Episode #175 – The Napoleon Hill Success Formula for Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals, Part 6
Julea: Welcome to “The Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider,” brought to you by The VET Recruiter. In this podcast, Animal Health Executive Recruiter and Veterinary Recruiter, Stacy Pursell, provides insight and practical advice for both employers and job seekers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. The VET Recruiter’s mission is to help Animal Health and Veterinary employers recruit and hire top talent, while helping animal health and veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that increase their quality of life. Stacy is also an Animal Health Industry thought leader and workplace workforce expert.
In today’s podcast episode, we’ll be talking more about the Napoleon Hill success formula for Animal Health and Veterinary professionals. Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Julea. As always, it is great to be here. What an interesting week it has been, and I am glad to be back in the recording studio with you.
Julea: Yes, it has been, and I am glad to be back in the recording studio with you too Stacy.
For those in our listening audience who may not know, Napoleon Hill was an American self-help author, and he is best known for his book Think and Grow Rich, which is among the 10 best-selling self-help books of all time.
Stacy, we have looked at a wide variety of topics and advice from Napoleon Hill in recent weeks as his tips have been the theme for our recent podcasts. What do you have in store for this week?
Stacy: Yes, we have sunk our teeth into a lot of material during the past five weeks, and as I have said on numerous occasions during that time, I appreciate the advice and wisdom of Napoleon Hill. There are a couple of reasons why this is the case. First, the advice is more or less common sense. And second, these are things that anyone can implement to become successful in any aspect of their life, both personal and professional. And it just so happens that we’ll be discussing the art of working with other people in the professional setting today.
Julea: Okay, well let us get started Stacy.
Stacy: Well, like we have done in previous weeks Julea, I’m going to present a number of quotes from Napoleon Hill and then I’ll discuss the wisdom in those quotes and how that wisdom applies to workplace and the marketplace. And our first quote is a simple one. That quote is as follows:
“No one can succeed and remain successful without the friendly cooperation of others.”
Julea: That is rather simple, isn’t it Stacy.
Stacy: We haven’t touched much on this piece of advice, but when it comes to be successful, it’s nearly impossible to be successful and reach your full potential without the help of other people. And in terms of friendly cooperation, the best way to receive it from other people is to give it first.
Julea: That is the Principle of Reciprocity, isn’t it Stacy and you have often spoken about that.
Stacy: Yes, that is right Julea. When you make it a habit to encourage others and help them when they need help so that they can do their job better and ultimately advance their career, they will be more likely to do the same for you when you need help. So you should have the frame of mind that you will give generously first and not ask of others. If you give generously first, then you will receive.
Stacy: Napoleon’s Hill second quote for today is just as simple as the first one, and it’s just as powerful.
Julea: What quote is that?
Stacy: It’s as follows:
“Before trying to master others, be sure you are the master of yourself.”
Julea: That’s a good one!
Stacy: It is, and it’s absolutely true. One of the things that we’ve been discussing during these Napoleon Hill podcasts is how important the mental aspect is when it comes to being successful. This includes both when you’re working alone and when you’re working with others. And the number-one thing that you must remember in terms of the mental aspect is having a positive mental attitude. If you want to work well with others, you must have that kind of attitude. On the other hand, negative thinking leads to apathy and inaction.
When you have a positive mental attitude, you’re more likely to take initiative and take action. And when you take initiative, other people are more likely to want to work with you and follow you. But if you want to be a leader, which is the real word for mastering others, then you must able to lead yourself. In other words, you must be able to discipline yourself. The first rule of leadership is to never ask others to do something that you would not be willing to do yourself. This is the very definition of leading by example.
Julea: And leading by example is the best way to lead, is it not Stacy?
Stacy: It is! You are absolutely correct.
Julea: Stacy, what’s our next quote from Napoleon Hill?
Stacy: Our third quote for today is actually a variation of a quote that I’m sure that many people in our listening audience have heard before.
Julea: What quote is that?
Stacy: “The greatest of all success rules is this: do unto others as you would if you were the others.”
Julea: That’s basically The Golden Rule, isn’t it?
Stacy: Yes, and The Golden Rule is NOT “He who has the gold makes the rules.” The Golden Rule is actually “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Julea: Stacy, is this different than The Principle of Reciprocity?
Stacy: Yes, it is. The Principle of Reciprocity is about giving to other people, while The Golden Rule is more about treating them the right way. That could include giving them things, but it could really just be the way in which you treat them. However, these two principles are similar in another way?
Julea: How’s that?
Stacy: Both of them have the potential to have a great impact on the lives of other people. Basically, they are both a blueprint for creating and doing positive things, including the workplace. With The Principle of Reciprocity, when you give first before taking, people feel more inclined to give back to you. With The Golden Rule, when you treat people well, they feel more inclined to treat you well, but to treat other people around them well, too.
Julea: Could The Principle of Reciprocity work the same way? If you give to others first, might they also give back to you and also give first to other people in their life?
Stacy: Yes, that’s right! This is what is known as an exponential effect. When you practice The Principle of Reciprocity and The Golden Rule with one person, that one interaction could have a tremendous ripple effect that positively affects the lives of countless other people. I know it might sound a bit corny, but when you do things like this, not only are you setting yourself up for more personal and professional success, but you’re also making the world a better place. And right now, I think everyone would agree that the world around us could use some improvement.
Julea: I totally agree with that? Stacy, do you have any other Napoleon Hill quotes for us today?
Stacy: Yes, I have one more. This also deals with other people, but not as directly, and it’s also advice for becoming more successful. The quote is as follows:
“Watch the one ahead of you, and you’ll learn why he is ahead. Then emulate him.”
Julea: When you say “the one ahead of you,” you’re talking about a person who is above you in terms of your job, maybe your boss or someone in management, is that right?
Stacy: Yes, that’s right. If you want to be successful, then you must watch successful people. Watch what they do. Study their habits. Find out which principles they use to succeed—other than The Principle of Reciprocity and The Golden Rule—and use them yourself. Andrew Carnegie said that the principles of success can be learned by anyone willing to take the time to study them and then apply them.
The fact of the matter is that you can learn something useful from just about everyone that you meet in life. That is, if you pay attention and you’re observant while you’re around them. And you don’t even have to know them to learn from them?
Julea: What do you mean by that?
Stacy: Well, we are learning from Napoleon Hill, and he passed away many years ago.
Julea: I guess you’re right!
Stacy: There are plenty of books about success that a person can read. Or you can listen to an audiobook. So when you think about it, the opportunities to learn from successful people, both the ones you know and the ones you don’t know, is almost limitless. But it is not just the acquisition of knowledge that is important.
Julea: It isn’t?
Stacy: No, that’s only half of the equation. The other half is the application of the knowledge in a real-world setting. Just having the knowledge really isn’t that useful. It’s like having a tool, but not using it. The application of the knowledge is what makes the principles of success effective.
Julea: So once again, action is a must. Nothing can happen without it.
Stacy: That’s 100% correct. People have to take action, and that is especially the case if they want to be successful.
Julea: Stacy, we’re just about out of time. Is there anything else you’d like to add before we wrap up today’s podcast episode?
Stacy: Yes, I’d like to say one more thing. This is something that I’ve talked about before, and it’s desire. If you want to be successful, then you must have the desire to be successful. We talked about a lot of great things today and during the past few weeks, but that’s all it was, just talk. As we just discussed, now is the time for action. Now is when a person does what is necessary to be successful. You must have the desire for success, and that desire must push you to put forth extraordinary effort and do extraordinary things.
Julea: Thank you, Stacy, and thank you so much for all of this great information and wisdom from Napoleon Hill.
Stacy: It has been my pleasure Julea, and I look forward to our next episode of The Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider!
Julea: That’s all for today’s show. For Stacy Pursell and everyone at The VET Recruiter, thank for your listening and we invite you to join us next time when we address more career related topics in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. We hope that you’ll join us then!