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FAILING TO FAIL aka HOW TO SUCCEED

The Global Personal Development Market (Success Industry) is huge. It’s enormous and exponentially growing. Success Inc. has been around a long time, and it’s going to stick with us for a long while yet. From founders like Napoleon Hill (Think & Grow Rich) to furthering followers like Tony Robbins and new agers such as Elizabeth Gilbert, the wealth and happiness business has never been healthier. There really is something to the power of passion, persistence, and perseverance.

Thirty-five years ago, I bought into the Napoleon Hill philosophy of personal achievement. I’ve never regretted opening that book, and it’s the foundation of what I’ve become today. But does that mean what works for some must work for you? I’d say it certainly can—provided you adapt the operative mindset and open yourself to the principles of success. No matter your vocation.

In this Dyingwords post (Tagline: Provoking Thoughts in Life, Death, and Writing), we’ll examine the motivational movement. We’ll look at an example of profound success and how they achieved it through helping others. We’ll hear from another high achiever who calls BS on the Self-Help Industry. We’ll chat with an AI specialist about the number one reason behind successful human endeavors. And we’ll look behind the scenes at Dyingwords along with samples of my affirmations and quotes.

Hopefully the takeaways from this piece let you look at human motivation psychology in a positive light and your valuable time spent reading has a productive payback.

I didn’t invent any of this stuff. I’ve just learned to source what I need, absorb it, and discard the waste. My goal in lifelong education is becoming a better writer (and person) in the hope I can help others achieve their own version of success. It’s for that, I’ve spent the time and money buying into the self-improvement scene. Here’s a clip from Grand View Research about the state of the personal development market:

I have a hard time wrapping my head around 43.77 billion USD. Even a harder time with the projected 67.04 billion (based on a 5.5% CAGR) in 2030 which is less than seven years away. Maybe it’s time to get into the biz.

It’s not just self-help books that folks pay hard-earned and scarce money for. The personal development market includes audios, podcasts, online courses, AI generated programs, clubs, cliques, cults, (ever been to an Amway rally?) conventions, coaching, and personal training for passionate people. Here’s another clip of the Global Personal Development Market—a pie chart of the Big-Five focus areas:

Grand View’s report says the self-awareness segment is anticipated to grow the fastest. Their stats indicate a 6.9% CAGR from 2023 to 2030 and they attribute this expansion is because of the new executive generation needing to improve communication, marketing, productivity, engagement, and trust skills. Overall, this is about performance enhancement.

The personal development market’s key facilitators are these international players. Do any sound familiar?

  • Dale Carnegie & Associates
  • The Napoleon Hill Foundation
  • Franklin Covey
  • Landmark Worldwide Enterprises
  • Hay House Publishing
  • Nutrisystems
  • OpenSesame
  • SkillPath
  • Skillsoft
  • Toastmasters International

Yes, there are some big providers in profitable positions. But there’s nothing really new in the core message these personal motivation and skill developers put forth. Only the messenger has changed as well as the delivery method.

Transcendental Mediation and essential oils in the 60s. Jane Fonda aerobic tapes in the 70s. Fat-free everything in the 80s. Celestine Prophecy in the 90s. The Secret in the 2000s. Oprah in the 20-teens. And now, from Good Housekeeping, The 25 Best Self-Help Books in 2023 That Actually Work. Same flavor. Different wrapper.

So, who really got the principles of success right and developed a timeless formula which the average person can implement?

John Wooden.

If the name is not familiar, John Wooden was an American college basketball coach who took the UCLA Bruins to a 10-game championship winning streak in 12 years, 1962 to 1974. Coach Wooden built the Pyramid of Success that stands, today, as unbeatable in making individuals into team players.

Here’s the Pyramid of Success in more detail:

Industriousness — There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning.

Loyalty — To yourself and to all those depending upon you. Keep your self-respect.

Alertness — Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve.

Initiative — Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure but learn from it.

Enthusiasm — Brushes off upon those with whom you come in contact. You must truly enjoy what you are doing.

Self-Control — Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential.

Friendship — Comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Like marriage, it must not be taken for granted but requires joint effort.

Cooperation — With all levels of your co-workers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.

Intentness — Set a realistic goal. Concentrate on its achievement by resisting all temptations and being determined and persistent.

Confidence — Respect without fear. May come from being prepared and keeping all things in proper perspective.

Skill — A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every little detail.

Team-Spirit — A genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all.

Poise — Just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation. Never fighting yourself.

Condition — Mental-Moral-Physical. Rest, exercise, and diet must be considered. Moderation must be practiced. Dissipation must be eliminated.

Competitive Greatness — Be at your best when your best is needed. Enjoyment of a difficult challenge.

Coach Wooden’s greatest accomplishments were not limited to basketball.

He brought an entire community together, inspired them with championships, and taught them how to master the fundamental skills that turn any dream into reality. The gyms he coached in became chapels, the court a pulpit where he preached a different kind of success approach. When Coach Wooden introduced the world to the Pyramid of Success, he offered us all a roadmap for individual and team excellence—the same roadmap he used to build a legacy unmatched in the game of basketball.

The life principles summarized in the Pyramid of Success had no explicit reference to basketball or athletics. The coach’s diagram was simply a roadmap to being a better person.

So far, we’ve been bubbly about the success industry and its positiveness. I’m about to bring in a guy I’ve invited who’ll prick that happy bubble.

Mark Manson is a self-help guru. His sales of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck and other books prove it. Here’s what Mark says are Five Problems with the Self-Help Industry:

“The self-help industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It fills bookstores and conference rooms. It’s made media celebrities out of people and capitalized wildly off the growing self-consciousness of recent generations. And although it’s changed the lives of millions of people — mostly for the better, I assume — it still lacks a certain credibility with most. Many regard it as simple snake oil. Others laugh at the bizarre superstitions that get passed off as legitimate life advice. Many try self-help out but are left feeling disgruntled.

Clinical psychology doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record of personal change either, but at least when you lay down on the sofa, you know you’re dealing with a qualified expert who is telling you what to do based on 100+ years of empirical research.

With self-help, God only knows where half of these people come from. It’s a market-driven, rather than a peer-reviewed industry. The onus is on the reader to sift through the material and decide what’s credible and what’s not. And that’s not always easy to do.

The following are five major problems with the self-help industry today, and they’re unlikely to go away.

1. Self-help reinforces perceptions of inferiority and shame.

Two types of people get hooked on self-help material: those who feel something is fundamentally wrong with them and they are willing to try anything to make it better, and those people who think they’re already generally a good person, but they have some problems and blind spots and want to become great people.

Call these the “Bad-to-OK” people and the “OK-to-Great” people. Bad-to-OK people are in it because they believe that they’re fundamentally flawed and want to fix themselves. OK-to-Great people are in it because they think they are OK, but they want to become great.

Generally speaking, the OK-to-Great people do just that — they go from having an average and “OK” life and turn it into something really unique and great over the course of years.

The Bad-to-OK people improve little, if at all, even after years of “effort”. In some cases, they may even get worse.

OK, why?

Bad-to-OK people consistently fail because they possess a fundamental worldview that interprets everything they do, including self-help, to support their inferiority or lack of worthiness.

For example, an OK-to-Great person may read a book on becoming happy and think, “Oh, cool, there are a bunch of things in here that I’m not doing. I should try them out.”

A Bad-to-OK person will read the same book and say, “Wow, look at all of this stuff I’m not doing. I’m an even bigger loser than I initially thought.”

The fundamental difference is that Bad-to-OK lack self-acceptance that most people have. An OK-to-Great person will look at the string of bad choices and mistakes throughout their life and decide that they should make better choices and learn how to be a better person. A Bad-to-OK person will assume every choice they make is bad because they are a fundamentally flawed person and that the only way they can make good choices is by doing exactly what someone else says, word-for-word.

The irony here is that the pre-requisite for self-help to be effective is the one crucial thing that self-help cannot actually help: accept yourself as a good person who makes mistakes.

Sure, sit with your Chi, be still in the “now,” say your affirmations and journal until you’re blue in the face, but Bad-to-OK people will continue to perceive themselves as “Bad” and never reach the “OK” they’re desperately looking for. Because this inadequacy is their worldview, everything they do will only reinforce it further. At best, all they can hope for is to cover it up or suppress it.

2. Self-help is often yet another form of avoidance.

People consciously perceive their problems in all sorts of unique and creative ways: I don’t know when to kiss her; my family and I always fight; I feel tired and lazy all the time; I can’t stop eating sweets; my dog hates me; my ex-girlfriend burnt my house down; and on and on.

These all feel like “real” problems. But in almost every situation, the root of the problem is actually some deep form of anxiety/neuroticism or an unconscious feeling of shame or unworthiness.

We already saw how self-help usually proves ineffectual in dealing with the shame. Unfortunately, it often fails in handling the anxiety/neuroticism as well.

When someone with an inordinate amount of anxiety comes to self-help material, two things usually happen, and neither of them fix the problem.

They simply replace one neuroticism with another, slightly healthier neuroticism — think someone who goes from being an alcoholic and unable to hold a job, to meditating and doing yoga five hours a day and still unable to hold a job.

Or they use the self-help material as another form of avoidance. Dating advice is a classic example here — I don’t know how to ask out the person I like on a date, so I’ll read four books about it and feel like I did something. Suddenly reading the books feels far more important than actually asking the person out.

(This is also commonly known as analysis paralysis.)

3. Self-help marketing creates unrealistic expectations.

Although theoretically, I have no issue with the profit motive in the self-help industry, in practice it causes problems.

With the profit motive, the incentive is not on creating real change but creating the perception of real change.

This can be done with placebos, teaching clients to suppress certain negative feelings or to pump their temporary emotional states. It can be done by placating anxious people with more information and neurotics with more relaxation techniques. These all create short-term sensations of accomplishment and improvement, but almost always dissipate within a few days or weeks.

I’m sorry, but you’re not going to get over a lifetime of feeling inadequate or shame in a single weekend. You just aren’t. What will happen is you’ll feel better about that inadequacy and shame for a weekend and then it will come back again.

4. Self-help is (usually) not scientifically validated.

Here are the self-help practices which have been shown in scientific studies to have some validity: meditation or mindfulness, keeping a journal, stating what you’re grateful for each day, being charitable and giving to others.

Here’s where the science is hit and miss (it usually depends on how or why it is used): Neuro-Linguistic Programming, affirmations, hypnotherapy, getting in touch with your inner child.

Here’s what is complete bullshit: Feng shui, manifestations, tarot cards, telekinesis, psychics, crystals, power animals, tapping, the law of attraction, anything supernatural or woo woo.

The fact is that the majority of self-help information out there is either a placebo at best or complete bunk at worst.

Fortunately, in the past decade, many academics such as Brene Brown and Dan Gilbert are getting into the mix by writing self-help books based on scientific studies, rather than the usual trope of “I was cleaning out my closet when God spoke to me and I suddenly became enlightened and here’s my completely arbitrary and half-baked book on what you should and should not do with your life.”

5. Self-help is a contradiction.

The contradiction of self-help is that the first and most fundamental step to growth is to admit that you’re okay as you are and that you don’t necessarily need anyone else’s help. It’s the prime belief, and by its very definition, it’s something that can’t be given to you by someone else, it must be reached on your own.

The irony is that once you do accept that you don’t need someone else’s help or advice to become a good person, it’s only then that their advice truly becomes useful to you.

So in a way, self-help is most useful for people who don’t actually need self-help. It’s for the OK-to-Great people, not the Bad-to-OK people, although those are most of the people who get caught in its net and spend their money on it.

Self-improvement is quite literal in its meaning — it’s used to enhance oneself, not to replace it. If you’re looking to replace who you are with something else, then you will never succeed, and you’re more likely to get sucked up into the nonsense and pseudo-science and suppress your feelings of inadequacy rather than deal with them head-on.

In other cases, self-help allows people to transfer and project their feelings of inadequacy onto others, or live vicariously through a “guru” or someone else’s success. Again, it’s the perception of progress and not progress itself.

So what’s the point of all of this?

It’s this: figure it out yourself. That may sound like an obvious cop-out, but seriously, why would anyone else have the answers to your life but you?

You can take their experiences and ideas into consideration, but ultimately it’s their application to your life that matters.

None of this was supposed to be easy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably marketing something.

Be skeptical. Be selfish. And be ruthless. This is your life we’re talking about. Nobody else can be happy for you. If you find yourself having that expectation, well, then there’s your problem. And no one can help you except yourself.”

*   *   *

Thanks, Mark. Now, I’ll invite that AI expert to give their lowdown with my question, “What is the number one reason behind successful human ventures?”

ChatGPT: The number one reason behind successful human ventures can vary depending on the context, but one of the most common factors is “determination” or “persistence.” In many cases, success is achieved through a combination of factors, including hard work, dedication, adaptability, and resilience. Here are a few key factors that often contribute to the success of human ventures:

  1. Determination and Persistence: Many successful individuals and ventures face obstacles, setbacks, and failures along the way. What sets them apart is their determination to keep going despite challenges.
  2. Hard Work and Effort: Success often requires a significant amount of hard work and effort. Consistent and focused work toward a goal is a crucial factor in achieving success.
  3. Vision and Planning: Having a clear vision of what you want to achieve and creating a well-thought-out plan to reach your goals is essential for success.
  4. Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and learn from experiences is key. Successful ventures often evolve and adjust their strategies as needed.
  5. Skill and Expertise: Developing the necessary skills and expertise related to the venture is crucial. Continuous learning and improvement are common traits of successful individuals and organizations.
  6. Risk-taking and Innovation: Success often involves taking calculated risks and embracing innovation. Trying new things and thinking outside the box can lead to breakthroughs.
  7. Resilience: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from failures and setbacks. It’s a critical trait for overcoming challenges and continuing to pursue your goals.
  8. Networking and Collaboration: Building a strong network of supportive individuals and collaborating with others can open up opportunities and resources that contribute to success.
  9. Time Management and Discipline: Effective time management and discipline help in staying organized, meeting deadlines, and making the most of available resources.
  10. Passion and Motivation: Having a deep passion and strong motivation for what you’re doing can be a driving force that sustains your efforts even in difficult times.

It’s important to note that success can take many forms, and what works in one context may not work in another. Additionally, the relative importance of these factors may vary depending on the specific venture or goal. Different individuals and organizations may prioritize these factors differently based on their unique circumstances and objectives.

What are the common themes put forward in self-help programs?

ChatGPT: Self-help programs typically focus on personal development and empowerment, aiming to help individuals improve their lives, overcome obstacles, and achieve their goals. While the specific themes and advice offered can vary widely, there are several common themes and principles that are often put forward in self-help programs. Here are some of the most prevalent themes:

Positive Thinking and Mindset: Many self-help programs emphasize the power of positive thinking and maintaining a growth mindset. They encourage individuals to reframe negative thoughts and beliefs and cultivate a more optimistic outlook on life.

Goal Setting and Planning: Setting clear, achievable goals and creating a plan to reach them is a fundamental theme in self-help. This includes breaking down goals into smaller, actionable steps.

Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem: Building self-confidence and improving self-esteem are common self-help objectives. Programs often provide strategies to boost self-assurance and foster a healthy self-image.

Motivation and Inspiration: Self-help materials frequently offer motivation and inspiration to keep individuals committed to their personal development journey. This can include success stories, quotes, and strategies to stay motivated.

Time Management and Productivity: Effective time management and productivity techniques are often discussed to help people better organize their lives and accomplish more in less time.

Stress Management and Resilience: Coping with stress and building resilience to face life’s challenges is a prevalent theme. Self-help programs provide tools and strategies to manage stress and bounce back from setbacks.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Improving communication skills, building better relationships, and enhancing interpersonal interactions are often addressed in self-help materials.

Health and Wellness: Many self-help programs recognize the importance of physical and mental well-being. Topics can include exercise, nutrition, relaxation techniques, and mental health support.

Financial Success and Wealth Building: Some self-help programs focus on financial literacy, budgeting, investing, and strategies for building wealth.

Self-Discovery and Identity: Exploring one’s values, passions, and life purpose is a recurring theme. Self-help encourages individuals to better understand themselves and align their actions with their authentic selves.

Overcoming Obstacles and Adversity: Self-help often provides guidance on overcoming obstacles, including fear, procrastination, self-doubt, and setbacks. Strategies for resilience and problem-solving are emphasized.

Gratitude and Mindfulness: Practicing gratitude and mindfulness is promoted as a way to improve well-being and focus on the present moment.

Personal Responsibility and Accountability: Self-help programs stress the importance of taking responsibility for one’s actions and choices. They emphasize that individuals have the power to shape their own lives.

Continuous Learning and Self-Improvement: Lifelong learning and self-improvement are encouraged. Self-help materials often advocate for seeking knowledge and skills to grow and evolve.

Visualization and Affirmations: Techniques like visualization and positive affirmations are often promoted as tools to manifest goals and build a more positive self-image.

Happiness and Fulfillment: The pursuit of happiness and a fulfilling life is a central theme in self-help. This may involve reevaluating priorities, seeking purpose, and nurturing a sense of contentment.

It’s important to approach self-help programs critically and discerningly, as the effectiveness and applicability of the advice can vary widely. Different individuals may resonate with different themes and strategies, so it’s essential to choose resources and practices that align with your personal goals and values. Additionally, seeking professional guidance or therapy may be necessary for addressing specific mental health issues or complex life challenges.

Please define the principles of success in one paragraph.

ChatGPT: The principles of success can be summarized as the conscious and persistent pursuit of meaningful goals with a positive mindset, guided by clear vision and planning. Success is achieved through hard work, continuous learning, adaptability, and resilience in the face of obstacles, setbacks, and failures. It involves effective time management, self-discipline, and a focus on personal growth and self-improvement. Building strong relationships, both personal and professional, and maintaining a sense of purpose, passion, and motivation are also integral components of success, ultimately leading to a sense of fulfillment, achievement, and well-being in various aspects of life.

Please define the principles of success in one sentence.

ChatGPT: The principles of success involve unwavering dedication to meaningful goals, a positive and adaptable mindset, continuous learning, effective time management, resilience in the face of challenges, and the nurturing of purpose and relationships, ultimately leading to personal fulfillment and achievement.

Please define the principles of success in one word.

ChatGPT: Persistence.

*   *   *

Right. Persistence. Plus, passion and perseverance. Perseverance is kinda like persistence, but not really. Persist is to go after something. Persevere is stamina to keep it up. A cheetah and gazelle thing.

Which brings me to me. Dyingwords and my writing world. I started this venture in 2011, so I’ve been at it 12 years. My tagline is Provoking Thoughts in Life, Death, and Writing. I’ve never veered from it, and I won’t. Sometimes I post about high-profile deaths. Sometimes I post about life issues. Sometimes I post about writing craft. I try to find subjects I’m interested in, research them, and hope you get good from them, too.

In the past dozen years, I’ve outputted 21 for-sale book publications, hundreds of blog posts, over a thousand paid commercial web content pieces, nearly three million words checked on Grammarly, and now I’m involved in producing content for the film industry. I’ve had 130K e-book downloads on five retail platforms in 106 different countries, been #1 in my Amazon categories a bunch of times, have around 250K yearly visits to my website, as well as 2,200 regular mailing list followers (who I dearly appreciate) and north of 10K on Twitter or whatever Musk calls X today.

I’m happy with this success. The numbers success. Moreso the feedback and the peer recognition success. I attribute it to motivating myself through positive reader support as well as psychological affirmations and quotations. Here are a few of the cut & pastes stuck around my studio workstation:

“Contempt for failure.”

“Did I show up dressed today?”

“Memento Mori” ~Marcus Aurelius

“Ya gotta wanna.” ~Jimmy Pattison

“To understand is to know what to do.”

“Focus. Cut the noise. Double the results.”

“Invest the Time. Do the work. Tell the truth.”

“This, too, shall pass away.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“Overcome resistance. Trust the muse.” ~Stephen King

“Three common traits of winners. Desire. Determination. Confidence.”

“You don’t really understand something until you can build it.” ~Richard Feynman

“If you do what everyone else is doing, you shouldn’t be surprised to get the same results. Different outcomes come from doing things differently.”

“The long game wins come from repeatedly doing hard things today that make tomorrow easier.”

“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life…the one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” ~Seneca

“Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. It’s the dogged, incremental, constant progress over a very long time.” ~Albert Einstein

“Failure seems to be nature’s plan for preparing us for great responsibilities. If everything we attempted in life were achieved with a minimum of effort and came out exactly as planned, how little we would learn—and how boring life would be! And how arrogant we would become if we succeeded at everything we attempted. Failure allows us to develop the essential quality of humility. It is not easy—when you are the person experiencing failure—to accept it philosophically, serene in the knowledge that this is one of life’s great learning experiences. But it is. Nature’s ways are not always easily understood, but they are repetitive and therefore predictable. You can be absolutely certain that when you feel you are being most unfairly tested, you are being prepared for great achievement.”” ~Napoleon Hill

“One of the biggest keys to success at anything is believing you can figure it out as you go along. A lot of people won’t start until they figure it out. And because most hard things can’t be figured out in advance, they never start.” ~Richard Feynman

“There are those who watch things happen, those who wonder what happened, and those who make things happen. Strive to be one of those who make things happen. If you show others what you can do, they will respect you far more than if you had simply told them what you’d done. Anyone can quarrel with words, but actions speak for themselves.” ~Tommy Lasorda

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~Muhammad Ali

“I believe that life operates at two levels. The higher level if the muse level—the level of your calling. The lower level is our material plane. On that plane is the force I call Resistance with a capital R. That’s there to stop us from reaching the higher level. The purpose of discipline is that discipline is what takes you to that higher level. That’s why you have to have it—discipline. You can’t wish your way to it. You can’t chant your way there. You can’t—that book The Secret—vibe or manifest your way there. The law of attraction is bullshit. It’s not going to get you there. The only way you get there is through hard and disciplined work. You got to punch your ticket and pay the price.” ~Steven Pressfield

“Doing your best isn’t about the result. You know you did your best before you show up. Over the long term, the long game, the average person who constantly puts themselves in a good position beats the genius who puts themselves in a poor position. And the best way to put yourself in a good position is with good preparation.”

“Any dominating idea, plan, or purpose held in the conscious mind through constant repetitive thought and emotionalized by the subconscious and acted upon by whatever natural and logical means may be available.” ~Napoleon Hill

“Ninety percent of success can be boiled down to consistently doing the obvious thing for an uncommonly long period of time without convincing yourself that you’re smarter than you are.”

“The Formula: The courage to start. The discipline to focus. The confidence to figure it out. The patience to know progress is not always visible. The persistence to keep going, even on the bad days.”

“Success is that place in the road where preparation and opportunity meet, but too few people recognize it because too often it comes disguised as hard work.”

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” ~Jordan Peterson

“Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.”

“Pro golfers have learned to miss their shots by narrower margins than amateurs.”

“Avoiding stupidity is easier than seeking brilliance.” ~Charlie Munger

“Being successful is easy. Staying successful is hard.”

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.”

*   *   *

Failing to Fail aka How to Succeed. It’s the mindset towards a goal. A want. A need or a must. To succeed and acquire, not fail, you require the power of passion, persistence, and perseverance.

THE SUDDEN (SUSPICIOUS?) DEATH OF U.S. PRESIDENT WARREN G. HARDING

One hundred years ago, on August 2nd, 1923, Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, suddenly died in a San Francisco hotel room. He was 57 years old. Immediately—due to no autopsy insisted upon by the ironclad demand from his wife, Florence Harding, and the fact that his body was embalmed one hour after death—suspicious rumors of foul play circulated. Conspirators came in many forms. Corrupt politicians, scandal cover-ups, quack physicians, and foreign operatives. But the most sinister accusation of all was Harding being intentionally poisoned by his wife.

The official cause of death released in press statements by the attending doctors was a “probable cerebral apoplexy”. In other words, President Harding had a stroke, a fatal brain event. There was no mention of any toxicity through poison nor any suggestion of a chronic cardiac condition, a heart attack.

Harding’s body was returned by train to Washington, DC, lay in state for two days, then was transported again by train to his hometown of Marion, Ohio where he was entombed in a marble crypt. His wife, Florence, died the following year of kidney failure and came to rest beside him. As the years passed, the truth of the Harding Administration emerged. It became known as America’s most scandalous presidency.

Extramarital lovers, illegitimate children, political corruption, cronies, bribes, payoffs, and even suicides emerged that painted a black mark on Harding’s history. The persistent suspicion of cover-up in his death failed to go away. Today, there’s a consensus as to what really happened in Harding’s death. We’ll get to that conclusion but, first, let’s look at who Warren Harding was, how he got to the White House, and how he came to die in that San Francisco hotel room.

Warren Gamaliel Harding was born on November 3rd, 1865—the year the Civil War ended—on his grandfather’s farm near Blooming Grove, Ohio. His father was a small-town physician with a small practice that earned little money. His mother was a devoutly religious homemaker with eight children to care for, including Warren who was the oldest. Harding was an average student but a very strong boy with even stronger work ethic.

Following grade school, Harding attended Ohio Central College graduating in 1882 with a B.S. degree (which grounded him as a later politician). Here he  gained experience editing and publishing the college paper. After college, Harding worked at various jobs such as a barn painter, a railroad laborer, and a horse team driver. It was in Marion, Ohio where Warren Harding got his first business break.

Harding had saved enough money to purchase a failing newspaper in Marion. He parlayed it into a profitable venture in which he wore all hats—reporter, editor, and publisher. These roles allowed Harding to get well connected and form the “Marion Gang” whom he nepotistically took with him through his political career, including placing some of these friends and allies in high-ranking service jobs in the United States federal government. That was to come back and haunt him.

In the late 1880s, Warren Harding met Florence Kling at a community dance. He became smitten with Florence who was the daughter of a banker and Marion’s richest man. Amos Kling did not approve of Warren Harding and warned Florence that Harding “would never amount to anything”. He refused to speak to Harding.

Florence Harding went to work in their newspaper business. She also got active in his political ambitions. “The only things I know are publishing and politics,” Florence was quoted as saying. She was especially good at politics.

History—now one hundred years after Harding’s death—records Harding to be an excellent speaker, very personable with a great memory for people, a driven man, but not too bright. Florence was smart, and she used her intelligence to make connections and pave roads for Harding to travel as he moved up the Ohio political ladder.

Warren Harding served as an Ohio State Senator from 1900 to 1904. From then to 1906 he was the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and in 1910 he ran as Ohio’s Governor but was defeated. Harding went back to the paper industry but in 1915 he entered federal politics and won a seat as a Senator for the State of Ohio. This opened doors in Washington.

The Republican national convention was deadlocked in the 1920 presidential selection race. Ultimately, the delegates chose Warren Harding as a compromise candidate. He went on to represent the Republicans as a moderate in the November 1920 presidential election. Together with running mate Calvin Coolidge, they won a landslide victory over the Democrats.

Warren G. Harding was inaugurated as the 29th United States President on March 4th, 1921. He ran on the slogan “Return to Normalcy” which fit his leadership style. America was only two years past the end of WWI and the public longed for a return to pre-war normal. The country was in a financial recession with what many Americans thought was unnecessary ties still with foreign countries.

Harding focused on a protectionist America by lowering taxes, increasing foreign tariffs, and getting the country out of the League of Nations process that dynamited Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. In one year after taking off, the country rebounded and began prosperity never seen before. It was the Roaring Twenties.

Warren Harding was a hands-off president. He appointed people he thought he could trust into high office and let them loose to do their jobs. His error was not holding them accountable and, given human nature, even his closest friends began to abuse their positions for personal gain.

Harding’s other error—his vice and weakness—was womanizing, drinking, and gambling. Rumors put him having secret tunnels under the White House where he would smuggle his girls in and ply them with illegal alcohol. (Remember, this era was the start of Prohibition.) Harding’s poker games were legendary as well as a well-known fact that he supported mistresses and had at least one illegitimate daughter. Warren and Florence were childless.

Among the brewing political and criminal crises was what’s known as the Teapot Dome Scandal. This involved an oil-producing region in Wyoming that held reserves set apart for the U.S. Navy. Harding had appointed his close Marion Gang friend, Albert B. Fall, as Secretary of the Interior who oversaw the federal lands at Teapot Dome and had the power to award oil production contracts. Fall pocketed hundreds of thousands of payoff money for preferential treatment. This scandal (among others), which Harding knew about, had the potential to have President Harding impeached.

It was under this stressful black cloud that Warren Harding departed Washington on his “Voyage of Understanding” cross-country train and ship tour in June of 1923. Members of Harding’s staff observed his health rapidly deteriorating. A once vibrant man with the world’s best handshake was notably nervous and privately conferring with advisors about how to diffuse the runaway in the Marion Gang.

“I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends… they’re the ones that keep me walking the floor at night,” Harding said to one aide. To another, “If you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly, or would you bury it?”

President Harding’s tour took him across the west and up to Alaska. He spoke before hundreds of thousands of common folks in places like St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Salt Lake City, Helena, and Spokane. He went to a small Alaskan village called Metlakatla, then did a by-stop in Vancouver, Canada before heading straight for San Francisco and checking into the Palace Hotel with an extensive entourage including the future president Herbert Hoover who was his Secretary of Commerce.

Harding’s health had been going downhill since leaving Washington. The stress of his job and unfolding issues gave him a malady then diagnosed as neurasthenia which is an overly nervous condition where the sufferer is unable to relax. Compounding this condition, including non-recognizing many presenting symptoms of bad physical health, was the president’s personal doctor.

Charles E. Sawyer was part of the Ohio Gang. Sawyer wasn’t a trained physician. He was an odd, self-taught homeopath who prescribed plants and birds and rocks and things (not sure about sand and hills and rings) as substitutes for accepted medical practices. But Sawyer was a likable, down-homey Oh-Hi-Yo officially forehead-stamp-approved by Mrs. Harding who saw Sawyer as a 1920s genuine guru teaching them a better way.

Harding also traveled with a real doctor—Joel T. Boone. Dr. Boone knew Harding was critically ill and telegrammed ahead from Alaska to San Francisco, having two of the country’s leading cardiology specialists standing by. These were Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, the president of the American Medical Society, and Dr. Charles Cooper, the leading cardiac surgeon in the USA.

Dr. Boone knew what was happening.  President Harding was presenting these symptoms:

  • Severe abdominal and thoracic pains as in a crushing weight on the chest
  • Pain radiating down both arms
  • Shortness of breath
  • Dyspnoea at night
  • Nausea
  • Severe bouts of indigestion
  • Off and on fever—chills & sweats
  • Exhaustion after little energetic effort
  • Foul acetonic breath

Dr. Boone knew President Harding was suffering congestive heart failure and likely experienced a series of myocardial infarctions where his enlarged heart muscles were quickly failing. Boone knew Harding’s heart was likely to stop, and that he would suddenly die.

That happened at 7:20 pm on August 2nd, 1923. President Harding was in his hotel suite with his wife and two nurse care aids. Florence was reading a favorable column in the Saturday Evening Post. Harding remarked, “That is good. Go on.”

Florence continued when, with only a shudder and not a sound, the President of the United States stiffened, laid back on the bed, and instantly died.

President Harding’s staff came into the room. That included Herbert Hoover and Doctors Sawyer, Boone, Wilbur, Cooper, and another cardiac expert, Hubert Work. These medical practitioners debated the primary cause of death.

They knew the American public would immediately want to know what happened to their Commander-in-Chief and be assured nothing illegal, conspirator, or dark was behind the president’s sudden and unexpected death—especially when the official reports released to the following press during the Voyage of Understanding assured that Warren Harding was a man fit to competently hold office and guide the nation.

The doctors knew, under the circumstances, that no conclusive cause of death could be established without a complete and thorough autopsy. To this, Florence Harding was fiercely opposed. As Doctor Wilbur put it in his notes written the next day, “We shall never know exactly the immediate cause of President Harding’s death since every effort that was made to secure an autopsy was met with complete and final refusal by Mrs. Harding.”

Knowing that the public must be notified of the president’s death as soon as possible and that they would demand to know what happened—what the true cause of death was—the team of five physicians signed this statement:

Realizing their rush to judgment without medical evidence (and strongly suspecting a myocardial infarction or a heart attack), they released this second statement twenty minutes later:

Stroke of Cerebral Apoplexy. Myocardial Infarction. Let’s look at what these medical terms mean.

So how did the 1923 American public and folks over the last one hundred years go from accepting that President Warren G. Harding died of natural causes to a conspirator suspicion that he was murdered—possibly by his wife?

I think a few reasons. One is the president’s staff poorly handled the president’s health information. One day the president was strong as an ox. The next day he died.

There was no autopsy. His body was embalmed an hour after death. And this was through an ironclad order from the wife, Florence Harding, who knew full well of her husband’s infidelity and unwinding scandals.

Note: I cannot find anything in historical notes to determine if there was a San Francisco coroner having jurisdiction and the authority to hold the body while an independent autopsy was done. Or if any other authorities like the SF police were notified.

The other factor was the collective doctors’ stick handling of the “probable cause of death.” They were aware of the public backlash for knowing how serious the president’s medical condition and the perception of them not being seen to do something about it and prevent his death, but they first wrote it off as an unpredictable and unpreventable stroke, not a preventable heart attack. From Dr. Wilbur’s notes:

“In the aftermath, we were belabored and attacked by the newspapers antagonistic to Harding, and by the cranks, quacks, antivisectionalists, nature healers, the Dr. Albert Abrams electronic-diagnostic group, and many others. We were accused of starving the president, overfeeding him to death, of assisting in slowly poisoning him, and plying him to death with pills and purgatives. We were accused of being abysmally ignorant, stupid and incompetent, and even of malpractice. We were said to have forced our way to Harding’s bedside “through political pull and for political reasons.”

But the craziest theory of them all came from a book written by Gaston B. Means in 1930 titled The Strange Death of President Harding. Means claimed that Florence Harding murdered her presidential husband with poison. Without a shred of evidence, Means suggested two motives. One was because of her husband’s cheating. The other was to save him the embarrassment of the scandals. Gaston Means, by the way, went to jail over a con job in scamming the Charles Lindberg baby homicide case.

One hundred years have passed since United States President Warren G. Harding passed. There’s no doubt Harding had a fatal heart attack. That’s life, but the fallout from living the presidential life sucks. Here are lines from Herbert Hoover while dedicating a memorial to President Harding:

We saw him gradually weaken not only from physical exhaustion but from mental anxiety. Warren Harding had a dim realization that he had been betrayed by a few of the men whom he trusted, by men whom he believed were his devoted friends. That was the tragedy of the life of Warren Harding.

NAHANNI — VALLEY OF THE HEADLESS HUMAN CADAVERS

Nahanni National Park Reserve in Canada’s Northwest Territories is an extremely remote, phenomenally pristine, and breathtakingly beautiful place. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s visited by only those with the means and stamina to survive the ordeal. But despite being named the Holy Grail of whitewater bucket-list experiences, the Nahanni River holds a hostile history. It’s known as the valley of the headless human cadavers.

Since 1906 when the Nahanni River Valley was first explored by gold-seeking Europeans, 44 people have been reported as disappeared or found dead in the region. 6 of them were missing their heads and lying beside burned-out camps. There’s a local legend—some say supernatural suspicion—that explains this mystery. We’ll explore this phenomenon in a bit but, first, let’s look at the Nahanni itself.

To call the Nahanni remote is an understatement. The park covers 11,602 square miles and lies north of latitude 60 on the western side of Canada’s Arctic. Its boundary starts 300 miles from the nearest center of Yellowknife and, to put the distance in perspective, Nahanni is 3,570 crow-flying miles from downtown Manhattan.

Nahanni’s geology is utterly unique. It’s a blend of towering, icy-cold mountains and lush green river bottoms fueled by 250 smouldering hot-spring caverns creating mists of sulfuric air, giving the Nahanni valley an eerie, otherworld persona. From extreme winter cold dropping to fifty-plus below through to short, but warm and humid summers, the Nahanni is truly a place of extremes.

There are no human settlements in the Nahanni. The only access is regulated through permits issued by Parks Canada whose wardens act as oversight to the few who enter. Most visitors are wealthy adventurers who access the wilderness by floatplane and enjoy guided whitewater excursions along the 210-mile route that pounds through four canyons with 9,000-foot granite guardians. One stretch, at Virginia Falls, drops twice the height of Niagara with a nearly equal volume of water.

About 300 humans visit Nahanni per year but the park is teeming with life. According to Parks Canada, there are 42 mammal, 181 bird, 16 fish, 700 vascular plant, and 300 bryophyte lichen species recorded. Grizzly bears and wolf packs are the food chain’s apex… unless you consider the region’s winner of the most vicious creation award—the wolverine.

Speaking of humans, the Nahanni records 10,000 years of indigenous inhabitation. Human artifacts dating back to the age of the mastodon and the now-extinct bear dog have been excavated by archeologists. Clearly, the interaction between people and Nahanni’s nature has been ongoing for a long, long time.

Today, the Dene are the region’s First Nations people. They populate the southern and eastern areas outside the park but are the legal ancestorial owners of the land. However, according to Dene oral history, the Nahanni was once occupied by a small and separate tribe known as the Naha who mysteriously disappeared around the time of the white man’s arrival. Naha, in the Dene language, means “people from the Nahanni River Valley”.

European contact began in the late 1800s when Hudson’s Bay Company fur traders set up posts along the Mackenzie River which lies to the east of Nahanni and to which the Nahanni waters flow on their journey to the Arctic Ocean. The fur trade flourished, and native-white contact continued throughout the Yukon Gold Rush of 1898 and onward.

It was inevitable that gold fever would boil over from the Yukon into the Northwest Territories. The lure of gold does something to the human psyche where normal people will do abnormal things. This is where our story of the valley of the headless human cadavers begins, and I’ll outline the 6 specific cases.

Brothers Frank and Willie McLeod — In the summer of 1906, two Scottish brothers from Fort Liard ventured into the Nahanni valley in search of gold. They never returned. A 1908 search party found the pair deceased in a burned-out camp. The bodies were skeletonized and both their heads were gone. Today, the camp’s river tributary junction that runs into the Nahanni River is called Headless Creek, and the localized area is Deadman’s Valley.

Martin Jorgenson — He attempted to become a permanent Nahanni Valley resident. In 1917, Jorgenson, who was a Swiss prospector, relocated from the Yukon and built a small cabin in Nahanni. That same year Jorgenson’s cabin was burned, and his headless body lay nearby.

“Yukon” Fisher — This man lost his head in 1927 near the spot that claimed the McLeod brothers. “Yukon” Fisher was a part-time gold prospector and a part-time outlaw. He was wanted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Yukon and had fled to the Nahanni. Also like the McLeods, Fisher was found decapitated in a burned camp.

Phil Powers — In 1931, Phil Powers became the fifth poor soul to become beheaded in the Nahanni. His campsite, too, was consumed by fire.

The Unidentified Headless Man — Although this man (suspected to have come from Ontario) was never named, he joined the list of headless cadavers of the Nahanni Valley. It was in 1945. The body was wrapped in a sleeping bag lying beside a burned tent.

A list of names and suspected murder victims goes on through the Valley of the Nahanni. Angus Hall, Joe Mulholland, Bill Epier, and Annie Laferte disappeared without a trace. Hall and Laferte left nothing, but the cabin shared by Mulholland and Epier was—you guessed it—burned to the ground.

So, what was behind all this burning and beheading? If you search the legends, you’ll find these explanations:

The Nahanni Valley Monster — This creature is Bigfoot-like, and it likes to behead and burn white men.

The Evil Spirit — It’s a weather spirit that’s said to haunt the Nahanni, making its presence known with otherworldly shrieks on cold nights.

Giants — It’s also said that a race of Giants inhabit the Nahanni and cook their meals in Rabbitkettle Hotsprings.

Prehistoric Creatures — Native hunters and trappers speak of elders describing creatures that match known prehistoric animals like mastodons and bear dogs.

The Waheela — This is a huge, wolf-like being linked to deaths in Nahanni Valley.

The Nuk-Luk — Picture a short, bearded man who is half-naked and carrying a huge club.

Naha: The vanished tribe.

Dene oral history tells of a sub-tribe called the Naha (who were similar to the Dene and who spoke the same language) that lived in the Nahanni mountains, descending down to the valley floor to make war on trespassers. The Dene were fearful of the Naha and steered clear of the upper and central Nahanni region to avoid confrontation. The story goes that the Naha were a small band of maybe a dozen individuals that mysteriously disappeared in the mid-twentieth century.

Some Dene claim the Naha returned to the land where both tribes have connections, somewhere in the southwest United States. There may be some truth to this as Dene is an Athabaskan language and is linguistically similar to the Navajo and Apache dialects. To use the crow-fly measurement, the distance between the Nahanni and the Navajo/Apache lands is approximately 2400 miles—hardly a big deal by 1950 and an age of public transit.

But a more likely scenario is this. The Naha, a small group, occupied the upper and central regions of Nahanni. They were fiercely protective of their lands and not tolerant of invaders—not the Dene and certainly not the white gold seekers. It makes sense that these Naha warriors would eliminate threats to their land and their livelihood. Killing intruders, cutting off their heads, and burning their possessions would certainly send a “Keep Out” message. Eventually, a fight between intruding whites and the Naha wiped out the indigenous folks.

No, I can’t buy into the monster, the evil spirits, the giants, prehistoric creatures, the Waheela, the Nuk-Luk, or the weather theories. Supernatural entities and harsh climates cannot behead bodies and burn down cabins. In my opinion, it was the Naha who caused the headless human cadavers and, ultimately, it cost them their lives.