The Carnegie Secret Revisited: An E-mail From a Reader
I receive e-mails from readers quite often, but I rarely get one as thought-provoking as this one. This reader gives me their take on the Carnegie Secret and suggests I've missed the mark with my explanation. I received this message via e-mail on May 16, 2011. I have preserved all of the original punctuation and formatting. I've also included my response. So, what do YOU think? Did I miss the mark? I'd love to hear what you think. Leave me a comment at the bottom.
An E-mail From a Reader
I believe Carnegie's secret to be a burning desire coupled with an imagination.
Everyone has an imagination - the missing part is a burning desire - something that cannot be bought!
When Carnegie revealed the secret it was simple and elegant ie: A man with imagination and a burning desire can achieve anything he wishes to achieve.
Freewill is just saying anyone can choose success because they can - hardly an inspiring statement to make Napoleon Hill devote his life to understand 'the secret'.
Your imagination allows for huge creativity in overcoming obsticals on the path to success.
Dominic Spencer
My Response
Hi Dominic,
Thank you for sending me your message. Just what the Carnegie Secret is has been debated for over half a century. I don’t think the debate will end for some time, either.
If a person possesses a burning desire and imagination (along with the other 13 success principles) they must still MAKE THE CHOICE to take action towards their definite major purpose.
As Napoleon Hill states, “We were given our willpower for this purpose.” To me, he could not have been more clear.
Everyone has some idea of what they want their life’s purpose to be; that is the first half of the Carnegie Secret. The second half is focusing our will on making it happen.
The secret as a whole reads something like this: The secret to achieving your definite major purpose in life is to be able and willing to make it reality.
A person MUST have both halves of the secret in order to make it work. A person is ABLE by human right, but are they WILLING? That is the CHOICE they must make.
My interpretation of the Carnegie Secret is really what inspired me to write Think & Grow Balls!. I mean, if all you need is a burning desire and imagination, then why aren’t more people in the world successful? Why does the vast majority of the human world population live in poverty? If self-improvement books, Think & Grow Rich in particular, are so popular, why isn’t EVERYONE who reads them as successful as they wish?
The reason is this: People are not successful because they haven’t directed their willpower towards their goal. Napoleon Hill even calls willpower the “Master Key”. You must USE your willpower to get what you want in life.
Morpheus has a great line in The Matrix where he says, “Knowing the path is different from walking the path.” The difference is the choice one must make to walk down that path.
Think & Grow Balls! was written as a step-by-step guide on how to motivate yourself to IGNITE your willpower and apply the Carnegie Secret to your life. It’s a topic that Napoleon Hill never wrote about. No author had. So I wrote about it. It’s the only book, that I know of, that explains how to APPLY the Carnegie Secret… your secret… in eight simple steps. You can download it for free by clicking this link:
http://www.thinkandgrowballs.com/blog/2011/05/15/think-grow-balls-free-pdf-download/
Again, thank you for taking the time to send me your thoughts. I found them very thought-provoking. I’m wondering if I have your permission to use your message and my response as a post on my new blog? I think it could help people find their own secret. Please let me know when you have time.
Onward & Upward,
Think & Grow Balls!: Free PDF Download
Think & Grow Balls!: Password Scavenger Hunt
I've been thinking of doing something fun with my book for some time now and I thought my new blog would be a great place to try it. What I would like to do is offer you my book for FREE. You can download it by clicking the link below:
Think & Grow Balls! Free PDF Download
There, that was easy, wasn't it? So what's the catch? Well, the catch is that the file above is "password-protected" and you need a special password to open the file. So, how do you get the password, you ask? That's easy! You just have to complete the Password Scavenger Hunt.
Here's what you need to do to complete your quest:
- Visit and Like the Think & Grow Balls! fan page on Facebook. There you will need to search the wall to get the first part of the password.
- Visit and Follow me on Twitter. There you will need to search my tweets to get the second part of the password.
- Subscribe via e-mail to Think & Grow Balls! Blog by submitting your name and e-mail address in the form on the sidebar on the right side of this blog. Once you confirm your e-mail address, you will be sent a confirmation message with the third part of the password.
- Share this post using the "Share The Wealth" tool below. You can use any of the social media tabs available on the plug-in to share this post to earn the fourth part of the password.
- Like this post using the Facebook "Like" button OR increase its rating using the Google+ "+1" button AND leave a comment at the bottom letting me know you have completed the scavenger hunt. I will then message you personally via e-mail with the fourth and fifth parts of the password.
Once you have completed the scavenger hunt, you must then enter all five parts of the password IN ORDER and CASE-SENSITIVE to unlock your free copy.
Completing this scavenger hunt and opening your copy has a value of $19.95! I will keep this post up until my publisher realizes what I'm doing and yells at me for being dumb and not sticking to my contract. So, you may want to get started soon. Have fun and enjoy!
Onward & Upward!
Escape Velocity Pep-Talk #2
This post is part two of a multi-part post featuring the original Escape Velocity Pep-Talks written by J.D. Bloodstone. Originally written in 2008, these pep-talks were a supplemental weekly e-mail course sent to people who downloaded Think & Grow Balls! in its original e-book format. These newsletters were recently discovered in an archived folder on an old computer after having been lost by the hosting provider and feared lost forever. I am happy to report that they will be released on this blog over the coming months.
Escape Velocity Pep-Talk #2
As you may already know, recently I've been taking a survey on my website and many people have given me their input as to what topic is most important to them.
I can't tell if you have voted, yet, because it's an anonymous poll, but I want to thank you if you have.
This poll helps me understand what is important to my readers and also helps me validate the content of my ebooks and their ability to help motivate and encourage them to take action in their lives.
Which brings me to my topic for this week.
According to the most recent poll results, "taking action" is now in the lead by almost 10% of the total votes.
I find this reassuring because it lets me know that there are a lot of people just like me out in the world that are dealing with the same issues that have held me back in the past.
I've done a lot of research for the topics I discuss in my e-books and it just so happens that "taking action" is VERY important to MANY people and the topic came up in discussions often.
So, I'll share with you what I've learned.
Taking action isn't always about doing something... sometimes it's about NOT doing something.
And, the decision to DO or NOT TO DO something involves CHANGE.
And, since change is not absolute and the results are not guaranteed, change involves RISK.
And, anytime humans encounter risk, they encounter FEAR.
But what kind of fear?
There are many types of fear and many ways it manifests in our bodies.
From my research, I've found that our fear of taking risks is actually a fear of the UNKNOWN.
It is a fear that is innate and "wired" into our biology.
Throughout our history, fear has played a crucial role in our survival as a species.
Active decision-making destroys fear
So, how can we overcome our fear of the unknown in a modern world?
I believe I have the answer to this question and I share it with you in my e-books.
I'll give you a hint... it has everything to do with how you think.
In fact, if you can condition or "reprogram" the way you think about fear, courage, action, failure, success, and everything in between, you won't fear the unknown anymore.
You'll be in control of your own thoughts and emotions and you'll find the courage inside you to TAKE ACTION.
I promise you.
I'm so sure I can help you that I'll give you all your money back, without a hassle, if you disagree with me.
Oh yeah, as I'm writing this, I can't tell if you've purchased my e-books... so, if you have, thank you and hopefully these newsletters are giving you a little extra "pep".
I tried to write this entire program in such a way so it would feel as though you were giving yourself a "pep talk" each time you read.
I sincerely hope I can reduce your fear and encourage you to make the happiest life possible for yourself.
Onward & Upward,
Think & Grow Balls! – Behind the Scenes w/ J.D. Bloodstone
I finished writing Think & Grow Balls! in December of 2007. The book had been churning in me for years before I actually set down to write everything out. During my writing, I realized I was suggesting some pretty deep ideas. Not feeling comfortable with what was in the book I set out to interview as many people as I could to bounce my ideas off of them. I spent six months conducting field research, meeting and talking to new people, making great friends and solidifying my ideas which later become the final version of my book. I think my book connects with so many people because my ideas were boiled down to the concepts that bind all of us together. By the time I had the book ready to submit to my publisher, I had a list of hundreds of people that wanted an advance copy of it. I knew I had written something good!
The book was written but it didn't have a title. I wanted it to be catchy. The name for my book, Think & Grow Balls!, came to me during a late night nap in between writing sessions for another project I was working on - a companion book called How To Find Yourself - which was only available during 2008 and may be released on this blog soon. As you can guess, the title was heavily influenced by Napoleon Hill's amazing book, Think & Grow Rich (click to download free digital copy of the first edition).
The subtitle, How To Shrink Your Fear & Enlarge Your Courage came to me soon after. It came to me in contempt of the aggressive marketing techniques used by a company to push male-enhancement pills to the insecure male population. I'm sure you've seen the commercials. (Hint: the guy with the cheesy smile, the whistling, and the color blue everywhere.) I really felt like the company was taking advantage of men by exploiting a common and huge weakness: the urge to be bigger, and thus better, than other men. (I later found out that the company was sued for some large sum of money and banned from using the marketing techniques in the future. I don't see the commercials and I don't hear about the company anymore so I guess the lawsuit put them out of business. Good riddance.) The title was finished and made people smile every time they heard it so I went with it. I registered www.thinkandgrowballs.com, wrote a small ad, uploaded it to my website, and the rest is history.
Then the feedback came in. I had readers who liked my book so much they were printing out copies of my book (it was originally an e-book in digital format only) and giving it to their friends. (Some of them actually wrote me and sent me money via PayPal for the additional copies they made! Bless your souls, you know who you are!) E-mails flooded my inbox with feedback from people all over the world letting me know that my book had truly helped them. Still to this day, when I hear from someone who was helped by my book, it makes me feel better and more alive than I ever do in my life. I should be the one thanking them when I think about it.
From day one I told everyone that if they bought my book and didn't like it I would personally send them their money back. After three and a half years, I'm proud to say that no one has ever taken me up on the offer. So, what are you waiting for? You can get started by downloading and reading the preview chapters. I bet you'll like them!
Onward & Upward,
Napoleon Hill’s Carnegie Secret Revealed!
And, anyone who tries to sell it for a monetary price is a fraud... let me explain.
If Napoleon Hill wanted you to know what the secret was, don't you think he would have told you in his book? If he wanted to make money off of the secret, don't you think he would have done so in his lifetime? Or perhaps his foundation might have done so in the years after his death?
I thought so.
Other than being a great literary device to ensure you read the entire book with an open mind,
The truth is that NO ONE can tell you what the secret is... it cannot be given away or sold.
Do you want to know why?
To help me explain, I'd like to quote several paragraphs from Think & Grow Rich in which Napoleon Hill gives his most revealing clues as to what the secret is:
A peculiar thing about this secret is that those who acquire and use it find themselves literally swept on to success. However, as is often pointed out in this book, there is no such thing as something for nothing. The secret cannot be had without paying a price, although the price is far less than its value.
Another peculiarity is that the secret cannot be given away and it cannot be purchased for money. Unless you are intentionally searching for the secret, you cannot have it at any price. That is because the secret comes in two parts, and in order for you to get it, one of those parts must already be in your possession.
I have never known anyone who was inspired to use the Carnegie secret who did not achieve noteworthy success. On the other hand, I have never known any person to distinguish themself, or to accumulate riches of any consequence, without possession of the secret. From these two facts I draw the conclusion that the secret is more important for self-determination than anything you receive through what is popularly known as "education".
As a final word of preparation, may I offer one brief suggestion that could provide a clue how the Carnegie secret might be recognized? It is this: achievement, and all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea. If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one-half of it. Therefore, you will recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind.
So, the first half of the secret is being ready to receive it... which opens your mind to possibilities. It cannot be given away, bought, or sold... yet, it comes with a price... the price of experience. (Some people pay for this experience with their lives!) The secret is more important for self-determination and it begins with an idea... your DESTINY. So, what is the second half of the secret?
It's your FREEWILL...
It's your God-given, inalienable right, as a human being, to control and focus your thoughts on whatever you choose. It is your ability to choose YOUR OWN purpose in life... your mission... It's the personal power within you to make your own decisions and to stand by them...
It's DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE... your DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE!
It answers the ultimate questions: "Who am I", "Why am I here?" and "What is my purpose in life?" You are here because and your purpose in life is WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE IT TO BE! Your secret is a CHOICE that only you can make! That is why Napoleon Hill wouldn't tell you what the secret is and that's why nobody else can tell you what it is.
YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY FOR YOURSELF!
Remember Napoleon Hill saying in his book that if you are ready for the secret you already possess half of it? The other half of the secret is your FREEWILL. Remember Napoleon Hill saying that he's never known anyone who applied the secret who didn't become successful? That's because over 98% of the population don't have a clue as to what they want in life... the remaining 2% that do have a clue are busy making it happen and, through persistence, will eventually succeed!
Remember Napoleon Hill saying that EVERYONE who knew the secret was literally swept away to success and riches? When you know your own secret... many doors of opportunity will open for you and your path will become clear.
Remember Napoleon Hill saying that you can either CHOOSE to be rich or CHOOSE to be poor? He was right!
If you're still not convinced that the secret is your freewill, I'll now quote the paragraphs in which Napoleon Hill mentions it directly... they are found in the last chapter of Think & Grow Rich:
You have absolute control over only one thing, and that is your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to humans. It reflects our divine nature. This ability to control your thoughts is the sole means by which you may control your own destiny. If you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else. Your mind is your spiritual estate. Protect and use it with care to which divine royalty is entitled. You were given your willpower for this purpose.
Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no halfway compromise. The most practical method for controlling your mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose backed by a definite plan. Study the records of those who achieve noteworthy success, and you will see that they have control over their own minds, and that they exercise that control and direct it toward the attainment of definite objectives. Without this control, success is not possible.
Previously you may have had a logical excuse for not having forced life to come through with whatever you asked. That alibi is now obsolete because you are in possession of the Master Key that unlocks the door to life's riches.
The Master Key is intangible, but it is powerful. It is the privilege of creating, in your own mind, a burning desire for a definite form of riches. There is no penalty for the use of the key, but there is a price you must pay if you do not use it. The price is failure. There is a reward of stupendous proportions if you put the key to use. It is the satisfaction that will come to you when you conquer self and force life to pay whatever is asked.
Andrew Carnegie
And there you have it... the Carnegie Secret is that you have the ability to choose your own destiny... and achieve it through the use of your willpower.
Now, let me ask you a question...
Are You Ready To Apply The Carnegie Secret?
If you are, read Think & Grow Balls!... read the Preview Chapters to see if it's right for you.
And remember, if you don't like it, I'll refund your money. Try getting that guarantee at Amazon! I look forward to hearing what you think. Leave me a comment below.
Onward & Upward,
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- Think & Grow Balls! – Behind the Scenes w/ J.D. Bloodstone