Design the life you want according to Orison Swett Marden – Sudha’s goosebumpmoment

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Orison Swett Marden, an inspiring author

The books of Orison Swett Marden, considered one of the fathers of personal development, have inspired entire generations. His works, which speak about success, failure and the great power of moving forward when circumstances are not favourable, inspire us to have confidence in ourselves.

And even though hhe grew up in the midst of many adversities, Swett Marden’s life was a remarkable example of faith, perseverance, and optimism that inspires us to successfully accomplish all that we set out to do in our lives.

A man with great resilience

Although his life was not easy as a child after being orphaned at age 7 and living with 5 different host families, Orison Swett Marden was a highly resilient person who helped thousands of people succeed. This author, born in the United States in 1850, is considered one of the founding fathers of the philosophy of self-help and self-improvement in America.

Due to his difficult situation, he began to read self-help books and these inspired him to escape the world of poverty and become self-sufficient. Despite all the challenges he faced, he enrolled at Boston University and managed to graduate in 1871.

In order to pay for his studies, Marden founded the Boston University Club, a food club for teachers and students. It became a success and after this achievement, the president of Harvard University called him to create another club at his university.

Thanks to his great skills in business management, he started working as a hotel manager. Later, with the money earned, he would buy his own hotel. However, during the Great Depression, he lost ownership of the many hotels and resorts that he owned. He soon began working as a hotel manager in Chicago.

When the crisis took away his hotels, he rented a room in a stable and began to write his first manuscript. This manuscript contained 1000 pages and one day, before its completion, it was burned by a fire that broke out in the stable where he lived. Instead of giving up, he decided to rewrite it. He had a burning desire to finish it and no difficulty would prevent him from achieving his goal.

When he tried to get publishers to publish his work, he faced many rejections, since the United States was in the third year of the Depression and there was no money in the country. After many rejections, in 1894, his book “Pushing the Front” was published. This book was well received at a time when a bit of motivation was needed more than ever.

In 1897 Marden founded the magazine “Success”, which dealt with personal achievements. Some of the most influential people in the field of personal improvement participated in it, such as: Og Mandino, Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone.

He finally retired in 1924, and together with his wife, he retired to Los Angeles to start a new life. Shortly after his arrival, however, Orison passed away.