The Multiplication Power of a Master Mind
No one can build a fortune or attain success entirely by themselves.
As Napoleon Hill writes in The Science of Personal Achievement, “Nobody ever rises above mediocrity who does not learn to use the brains of other people.” It is for this reason that Hill calls the Master Mind principle the “hub” of his entire philosophy of individual achievement, which he presents in Think and Grow Rich, The Law of Success, and countless other titles. Decades of research and interviews with over five hundred of America’s leading entrepreneurs, inventors, and influencers led Hill to seize on the Master Mind principle—which posits that “two or more minds, working together in harmony toward a definite objective, have more power than a single mind”—as the key differentiator between those who achieve their definite major purpose in life and those who do not.
“The Master Mind Principle: two or more minds, working together in harmony toward a definite objective, have more power than a single mind.”
Hill first discovered the Master Mind principle when he was a young reporter tasked with interviewing America’s most successful individuals, one of whom was the formidable steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. During their conversation, Carnegie revealed to Hill that the Master Mind was the primary success principle by which he had made his fortune. Carnegie explained that he took this concept straight from the Bible:
In the New Testament, in the story of Christ and his twelve disciples, you’ll recall the unusual power the disciples retained after Christ’s death through their alliance with him while Christ was himself allied with God. Christ said to his followers that they could perform even greater things, for he had discovered that the blending of two or more minds in a spirit of harmony with a definite goal gives one contact with the power of the Universal Mind.
As evident in Carnegie’s description, the term “Master Mind” refers not only to a group of individuals who ally themselves together in a spirit of harmony to achieve a greater goal, but also to the third mind—the Master Mind—that is produced through the association of individual members’ minds. Hill explains, “Out of this harmonious blending, the mind creates a third mind that may be appropriated and used by one or all of the individual minds.” There are thus two dimensions to the Master Mind: an economic dimension, whereby the members coordinate their knowledge, resources, and efforts to advance their financial or material position; and a psychic dimension, whereby the members organize and direct their thoughts in a spirit of perfect harmony so as to access a higher plane of thinking, one that puts them in direct connection with spiritual forces and sources of knowledge unavailable to the vast majority of individuals. The Master Mind: Action & Implement Guide will show you how you can appropriate and implement the Master Mind principle so that you can enjoy both aspects of the Master Mind and obtain exponential results on your success journey.
There are two types of Master Mind alliances: alliances formed for purely social or personal reasons, such as those between individuals and their relatives, friends, and/or religious advisors, where no material gain is sought; and alliances formed for business or professional advancement, where the members “have a personal motive of a material or financial nature connected with the object of the alliance.” Although the Master Mind: Action & Implement Guide focuses on the second type of alliance, the principles and activities recommended will, by and large, apply to the maintenance of a successful social or personal Master Mind. In both cases, the most crucial ingredient is harmony: without complete unity of purpose and the total absence of negativity and tension, the Master Mind will not serve the members’ aims; to the contrary, disharmony will undercut their efforts. As you read the Master Mind: Action & Implement Guide and work through its action guide, keep at the forefront of your mind the vital nature of harmony for the proper functioning of the Master Mind.
Also, be encouraged—the Master Mind principle is meant to set you at ease and release you from feeling that you have to have, be, and do everything on your own. By virtue of the Master Mind, no individual has to possess all the education, experience, character qualities, and skills necessary to achieve their primary goal entirely in their own person. No one need limit their ambition on the account of any self-perceived shortcoming. Anyone—regardless of their location, education, profession, or individual capabilities—can attain their vision of success if they understand and make use of the Master Mind principle. For as Hill tells us, “Knowledge is only potential power. It may become power only when it is organized and directed toward definite ends.” The greatest form of education—and consequently, the greatest form of power—is the knowledge of how to use other people’s expertise and experience to achieve a definite purpose.
“Knowledge is only potential power. It may become power only when it is organized and directed toward definite ends.”
Master Mind: Action & Implement Guide presents a roadmap, informed by Napoleon Hill’s success philosophy, for creating and leading a Master Mind group. Parts 1 and 2 take you through the process of forming and organizing your alliance, and part 3 offers meeting agendas for twenty-six Master Mind sessions. If your group meets once per week, you can complete the prompts in six months and then go back through them again in the second part of the year to maximize your alliance’s consistency and alignment of efforts. Or if you meet every two weeks, the action guide will direct your efforts throughout the entire year.
The power of the Master Mind is electric. In The Law of Success, Hill compares it to a series of batteries being connected to a single transmission wire, whereby the power flowing through the line becomes greatly multiplied. By allying yourself with others to create new knowledge, expand personal influence, and identify business solutions, you can leverage the power of the Master Mind to achieve results beyond the capabilities of any one individual.
