The key here is “real” in front of failure. We could also talk about perceived failures and I think they are due to unreasonable expectations which humans set for themselves.

I think Napoleon Hill is talking about actually failing at something. And he’s saying that we have limits on our talents and abilities already decided in our minds. “I’m not good enough to x,y,z” or the “you’ll never make it very far in life” message parents or teachers install in our brains like an app. My father told me I’d never be any good with money. So do you think I can even balance my checkbook or make a budget? heck no. That’s a limitation that my brain has as part of its operating system.

When someone does something that hits up against that limitation (limiting belief), their brain says “OK, we’ve done all we can. We have to stop now.” And it just stops even when the thing/project isn’t completed. Then it’s a failure and you know what? The brain sees that “failure” and strengthens the neural circuit grooves and so the next time that person tries the same or something similar, the exact same thing happens. Failure.

This is why we need to examine our core beliefs and identify the ones that are limiting. Then we need to replace the limiting ones with the expanding ones. Visualization and affirmations help with that too.

Examine your past to see things that have been REAL failures and see if you can see this pattern there.