When Edwin C. Barnes climbed down from the freight train in Orange, New Jersey, more than thirty years ago, he may have resembled a tramp, but his thoughts were those of a king! As he made his way from the railroad tracks to Thomas A. Edison’s office, his mind was at work. He saw himself standing in Edison’s presence. He heard himself asking Mr. Edison for an opportunity to carry out the one consuming obsession of his life, a burning desire to become the business associate of the great inventor.

Your heart’s desires are your great assets. They indicate the experiences you can have when you make your decisions to have them. They are mighty potentials awaiting your attention. They should never be ignored. — Raymond Charles Barker

Wishing & Hoping Is Not Enough to Achieve Your Desires

Barnes’ desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating desire, which transcended everything else. It was definite.

The desire was not new when he approached Edison. It had been Barnes’ dominating desire for a long time. In the beginning, when the desire first appeared in his mind, it may have been, probably was, only a wish, but it was no mere wish when he appeared before Edison with it.

Translating Desires Into Reality

A few years later, Edwin C. Barnes again stood before Edison, in the same office where he first met the inventor. This time his desire had been translated into reality. He was in business with Edison. The dominating dream of his life had become a reality.

Today, people who know Barnes envy him, because of the “break” life yielded him. They see him in the days of his triumph, without taking the trouble to investigate the cause of his success.

Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal, placed all his energy, all his will-power, all his effort, everything back of that goal. He did not become the partner of Edison the day he arrived. He was content to start in the most menial work, as long as it provided an opportunity to take even one step toward his cherished goal.

The Remarkable Power of a Definite Desire

Five years passed before the chance he had been seeking made its appearance. During all those years not one ray of hope, not one promise of attainment of his desire had been held out to him. To everyone, except himself, he appeared only another cog in the Edison business wheel, but in his own mind, he was the partner of Edison every minute of the time, from the very day that he first went to work there.

It is a remarkable illustration of the power of a definite desire. Barnes won his goal, because he wanted to be a business associate of Mr. Edison, more than he wanted anything else. He created a plan by which to attain that purpose. But he burned all bridges behind him. He stood by his desire until it became the dominating obsession of his life — and — finally, a fact.

Being 100% Committed to Attaining Your Desire

When he went to Orange, he did not say to himself, “I will try to induce Edison to give me a job of some sort.” He said, “I will see Edison, and put him on notice that I have come to go into business with him.”

He did not say, “I will work there for a few months, and if I get no encouragement, I will quit and get a job somewhere else.” He did say, “I will start anywhere. I will do anything Edison tells me to do, but before I am through, I will be his associate.”

He did not say, “I will keep my eyes open for another opportunity, in case I fail to get what I want in the Edison organization.” He said, “There is but one thing in this world that I am determined to have, and that is a business association with Thomas A. Edison. I will burn all bridges behind me, and stake my entire future on my ability to get what I want.”

He left himself no possible way of retreat. He had to win or perish!

That is all there is to the Barnes story of success!

Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA).
©2011 by Joel Fotinos & August Gold. www.us.PenguinGroup.com.

This article was adapted with permission from the book:

Think and Grow Rich: The Master Mind Volume
by Napoleon Rich. (contains reprints of the original 1937 edition)

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill has become the must-have bible of prosperity and success for millions of readers since its initial publication in 1937. Published in the easy-to-use large format, this is the edition that serious students of Think and Grow Rich will want to use to understand the original text fully and put it into action in their lives.

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About the Author

Napoleon Hill was born in 1883 in Virginia and died in 1970 after a long and successful career as a lecturer, author, and consultant to business leaders. Think and Grow Rich is the all-time bestseller in its field, having sold 15 million copies worldwide, and sets the standard for today’s motivational thinking. Napoleon Hill established the Foundation as a nonprofit educational institution whose mission is to perpetuate his philosophy of leadership, self-motivation, and individual achievement. Visit www.naphill.org for more information.