During that time, Napoleon conducted the largest success study ever undertaken by someone. Most of its findings are incorporated into his bestselling books: Mr. Devil: By all means! I choose the place of battle, and because of my abstract nature, I cannot be wiped out, not in a million years. Many people aren’t given the gift of aging, instead they die young. The Devil makes us believe that the older we get the smaller our worlds will become and the more useless we are. Nothing could be farther then the truth. The fear of death, this one leads to such health anxiety that a person begins to fear living as much as dying. Napoleon Hill makes it clear to his readers that he isn’t completely sure as to how he’s interviewing the devil. It may have been through a dream, face to face, or maybe through his conscious imagination. This part of the book isn’t as important as the wealth of information he actually gains from the Devils words. In Outwitting The Devil, The Devil lets us know that he has control of 98% of the ‘earthbound.’

You will discover that the cause of success is not something separate and apart from the man; that it is a force so intangible in nature that the majority of men never recognize it; a force which might be properly called the ‘other self.’” I have read Think and Grow Rich, The law of Success, and have the Keys to Success audio series so I figured I pretty much had all of NH's material. Wow was I ever wrong. We go about life never questioning who we truly are and how we got to this state in the first place. The Devil makes us believe that we have one life. If we don’t get it ‘right’ this time, that’s it! We begin believing that we are a physical body, a name, or what we do, when in fact we’re none of those things. We are actually spiritual beings having a physical experience, think of it as renting the physical body temporarily until our next destination (this YouTube video explains). Drifting is all consuming, leaving the person looking to materialistic and unhelpful things for temporary feelings of joy and escape. In the cycle of drifting a person cannot differentiate between a thought and a feeling, a feeling becomes a thought and therefore feelings are what are consistently acted on.

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Controlling environmental influence (associations - avoid associating with people who bring you down)

Mastery over self. Discipline equals freedom. If you’re driven by impulse all your life, you’ll go nowhere, like a drifter. The six most effective fears are the fear of poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age and death.

Developing a "council" of wise advisors : Hill suggests that individuals surround themselves with knowledgeable and supportive people who can provide guidance and advice. This council can help the individual stay focused on their goals and overcome the Devil's attempts to sow doubt and confusion. Mr. Devil: Well, not quite, since the opposition controls the positive forces which society deems unrealistic. You see, I don’t want to control the Universe, just my human slaves, by pulling the strings. Interviewer: I’ve been led to understand that you occupy only half of everything. To whom does the second half belong to? Despite being written almost 80 years ago, the world problems signaled throughout the book are incredibly timely - from the aimless, futile education system, to the parents inculcating fear upon their children, to the church which builds its entire argument around the fear of Evil, to the power of the so-called hypnotic rhythm and many, many other things like this. The person who moves with definiteness of purpose recognizes the difference between temporary defeat and failure. When plans fail he substitutes others but he does not change his purpose. He perseveres."

I had read another book from Napoleon Hill - Think And Grow Rich - in 2014 (over six years ago), and it impacted me at the time. Strengthening the power of will : By exercising their willpower and making conscious choices, individuals can resist the Devil's control and assert their autonomy. A strong will is essential for staying committed to one's goals and overcoming the temptation to drift or succumb to fear.Mr. Carnegie taught him that somewhere along the path, he’d get a glimpse on how people’s habits change in case of crisis or tension. Later in the book, Hill explains how drifting eventually turns into a “hypnotic rhythm,” which keeps people busy with trivialities, and over time, drifting becomes permanent. You don’t need anyone telling you that people have this natural inclination to put these two in the same league. However, this ‘other self’ is exactly what the devil tries to undermine at every turn of our lives. He does so by dividing mankind into drifters and non-drifters. Lesson 2: The devil seeks to make us permanent drifters, never getting around to what we’re meant to do in life.