The Law of Success - Lesson 5 - Action

In this lesson you need to coordinate the four previous lesson: definite purpose, self-confidence, leadership and imagination.  You need to take them all together to create action.  In The Laws of Success, Napoleon Hill states that it is not only the statement "knowledge is power" but that "organized knowledge expressed in action is power."

If you only have the knowledge without taking action there is no power.

You may have a definite purpose that you have set in your mind.  You may have self confidence in abundance.  You may have the ability to be a leader.  You may have the imagination to create your definite purpose.  But until you put them together and take action on them you might as well know nothing.  Your education is useless to you until you go out and do something with it.

There is the old saying that you can't get anything for nothing.  And this true about your definite purpose also.  How can you get to something that you desire without doing anything?  And not doing anything is termed procrastination.  Most people will say that the world/society/their boss/spouse, etc. never gave them a chance.  Sometimes we need to take a chance or make the chance rather than wait for someone or something to give us something.

Procrastinating is our worst enemy and I think that expecting others to give you a chance is the second worst.  Go out and make your own opportunities. 

Now I must confess that in this actual lesson in the book, Mr Hill goes into great detail about the importance of keeping the intestines clean.  I found this very amusing until I began to look at it from my nutrition background.  If the intestines are clogged your entire body system will become sluggish.  Toxins can build up in the intestinal tract and cause many types of diseases that can affect the entire body.  Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity can be linked to problems caused by what we eat, how we eat and the responses of the Gastrointestinal System.  The thing to be aware of is that the processing of nutrients by our body is a function that requires energy and energy that is clogged does not produce efficient energy or effort.

Now, I will not suggest, as does Mr. Hill, that you take an enema for a headache but I do suggest that you use natural means to produce a bowel movement every single day.  Anything less and waste product (feces) will accumulate in the rectum which can then back up into the colon.  As this waste festers it can become the first step in colon cancer. 

So, back to the lesson of action.  One of this biggest setbacks to you producing action is worry.  Worry, envy, jealousy, hatred doubt and fear are all states of mind that can lead to inactivity.  Any type of negativity will keep you from action, therefore you need to keep yourself in a positive frame of mind.  And one of the best ways to make this happen is to smile!  Keep something with you at all times that will always put a smile on your face.  Find something to make you laugh.  When you feel like moping around the house, find or put on a movie that will make you laugh.  It is amazing how even forcing yourself to laugh can free your mind from thoughts of the negative.

The action that Mr. Hill talks about is not just in the physical sense but also in the mental sense.  Keep your mind active; be always thinking of the next way to get to your definite purpose.  And the thinking about how you will get there will drive your physical body to perform actions to get to that goal.

In the book, we are given some suggestions on how to become active and not procrastinate.

• First - Get in the habit of doing the most distasteful tasks first each day.  That way they are over and done with and you can move on to more pleasant (or at least less distasteful) tasks.
• Second - Get in the habit of not just telling people what you can do but showing them what you can do!
• Third - Start using this mantra - Tomorrow I will do everything that should be done, when it should be done, and as it should be done. 
• Fourth - DO this with faith and the belief that they will develop action in body and mind that is sufficient to realize your definite purpose.

Next Lesson:  Enthusiasm