Napoleon Hill placed 'Organization' very high on the list of traits/abilities required for success in life. He made it clear he was talking about 'self-organization', which meant much more than having a neat desk, arriving at meetings on time, and presenting your thoughts concisely and clearly. He meant all those things and much more. As a sampling of his thinking - when Napoleon Hill talked about being organized, he meant:
- having a 'definite purpose in life', which he also called a 'definite chief aim'
- having the self-control to avoid bad habits and practice autosuggestion, particularly that aimed at clarifying goals and building self-confidence
- having the planning and organization skills and the self-discipline to 'plan the work and work the plan'
Throughout recent years, I have written about 3 critical success ingredients:
- Intelligence
- Self-Control
- Drive/Energy
Self-control and self-discipline are tightly intertwined…we could argue they are essentially the same thing…or, we could argue that self-discipline is the ‘cause’ and self-control is the ‘effect’. Either way, the goal is controlled/directed thinking and action. And, controlled/directed thinking and action require intelligence and they both take energy when they are performed.
Organization – Personal Organization as contemplated by Napoleon Hill – requires constructive and harmonious use of intelligence, self-control, and drive/energy. So, an Organized Person is one who has mastered the use of the 3 critical success ingredients: Intelligence, Self-Control and Drive/Energy.