Study Greatness to Release the Greatness in You
Posted: Tuesday, July 06, 2010
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
Napoleon Hill, author of The Law of Success in 16 Lessons, believed that core principles exist that connect the great achievers. He interviewed some of the greats of his time, such as Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, George Eastman, Charles Schwab, F. W. Woolworth, John D. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, William Wrigley, and William H. Taft. He was also an adviser to two presidents, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And as he spoke to these men he uncovered certain principles that coalesced into a mindset that connected them all. It is this mindset or way of thinking that enables the successful to be as such, but it's not all roses.
With many of the greats, if you study them, you will find that they have had great failures or it took them years, even decades to achieve greatness while encountering difficulties. But they kept going, even those who did not achieve greatness until after death, for their commitment to a vision was primary above all else. The uber-successful are know for their ruthless focus, drive, and vision--a subset of the 16 Laws of Success spoken of by Hill. Many greats were not even great in their time. But there is a mindset or code of greatness used that enabled them to forge onward, yet certainly one that can be decoded and used by anyone as far as they're willing to take it.
"We all have the extraordinary coded within us waiting to be released." Jean Houston
"We are all capable of much more than we think we are." Loa Tzu
"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Michelangelo
It is at this juncture that I'd like to present one man and his life to exemplify this mindset: Leonard da Vinci. He was a bastard child who couldn't take his father's name; therefore, he took the name of the city where he was born: Vinci, Italy. Leonardo of Vinci was at a disadvantage at the outset; if Hill were here, he would tell us that the overcoming of adversity not only makes great achievers but that they do not see difficulty in the negative light but rather an opportunity to gain insight. And here is where da Vinci excelled.
"If circumstances hold you back, always find other ways to achieve your goals" Leonardo da Vinci.
Achievement, like genius, is ninety-nine percent perspiration one percent inspiration. And it is only through passion for one's work, or an understanding and commitment to achievement, that a person is able to work at a high level of achiement. Da Vinci had a belief system or code in which he desired with great passion (Hill would call it Enthusiasm: Law 7) to push beyond all expectations and obstacles. Few do so. Most give up way too early. Harrison Ford said that in his experience that the greatest problem with most actors is that they give up too easily.
Greatness abounds in life; it is there for the taking, yet few have the stomach or heart for it. But it can be acquired and built as a weak muscle made strong. Greatness comes via a vision for what one desires to achieve or what Hill would call a "definite chief aim" (Law 2) which in the process instills great confidence (Self-Confidence: Law 3) in the person looking to achieve. That's all fine, but what happens when the great encounter adversity? Let's continue with da Vinci to discover more on this topic.
Da Vinci lived in a time of great peril. A citizen could anonymously lodge a complaint which then was investigated, and if the accused were found guilty he was often imprisoned or hung at the public gallows-life in fifteenth century Italy was cheap. Da Vinci had to improve his chance for safety by rising from the lower class, yet he lacked the pedigree to do so. Even though he encountered this challenge he did not give up. Eventually he was able through his father's connections to get into one of the lower guilds for apprenticeship. He was a very good student, humble with an open mind for learning. But there were other great obstacles to come, all which he faced with the proper success mindset.
Many said of da Vinci that whatever he turned his mind to he made himself the master of (Concentration: Law 12). And in the stretching or going beyond the limits imposed by the standards of the time, da Vinci had to use great imagination (Imagination: Law 6) to excel and exceed the majority about him. He certainly did have unique talents or gifts, but it was only in the work of applying himself to these irrevocable laws of success that he was able to become the great polymath he was. Many are called to greatness but few take up its sword to travel its trying path. And da Vinci was not hesitant; he shot and then took aim, for he had great confidence in his gut instinct or intuition, an indispensable tool little used in Western culture yet used frequently by great achievers.
"The only real valuable thing is intuition." Albert Einstein
Today, many believe that in order to be deemed knowledgeable or an expert that the person in question needs to be degreed, certified, or authenticated by an institution, one that often sets its standards arbitrarily according to a small collection of minds. Yet great minds know where the real learning takes place: in the doing. It isn't found exclusively in books. Da Vinci believed that only through "experimentation," the doing, the believing, and ultimately the seeing, one can "truly know anything." And it was da Vinci who said that one must not wait to achieve, but to be great one must be actively seeking and doing (Initiative and Leadership: Law 5).
"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Albert Einstein
He did not wait to be certified. He did not go before any board or group to ask for permission to experiment. He did not look to standards and norms but beyond them to obtain an intrinsic belief in that which is not seen, or the faith to ignore the limited mind of man to seek the greater mind, the greater possibilities of what the universe has to offer.
To support, Brian Swimme (mathematical cosmologist, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco) states in The Universe is a Green Dragon: a Cosmic Creation Story : "By pursuing your allurements, you help bind the universe together. The unity of the world rests on the pursuit of passion." If you do what you love, the universe will guide and enhance your very understanding. You will be added to as your passion, work, and focus build.
Another attribute that allowed da Vinci to achieve his greatness was that of accuracy of thought and perception (Accurate Thought: Law 11). He studied for endless hours light and shadow, drawing an object in its entirety only to move the light and begin again and again until he knew shadow, angle, and light as no other. His work ethic enabling him to see what few of lesser effort saw. We see this going beyond what most would do (The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For: Law 9), or concerted effort, in the copious notes he took. At the end of his life he had filled some fifteen-thousand pages of notes, ponderings, and drawings. The majority in his notebook are imaginings beyond scale of the period, pushing beyond the ordinary.
"Never be limited by what has been done before or what others think." da Vinci
A more modern but similar philosophy can be seen in Earl Nightingales success credo:
"Want success? Just look at what everyone else is doing and do something else."
Why did his paintings come alive? Why was there such great emotion in his subject's faces? hair? bodies? such great range of understanding and insight that few if any saw well enough to replicate? It was greatly in his ability to do the extreme work needed, to go beyond what most imagined, to have the faith, the self-confidence to believe and then the passion and power to execute.
Da Vinci was successful not because he was wealthy or powerful, but because he committed to a way of life that few did or do and stuck to it because of the integrity therein. He was obsessed with knowing as much as he could about something as long as his enthusiasm lasted for the subject. He pushed beyond the expected. He took very commonplace ideas and pushed them to extremes. But mostly he lived by a code that allowed him to accomplish what few will commit to. And it was all done using the greatest tool we have: the mind. How well do you use yours?
"Patience protects against misfortune as warm cloths protect against the cold. The warmer you dress the more powerless the storm. Increasing patience against great wrongs renders them powerless against your peace of mind." da Vinci
"I am inspired by the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough. We must act on it. Being willing is not enough. We must do!" da Vinci
What others have said of da Vinci, in closing, lets us ponder what we can do to achieve greatness of our own variety:
"Da Vinci represents something about human beings themselves. He overcomes many obstacles and he shows what we're capable of," Bert S. Hall, University of Toronto.
"He can inspire all of us today regardless of who we are to try to make the most of our lives as we can," Jonathan Pevsner, John Hopkins University.
"We all have the extraordinary coded within us waiting to be released." Jean Houston
"We are all capable of much more than we think we are." Loa Tzu
"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Michelangelo
It is at this juncture that I'd like to present one man and his life to exemplify this mindset: Leonard da Vinci. He was a bastard child who couldn't take his father's name; therefore, he took the name of the city where he was born: Vinci, Italy. Leonardo of Vinci was at a disadvantage at the outset; if Hill were here, he would tell us that the overcoming of adversity not only makes great achievers but that they do not see difficulty in the negative light but rather an opportunity to gain insight. And here is where da Vinci excelled.
"If circumstances hold you back, always find other ways to achieve your goals" Leonardo da Vinci.
Achievement, like genius, is ninety-nine percent perspiration one percent inspiration. And it is only through passion for one's work, or an understanding and commitment to achievement, that a person is able to work at a high level of achiement. Da Vinci had a belief system or code in which he desired with great passion (Hill would call it Enthusiasm: Law 7) to push beyond all expectations and obstacles. Few do so. Most give up way too early. Harrison Ford said that in his experience that the greatest problem with most actors is that they give up too easily.
Greatness abounds in life; it is there for the taking, yet few have the stomach or heart for it. But it can be acquired and built as a weak muscle made strong. Greatness comes via a vision for what one desires to achieve or what Hill would call a "definite chief aim" (Law 2) which in the process instills great confidence (Self-Confidence: Law 3) in the person looking to achieve. That's all fine, but what happens when the great encounter adversity? Let's continue with da Vinci to discover more on this topic.
Da Vinci lived in a time of great peril. A citizen could anonymously lodge a complaint which then was investigated, and if the accused were found guilty he was often imprisoned or hung at the public gallows-life in fifteenth century Italy was cheap. Da Vinci had to improve his chance for safety by rising from the lower class, yet he lacked the pedigree to do so. Even though he encountered this challenge he did not give up. Eventually he was able through his father's connections to get into one of the lower guilds for apprenticeship. He was a very good student, humble with an open mind for learning. But there were other great obstacles to come, all which he faced with the proper success mindset.
Many said of da Vinci that whatever he turned his mind to he made himself the master of (Concentration: Law 12). And in the stretching or going beyond the limits imposed by the standards of the time, da Vinci had to use great imagination (Imagination: Law 6) to excel and exceed the majority about him. He certainly did have unique talents or gifts, but it was only in the work of applying himself to these irrevocable laws of success that he was able to become the great polymath he was. Many are called to greatness but few take up its sword to travel its trying path. And da Vinci was not hesitant; he shot and then took aim, for he had great confidence in his gut instinct or intuition, an indispensable tool little used in Western culture yet used frequently by great achievers.
"The only real valuable thing is intuition." Albert Einstein
Today, many believe that in order to be deemed knowledgeable or an expert that the person in question needs to be degreed, certified, or authenticated by an institution, one that often sets its standards arbitrarily according to a small collection of minds. Yet great minds know where the real learning takes place: in the doing. It isn't found exclusively in books. Da Vinci believed that only through "experimentation," the doing, the believing, and ultimately the seeing, one can "truly know anything." And it was da Vinci who said that one must not wait to achieve, but to be great one must be actively seeking and doing (Initiative and Leadership: Law 5).
"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Albert Einstein
He did not wait to be certified. He did not go before any board or group to ask for permission to experiment. He did not look to standards and norms but beyond them to obtain an intrinsic belief in that which is not seen, or the faith to ignore the limited mind of man to seek the greater mind, the greater possibilities of what the universe has to offer.
To support, Brian Swimme (mathematical cosmologist, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco) states in The Universe is a Green Dragon: a Cosmic Creation Story : "By pursuing your allurements, you help bind the universe together. The unity of the world rests on the pursuit of passion." If you do what you love, the universe will guide and enhance your very understanding. You will be added to as your passion, work, and focus build.
Another attribute that allowed da Vinci to achieve his greatness was that of accuracy of thought and perception (Accurate Thought: Law 11). He studied for endless hours light and shadow, drawing an object in its entirety only to move the light and begin again and again until he knew shadow, angle, and light as no other. His work ethic enabling him to see what few of lesser effort saw. We see this going beyond what most would do (The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For: Law 9), or concerted effort, in the copious notes he took. At the end of his life he had filled some fifteen-thousand pages of notes, ponderings, and drawings. The majority in his notebook are imaginings beyond scale of the period, pushing beyond the ordinary.
"Never be limited by what has been done before or what others think." da Vinci
A more modern but similar philosophy can be seen in Earl Nightingales success credo:
"Want success? Just look at what everyone else is doing and do something else."
Why did his paintings come alive? Why was there such great emotion in his subject's faces? hair? bodies? such great range of understanding and insight that few if any saw well enough to replicate? It was greatly in his ability to do the extreme work needed, to go beyond what most imagined, to have the faith, the self-confidence to believe and then the passion and power to execute.
Da Vinci was successful not because he was wealthy or powerful, but because he committed to a way of life that few did or do and stuck to it because of the integrity therein. He was obsessed with knowing as much as he could about something as long as his enthusiasm lasted for the subject. He pushed beyond the expected. He took very commonplace ideas and pushed them to extremes. But mostly he lived by a code that allowed him to accomplish what few will commit to. And it was all done using the greatest tool we have: the mind. How well do you use yours?
"Patience protects against misfortune as warm cloths protect against the cold. The warmer you dress the more powerless the storm. Increasing patience against great wrongs renders them powerless against your peace of mind." da Vinci
"I am inspired by the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough. We must act on it. Being willing is not enough. We must do!" da Vinci
What others have said of da Vinci, in closing, lets us ponder what we can do to achieve greatness of our own variety:
"Da Vinci represents something about human beings themselves. He overcomes many obstacles and he shows what we're capable of," Bert S. Hall, University of Toronto.
"He can inspire all of us today regardless of who we are to try to make the most of our lives as we can," Jonathan Pevsner, John Hopkins University.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Wonderfully put, Jeff. Thank you again for your good write. It includes many quotes here and they are inspiring and powerful, at least, to me.Real Coach , you !Thanks Hilda. You're a champ! :O)
I really enjoy your da Vinci quotes. The thing that strikes me about the successful people I admire is that they think - or thought - for themselves.Yes, also a key point. Many give in to the belief that there is a standard or accepted norm for "doing." The achievers ignore that opinion and see the world truthfully. Chin-ning Chu, author of Thick Face Black Heart, the warrior philosophy for conquering the challenges of business and life, teaches to the same principle. I use the matrix as a metaphor for the "un-truths" we get caught up in regarding relationships, education, work, finance, medicine, and so on.
Very well done. I love the old quote about Edison, which stated he tried 1000 times to create a lightbulb and failed. His response was that he didn't necessarily fail, he just discovered 1000 ways not to make a light bulb. Greatness, and not glory (the two are still mutually exclusive), is achieved by finding that one thing and doing it. In da Vinci's (and Edison's) case, it was more than one thing, of course, but you get my point. Great article, sir.Thanks Mike. Yes, failure is there, the question is how do you handle it so you can move on. That answer is often only answered by the individual's passion to pursue, meaning, if you don't love what you do, you will fail through lack of passion more than anything else. Peace!
I do appreciate your views on Vinci, Albert Einstein and Loa Tzu -True wisdom is not obtained from books or certification of all universities, but the intuition of man and concentration. The only real value is intuition. Study of greatness (consciousness) is required to release the greatness within you. Thanks for sharing.For me, the issue is how to release the greatness within you? By withdrawal of the senses to see, listen with ears, taste with your tongue, smell with the nose and enjoyment of touch and memory in the mind of many people and things in the world. In this situation, we drop in consciousness in the interior beyond the mind and pure consciousness. It is true and eternal source of wisdom with which our whole system internal physics from birth to death runs and in freshness. It was the true source of the great people who invented or saints who have lived spirituality through various denominations. The university requires the development of wisdom of thought and technology within the consciousness.It generally comes down to one word: faith. "Faith is the substance (assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" ~ author of Hebrews. Faith is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things. In the greatest achievers they consistently maintain faith that they are not only doing the right thing but will continue to do so regardless of negative criticism, doubt, failure, and limitations of time and ability. And it is often this "faith" that comes to the aid of their human limitation to enable them to excel and exceed what many would believe possible, thus remarkable achievement. It is there for the taking, but not all will exercise the belief required to go beyond the norm.
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