Principle 15: Maintenance of Sound Health

Introduction

The fifteenth principle of Napoleon Hill's 17 principles of success is "Maintenance of Sound Health". If you want to have a long and successful life then you must maintain sound health throughout your life. It is obvious that we can get terminal illness anytime but those things are not in anyone's hands. We can get the greatest vigor and fullest utilization of our body when it is in perfect condition. We must understand that our body and mind are one i.e., mind-body & in turn, our mind-body is one with nature.
The health of our mind cannot be separated from our body and vice versa. Anything which affects our body will affect our mind and anything that affects our mind will affect our body. We are also affected by our environment as well and hence we must understand how to tune our mind-body with natural laws.

The Influence of Mind

Humans have a special gift of thinking and we can understand nature's law to modify our own world. We just have to conceive the idea and believe in it to achieve that idea. This is how all revolutionary people changed the path of civilization. The power of the mind was already demonstrated by countless prophets in the past and they had also shown us the way by which we can connect with infinite intelligence. 

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Our mind is the superior function of the mind-body and a smoothly functioning mind is compulsory for a smoothly functioning body. Many people have limited body but still, they achieve unlimited things in their lives. Nicholas James Vujicic is a great example for all of us. He has a rare disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs but still, he is inspiring millions of people daily. He is living a full creative life in the absence of important body parts. This shows the importance of a healthy mind.

Eating Habits

The main purpose of food is to supply essential things to the body for better nourishment. Our eating habits must be guided by this sole objective and we must only accept a healthy diet. Our digestive system is just like a factory. If we provide the wrong mix of food to the body then our body will not get the required nourishment and material will start accumulating in the walls of our factory. Then one day come and wall of factory start bursting and our factory goes out of business or require expensive repair.

Sleep

Our body needs some time to rebuild and revitalize itself for the very next day. If you are cutting your sleep for better productivity then you are doing a grave mistake. Even if we sleep, our subconscious still remains awake. People face insomnia as they fail to understand the importance of relaxation before sleep. 

We can relax by just having a small talk with our spouse or working on our hobbies. A small habit that signals our body that it’s a time to sleep can help to tackle insomnia. Good sleep can prepare us for a great day and positively contributes to our success.

Importance of Vitamin I

Napoleon Hill discovered a new Vitamin during his success seminars. We understand the importance of Vitamins A, B, and the B complexes, C, D, E, and K, but we fail to understand the Importance of Vitamin I. Vitamin I refers to Inspiration. We can get inspiration from people who had already achieved extraordinary things in their lives.

Summary

Follow a healthy diet and say "I feel healthy! I feel happy! I feel terrific!". Health is very important to live a happy and successful life. We must exercise daily, do yoga or meditation, take right food and sleep for 6-7 hours. These steps will help us to maintain a balance among mental, physical and emotional states. Each one of us can have different meaning of success but health is common to all of us.