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Tag: Napoleon Hill

Dalai Lama, Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Positive Thinking, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Tony Robbins, and a Bible Passage

Sunday Supplement #165 (July 7th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.”

– Dalai Lama

Book of the Week:

Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Positive Thinking – Michael J. Ritt Jr.

I featured Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich in Sunday Supplement #85. The title might throw some people off, but I found some of its advice invaluable.

Napoleon Hill’s journey involved discovering the commonalities between the most successful people in various fields and compiling them to present to the public.

Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Positive Thinking is a compilation of some of the best principles from Hill’s best works.

Michael J. Ritt Jr. worked for Napoleon Hill, and his compilation was released as an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

It is a short read, and at least one worthwhile tip is waiting for you to pick up in this book. I found the book an enjoyable read and one I’ll revisit in the future.

Movie of the Week:

Searching for Bobby Fischer

The 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer, written and directed by Steve Zaillian, was based on the story of child chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin.

The book on which the film was based was written by Josh’s dad, Fred Waitzkin. It follows Josh’s journey in the competitive chess world as he’s encouraged to harden himself to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.

The film features brilliant performances from Max Pomeranc as Josh, Joe Mantegna as Fred, Joan Allen as Josh’s Mom, Joan, Ben Kingsley as Josh’s coach Bruce, and Lawrence Fishburne as Josh’s coach Vinnie.

Searching for Bobby Fischer was nominated for one Oscar (Best Cinematography), but I think it deserved many more.

The film is an excellent exploration of childhood, parenting, teaching, and the pursuit of success. Even if you don’t like or know much about chess, add this movie to your watchlist.

Brainfood of the Week:

These 3 Questions Will Change How You Do EVERYTHING! | Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and leading life and business strategist.

This video is a clip from one of Robbins’s seminars. In the video, Robbins discusses three questions and how they affect our lives.

The three questions are: What are you going to focus on? What does this mean? What am I going to do?

Robbins breaks down how we shape our experience of life based on our answers to these questions (consciously or subconsciously).

I’ve featured three Tony Robbins books in previous Sunday Supplements. Check out this short video and see if you’re interested in checking out more of Tony Robbins’s work.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

– Matthew 5:8

The Ten Commandments from the Bible are often highlighted, but I find the Beatitudes a more interesting guide to living a good life. Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is a powerful message, and I highly encourage you to read it at some point.

Matthew 5:8 is a verse from this passage, and I find you can take a lot from just this verse. I’ll start with the latter, “for they will see God.” I’m reminded of the verse John 4:8, “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

As for the beginning of the above verse, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” I think of the Bible’s description of purity relating to guiltless, blameless, or innocent behavior.

For me, Matthew 5:8 reminds us to be honest, uplifting, and loving; in turn, we will see the love in this world.


Stay positive, move forward with positivity, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Wayne Dyer, Think and Grow Rich, Interstellar, Deepak Chopra, and Matthew 13:12

Sunday Supplement #85 (December 25th, 2022)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”

– Wayne Dyer

Book of the Week:

Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

I heard of Think and Grow Rich long before I ever picked it up. The book comes up on every recommended list for those who have delved into the personal development genre.

Napoleon Hill went on a journey to discover the commonalities between the most successful people in various fields.

Hill credited Andrew Carnegie’s prompt to him as the genesis of his work to study the likes of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and others to discover and reveal the roots of success.

There’s a reason the book has stuck around for decades, has many plaudits, and has sold over 15 million copies.

Think and Grow Rich is a brilliant read for those looking to better themselves. It’s not just an insight into physical wealth.

Movie of the Week:

Interstellar

Christopher Nolan is one of the leading filmmakers of modern times. His filmography includes The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk, Inception, and many other brilliant films.

For this Movie of the Week pick, I chose his Sci-Fi Drama Interstellar. Nolan wrote the film with his brother Jonathan, and it currently holds the 26 spot on IMDb’s Top 250 Movies list.

Interstellar follows ex-NASA pilot Joseph Cooper and his decision to join a mission of explorers traveling through a wormhole in space in search of a new planet for the survival of the human species.

Cooper chooses to leave his family behind in hopes of saving them. However, he doesn’t know what it will cost him, and his team discovers that the information that prompted their journey wasn’t fully realized.

Every Christopher Nolan film I’ve seen has provided a fantastic experience that has often stayed with me. Interstellar is my favorite of his filmography.

Brainfood of the Week:

The Abundance in Your Life is Proportional to Your Sense of Self | Deepak Chopra

In the video, Deepak Chopra discusses how we often get lost in egoic perceptions of ourselves but can tap into abundance by remembering our true sense of self.

Chopra is the founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit for research on well-being and humanitarianism. 

He has written numerous New York Times bestsellers, has been featured by Oprah Winfrey, and was described by Time magazine as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

I’ve featured a Deepak Chopra guided meditation on Sunday Supplement #77, and this video gives an extra glance at his work.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

– Matthew 13:12

This passage from the Bible is taken from Jesus’s parable of the sower. It discusses a sower’s seeds that were scattered among a variety of terrain. Only the seeds that fell upon rich soil took root and survived.

For me, the parable and the verse above discuss the necessity of having the right mindset and core beliefs. If we do, positive seeds will flourish, if not, they wither.

If we don’t control our thoughts, mindset, and core beliefs, we continue to see the world from whatever default setting we currently have or are held sway by external stimuli.

The good thing is that we get to choose our mindset and our core beliefs. And we all have the ability to tune into and amply those qualities we want to see more of.

Choose how you want to move forward in life, tune into the abundance you wish to perceive around you, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Napoleon Hill, Lord of the Flies, King Richard, Headspace, and a Buddhist Saying

Sunday Supplement #41 (February 20th, 2022)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”

– Napoleon Hill

Book of the Week:

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

Lord of the Flies is a brilliant story about a stranded group of schoolboys. On the brink of the next world war, a plane crashes, leaving the boys unsupervised on an uncharted island. The boys celebrate their freedom and attempt to build their own society.

Ultimately, their attempts to come together fail, and the fractions of kids that form begin to fight for power. Their society quickly falls into chaos, and the consequences of their actions are a harrowing reflection of the world they left behind.

William Golding’s book is often on reading lists at middle and high schools, but it is an interesting read regardless of age.

Time magazine listed the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1293 to 2005. It also put the book in its 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time list. 

The novel’s themes of influence, mob mentality, and civilization are excellently explored through the well-written characters and prose. It might not be an uplifting, happy read, but it’s a good book worth checking out.

Movie of the Week:

King Richard

King Richard tells the story of the Williams sisters and the early years on their way to becoming tennis superstars. Venus and Serena were first trained by their father, Richard, and went on to be the best tennis players in the sport’s history.

Will Smith plays Richard, and Aunjanue Ellis plays Richard’s wife, Oracene. Both Oracene and Richard train and raise their kids with a plan for them to succeed. At times, Richard takes the mission to extreme lengths and is checked by Oracene and questioned by many.

The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Smith and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Ellis. The Oscars have yet to be awarded, but King Richard will likely take home at least one or two.

One of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes when Richard intervenes in an interview set up for Venus when the reporter questions her confidence. This scene reminded me how vital it is to lift people up and not put negativity or doubts around them.

There is much to appreciate in King Richard. If you haven’t seen it yet, put it on your list.

Brainfood of the Week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTqforiHL7Q

Headspace | Setting an Intention – (video won’t embed on this page)

Headspace is a content provider that teaches about meditation and has guided meditations for multiple purposes based on eight different techniques. They have over 70 million subscribers to their app and hundreds of hours of content.

This video goes over the benefits of setting intentions and provides a short guided meditation for setting an intention for the coming week.

When you make an intention, it should be something in your control, something you can commit to, and something practical. The clearer your intention is, the more likely it will happen and the more likely you are to experience the benefits.

Intention setting is something I’ve done off and on, and I came across this video at a perfect time to remind me of how much it worked for me. 

I’ve done it for specific situations, like when I got out in a social setting. I’m not always the most extroverted, but when I set the intention to have a good time and connect with others before going out, it’s worked.

Intention setting is something I’ve come across in many different self-improvement/spiritual books. I’m glad I found this video because my goal moving forward is to set intentions each day.

Give this video a watch and see if intention setting is something you’d enjoy!

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Mind your thoughts, as they become your words. Mind your words, as they become your actions. Mind your actions, as they become you.”

– Buddhist Saying

This Buddhist saying reminds me of how powerful our thoughts can be. When we experience emotions, we often react and attach a narrative to the situation to explain and justify how we feel. Often, we don’t take the time to process or decide how we want to view the world.

When I think of minding my thoughts and how they become words, I realize how I have a say in what I put out into the world. Do I choose to focus on the negative, or can I find the positive and move forward from there?

This saying can be reversed engineered to reveal that most of our actions have seeds in our thoughts. When we aren’t conscious of our thoughts and just react to our experiences, we can lose control of our actions and whom we want to be.

I believe control over our thoughts and choosing the narratives we tell ourselves is a helpful tool to create our lives. Sayings like these are excellent reminders of our power over our experiences.

Set good intentions for the coming days, and have a blessed week ahead!

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