Fifteen Minutes of Fame

“I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.”  ~William H. Mauldin~

Overnight successes only exist in lottery draws.  And most of the winners of such chance drawings are back to broke or subsistence levels quite rapidly.  A fool and his/her money are soon parted.

But there is one wager I will make and bet you can bank on it too:  You have a million-dollar idea somewhere in the recesses of your mind.  If you are consistent and persistent enough, eventually you will get the pay off and have the character to keep your winnings and even grow them exponentially.

Napolean Hill, author of the bible of entrepreneurship and Masterminding, Think and Grow Rich, once said (and I’m paraphrasing):  “At one of my speaking engagements an elderly, decrepit man in his eighties raised his hand and asked if he could bring something on stage.  I agreed and the man approached the podium and handed me a bunch of crumpled, dog-eared papers and said:  “Mr. Hill.  I know everything you are saying and every idea is on these papers.  I wrote them down in a stream-of-consciousness over the last 60 years”.”

Mr. Hill studied the papers, returned them to the man,  and then turned to the audience:  “This man could have been me, but he isn’t.  He could have even been greater than me, but he missed the boat.  Every one of you has the same God-given ability that I or any successful person may have.  The difference is that the successful people of this planet stay with the plan and don’t forget to pull the  trigger.”

For most people trying to establish their niche business or any entrepreneurial venture, the level of tolerance is often far below what is necessary for victory.

Napolean Hill worked over twenty years for Andrew Carnegie for nothing – zilch!.  His job was to study the hundred-most successful people on the planet and write about the common threads of success in all 100.  He worked part-time selling insurance to feed his family.

But he always had his eye on the ball.  He knew that to hang around and befriend the richest people on the planet would eventually lead to wealth.  He had a vision and kept it firmly in mind, despite what reality, friends, associates and family might have been saying to discourage him from following his dream.

He knew that when his 15 minutes of fame arrived, he would be prepared to accept it and never let it fade into the cosmos.  He did that.  He was one of the richest men in America when he breathed his last breath.

And all it takes is one idea.  Look at your world and look for what people need or need more of.  Then pull the trigger, load, and pull the trigger again and again.  Eventually – and this is Napolean Hill’s and my promise – the troubles and struggles will fade away and there will be nothing but blue skies for you.