Do You Have Stickability? by Jennifer Janechek

The most common cause of failure is quitting.

In the first chapter of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill tells the story of R. U. Darby, who learned a costly lesson about quitting when faced with temporary defeat.   

In Three Feet from Gold, a business allegory based on the principles in Think and Grow Rich, Don Green summarizes Darby’s story: 

Darby’s uncle had been struck by gold fever. He’d traveled west to get rich in the mining business. This would-be prospector had many more hopes than solutions, you see, because he had not invested the time to learn how to do what he wanted to accomplish. He just wanted to find gold. He had not studied mining or learned from others about the proper way to mine or even the travails of mining. He simply staked a claim and went to work with his pick and shovel.  

Fortunately, after weeks of manual labor, Darby’s uncle was rewarded with the discovery of gold, and lots of it! While it was a good problem to have, he quickly realized that he really wasn’t prepared. He needed machinery to remove the enormous amount of heavy rocks and dirt that covered the shining ore. 

Understanding that machinery cost money that he didn’t have, he carefully covered up the mine and traveled back to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland. He loudly proclaimed his great discovery and boasted of the tremendous wealth of gold that lay in the ground just waiting for his return. It didn’t take long to persuade his family and friends to invest toward the needed equipment. 

With money in hand, Darby’s uncle invited his young protégé to return with him to start digging for the promised treasure. When the first gold ore was retrieved, they excitedly shipped it to the smelter. Sure enough, it was high-quality ore and promised to be one of the richest gold discoveries in Colorado. Just a few more loads and they would not only be able to repay their debts to their family and friends but would have plenty of money to spare. 

Darby and his uncle were convinced they were about to make a huge fortune from their gold mine. Then tragedy struck…the gold simply disappeared. Just when their hopes were at their highest, the Darbys were crushed to reach the end of the rainbow—the proverbial pot of gold was no longer there. 

Now remember, they just wanted more gold. They had never studied the art of gold mining and had no true passion for the business of mining, so they didn’t know what to do next except to keep digging. With their impatience and lack of knowledge, it wasn’t long before they became totally frustrated and disillusioned. They had experienced instant success and lost patience when the job became more difficult. They kept digging but found no more ore. It wasn’t long before their dissatisfaction got the best of them and they decided to quit. 

Discouraged and defeated, Darby and his uncle sold both their mine and their equipment to a local junkman. For years this junkman had been looking for an opportunity to break into the mining industry. He had studied mining for over a decade and had always believed that this was his destiny. The sale was completed with the exchange of a few hundred dollars and the deed. With that, Darby and his uncle caught the next train and returned to their home in Maryland, ending their quest for gold. 

But the story doesn’t end there. You see, the junkman was passionate about the idea of mining. Remember, he was just waiting for the right opportunity. He was also smarter than most people gave him credit for. With the deed in hand, he hired a mining engineer to inspect the claim, and together they discovered what is known as a fault line. The engineer explained that gold ran in long veins and that the previous owners had simply drilled through one side of the vein and come out on the other. The engineer explained that if the junkman were to go back and dig in the other direction, perpendicular to where the Darbys had made their first discovery, he would most likely tap back into the treasure. 

The new owner, the junkman turned gold miner, followed these simple instructions and, sure enough, he hit one of the largest pockets of ore ever uncovered—a mere three feet away from where the Darbys had quit mining. The junkman retrieved millions of dollars in gold from the site. He succeeded where Darby and his uncle had failed because of two things: his determination to fulfill his life’s purpose of becoming a gold miner and, of course, his willingness to seek expert advice. 

And what do you think Mr. Darby did when he heard about the success of the junkman? …He learned his lesson about stopping three feet from gold and went on to apply it to his work in the insurance business. Sure, he was heartbroken when he heard about the success the junkman had achieved at his personal expense, but he never forgot that the real reason he lost the fortune was because he had decided to give up too soon. 

He dedicated his life to never again accepting defeat. With this new “Never Quit” attitude, Darby went on to create his own fortune in the insurance industry. He repaid his friends and family from his new fortune. And, importantly, he also started sharing his story so others could learn from his mistake. 

Darby and his uncle initially lacked “stickability”—the ability to persevere toward one’s goal despite temporary setbacks and failures. As Don Green shares with Greg, the protagonist in Three Feet from Gold, “Before great success comes, you will surely meet with temporary defeat. When people are overtaken by these feelings, the easiest and perhaps most logical thing to do is to quit. Quitting is exactly what the majority of people do”—which is why so few people have great success. Don adds, “The reason most people quit is because they fail to unearth their definite life purpose. They don’t have something worth fighting for. Once you discover this truth, then you will gain stickability…the difference between being interested and being committed.”  

Do you have stickability? Are you able to look beyond today’s difficulties into tomorrow’s goldmine? Learn from Greg in Three Feet from Gold what a difference it makes to identify your definite major purpose and unabashedly pursue it. 

Don’t quit now…you might be just three feet from gold! 

Sharon Lechter and Dr. Greg Reid’s Three Feet from Gold is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Book Company, Google Play, Apple Books, and other fine retailers. This remarkable business allegory tells a fascinating story in presenting the key principles of Napoleon Hill’s revolutionary bestseller, Think and Grow Rich. As you follow a struggling young entrepreneur through a life-changing series of encounters with some of today’s foremost business leaders and inspirational figures, you’ll find encouragement and motivation to believe in yourself, discover your own Personal Success Equation™, and never give up. You are just three feet from gold!