Let’s talk about a group of Leadership Qualities today:

  * Self-reliance in proportion to the scope and object of your major purpose.
 
  * Self-discipline sufficient to insure mastery of the head and the heart, and to sustain your motives   until they have been realized.

  * Persistence, based on the will to win.
 
  * A well-developed imagination, controlled and directed.

Self-reliance and self-discipline are vital to your success. This is not necessarily something we want to hear because it then means we have to take responsibility for all our thoughts and actions. Even though we teach this in New Thought, making a commitment to apply it to ourselves in our everyday life is a major undertaking. Once we’ve made that commitment it’s not a viable option to say “ah well, maybe next week when I feel more like doing it”. A commitment is a commitment and something we should take seriously – just as seriously when it comes to our own actions as when it is relative to others.

You have to learn to rely on yourself as well. You can’t get easily discouraged and just give up. You know that. But applying this is also not so easy – unless you make the commitment. This is not to say that you have to be isolated. At first glance this seems contradictory to using the mastermind alliance and also inspiring others. However, it’s not.

It means that you must have the ability to rely on yourself to get things started and to keep them going against all odds. Keep your definite major purpose at the forefront of your mind at all times. When you do that, you can’t help but rely on that inner strength.

I talked about persistence when I told you about my attempts to get into medical school. You hear people talk about the fact that many people quit just before they would have succeeded. So, if you think “this is dumb, I’m not getting anywhere”, regroup and remind yourself that although you may not be able to see your success, it really is there because you have created it in your mind and refined it to fit what YOU want!

I think that the principle about the well-developed imagination should go earlier in the list – however, who am I to argue with Napoleon Hill? He is the master (he studied success for 20 years). You have to continue to use your imagination to always refine your definite major purpose. Now, I don’t mean to change the whole thing – I mean to make tweaks and more specifics based on what is happening. You can see more about the outcome as things go along. I have to reiterate though – you are NOT to change your definite major purpose. If you’ve researched it as Mr. Hill recommends (see the many posts on this blog about it or just pick up any of his books), it really is what you ARE SUPPOSED to do in life. But as circumstances change, different aspects of it and how you go about it might change. That’s where the imagination comes in. Use it continuously. The more you imagine your outcome, the more likely you’ll be able to manifest it exactly as you envision it.

Terrie