108 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERY
combination yield more yearly than I earn from five years of application
of so-called education."
There is an opportunity, if not scores of them, in every state in America
to make use of the idea here described. From now on, make it your busi-
ness to study the lay of all land you see that is similar to the land that
this man saw, and you may find a suitable place for developing a similar
money-making enterprise.
The automobile has caused a great system of public highways to be
built throughout the United States. On practically everyone of these
highways there is a suitable spot for a "cabin city" for tourists which can
be turned into a regular money-making mint by the person with the
Imagination and Self-Confidence to do it.
COMMENTARY
If you think that Hill's example of starting what we now know as a motel is out of
date and no longer applicable, you are not seeing the ideas for the words.
As this edition is being edited, Hill's advice is more than seventy-five years old,
yet one of the most exciting new business ventures of this era might well have been
inspired by that "out of date" story. Jeff Bezos did exactly what Hill suggested. He
looked for a highway on which to set up a business. When he found the right place
he opened a bookstore. The highway that Bezos found was the information highway
and the bookstore was Amazon. com.
Sometimes the innovation requires specialized education or technical exper-
tise, but just as often the business itself is not especially new. The innovation is in
finding the right highway.
Lora Brody is another example of someone whose inspiration made her
greater than the so-called experts. The author of several cookbooks, she noticed that
many people were buying and enjoying the bread machines that had become so
popular. But when she noticed that they were not fully satisfied with the bread