Lessons from the Acres of Diamonds

 “Acres of Diamonds” is a lecture by Russell H. Conwell, which he delivered no fewer than 6,000 times1. The theme of the lecture was that opportunity lurks in everyone’s backyard. Everyone, Conwell believed, can and ought to get rich and then use that money for the good of others. The lecture has been published as a book and is available on Project Gutenberg for free.

The Story goes something like this

Al Hafed had a large and prosperous farm in the heart of India. He was happy with his life, until a old monk told him about diamonds, the most precious stones in the world. He was consumed by the desire to get rich by finding these rare jewels that he gave up his farm and wandered the world looking for them until he ran out of money. Broke and hopeless, he ended his life by throwing himself into the water

As the new owner of Al Hafed’s farm, he took his camel to a stream in the garden to quench its thirst. He spotted a bright rock sparkling in the water as the camel drank. He brought it back with him and put it on his mantelpiece. The old monk came back to the farm after a few days. He saw the shiny rock on the mantel and identified it as a huge uncut diamond. This was how the Golconda diamond mine was found, one of the most splendid diamond mines in all of human history. Golconda diamonds are famous today as the finest jewels in the world. Some of the world’s most renowned diamonds, such as the Hope diamond, are thought to be from the Golconda mine.

The Lessons from the Acres of Diamonds

The moral of this story is clear: You don’t have to search far and wide for opportunity, success or wealth. All of the possibilities you could ever want are right where you are now - in your current community, job, family and other situations. For optimal results, we should dig in our own backyard, to find opportunities where we are now. You might be familiar with the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” We all fantasize about finding our happiness or fortune - somewhere else, in a different scenario, in a different city, with a different job or a change in our relationship status. When you reach the “other side of the fence,” you will likely find out that the grass wasn’t so green there after all. On the contrary, the opportunities we look for are probably nearer than we think. 

The connection between problems and opportunities 

Problems often hold within them the potential for opportunity. The reason that most people never notice them is because no one has ever shown them how to look for them. You see, when they are extracted from the earth, diamonds don’t look like the dazzling, multi-faceted jewels that we all know and admire. They come camouflaged as rough, colorful stones. It requires a skilled eye to spot them. In the same way, opportunities come disguised in “work clothes” - as problems or difficulties to be solved. The average person sees only the problems, and swiftly gives up. But a small number of 

Enterprising people persevere through the difficulties to discover and exploit the opportunities they hold. What could the rich farmer have done differently, instead of giving up everything and roaming the world looking for diamonds? He could have started by spending some time and energy to learn how diamonds appear in their natural state. He could have also studied the kinds of rock formations where they are usually found. These two steps would have helped him to greatly improve the chances of finding the riches he wanted. The rich farmer is like most people today, who either see unsurmountable problems and remain where they are now, in silent despair, or run away trying to find new opportunities without any clue what they are searching for.

You already own a diamond mine – learn how to mine it!

What’s amazing is that you already have a priceless diamond mine. Don’t think I’m crazy, but think about this: You already possess, without any debt, the most potent problem-solving, visualization and creativity tool ever created - your endlessly creative brain. The trouble is that our culture, education and habits have made the creative muscles of your brain weaken. But like any muscle, your brain can be improved. How can you spot opportunities more easily? By teaching yourself the art and skill of creative problem solving and idea generation. A good introduction to help you do that is my new e-book, Creativity Hacks, which I wrote to inspire people like you to use their hidden creative powers to overcome the difficulties in their lives. This book not only shatters the myth that creativity is innate, but also reveals specific methods that you can use to produce ideas, solve problems and, most importantly, to foster the abundance that only a creative life can offer. So what are you hesitating for? It’s time to learn how to dig for diamonds in your own backyard!