When I first got started in network marketing my upline leader shared the story “Three Feet From Gold.” It’s just a short excerpt from Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich, but it has stuck with me all these years.
A conversation with one of my newest business partners reminded me of the story… and since not everyone has such an incredible experience with their upline as Traci and I have, I thought I would share the story, inhopes that if you’re struggling it will help you the way it helped me.
Three Feet From Gold
Here s a little story that shows you about your thoughts and determination. One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when you are overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another. An uncle of R U Darby was caught by the Gold Fever in the gold rush – days, and went west to Dig and Grow Rich. He had never heard that more gold had been mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken from the earth. He staked a claim and went to work with pick and shovel. The going was hard, but his lust for gold was definite. After weeks of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, retraced his footsteps to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, and told his relatives and a few neighbors of the strike. They got together money for the needed machinery, had it shipped. The uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.The first car of ore was mined, and shipped to smelter. The returns showed they had one of the richest mines in Colorado! A few more cars of that ore would clear the debts. Then would come the big killing in profits. Down went the drills. Up went the hopes of Darby and uncle. Then something happened. The vein of gold ore disappeared. They had come to the end of the rainbow, and the pot of gold was no longer there. They drilled on, desperately trying to pick up the vein again – all to no avail. Finally they decided to QUIT. They sold the machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars, and took the train back home. Some junk men are dumb, but not this one. He called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little calculating. The engineer advised that the project had failed, because the owners were not familiar with fault lines. His calculations showed that the vein would be found just three feet from where the Darby’s had stopped drilling. That is exactly where it was found… Before success comes in any person’s life, he is sure to meet with more temporary defeat, and, perhaps some failure. When defeat overtakes a person, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority will do. More than five hundred of the most successful men the country has ever known, told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them. Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is within reach.Will You Be Defeated?
You are the only person who can answer that question. Do you have the belief in yourself and the sheer determination to get past any obstacle? Do you ask for help when you need it? Are you spending time each day on developing your personal skillset? Are you modeling your daily actions on those of someone who already has the success you want?
This isn’t just a network marketing thing my friends – Successful people in every industry will tell you that determination, personal development and a consistent daily action plan are key to stepping over the seemingly insurmountable hurdles that stop almost everyone else.
Before you quit, ask yourself honestly – are you “three feet from gold?” Chances are you’re almost there, but you’ll never know unless you stay the course.
I sincerely hope this story can help you in some small way. And if you’re a big-dog who doesn’t need anecdotal stories to stay strong in times of doubt, share this with someone who does. It might be all they need to get past their fault line to find gold on the other side.
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