Napoleon Hill

You can chase success. Or you can attract success to you.

You can push through to a market. Or you can let one pull you in.

When I first read Think and Grow Rich in 2019, I compared it with Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Richest Man in Babylon. Because Hill's book contained fewer concrete wealth-building strategies, I didn't like it very much. I would not have recommended him to anyone else.

Now, years later, I have my own words and formulas like ambition and D=rt. By reinventing the wheel from my own experience, I can finally see how self-help gurus and various mindfulness practices like Buddhism are all essentially saying the same core things. (Seth's is my favorite, of course.)

When I arrived at college in 2014, I found the existing chess club falling asleep to GM Larry Christiansen's weekly lecture. This was such a cool privilege, but only 2-5 people would show up, and nobody was playing blitz or bughouse. Just like Peter Shor's discrete math class (18.200 F'15), the lecture hall was dead.

After trying to collaborate with club leadership and make things more lively, I eventually decided to just sit by myself in the student center on Saturdays. I read a book for an hour or two with a chess board in front of me. I did this for a few weeks in a row, made a Facebook group, and... zero people showed up.

But it was better than the "chess club". I enjoyed quiet time reading my book, and I was in control of the corner I occupied. This weekly mini-project felt easy and fun enough, so I kept going.

A year later, my weekend meetup had snowballed. One by one, people found me and came back to play the following week with their own chess set. Guys brought their girlfriends. Experienced players paired off in matches, and I'd greet new folks to teach them.

Once Alex Katz, Amir, and I decided to make our informal group official, we got the old club president to hand over all his keys, equipment, and accounts. At that point, he capitulated without a fight, since we were already the clear center of gravity for chess on campus.

“Every battle is won before it’s ever fought.”
― Sun Tzu

Some of the internet thinks Napoleon Hill was a scammer. Others see things differently. I think my favorite Oscar Wilde quote probably applies: "when the critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself."

With sufficient experience, one finds that frame of reference matters quite a bit. Refining your intention can yield exponential gains. By following my desire to engage with chess, not even improving a lot after high school but mostly just having fun building community with it, good things started happening around me.

For example, I met Steven Hao through these casual hangouts, who later introduced me to Alex Wang, helping me land my first legit job at Scale AI. If I recall correctly, we met up on Folsom St and visited the 2018 Pro Chess League Finals together. While staying on Steven's couch, I also crossed paths with Scott Wu and apparently made a good impression.

The modern world is complex, so it pays to explore with passionate intensity. What compels you? What are you curious about? What generates energy within? What would make today, or your next conversation, a spontaneously great and memorable one?

Ask 50 why's, to yourself and the environment around you. You never know who or what you'll encounter along the way.

Seek simplicity and harmony. I believe success will inevitably follow.