I was taking to a well-read and respected friend, Gary, and he was telling me about this revolutionary guy named Napoleon Hill who wrote the book Outwitting the Devil. Many people, like me, may be very familiar with Hill’s more famous book Think and Grow Rich, and be less familiar with his name. So, when Gary stated, Napoleon Hill, I had no concept of who he was talking about. However, when he said the author of Think and Grow Rich, I instantly knew he was talking about. (I find it fascinating how some people’s work supersede their name.)
I ventured into reading this book with high expectations 1) because it was recommended to me by someone whom I truly respect and 2) that friend told me that it was a book with ideas similar to the The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a book which I live by.
Napoleon is basically talking about how our thought life and fear, procrastination, anger, and jealousy keep us from living our best lives. He paints this picture of the ‘other self’ that we must surrender to if we want to live our best lives. The ‘other self’ is when we give up the fear, procrastination, anger, and jealousy and follow our instincts to live out our purpose on this earth.
However, the top three things that the devil uses to entice us are food, sex, and talking to much to impress others or to give unsolicited advice. Food is directly related to fear; people will not control what they eat and are consistently fearful about their health. He talks about the idea that the pursue of sex tends to lead people to procrastination etc. And, he talks about the danger in talking to much which leaves to anger etc., and we learn by listening.
In this book, Napoleon writes as if he is interviewing the devil, and I do not believe that the devil would reveal his secrets of how he deceives us, but....I overlooked the writing style and focused on the content and thoroughly enjoyed this book.
This is one that you may want to put on your list if you are on a growth journey.
Happy Reading!!
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