I have been reading Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell for over two months, and it’s the first time I have ever taken so long to read a book that I actually enjoyed. I have read at least 20 other books during the two months, but I needed a lot of time to digest and process what I was reading in Outliers. When you hear about Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, the first thing that often comes to mind is that it takes 10,000 to master a subject. However the book is so much more than that.

According to Gladwell, “This book is about outliers, about men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary….People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did all themselves. But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn to work hard and make sense of the world in ways others don’t.”

Cover of Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates to readers why some people succeed, while others fail even though both may put in 10,000 hours. Other elements are critical for success, it’s simply not only about putting in the hours and working hard. When I just started reading Outliers, I wrote the post Do Big Breaks, Mentoring, and Hard Work Equal to Success? to explore the idea. Gladwell says that to be successful, on top of hard work, you also have to get opportunities. For instance, Bill Gates worked hard writing computer programs, but he also had access to a computer which most people didn’t, which gave him an advantage, and then he also had the opportunity to use those programming skills.

Ingredients of Success

• Passion
• Talent
• Hard Work
• Opportunity
• Arbitrary Advantage

What’s this 10,000 hours that people are talking about?

Researchers have shown time and time again that to become excellent at mastering complex tasks requires 10,000 hours of hard practice. And the most successful people got the opportunity they needed to learn how to become an expert. For instance, The Beatles got numerous opportunities to play in clubs to accrue their 10,000 hours.  They recognized the opportunities and accepted them.

In addition, there were many transformative moments in history that helped to make millionaires, and timing was everything. For example, the industrial era in the United States, which was pre and post the American Civil War in the 1860s and 1870s, people like John D. Rockerfeller, Andrew Carnegie and Marshall Field were able to capitalize on that. Another transformative era was the personal computer revolution, which people Bill Gates and Bill Joy capitalized on.

Given all that has been mentioned, to be successful, work has to be satisfying because you’ll likely put in the necessary hours to gain expertise. There are three elements for satisfying work – autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward.

One thing that I had never thought much about, which the book gave prominence to is that “it matters where you’re from, not just in terms of where you grew up or where your parent grew up, but in terms of where your great-grandparents grew up and great-great-grandparents grew up…” It’s interesting that I have always been able to accept ambiguity, and I learned in Outliers that’s because of my Jamaican heritage.

A big takeaway from Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell is that, say for instance you are a surgeon, you have to understand what it really means to be a good surgeon, “when we understand how much culture and history and the world outside of the individual matter to professional success – then we don’t have to throw up our hands in despair…We have a way to make successes out of the unsuccessful.” And you can learn to remove cultural barriers that prevent you from being successful and living up to your true potential.

Five Great Ideas

1. Success is the result of “accumulative advantages.”
2. Success simple isn’t a function of individual merit, and the world in which we grew up in; and the rules we choose to write as a society does matter.
3. Success is a function of persistence, doggedness and willingness.
4. To become successful you have to master the art of standing up for yourself, and learn how to navigate systems and bureaucracies.
5. Power distance, which is concerned with attitudes toward hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture values and respects authority, plays a role in professional success.

I recommend world Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. However, to get the most from the book, you have to allocate the time to reflect and contemplate on what you are reading. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book link is affiliate link.

Related posts:

1. Chief Mentoring Officer Interviews: Do Big Breaks, Mentoring, and Hard Work Equal to Success?
2. Booked on Tuesdays: Review – Geronimo’s Story of His Life by S. M. Barrett
3. Booked for Mentoring: Review – A Short History of the World by J. Milnor Dorey
4. Booked on Tuesdays: Review – Success Lessons from Gin Blanco in Jennifer Estep’s Spider’s Revenge
5. Booked for Mentoring: Review of The Flinch by Julien Smith

The Internet has been abuzz over the past few weeks with Napoleon Hill‘s Invisible Counselors, but is this technique different from Invisible Mentors? Are people going to turn The Invisible Counselor Technique into a fad like “The Secret” movie where viewers thought they could visualize a goal and have it manifest without taking action, instead of taking the time to do things the correct way. Is there really an easy way out?

This post is my reaction to the concept of Invisible Counselors. Please refer to Vishen Lakhiani’s original post “Napoleon Hill’s Weird “Invisible Counselor Technique” and Why it Inspired (and Scared) So Many People.” It’s a great post and the video is a great complement to the written information in the post. See the video below. What critical component did Napoleon Hill omit in his technique?

If you cannot view the video click here. I got a copy of Think and Grow Rich because I wanted to go to the source to present the facts to you, and I wanted to better understand Invisible Counselors. Many people have said that Think and Grown Rich was one of the books that had a profound impact on their life. I wasn’t one of those people, and I didn’t enjoy the book when I first read it. However, I thought that Earl Nightingale did a nice summary of the book. I am at the point where I am ready to re-read Think and Grow Rich and see if my reaction is different seven years later.

The Invisible Counselor is discussed at length in Chapter 14, “The Sixth Sense: the Door to the Temple of Wisdom.” I must preface my comments by saying that I do believe in the power of the subconscious mind and the sixth sense. Here is what the book says about Invisible Counselors.

“While I was passing through the age of “hero worship” I found myself trying to imitate those whom I most admired… I followed the habit of reshaping my own character by trying to imitate the nine men whose lives and life works had been most impressive to me. These nine men were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Paine, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Luther Burbank, Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie. Every night, over a long period of years, I held an imaginary council meeting with this group whom I called my “Invisible Counselors.” [I added in the last name of Hill's nine Invisible Counselors]

The procedure was this. Just before going to sleep at night, I would shut my eyes and see, in my imagination, this group of men seated with me around my council table. Here I had not only an opportunity to sit among those whom I considered to be great, but I actually dominated the group by serving as the Chairman.

I had a very definite purpose in indulging my imagination through these nightly meetings. My purpose was to rebuild my own character so it would represent a composite of the characters of my imaginary counselors….

These meetings became so realistic that I started to be fearful of their consequences, and discontinued them for several months. The experiences were so uncanny. I was afraid if I continued them I would lose sight of the fact that the meetings were purely experiences of my imagination….

I began to add new members to my cabinet. Now it consists of more than 50, among them Christ, St. Paul, Galileo, Copernicus, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Homer, Voltaire, Bruno, Spinoza, Drummond, Kant, Schopenhauer, Newton, Confucius, Elbert Hubbard, Brann, Ingersol, Wilson and William James….”

In the technique, Hill called on each of his nine Invisible Counselor and was very specific about what he required from them. For example,

“Mr Darwin, I wish to acquire from you the marvelous patience and ability to study cause and effect without bias or prejudice so exemplified by you in the field of natural science.

Mr Carnegie, I am already indebted to you for my choice of a life work, which has brought me great happiness and peace of mind. I wish to acquire a thorough understanding of the principles of organized effort, which you used so effectively in the building of a great industrial enterprise.

My method of addressing the members of  the imaginary cabinet would vary according to the traits of character which I was most interested in acquiring at the time. I studied the records of their lives with painstaking care. After some months of this nightly procedure, I was astounded by the discovery that these imaginary figures became, apparently, real.”

Please click here to read Chapter 14 on page 134 of the electronic version. What Napoleon Hill refers to as Invisible Counselors are what I call Invisible Mentors. From the cited text from Think and Grow Rich, the nine Invisible Counselors are people who Hill admired, and he imitated them, which suggests that he studied them, which is exactly what I advocate for your Invisible Mentors. I suggest that you become so steeped in your Invisible Mentors that you could ask and answer “What would Invisible Mentor 1 do in this situation?” You can also find invisible mentors on The Mentors page.

Below is an Invisible Mentor slide that I created over seven months ago. After I finished viewing it today for inclusion in this blog post, I realized that I have to update it because my views have expanded, because my knowledge has grown, which is a good thing. How has your knowledge changed in the past six months?

Many people viewing the video “The Most Controversial Personal Growth Technique Ever,” may think that they can use the technique to mentally call on successful people to answer their questions, or generate great ideas without any initial work. Hill spent decades studying successful people so his subconscious mind had a place to start. From my previous posts on generating creative ideas and creative problem solving, the process is preparation, incubation, illumination and verification/implementation.

So what did Napoleon Hill Omit? Hill did not omit anything from what I have read from Think and Grow Rich, the video neglected to mention that when Hill started using the Invisible Counselor Technique he used nine people whose lives and life works had been most impressive to him. To me, that means he had studied these people. This is a major omission from the video. Also, he practiced the technique each night over a long period of years. This also suggests that Hill practiced the technique until he mastered it. Statistics floating around suggest that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill.

This is an important lesson to always go to the source if you are able to, otherwise you’ll never know what critical piece of information you are missing. What are your thoughts on Invisible Counselors? Which five of Hill’s Invisible Counselors would you choose as Invisible Mentors? Now that you are familiar with Invisible Mentors from reading this blog, would you chair an Invisible Mentor Council Meeting? And if yes, what would you hope to achieve?

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed.

For an electronic copy of Think and Grow Rich, please click here.

Further Reading

The Sixth Sense: The Door to the Temple of Wisdom – The Thirteenth Step toward Riches

Napoleon Hill Did This, And You Should Too

Napoleon Hill’s Weird “Invisible Counselor Technique” and Why it Inspired (and Scared) So Many People

Related posts:

1. Napoleon Hill, a Great Blogger?
2. Who Are Your 5 Invisible Mentors and Why?
3. How to Use Invisible Mentors
4. How to Choose Invisible Mentors
5. The Hunt for Invisible Mentors

Ted Nicholas, a very successful entrepreneur and copywriter, has always stressed the importance of continuous learning. Recently in his ezine, The Success Margin, he shared “21 Books I’ve Read That Changed My Life.” I would like to share his list with you. Mr. Nicholas also considered these 21 books to be his life mentors. I was ecstatic when he referred to the books as his mentors.

1. Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
2. Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
3. A new constitution for a new country – Michael Oliver
4. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
5. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff- Richard Carlson
6. Foreign Tax Havens – Marshall Langer
7. Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics – Harry Hazlitt
8. A Tale of Two Cities: 150th Anniversary (Signet Classics) – Charles Dickens
9. How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty – Harry Browne
10. The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and The Gospel of Wealth (Signet Classics) – Andrew Carnegie
11. An Intimate Story of Milton S. Hershey- Joseph Richard Snavely
12. The Wanamaker Diary – John Wannamaker
13. Five and Ten the Fabulous Life of F. W. Woolworth – John K Winkler
14. The Alger Series – Horatio Alger, Jr. (There are many books in the series)
15. Scientific Advertising – Claude C. Hopkins
16. Confessions of an Advertising Man – David Ogilvy
17. Making Ads Pay – John Caples
18. The Robert Collier Letter Book – Robert Collier
19. How I Made $1,000,000 in Mail Order-and You Can Too!- E. Joseph Cossman
20. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
21. The Little Engine That Could – Watty Piper

I like this list because it does not contain many of the usual suspects. Think and Grow Rich is on Mr. Nicholas’ list, and is one of the books that influenced many. I’ve read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and I’m embarrassed to say that I preferred Earl Nightingale’s summary of the book. There you have it, I’ve wanted to get that off my chest for a very long time. I have read about five of the books listed and another five are on my list to read. I am always fascinated to see the kinds of books that influence highly accomplished individuals.

How many of the 21 books have you read, and what are your thoughts? What would your 21 books be? I had prepared a list of 15 books for my Facebook wall. I will add to that list and let you know what my 21 books are.

Please keep the information flowing, please provide comments.

Links for books are affiliate links.

Related posts:

1. 13 Books That Influence Successful People
2. How to Make Better Decisions
3. Can a Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens Make a Difference? Margaret Mead Thought So
4. Books to Get the Most Out of Your Reading
5. Napoleon Hill, a Great Blogger?

If Napoleon Hill were alive, I think that he would have been a great blogger and would frequently blog about how people can attain true financial success. Like most accomplished individuals, Hill found success through repeated failures. He understood the concepts Pay it Forward and Social Responsibility and dedicated over 20 years of his life researching the formula for success. Best known for his runaway bestselling book Think and Grow Rich, he popularized the quote, ”What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

What does that quote mean to you? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?

The quote tells me that I should be mindful of my thoughts, and live in the moment. It also tells me that I can accomplish any goal if I set my mind to it and take action.

Note: Based on what I have researched, I have written the following about Napoleon Hill. I am projecting what I think Napoleon Hill would say about personal achievement if he blogged about the topic.

About Napoleon Hill

Big Break: Commissioned by Andrew Carnegie without pay to research – which he did for over 20 years – the formula for success. The results of the research formed the basis for many of his most successful work.

Bestseller: Think and Grow Rich

Personal Mantra: What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve

Interesting Tidbit: Coined the phrase Master Mind

Below is a short (7 minutes) video with Napoleon Hill talking about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie. If you cannot view the video here for any reason, click on the link and you will be taken to the YouTube website where you can watch the video there.

Napoleon Hill talks about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie

Napoleon Hill’s Personal Achievement 101

• Start a mastermind group because no one succeeds alone
• 13 Steps to Success in Think and Grow Rich: Desire, faith, autosuggestion, specialized knowledge, imagination, organized planning, decision, persistence, power of the master mind, mystery of sex transmutation, subconscious mind, brain and sixth sense
• Monitor your thoughts throughout the day
• Study the habits of people you would like to emulate and interview them if possible
• What you give comes back to you
• “Whatever price you ask of life, life is willing to pay.” See the poem below My Wage by Jessie Rittenhouse. Also see blog post Using the Poem “My Wage” by Jessie B. Rittenhouse to Think Differently

My Wage

by Jessie B. Rittenhouse (1869 – 1948)

I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;

For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.

What do you think of the poem My Wage? Was Napoleon Hill inspired by the poem? Or was Jessie Rittenhouse inspired by Napoleon Hill? My Wage is featured in Think and Grow Rich.

Further Reading & Sources

Napoleon Hill Biography – Life

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

Napoleon Hill Information

Napoleon Hill Biography & Notes

Napoleon Hill Biography

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