While it may seem like a modern trend, in ancient times, Know Thyself was inscribed across the front of the Temple of Apollo, and it was considered to be a spiritual journey of understanding for personal transformation of the soul. By first understanding yourself, you can then begin to understand others and our shared spiritual nature.
“I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue does not come from money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private.” –Socrates, Plato’s Apology, 4th century B.C.
Napoleon Hill was encouraged by Andrew Carnegie to make what ended up being a 30-year study of the most successful men of his time. Carnegie gave Hill inside access to prominent, wealthy, successful men (at that time they were all male) such as Rockefeller, Ford, Edison and others. Hill’s study resulted in a huge body of work he called The Law of Success, and later was condensed to Think and Grow Rich.
In The Law of Success, a course on the fundamentals of success, Napoleon Hill documents his research findings. He describes success in this way:
“Success is very largely a matter of adjusting one’s self to the ever-varying and changing environments of life, in a spirit of harmony and poise. Harmony is based upon understanding of the forces constituting one’s environment; therefore, this course is in reality a blueprint that may be followed straight to success, because it helps the student to interpret, understand and make the most of these environmental forces of life.”
There are two key elements involved in this approach–
- Knowledge of yourself
- Understanding of harmony and cooperation with others
Self-knowledge tools
There are many tools for gaining self-knowledge. Some are extensive psychological inventories that must be administered by professionals. Others are non-traditional tools such as astrology and numerology. If you don’t have a copy of your astrological birth chart and access to an personal astrologer, you can obtain a free birth chart and inexpensive reports to get you started in self-discovery. You can go on to learn more at online astrology sites and in books, if you choose. One great site it astro.com with free horoscope reports by Liz Greene and other well-known professional astrologers. For a free introductory numerology reading online, visit cafeastrology.com/numerology2.
One of the most used widely psychological assessments is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) based on Jungian psychology. You can access an abbreviated free version of this tool online as the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. When you have your four-letter temperament code, you can use it to learn more about yourself from the various books and resources that abound for the MBTI tool.
However, Napoleon Hill streamlined the list of character traits, some would call them virtues, necessary for success to a list of 15 based on his research. So if you will focus on developing these traits, you can increase your likelihood of success.
- Definite chief aim (or purpose) for your life
- Self-confidence
- Habit of saving money
- Initiative and leadership
- Imagination
- Enthusiasm
- Self-control
- Habit of doing more than paid for
- Pleasing personality
- Accurate thinking
- Concentration
- Cooperation
- Profiting from failure
- Tolerance
- Practicing the Golden Rule
To make a study of yourself requires humility and self-awareness. But if you can buckle down and give serious thought to which of these character traits you already possess and which ones you could improve, and then make a plan to develop those, you will be head and shoulders above the crowd.
Understanding harmony and cooperation
The two concepts of self-knowledge and cooperation were considered so important, that the Edgar Cayce readings placed them as the first two lessons for the spiritual development study group in Virginia Beach. The original group was not given more information from Cayce’s psychic source until everyone in group had mastered these concepts in his or her own life. The information on Cooperation and Know Thyself are found in Book One of the Search for God text. Harmony and cooperation can only be developed by working in a group, so the small study group is a great environment to experiment and learn. There is a companion text with practical life experiments for small group members, called Experiments in A Search for God: The Edgar Cayce Path of Application.
Change Your Life for Good - CYL4G 