You May Be Only "Three Feet From Gold"
I recently read a book “Three Feet From Gold” By Sharon L. Lechter and Greg S. Reid with The Napoleon Hill Foundation. Three Feet from Gold is based on the principles put forth by Napoleon Hill in his best-seller, “Think and Grow Rich”.
Published in 1937, “Think and Grow Rich” inspired a large amount of people to persevere through the Great Depression and beyond. Three Feet from Gold takes Hill’s principles and applies them to contemporary characters in the 21st century.
In the beginning of, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill tells a story about a gentleman named R. U. Darby. Darby was a millionaire when Mr. Hill interviewed him in preparation to write this book; however, the story Darby shared with Mr. Hill, was about a defining moment in his life when he was much poorer and younger, that taught him to understand the power of persistence.
Darby’s story provides a great lesson for all of us because he stopped three feet short of the goal he was seeking. He just decided to quit.
Here’s the story:
Darby’s uncle had gone West to Colorado during the gold rush days and eventually came across gold ore. In the need of mining machinery to dig up more gold, Darby’s uncle returned home to Maryland to secure financing for the machinery. While there, he also was able to enlist Darby’s help. Once financing was secured, Darby and his uncle returned to Colorado to work the mine.
Initially, things were going well. The first remnants of gold they discovered were shipped to a smelter and the returns provided a promise that they could have one of Colorado’s richest mines. A few more gold discoveries like the first, could clear Darby and his uncle of all their debt and leave them very rich.
Needless to say, they were hopeful as they continued to drill.
Then the unbelievable happened. The vein of gold ore they had been successfully drilling just disappeared. Confident they would find more gold Darby and his uncle continued to drill, day after day, with no luck.
Every day of drilling drove them both deeper into debt and until finally, they both decided to QUIT! They sold the drilling machinery to a nearby junkman and returned home.
The junkman, however, wasn’t convinced that the mine had no gold, so he consulted with a mining engineer to get an expert opinion before breaking down all of the drilling machinery to be sold.
The engineer’s findings were shocking! He found that the vein of gold ore that Darby and his uncle had been seeking, was just three feet from where they had stopped drilling!
The junkman decided to continue drilling and that is exactly where the gold was found!
JUST THREE FEET AWAY!
The junkman ended up taking millions of dollars in gold, from Darby’s former mine because he was smart enough to know what he didn’t know, and sought expert counsel.
As noted above, Darby eventually became a millionaire later in life and attributes his tenacity and persistence in doing so to this event.
After telling this story Napoleon Hill wrote:
“Before success comes in anyone’s life, that individual is sure to meet with much 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 of people do.”
Many times we rely on conformity. We conform to what other people do. Don’t be like the “majority”.
Know and feel that you could be just Three Feet From Gold so never, never give up.
Believe in yourself because I believe in you.
Two final points I would like to make…
1. If you haven’t read the book “Think and Grow Rich” so that immediately.
2. If you’re ready for start creating success in YOUR life, watch this free video that will show you how you can start living your dream life.
To your prosperity,
Sherry Starnes
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