Definiteness of Purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Remember this statement because it is critical to your personal and professional happiness. There can be no success in any form whatsoever that does not begin with a Definite Major Purpose—a central motivation so specific, fixed, and vital that the pursuit of its object provides you with a sense of deep, abiding fulfillment and the ability to withstand temporary defeat. All riches—emotional, psychological, financial, material, and relational—are built on the foundation of Definiteness of Purpose.
If you were to gather together one hundred people, ninety- eight of them would lack this essential quality. Think of it! Ninety-eight percent of the people of the world have no idea what sort of work they are best suited for and what objective will inspire them to continually strive toward its attainment. They are perfectly fine with aimlessly drifting through life, struggling through their daily routine without a greater vision for their future. Every day is like the one before it: they rush from one task to the next in the hopes of making it through a to-do list that leads to nowhere in particular, all the while nursing a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach that there must be more to life than just keeping busy. This is the fate of the vast majority of individuals because their actions are not backed by, or directed toward, a burning desire that has been solidified into a Definite Major Purpose. Indeed, only two out of every hundred have anything remotely akin to Definiteness of Purpose, and these are the ones who are succeeding because they are not settling for anything short of what they want out of life.
I hope that you will resolve from this day forward not to settle for anything short of what you want. Make a promise to yourself right now that you will get on a path to finding and living out your purpose so that you can live a life that fills you with a sense of significance. Will you do that? I am not just using empty words when I tell you that you don’t have to settle for anything less than what you want. If you are really determined to get a thing, you can get it. Of course, if you don’t have the ambition to start making life pay off on your own terms, there isn’t anything that I or anyone else can do. But the fact that you are reading this book suggests that you have a fire in you waiting to be lit—a desire that, once awakened, will move you to greet each day with a firm sense of purpose and an appetite for achievement.
The steps outlined in this book chart the path to Definiteness of Purpose, but they also provide a roadmap to freedom. The philosophy of individual achievement from which they derive is a philosophy of human freedom and abundance. It is an antidote for poverty and want. Not only will it put you on the road to material and financial success, but it will give you a far greater gift of spiritual and mental freedom. For all these forms of riches— the tangible and the intangible alike—are found in the pursuit of a greater purpose that is firmly connected to one’s unique skills, inclinations, and capabilities. Notice that I said the pursuit of a greater purpose. It is not in the attainment of a major goal but in the steadfast striving toward one that true freedom is found.
There are more opportunities for personal freedom now than at any other time in history, but it is up to you to take advantage of them by having a definite idea of what you want that will make you free and a definite plan by which you can attain your purpose. Freedom of body and mind requires very careful planning to achieve, and “few there be that find it.” Many people, even those with plenty of money, bind themselves to too many “things” and fail to be really free. As you take steps toward realizing your purpose, remember that success is not an endpoint but a mindset. It is a state of mind in which you are in complete control of your thoughts so that you can avoid the traps of distraction, procrastination, fear, and negativity that every day will try to derail you from living out your purpose.
The wonderful reality is that this form of success is available to everyone. Every human being has the capacity to take complete control of their own mind. Indeed, thought is the only thing over which human beings have absolute control. Definiteness of Purpose is the first step toward attaining this mind control. Your thinking makes you what you are and what you shall become. If the circumstances of your life are not to your liking, you may change them by changing your mental attitude to conform with the circumstances you desire. The seven steps outlined in this book will show you how to do just that by aligning your thoughts and actions with a Definite Major Purpose. As you apply each principle, you will clear out more and more of the undergrowth that shrouds your path to purpose so that you can move forward confidently on your journey to personal freedom, lasting success, and boundless contribution, living a life that matters.
Source: Napoleon Hill’s Path to Purpose by Napoleon Hill