Suppose some great man were to hand you an exquisite, beautifully built machine equipped with many self-repairing features. Suppose he explained to you that with reasonable care and proper handling, this machine would automatically, after about eighteen years of warming up, begin to deliver money from a slot, each week, in gradually increasing amounts for the next forty to sixty years. That the total amount delivered by this machine would not be less than two hundred thousand dollars. He might go on to say that if you really learned how to run and care for the machine like an expert, you might increase its output by millions of dollars.
Suppose the builder of this machine let you in on a little secret. He told you that there was another slot which every moment of its life produced either happiness and satisfaction, or despair and dejection. If you would learn to manipulate the controls for this slot with the deftness of an expert, the machine would purr at great speed, producing endless satisfaction and financial reward. He might warn you that it would take much patient learning and long trial and the careful following of instructions to achieve this result.
His parting words might be, “Others have done it before you, and there may be many who follow you. They all had one secret in common — they had faith in the machine and faith in me and faith in my instructions.”
Source: PMA Science of Success. Educational Edition. Napoleon Hill Foundation. 1961. Pgs. 451-452.
Connecting the dots…
As I read what Napoleon Hill was saying, I knew I needed to share this message and little secret with managers, educators, government leaders and anyone involved with employees and students.
Employees and students are the “valuable machines” who can deliver money and other valuable returns for many years.
As our planet changes, as risks and threats like Homegrown Terrorism, Ebola, Social Media, Violence, Sex Assaults, Abuse, Bullying and others are all seemingly on upward trends.
Are you aware of how to manage the culture they are working or studying in so your “machines” will “purr at great speed, producing endless satisfaction and financial reward”?
Napoleon Hill was a very smart man and his advice was way ahead of his time…I share his advice with you so you might get ahead of the curve and remember the importance of this little secret when it comes to your employees and students.