A story about DECISIVENESS!

One of the wealthiest men in the world in the mid-to-late 1800’s was Andrew Carnegie. He spent the first half of his life acquiring wealth, and he decided to spend the second half of his life giving it away.

If you’ve ever been to a public library in the United States, you can thank Andrew Carnegie for his contributions for his support in establishing them.

During his lifetime, Carnegie was surrounded by and became friends with many exceedingly successful people in the Industrial Age - Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Roosevelts, Rockefellers.

Working in their company, he noticed there were patterns that led to their success - and his dream was to see those habits identified and codified.

Carnegie had an idea about how to gather and organize that information, knowing that it would take years - decades - of study to accomplish.

Enter a young journalist named Napoleon Hill. Hill had been struggling to make ends meet as a writer and had an idea that if he could interview someone like Andrew Carnegie, he could surely sell that article and provide for his family.

So when Carnegie accepted his request for an interview, he was delighted.

Hill arrived at Carnegie’s estate late one Friday afternoon for the interview.

The gentlemen talked for about two-and-a-half hours, at the end of which, Carnegie said, “You know, why don’t you stay for the weekend at my estate. My wife and I will have you for dinner, and you and I will spend some more time together.”

Hill must have thought, “Wow, I’m getting an extra interview!” So he stayed and enjoyed the weekend of meals and conversation.

As Sunday evening approached, the men sat across from one another at a desk in Carnegie’s office.

What Hill didn’t know is that as much as he was interviewing Carnegie over the weekend, Carnegie was also interviewing Hill.

Carnegie said to Hill, “I’ve been looking for somebody for a project I have in mind, and you just may be the right person.

I want to give this person a letter of introduction to some of the wealthiest, most successful people I know, so that this person can study how they make decisions and what they do to generate the levels of success that ordinary people see and call amazing.

There are patterns to their success, and I want to have that codified and put in a book.

The project will be for 20- years, and for this work, I will not pay them a dime. But I promise you that if this person studies and applies what they learn, they will achieve success beyond their imagination.

So, Napoleon Hill, would you accept the position of being the person who studies the science of success for the next 20 years so that people everywhere, should they desire, can know and understand what is required if they want to live a life of success?”

What Napoleon Hill did not know was that at the moment Carnegie finished offering his invitation, he clicked a stopwatch he held in his hand under his desk.

Carnegie was going to give Hill a total of 60-seconds to respond.

If it was 61-seconds, the offer was off the table.

Carnegie believed that one of the keys to success is making decisions quickly.

It only took Hill 33-seconds to respond, “Yes, I will commit to this project.”

And that was the beginning of the book, “Think and Grow Rich,” in which Napoleon Hill writes of the elements of success - one of which is the habit of reaching decisions promptly and changing decisions slowly, if ever.

It is said that Andrew Carnegie contributed to the success of many millionaires.

But as a result of his quick decision to commit to studying success for 20 years, Napoleon Hill is credited with creating millions of millionaires.

It was a matter of making a decision.

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Joe Nicassio

P.S. Are you ready to make a decision to get help in your business?

Let’s get you on my calendar for a business breakthrough brainstorm connection call! ?https://calendly.com/joenicassio/30min?