Work this week was truly enlightening. If this sounds dramatic, please understand I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. My mind was opened up in a shockingly profound, earth shattering and transformative way. The Thrivetime Show Business Coaches were assigned by Clay Clark to read Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill. Some of you may be familiar with Napoleon Hill. Others may be doing a quick Google search right now. If you are one of my clients, you probably heard me talk about it this week. But, I truly can not recall very many books that impacted me in such a way as this.
Today at work, I was in an extra “jolly” mood. I’m usually always a happy and positive person (99% of the time anyway). But today was different, “What is with me today?” I wondered first thing this morning when I was extra energized so early in the morning (our business coaching meetings take place at 6:00 am). Then — It hit me! I read, Outwitting the Devil last night! Even when I wasn’t consciously thinking about the book throughout my day, I was implementing the principles I gained from this book in the small to large aspects of my day.
What is the secret to outwitting the devil? I strongly encourage you to read this book. Seriously. STOP READING THIS RIGHT NOW… and go buy the book on Amazon or put it on your To-Do List to stop at the bookstore after work to buy this book. But, I’ll take it upon my buiness coaching self to give you the cliff notes version until it is in your hands.
When anyone — men, women, children of every race and every religion are subject to the devil’s captive, there seems to be no hope. But when you think for yourself, the devil can’t think for you. The devil describes this as losing control of the mind because you now have occupied the space with your own thoughts; You’re thinking independently. What is the problem here? NO ONE WANTS TO THINK. Everyone is too lazy to actually use their brain. Why do we have to think? Isn’t there an app for that? Actually, there is. That is why independent thinking is rare these days. Assuming you are going to read this book for yourself, your takeaway will probably be different than mine. These are the things I learned as part of the business coaching team from this impactful book written so many years ago!
Three Things I Learned From Outwitting the Devil
- “Fear is the tool of a man-made devil”
Living in fear and out of fear produces two completely different lives and outcomes. Napoleon Hill also writes in the book that “Most real failures are due to limitations men set up in their own minds.”. Constantly doing anything in fear will not allow your “other self” or in other words, the faith entity as the author describes to sit on the throne. There is no power in you with fear being the dominant state of your being. Logic can sometimes be the assistant to fear ultimately limiting your potential and willingness to make the major sacrifices to get what you want out of life.
- Drifting Weakens Your Defense Against the Devil
If you have not read Outwitting the Devil, let me freak you out for a second. Napoleon Hill interviews the devil in this book. He actually writes about having a conversation with the devil, and a long one at that. Now, was this a way for Napoleon to capture the readers’ attention? Or, did he actually have, or believe he had a conversation with the devil? It sounds insane. But the content is absolutely mind blowing. Drifting — not knowing what you want out of life or knowing your purpose leaves you subject to the whims of the devil. Admission and confession from the devil himself confirms this in the imagery of the interview Hill creates for us in the book.
- Thinking is, quite literally, the only way to beat the devil.
The devil admits that he preys on the minds of the innocent. He targets children early on through their parents. He targets the drifter as you know. The devil admits he controls our thoughts through everything — propaganda, other people, our loved ones — or any tool that he can to gain control. When you think for yourself, actually sit down to finish a full thought, this leaves no empty space in the brain. The empty space in your mind when you never have a complete thought can become occupied by the negative thoughts the devil aims to paralyze you with.
The devil claims in the interview with Hill that he is the negative atom within EVERYTHING. This means, his sole purpose is to bring negative energy to anything and everything he touches. Is it not CRAZY that the one defense we have to beating the devil is to outwit him by gaining control of our own thoughts, something we should already have anyway, yet most don’t?
- When you unleash your “other self”, there is no turning back.
There is hope. Napoleon Hill admits to finding his “other self” at the lowest point in his mind. You have the fear entity that can control you. This is the state in which you let fear paralyze you from your true potential. Then, you have the faith entity. When the faith entity takes control, this is when your “other self” is unleashed. If you search long and hard enough, you will unleash the “other self”. The “other self” is always there. He or she just takes a back seat to the fear entity that typically has control. Unlocking the “other self” is a permanent way to making sure the devil can never gain control again.
More on “The Other Self”
Unlocking my other self is my ultimate goal. I know she lies within me. I feel her getting closer to reigning every day. Until I am able to release any fear, doubts, hesitations and fully trust in myself and God, she may still be lurking on the side, waiting until I release my mind of all negative thoughts — especially FEAR. This is the same for you, if you haven’t already unlocked this yet.
The “other self” is fearless — truly and utterly fearless. The “other self” removes all logic and knows the purpose. The “other self” will do things that seem illogical to anyone else for the sole purpose of accomplishing their one purpose — the one mission that is the absolute burning desire to accomplish one specific thing. Maybe you are like me. Your “other self” is awake enough to know what that one burning desire is. You will stop AT NOTHING to achieve this goal and you know NOTHING will get in your way. Yet, because fear captivates you, maybe you don’t have the sense of urgency needed because of logic or fear to truly unleash the “other self” to take over.
For me, knowing about the ability to unleash my “other self” and allowing her to take control is truly inspiring. The problem — I have to remove any thought of fear from my mind permanently. I now know, I have to be truly intentional on finding her. I have one ultimate business coaching goal, but unlocking my “other self” is the short-term (or maybe it will be a long-term thing) to ensure the paralysis of fear and logic may be gone for good.
The Purpose of Outwitting the Devil
The credibility and legitimacy of this book for me was established early on. This book was written in 1938. The principles within still apply today. In fact, ironically, I read this book the same week I discovered a part of my biggest limiting factor right now currently involves my fear and the paralysis it has on growing and reaching my goals as quickly as I could. The strange thing, I actually realized this before cracking the book open. I am a religious person. I’m a Christian. Maybe you aren’t and that’s fine. Either way, it’s impossible to refute the book’s legitimacy when you realize this book, written over 80 years ago, was released during a time America needed it most. This book was hidden for close to a century. You can’t refute the credibility of this business coaching book, no matter how wild it may be, when you know how it actually came to be in our hands today. The devil’s playbook was released, and now we truly know how to outwit the devil.
