to achieve great things in life, you’ll most likely need to build relationships with great achievers who are further along in the journey toward your goals than you are. And in order to build relationships with those people, they need to enjoy being around you.
7. Personal Initiative – This is one of the most important habits you need to have to be a successful entrepreneur or leader. This is the habit of starting activities that are important to you and seeing them through to completion. If there’s something important that needs to be done, don’t wait for permission or external validation to do it.
8. Creative Vision – This is the habit of mentally visualizing the things that you want most and the actions that will help you to acquire them. Napoleon Hill stated “All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.”
9. Positive Mental Attitude – This is the habit of looking for the positive side of every situation in life—especially during times of failure and adversity. And when we start to feel negative emotions, we have to learn to change out mindsets so that we can pursue our goals with a clear mind.
10. Enthusiasm – This is the habit of keeping yourself energized by focusing your life on what you love most. You need enthusiasm and a high energy level to keep reaching for your goals when you come across setbacks.
11. Self-Discipline – This is the habit of avoiding negative choices that will cost you more than you gain. This one might be a little subjective, but in general, avoid bad habits that could take you off track from your goals.
12. Accurate Thinking – This is the habit of making decisions and forming opinions that are based on factual information and tangible evidence. Try to avoid biases and assumptions that could cause you to make bad decisions.
13. Controlled Attention – This is the habit of prioritizing your time and energy to stay focused on what is most important and beneficial. If you work in a full-time job and you’re building a side business, you would need controlled attention to spend at least 20 – 40 hours a week toward building that business.
14. Teamwork – this involves coordinating with others to work toward a common goal. The bigger and more ambitious your goal, the more talented people you’ll need to help you reach it.
15. Maintenance of Sound Health – this is the habit of keeping your energy level up by eating healthy food and exercising on a normal basis.
16. Budgeting of Time and Money – this is the habit of taking time everyday to move closer to your definite major purpose and saving and investing money to ensure that your finances steadily grow
17. Establishing Positive Habits – this involves repeating desirable thought patterns and behaviors until they become effortless and self-moving.

3 Tips for Using the 17 Laws of Success

1. Keep in the mind that the first four laws are said to be the most important and will likely give you the fastest results.
2. In order to ingrain each of these laws into your personality, it may help to work on mastering one law in your daily life per week in a sequential fashion.
3. You can mix any of these laws together to create a concept that is even more powerful. Look through these laws again and use your imagination to figure out what two laws would change your life the fastest if you combined them and put them into action today. To start you off, how much would it impact your life, if you combined the “Going the Extra Mile” law with the “Definite Major Purpose” law.

 Recommended Books

The books I most recommend from Napoleon Hill are:

• Think and Grow Rich
• The Master-Key to Success
• You Can Work Your Own Miracles

The Law of Success and Sell Your Way Through Life are also great books to consider.

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