Chapter 10 Power of the Master Mind

The Master Mind And Infinite Intelligence

The list of the chief sources from which power may be attained is, as you have seen, headed by infinite intelligence. When two or more people coordinate in a spirit of harmony, and work toward a definite objective, they place themselves in position, through that alliance, to absorb power directly from the great universal storehouse of Infinite Intelligence. This is the greatest of all sources of power. It is the source to which the genius turns. It is the source, to which every great leader turns, (whether he may be conscious of the fact or not).

The other 2 major sources from which the knowledge, necessary for the accumulation of power, may be obtained are no more reliable than the 5 senses of man. The senses are not always reliable. Infinite Intelligence does not err.

In subsequent chapters, the methods by which Infinite Intelligence may be most readily contacted will be adequately described.

This is not a course on religion. No fundamental principle described in this book should be interpreted as being intended to interfere either directly, or indirectly, with any man’s religious habits. This book has been confined, exclusively, to instruct the reader on how to transmute the definite purpose of desire for money, into its monetary equivalent.

Read, think, and meditate as you read. Soon, the entire subject will unfold, and you will see it in perspective. You are now seeing the detail of the individual chapters.

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第十章 智囊团的力量

智囊团与无穷智慧

正如你已看过的，获得力量主要来源的清单上是以无穷智慧为首的。当两个或多个人，以和谐精神协调，且针对一个明确的目标而工作时，他们会各司其职，并透过那种联盟，直接从无穷智慧的大宝库中吸取力量。这是各种力量泉源中最伟大的。天才和每一个伟大领袖均仰赖这个泉源（无论他们意识到这个事实与否）。

另外两个集结力量所必备的知识来源，比人的五种感觉还不可靠。人类的感觉并非完全可靠。

接下来的章节中，将充分叙述最能轻易接触到无穷智慧的办法。

这并不是个宗教课程，此书所叙述的基本原则，都不该解释为意图（直接或间接）干涉任何人的宗教习惯。此书的内容乃严格地界定在如下的范围：指导读者如何将欲望获得财富的明确目标，转化为金钱对等物。

你在阅读此书时，要读、要想、要沉思。很快地，完整的主题将会展现，你也将以正确的看法透视全貌。你现在看到的，只是个别章节中的细目而已。

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Chapter 10 Power of the Master Mind

Master Mind Maintenance

Maintain perfect harmony between yourself and every member of your Master Mind group. If you fail to carry out this instruction to the letter, you may expect to meet with failure. The Master Mind principle cannot work where perfect harmony does not prevail.

Create a non threatening environment. Explore all ideas with equal interest and concern for the originator’s feelings.

Everyone must deal with everyone else on a completely ethical basis. No member should seek unfair advantage at the expense of others.

As the leader you must inspire confidence in your members by your dedication to your desire – which is the object of the group. The members must know with certainty that you are reliable, trustworthy, and loyal.

When you are finally ready to present the results of your efforts to investors, buyers, or the public, you may face your greatest leadership challenge in maintaining the harmony of your Master Mind. The group’s efforts will now be judged by outsiders, and facing judgment takes courage and persistence. The courage of separate individuals is nothing compared with that of a united team. The more you are able to maintain harmony, the greater the power. And the greater the power, the more resistance you can overcome.

Master Mind Maintenance

A Master Mind alliance with the person you love most deeply is of untold importance. If you are married and have not built your relationship on the same principles of harmony that are crucial to any alliance, you may have some reselling to do with your spouse. Set aside time each day to talk about what you want to achieve and how you are going about it. Rely on your definiteness of purpose to build your persuasive abilities to convince your partner of the benefits of the work you are doing. It is very unlikely that your work will not affect your husband or wife in some significant way, and you absolutely must not drag your partner unwilling into any adventure.

Build your Master Mind alliance into your marriage from the start, and it will steady and support you through the darkest moments. In fact, your whole family should be incorporated into your alliance. Lack of harmony at home can easily spill over elsewhere. A united family is a great team.

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Chapter 10 Power of the Master Mind

Finding Your Master Mind Members

Commentary
The question that immediately comes to every reader’s mind is, “Where do I find people who will help me to that degree?” Napoleon Hill cannot answer that question for you, but he does tell you what to look for. Where you look is up to you. And if you really do have the desire to succeed, you will start looking and you won’t give up until you find the right people.
Napoleon Hill’s description of the Master Mind that appears below is augmented with additional material from articles and speeches he wrote after the publication of Think and Grow Rich. These were compiled for publication by Hill’s friend, mentor and business associate, W. Clement Stone, and appear in two books, Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success and Believe and Achieve.

Ally yourself with a group of as many people as you may need in order to assemble a Master Mind that will assist you in creating and carrying out your plan or plans for the accumulation of money. Compliance with this instruction is absolutely essential.

Choose to associate with people who share common values, goals, and interests, yet who each have a strong desire to contribute to the overall effort. Trial and error will be part of the process, but there are two quantities to keep foremost in your mind.

The first is ability to do the job. Do not select people for your alliance merely because you know them and like them. Such people are valuable to you because they improve the quality of your life, but they are no necessarily suited to a Master Mind alliance. Your best friend may not be the most knowledgeable marketing professional, but perhaps he or she can introduce you to someone who is.

The second quality is the ability to work in a spirit of harmony with others. There must be a complete meeting of minds, without any reservations. Personal ambition must be subordinate to the achievement of the purpose of the alliance. This includes your own.

You must insist upon confidentiality. Some people can give away an idea simply because they love to talk. You don’t need them in your group.

Attune yourself to every member of the group. Try to imagine how you would react in a given situation if you were in his or her shoes.

Pay attention to body language. Sometimes facial expressions and movements say far more about what a person feels than the words that come out of his or her mouth.

Be sensitive to what is not being said. Sometimes what is left out is far more important than what is included.

Don’t try to force the group along too quickly. Allow for those who want to test ideas by playing devil’s advocate.

Compensating Your Master Mind

Before forming your Master Mind alliance, decide what advantages and benefits you may offer the individual members of your group in return for their cooperation. No one will work indefinitely without some form of compensation. No intelligent people should request or expect another to work without adequate compensation.

Wealth will obviously have the most appeal to your members. Be fair and generous in your offer.

Recognition and self-expression may be just as important as money to some of your members.

Remember that in such partnership the principle of going the extra mile (doing more and better than paid for) is especially important. As the leader you should set an example for the others to follow.

Each member must agree at the outset on the contribution each will make, and on the division of benefits and profits. Otherwise, be assured that dissention will arise, you will have wasted everyone’s time, you will ruin friendships, and your venture will be destroyed.

Meeting with Your Master Mind

Arrange to meet with the members of your Master Mind group at least twice a week, and more often if possible, until you jointly perfected the necessary plan or plans for the accumulation of money.

The first meeting will involve sorting out strengths and weaknesses, and in fine-tuning your plans.

Your alliance must be active to do any good. Establish specific responsibilities and action steps to be taken.

As your Master Mind matures and harmony grows among the members, you will find that the meetings create a flow of ideas into every member’s mind.

Don’t let the meetings become so regular and formalized that they inhibit phone calls and other less formal contact.

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Chapter 10 Power of the Master Mind

How To Multiply Your Brain Power

Nature’s building blocks are available to man, in the energy involved in thinking! Man’s brain may be compared to an electric battery. It absorbs energy from the ether, which permeates every atom of matter, and fills the entire universe.

It is a well known fact that a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery. It is also a well known fact that an individual battery will provide energy in proportion to the number and capacity of the cells it contains.

The brain functions in a similar fashion. This accounts for the fact that some brains are more efficient than others, and coordinated (or connected) in a spirit of harmony, will provide more thought-energy than a single brain, just as a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery.

Through this metaphor it becomes immediately obvious that the Master Mind principle holds the secret of the power wielded by men who surround themselves with other men of brains.

These follows, now, another statement which will lead still nearer to an understanding of the psychic phase of the Master Mind principle: When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in Harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance, becomes available to every individual brain in the group.

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Chapter 10 Power of the Master Mind

Gaining Power Through The “Master Mind”

The “Master Mind” may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

No individual may have great power without availing himself of the “Master Mind.” In a preceding chapter, instructions were given for the creation of plans for the purpose of translating desire into its monetary equivalent. If you carry out these instructions with persistence and intelligence, and use discrimination in the selection of your “Master Mind” group, your objective will have been half-way reached, even before you begin to recognize it.

Commentary
In the following section Hill describes the two kinds of power that an individual can access by assembling a Master Mind alliance and working with that group. The first kind of power that he mentions is economic power which needs no comment from the editors. However, to describe the second kind of power, for want of a better term Hill uses the word psychic. Because this word has taken on connotations that Hill never intended, this concept deserves clarification before you read on.
As is obvious throughout this book, Napoleon Hill was a very practical man. His use of the word psychic is defined as “of or pertaining to the human mind,” and Hill uses the term to describe something pertaining to the mind that everyone reading this book has experienced. It is that feeling you get when you are on the same goal, and it is going so well that you seem to be in tune with each other. When that happens, you no only work better with the others but it also seems that you own work and ideas are better and are operating on a higher plane than usual.

So you may better understand the “intangible” potentialities of power available to you, through a properly chosen “Master Mind” group, we will here explain the two characteristics of the Master Mind principle, one of which is economic in nature, and the other psychic. The economic feature is obvious. Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of perfect harmony. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly e very great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.

The psychic phase of the Master Mind principle is much more abstract, much more difficult to comprehend, because it has reference to the spiritual forces with which the human race, as a while, is not well acquainted. You may catch a significant suggestion from this statement: “No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.”

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