“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill is definitely one of the best books I ever read. It is an excellent motivator that defines the correlation between wealth creation and acquiring the desires of your heart and mind. The book defines the principles and supports them with real-life examples of people that have used them.
“Think and Grow Rich” begins with The Power of Thought. The first sentence states, “truly thoughts are things and powerful things at that, when mixed with purpose, persistence and a burning desire for their translation into riches or other material objects.” Therefore, our thoughts/beliefs play a significant role in whether we experience the physical realities of poverty or riches. “Poverty is attracted to the one whose mind is favorable to it, as money is attracted to the one whose mind has been deliberately prepared to attract it, and through the same laws.”
The book defines a thirteen-step process to make this happen:
#1 – DESIRE. There must be a burning desire in you that becomes an obsession for obtaining riches. The obsession must be so strong that “one can see oneself already in possession of it.”
#2 – FAITH. Faith is a state of mind, a positive emotion that results in the unchanging belief in something(s) that is not seen in the physical. This emotion mixed with thought impulses “translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.”
#3 – AUTOSUGGESTION. Autosuggestion is the principle that one can use to deliberately develop faith, through repeated instructions to the subconscious mind. This is done by simply closing your eyes and visualizing yourself having and/or doing whatever it is you desire on a consistent basis. Repetition is the key to deliberately programming the subconscious mind.
#4 – KNOWLEDGE. It is vital that you have an understanding or know how to access the knowledge needed for whatever it is that you desire. Knowledge is the potential for POWER.
#5 – IMAGINATION. The imagination is the place where “the desire” is given shape, form, and action through the aid of the imaginative faculty of the mind.
#6 – ORGANIZED PLANNING. Acquiring wealth has little, if any, to do with luck. Instead, it is the result of plans that are created, organized and implemented.
#7 – DECISION. A lack of decision-making ability and/or procrastination are both attributes of failure. Therefore, success is linked to one’s ability to “reach decisions promptly and change them slowly.”
#8 – PERSISTENCE. Persistence is the determination to succeed no matter what happens. “Those who cultivate the habit of persistence,… no matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up near the top of the ladder.”
#9 – POWER OF THE MASTERMIND. The Master Mind is defined as the “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.” It is basically the exchange of knowledge and imagination from groups of people.
#10 – SEX TRANSMUTATION. Sexual desire is a powerful emotion that can be transformed into forms of creative expression. “The emotion of sex contains the secret of creative ability.”
#11 – THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. The subconscious mind is referred to as the connecting link that “consists of the field of consciousness in which every impulse of thought that reaches the objective mind through any of the five senses is classified and recorded. From here, thoughts may be recalled or withdrawn as letters may be taken from a filing cabinet.”
#12 – THE BRAIN. The brain is defined in the book as a broadcasting and receiving station for the vibrations of thought. It is those vibrations of thought, whether attracted by other brains (Master Mind Groups) or one’s own thoughts, that are passed through the subconscious mind.
#13 – THE SIXTH SENSE. The Sixth Sense is the creative imagination portion of the subconscious mind. It is essentially where hunches and inspirations arise and once developed, could open the door to wisdom.
In conclusion, the author suggests that the mastery and implementation of these thirteen steps will result in wealth creation. Remember the proverb, “for as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Here we learn that it is our thoughts that translate into our physical realities. Both poverty and riches are the result of either negative or positive thought impulses. If you want to change your life, change your thoughts.
SO, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
Book Review: Think and Grow Rich, Revised and Updated for the 21st Century, by Napoleon Hill, revised and updated by Dr. Arthur R. Pell
ISBN: 58542-433-1 | Price: $9.95
Jeremy P. Tarcher | Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. | New York | www.penguin.com
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