Motivational Icon Napoleon Hill: Success in Motivation for Others

Controversy Needn't Negate Positivity

The internet being what it is for quotes, most of us today are familiar with extrinsic motivator Napoleon Hill. Born October, 1883, Hill became a leading giver of sage advice over a long career as a writer and speaker.

Hill's enduring, perhaps most ironic quotable message was that "fervid" expectations are essential to improving one's experience; a message to be found referenced in several publications not penned by Hill—an idea based in impressions derived from Hill's written works. 

Despite being a controversial figure with personal failings, Hill nevertheless followed in the footsteps of his most admired motivational figures and painstakingly created success for himself (as well as any conflicts in his wake).

Through his own life experience, Hill realized that people need external motivation at certain times in their lives. Thus, he offered it. Best known for the personal development work entitled Think and Grow Rich (1937), Napoleon Hill is usually well regarded for his writing and inspirational lifestyle, and responsible for many of the multitude of motivational quotes that grace the streams of social media.

Napoleon Hill Quotes

Motivational quotations taken from the Hill library include such sage points as:

•  Neglecting to broaden their view has kept some people doing one

  

  Napoleon Hill

  thing all their lives.
• When your desires are strong enough, you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve. 
• If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. 
• The starting point of all achievement is desire. Weak desire brings weak results.
• Where thought prevails power may be found!

These relatively few samples are a good indication of the type of instigating content motivation-seekers desire, in order to enrich themselves.

No doubt, much of Hill's subject matter is invaluable to those who seek or stumble upon it, and many consider themselves to have benefitted from it in some way.

Extrinsic Motivational Prompts Can't Replace Our Actions

While some are luckier in life, others don't have quantifiable positive external motivators in their lives. They may rely on outside sources of positivity to generate the force within themselves.

Sure, everyday facts of life can be motivating or offer positive as well as negative experiences, but such inevitable events aren't necessarily motivating in that positively targeted way that instills the excitement of cheering directly for our benefit! Rather, such motivation is available primarily in the service product of motivational speaking.

Plus, with motivational speaking comes the studied, often experienced, tips for success. It's not just about the cheer-leadership, but about gaining insights gathered along the road to proven success.

In the end, however, we must realize—about ourselves—that the power to succeed is within each and every one of us, and sometimes only needs to be encouraged, or revived. This is what makes such positive external motivators as Hill worthy resources in our work on ourselves. 

Whether we are more or less intrinsically motivated to positive or negative actions is largely based in our environmental experiences. While circumstance may stall or upend us, we make our own base decisions. We pick up our own books, choose our best-anticipated Ted Talks, and we choose what our free time (time not spent earning a living) will look like. 
Ultimately, we must pick our own most-effective leadership.

REFERENCES

The Edge Bulgaria: Open Innovation for Tomorrow – Bridging the Gap Between Research and Business Development, theedge.solutions/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Think-and-Grow-Rich-by-Napoleon-Hill.pdf.

Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/.

"Napoleon Hill." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 17 Feb. 2004, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Hill. Accessed 23 Aug. 2019.

Novak, Matt. "The Untold Story of Napoleon Hill, the Greatest Self-Help Scammer of All Time." Paleofuture, 6 Dec. 2016, paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-untold-story-of-napoleon-hill-the-greatest-self-he-1789385645.

"Wisdom for the Soul." Google Books, books.google.com/books?id=-T3QhPjIxhIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:9780977339105&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Writers Prompted to Write More via Medium Policy Requirement

Medium prompts regular activity from its writing members by establishing a quasi negative-reward policy designed to remind users of their best interests. The goal: getting users to stay active on the Medium platform, thereby increasing odds of activity.

According to Medium authors:

"Activity can include recommending, highlighting, or publishing. Accounts may be removed after 6 months of inactivity."

Any user of the Medium platform must remain active or risk losing their account. So if you're a Medium reader of the quality content to be found there, make it a point to check in regularly.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

If you're trying to imagine an easy-to-remember memory check, then do it quarterly. Add it to your quarterly calendar.

We know how it is . . . it can be incredibly difficult to eke out time for every entertainment in which we partake. However, it's important to remember that Medium is one site that offers a multitude of benefits. The cutting-edge writing platform is much more than a water cooler hangout. Within it's folds are rich salons where everyone's welcome to introduce and discuss mostly-important topics.

If you liken our Medium fix to a favorite magazine, then put it on our monthly, weekly, or daily calendar. See new material every day! It's as easy as setting, then clicking a Medium bookmark. Save it in your browsers now if you haven't already.

Again, whether writing or not, users who don't remain active could lose their accounts after six months of inactivity at the Medium website. To prevent this, all a user needs to do is log in, read a story, pick a favorite highlight and comment.

Directly related to the activity requirement is an interesting feature:

Per Medium,

"We don’t accept requests for inactive accounts, unless you own a registered trademark for it."

Writers, marketers, and other Medium users may want to consider applying a trademark to their usernames. It's too easy to get involved in a demanding project and unable to return to a personal one for some time, so this policy could be a significant risk.

We hope this will be a useful reminder to Medium users who are either unaware or have forgotten about this important requirement of their Medium account.


REF:

Medium authors. Medium Policy. Retrieved September 2018. https://medium.com/policy/medium-username-policy-7054a77fb04f

Jane Haskins, Esq. How to Trademark a Name. Legal Zoom. Retrieved September 2018. https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-to-trademark-a-name

Trust in Journalism: Headed to Tech Giants?

Historically, manuscript titles have been a function of convenience (sorting, picking, etc.) in writing and weren't necessarily given by authors. Titles were applied by organizers, or subject to change by organizers, in order to suit categorization and presentation needs.

Similarly, titles in modern media such as electronic news headlines are often adjusted, not by authors but by media managers and personnel, in order to attract readers. Thus, titles are sometimes manipulated and used for organization and targeting.

The challenge that we as readers are presented with, in any title, is in the ability to decipher what our attention is being directed to, and why. Many times we find that the why holds much more weight, and we should always be cognizant of that aspect of our information intake.

To read, or not to read, is the question. The answer is often exhibited in negative ways. So-called "click-bait" titles and blurbs are an unfortunate reality that drive the tendency to absorb inauthentic sentiments and played-up blurbs and intros, with no commitment to the main content . . . which is the entirety of information behind the face of the presentation (often from a juxtaposed perspective).

Behavioral Shortcomings in Media

Our behavior is closely related to the information we receive. It is therefore tantamount to reason and logic that we maintain our ability to decode the multitude of messages completely into a form of data that we can then use to make responsible decisions in our relay of information and actions. 

• Too often, we choose not to read the content, and who can blame us. It didn't take us long to learn that a hyperbolic title or lead didn't necessarily culminate in any news, so we stopped clicking through nearly as often as we once did.
• We sometimes share what we haven't read, because we agree with an intro or cannot resist sharing a funny image. This space is where a lot of neglect occurs. The reality is that there may be more work beyond this immediate, facing content (for the responsible reader and accountable community). Social media titles, blurbs and commentary can be bad indications of content, and often have been completely changed from an author's intended messaging.
• Compounding these above, social media blurbs are sometimes written to 'wrap up' content for readers in ways that indicate a completion of sentiment, which can encourage readers (especially of distinct groups) to move on without inspecting actual content or source. This is especially prevalent in social communication and politics.

These are steps back that put us farther behind where we would be if our only neglect had been an absence of confirmation research beyond the presented content.

The Constant Challenge of Truth

This scenario isn't much different from any historical dissemination of information to the public—a process long fraught with deluders. The vessel, or platform, is an encasement, adorned with the impressions of a producer's intent in sending messages. At this stage, there may or may not have been a bevy of editorial attention to the message.

As in works of art, such as paintings, the audience sees a surface but usually must decipher any meaning that may apply to them, the artist, or to others. This has become more evident in modern journalism's many iterations and multitude of access points. In reading, watching and listening . . . whether to social media content, news or commentary publications and programs . . . published books . . . we're at our most accountable when we evaluate the content, the source, and other factors of presentation.

A free public shouldn't need a governing entity (state, tech giants) to do this kind of evaluation for them. Powerful tech giants like Facebook and Google should refrain from attempts to govern civic journalism and communication under the auspice of guardianship of the truth, or 'stopping fake news'-- all risks inherent in both traditional and AI applications of the information business.

Beyond any particular publication, it is the public's privilege, in a free society, to have access to information and freedom to distribute it. It is much better to do the work, as they say: each person with their individual instinct to root out the wrongful propagandists and fake news outlets. In fact, there are resources—new and old—designed to help us do just that, one prime example being Media Bias/Fact Check.

Facebook and the like are each distinct business models, and constantly evolving. In a sense, under new demands of accountability, they must go beyond their original intent of free and open platform provision in order to retain profit, trust and survival. Currently, such platforms are threatening to become the publishers, in a sense, in the interest of not only profit but also national security. Our Tech Giants are well on their way to becoming our new Giants of Journalism.

Another apt prediction might be that we'll find the new top-paid research editors working for the these new tech/journalism giants more often than for any traditional publication. It's already begun. 


RELATED READING:

America's Dirty, Global War on Journalists, by David Sirota (2013)

The Interesting Mystery Behind the Death of Edgar Allan Poe (and his first writings)

Edgar Allan Poe died a mysterious, sudden death en route to work on a writing project. Most of the public assumed self-inflicted causation, and media death reports suggested as much with descriptors like 'congestion of the brain' and 'cerebral inflammation'.

Rumors around his demise included such ailments as drugs, syphilis and heart disease . . . and one about nefarious politics: some believed Poe fell after having been cooped up in a voter fraud scam known as "cooping"-- a practice wherein targets were drugged and shut into holding, in "room or coops", then dragged around to polling places to cast [often multiple] votes.

This curious account of Edgar Allan Poe is one of the great literary mysteries, brought to our attention in reading today via Bustle article penned by Charlotte Ahlin. Learn about this and four other literary mysteries "that have never been solved".

Other little-known facts about Edgar Allan Poe

On this day, 1815 June 22, Edgar Poe moved with the Allan family from Boston to London, where the young and recently orphaned boy would attend school for approximately five years before returning to America. Then, in four more years, Edgar's first-known poem was penned:

"Last night, with many cares & toils oppres'd,/ Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest." -Via Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore

Fourteen years later, Edgar landed a job as a gentleman's magazine editor and soon followed that opportunity with publication of his first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.


Further Reading:

Did you know that Poe is considered the father of detective stories? Learn more about Edgar Allan Poe's life and work: Edgar Allan Poe WebQuest

Edgar Allan Poe Remembered, via The Twilight Zone Vortex

 
REF:

• Meyers, Jeffrey (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. 

• Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Edgar Allan Poe Timeline of Important Dates. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

• Wikipedia contributors. "Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Jun. 2018. Web. 22 Jun. 2018

Writing Contest Opportunity for West Virginians

According to The Morgan Messenger, residents of West Virginia have the annual opportunity to submit their writing to a round of contests hosted by West Virginia Writers, Inc. (paid for via entry fees). Deadline for entries is March 30. Out-of-state hopefuls apparently can participate in the fun by joining the club.

Thanksgiving 2017

There are challenges in any year, but now's our time to recognize the positives of the last. We should celebrate ourselves and the places we've been and hold dear in this world. Recognize the exciting times we're in, and the possibilities of a future that's yet to arrive. Anything can happen. Have a happy Thanksgiving weekend.

Why I Write: October 20 Annual Writing Hashtag Event

The National Day on Writing inspires a time during end-October for writers and associates to celebrate and organize events. Centered around a concept of the National Council of Teachers of English, the day honors the constant relevance the written word. (Since 1911, the NCTE has organized for the betterment of language art studies through various means). 

Developed by educators, the National Day on Writing appeals to teachers especially, who use the opportunity to enhance our perceptions of writing as a critical component of comprehension, learning, communication and overall understanding. For writers from any scene, October 20 each year is the date around which we can plan an event or outing according to this general theme.

We consider it highly appropriate that this writing event is coordinated with the cooling autumn weather, which happens to render steaming cups of coffee, tea and cocoa all the more relevant to our efforts. We're greater plussed if sweaters are needed.

Because the annual writing event happens to fall on a Friday this year, there's little excuse to avoid an appropriate event or activity this weekend. What will you do?

We should all get a start by answering the associated hashtag #WhyIWrite, via Twitter and other social networks.

Reviving the Journals of Sylvia Plath - The British Library

Sylvia Plath

Whatever brought you here, whoever you are, you're likely to recognize the name of Sylvia Plath. Her 1963 novel The Bell Jar has been a companion of many students whose writing, language or literature class syllabi required it. Beyond this, Plath was a renowned artist of her time, known for her early and prolific stabs at production and successful publication.¹

As a young girl, Plath authored local pieces and experimented with painting, but was first a writer and succeeded in being nationally published soon after high school. Students and fans of Plath will recall her personalized, get-to-know-me style of revelational writing and may remember some of the unfortunate details of her life experience, including her suicide-- only one month after the publication of her first and only novel.

The Bell Jar would eventually be adapted for film, in the 1979 production of the same name.² While popular, the film was criticized for it's lack of insight into the life of the young woman whose productive mind would eventually disintegrate to the precarious state which invited and ultimately assured her demise.

See images of some of Sylvia Plath's typewritten journal pages and enjoy Karen Kukil's retrospective of Plath's style and motivations, via the British Library project Discovering Literature: Reviving the Journals of Sylvia Plath - The British Library

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1 Website Author(s). Poets.org. Poets. Sylvia Plath. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/sylvia-plath Retrieved Jan 2017.^↩

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2 Wikipedia Authors. The Bell Jar (Film). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Jar_(film). Retrieved Jan 2017.^↩

This Season's Rhyme & Reason for our New Year's Facebook Resolution

Facebook Resolution 2017 - Reason

While our Copy, Edit, Etc FB page isn't new, it's also not been a priority, by any measure. It wasn't our ticket to attention, nor has it served any of our clients in any way. In all fairness, it hasn't had the chance. We just WANTED it!

It seems that most businesses host a Facebook page. Whether large or small, incorporated or independent (even sole proprietors), a business today likely has a Facebook presence. I, too, want to offer that social presence on Facebook. Although, originally, the plan was eventual advertising of services via Facebook- no more than that.

A following isn't necessary to begin advertising on Facebook, and up to now I've simply perused and shared items of interest to me . . . a means of acquainting with the way I want the page to feel. It's been a supremely casual, but eerily quiet process. No worries. The social return can be a long process. As it stands, a staggering 87% of posts to Facebook pages by users go unanswered!¹ With a response like that, it's no small wonder why pages have to work so hard to cultivate a following.

At this turn of the New Year, I'm reminded that this Facebook page could benefit from some worthy attention, regardless of whether I intend to run ads just yet. Surely, all who would post at the Copy, Edit, Etc. Blog shall be reachable via Facebook as the future unfolds. So, let's take care to make a space that will enhance our efforts as well as those of our peers and other industry members.

Facebook Resolution 2017 - Rhyme

The New Year is a cue to get our Facebook page in order for fans and consumers in a way that ensures they'll know what to expect as well as find something new and exciting every time they peep into this fold of our social experience. We need good reasons to share, that reach a bit beyond our interests, and have come up with one!

In 2017, we'll regularly share job ads in the fields of writing, editing and communication to our Facebook page. Emphasis will be on telecommunication and remote work opportunities.

Along with traditional writing jobs, we'll share gig ads for short-term jobs that seem to qualify as remote work opportunities. Job posts we find and share may be long or short-term outlook scenarios.

Facebook Resolution 2017 - Disclaimer

My greatest concern at this point (regarding this sharing endeavor) relates to the safety and security of any who would pursue such job post shares. Realize that, any shares we post are ads merely seen, possibly saved for our pursuit, often read once and unverified. Perhaps a job post grabbed an eye as a possible opportunity for any one of our peers or other interested parties. Either way, these will be UNVERIFIED job post shares.

Each job seeker is expected to be mindful of any possible issues and take appropriate responsibilities unto themselves as they follow through on any postings we've shared. Please be thorough and keep safety in mind while job-hunting. Because we are not affiliated with the creators of these ads to be shared on Facebook, we cannot guarantee any of the ad claims or vouch for their representatives.

More Rhyme for the Reason

By sharing industry job ads, we intend to support fellow service providers and workers of the gig economy. We're committed to reminding people of their inherent values in today's job market. The gig economy is a world of opportunity for job seekers of many types, and we hope to strengthen our community of service providers by sharing in this way. This is just one thing we can do!

We'll focus on writing-associated gigs, because these are where we operate; yet, we like to keep an open mind. After all, there have been many 'gig' jobs that helped to support students, writers, performance artists and anyone struggling to get by or who plainly enjoy gig work and are always on the lookout for such, often rare, opportunities.

For now, we'll go with a random approach to the day(s) of the week that we share this type of post, and we'll ask: Do you think there's a best day to share help-wanted ads? If so, let us know in comments which day we should try, and why.

Copy, Edit, Etc. Writing Services

Like our Facebook page today and let us know when you see one of our job post shares in your feed. 

By sharing these opportunities to connect with others who partake and deal in our fields of interest, we hope to instill a positive outlook among people who continue to find self-actualizing, appropriate ways to support themselves in any economy.

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1 DMR Contributor. Facebook Page Statistics November 2016. http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/facebook-page-statistics/ December 2016. ^↩

Monday Evening: Time to self-reflect and remotivate your entire work week

Let's face it: Mondays have potential to reset our tone for the week! Our busiest days are typically this first business day.

Consequently, Monday evenings can be the most difficult times we may have in separating ourselves from the day and achieving a more relaxed night. To resolve this issue, establish Monday evening as a priority time for a personal writing exercise.

Hint: undertake this exercise as early as feasible after your work on Monday

What kind of personal writing exercise can you do? Poetry is an option, and surely it can be effective to one's progress in the craft to set a standard time to practice those poetry skills. Other types of personal writing might include journal-keeping or personal essay pages.

The latter two are similar types of basic writing that offer a different starting mindset, and usually a different result. These types of writing can appeal to almost anyone, and it only takes one quick page to serve our purpose of changing gears for significant release of the day's tension.

Benefits of Personal Writing on Monday Evening

Consider that writing a journal entry actually records one or more events of your day, and may present you with workable solutions to a problem or event. Also, it's a way of logging milestones at a regular interval. Because Monday happens to be an easy day to remember to write a journal-- aka diary-- entry, we've expanded our original thought to include this basic task as a means of reflection and release. This is one task with great potential of personal reward.

To write a journal entry any day(s) of the week has long been a way for professional or hobby writers, as well as any person from any walk of life, to log progress and failure, dissect thoughts and imprints, and generally sort themselves out mentally.   

Alternatively, a personal essay is an opportunity to expand this personal writing exercise beyond the borders of a typical journal entry. You may have a great idea or topic ready to go. Or, maybe you've been too busy to consider it. No worries! Whatever you've been working on throughout your day, you can create a mental release (and still achieve some productivity) through a writing prompt. Such a prompt can be sourced almost anywhere:

• any major or minor event of the day that stirs some emotion
• local news items or politics
• an intriguing billboard statement, image or other stimulating input you've noticed on the way home
• a picture in a magazine
• an article you've read
• research #writingprompt

Simply, pick a prompt and begin to write!

Any writing exercise we've highlighted here may be the key you need to unlock a restful state of mind. Adopt the habit. It's potential is regeneration for a fresh Tuesday and greater chance of a positive week.

Review:

Monday journal - make a diary habit on Monday, soon after work. It's an effective way to recall and evaluate the effect of your preparations for that Monday; further, to consider the day's unfolding and whether anything could have been better executed for a smoother start the next week. Essentially, it's a great way to confirm that you've set your week up in the most productive and efficient way possible.

Monday essay - relative to a journal entry, the personal essay offers a means to break a day's litany of events by using a writing prompt to generate new thoughts (and new written topic material). You could relate the prompt to your day, or choose a wildcard prompt. Either way, expect a mental boost! Through the effort of a personal essay, we're pushing our minds to work in different directions, in effect reaching out from at least one different perspective.

Whichever way you go, it's only going to take a time or two to realize some the stated benefits. Let us know if this is similar to something you already do, if you plan to add this Monday task into your routine, or when you have results! Feel free to link an entry you've published in comments.

REF

Notepad image via crisg at Openclipart

Political Communication - Worse due to Procedure?

Letters from one politician to another certainly must be constructed well in order to have the desired effect upon receivers. This is why I'm wagering that Bill Cassidy's letter to his fellow members of U.S. Congress [2013] about the Senate's immigration reform bill was penned by one close to the campaign, then handed off to an intern to send . . . meaning that no writing professional set serious eyes upon it before being sent.

Otherwise, assumptions of authorship are true and-- either way-- the letter represents an all-too-familiar form of personal tirade that never was meant to be part of the official political process or for anything but media fodder. Of course, I could be wrong . . . you decide! These links contain an image of the letter in question. Take a look! I'd like to know what you think.