Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
“The world has a habit of making room for people whose words and actions show they know where they are going.”
Chapter 2: Desire
To everyone, except himself, he appeared only another cog in the Edison business wheel, but in his own mind he was the partner of Edison every minute of the time, from the very day he first went to work there.
Burning desire to win = essential to success
Money consciousness means that the mind has become so thoroughly saturated with the desire for money that one can see oneself already in possession of it
One must realize that all who have accumulated great fortunes first did a certain amount of dreaming. Every great leader was a dreamer.
If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance
There is one quality one must possess to win and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.
Put their dreams into action -- remember that the real leaders of the world have always been people who harnessed and put into practice the intangible, unseen forces of unborn opportunity.
Never has there been a time more favorable to pioneers that the present
A burning desire to be and to do is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off
In setting goals, you are not limited to one area. You can dream of much more, set higher goals and strive to reach them.
No one is ready for a thing until he believes he can acquire it. Open-mindedness is essential for belief.
The first step in achieving success is to firmly believe that you are an excellent person who deserves success.
Imagine yourself successful: Always picture yourself successful. Visualize the person you desire to become.
Respond positively to life: Develop a positive self-image. Your image, your reactions to life and your decisions are completely within your control.
Chapter 3: Faith
All thoughts which have been emotionalized (given feeling) and mixed with faith begin to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.
The mind comes to take on the nature of the influences that dominate it
Success begins with a person’s will -- you’ve got to be sure of yourself before you can ever win a prize.
Chapter 4: Auto-suggestion
The subconscious mind is a fertile garden spot in which weeds will grow in abundance if the seeds of more desirable crops are not sown there. Autosuggestion is the agency of control through which an individual may voluntarily feed the subconscious mind thoughts of a create nature
Do not wait for a definite plan through which you intend to exchange services or merchandise in return for the money you are visualizing. Begin at once to see yourself in possession of the money, demanding and expecting meanwhile that your subconscious mind will hand over the plan you need
Treat it with respect and act upon it as soon as you receive it
Faith is the strongest and most productive of emotions
Chapter 5: Specialized Knowledge
Knowledge is only potential power - must be leveraged.
Educate = “educo” Latin root meaning to educe, to draw out, to develop from within.
Any person is educated who knows where to get knowledge when needed and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action.
Determination is step #1, followed my hard work, regime of physical and mental exercise and whatever it takes to bring us to peak performance.
Chapter 6: Imagination
Creative imagination - this faculty functions only when the conscious mind is vibrating at an exceedingly rapid rate, as for example when the conscious mind is stimulated through the emotion of desire.
God seems to throw Himself on the side of people who know exactly what they want and if they are determined to get just that.
Creators of ideas make their own price and if they are smart, they get it.
Chapter 7: Organized Planning
Most great leaders began as intelligent followers. People who can follow a leader most efficiently are usually those who develop into leadership most rapidly. An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the opportunity to acquire knowledge from the leader.
10 Major Attributes of Leadership:
Unwavering courage
Self-control
A keen sense of justice
Definiteness of decision
Definiteness of plans
The habit of doing more than paid
A pleasing personality
Sympathy and understanding
Mastery of detail
Willingness to assume full responsibility
Cooperation
How to get the exact position you desire
decide exactly what kind of job you want and if the job doesn’t already exist, perhaps you can create it
work out what you can offer and plan ways and ideas that you believe you can successfully deliver
present it to the proper person with authority to make the decision. Everyone company is looking for people who can give something of value, whether it is ideas, services, or “connections.” Every company has room for the person who has a definite plan of action to the advantage of that company.
One dependable method of accumulating and legally holding riches and that is by providing useful service. Capitalistic society guarantees every person that opportunity to provide useful service and to collect riches in proportion to the value of the service.
Chapter 8: Decision
Procrastination is the opposite of decision
If you talk more than you listen, you deprive yourself of many opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge.
Tell the world what you intend to do but first show it
The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to make them
Thought basked by strong desire has a tendency to transmute itself into its physical equivalent
Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want and generally get it.
The world has a habit of making room for people whose words and actions show they know where they are going.
Definiteness of decision always requires courage.
Chapter 9: Persistence
The starting point of all achievement is desire
If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a strong fire under your desires.
Fortunes gravitate to people whose minds have been prepared to “attract” them, just as surely as water gravitates to the ocean.
Chapter 11: The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
“transmute” = the changing or transferring of one element, or form of energy into another
Sex desire is the most powerful of human desires. When driven by this desire, people develop keenness of imagination, courage, willpower, persistence and creative ability.
The desire should not (and cannot) be eliminated or submerged. It should be given an outlet through forms of expression that enrich the body, mind, and spirit.
When driven by this emotion, men become gifted with a super power for action. The emotion of sex contains the secret of creative ability.
The emotion of sex is, by great odds, the most intense and powerful of all mind stimuli. The transmutation of sex energy may life one to the status of a genius.
Genius is developed through the sixth sense
The creative imagination functions best when the mind is vibrating (due to some form of mind stimulation) at an exceedingly high rate. That is, when the mind is functioning at a rate of vibration higher than that of ordinary, normal thought
The more the sixth sense is used, the more alert and receptive the creative faculty becomes to vibration originating outside the individual’s subconscious mind, and the more the individual relies upon it and makes demands upon it for thought impulses.
Sex energy is the creative energy of all genius.
Personal magnetism is nothing more nor less than sex energy.
Tone of voice = made musical and charming
Posture = grace and ease
Vibrations of thought = “mix the motion of sex with their thoughts to influence those around them”
Body adornment = very careful about their physical appearance, selecting clothing that compliments their personality and physique
The years between 40 and 50 are, as a rule, the most fruitful. One should approach this age with hope and eager anticipation.
When the emotion of love mixes with emotion of sex, it results in calmness of purpose, poise, accuracy of judgement, and balance. Love, romance, and sex are all emotions capable of driving people to heights of super achievement. When combined, these three emotions may lift one to the altitude of genius.
The emotion of love brings out the artistic and aesthetic nature of a person. Every person who has been moved by genuine love knows that it leaves enduring traces upon the human heart. Those who cannot be stimulated to great heights of achievement by love are hopeless- they are dead, though they seem to live.
Chapter 12: The Subconscious MInd
If you fail to plant desires into your subconscious mind, it will feed upon the thoughts that reach it as a result of your neglect.
Thoughts go out from one’s mind also embed themselves deeply in one’s subconscious, where they serve as a magnet or blueprint by which the subconscious mind is influenced while translating them into their physical equivalent
Every material thing begins in the form of thought-energy. Only emotionalized thoughts have any action influence upon the subconscious mind
Draw upon positive emotions, the 7 most powerful are (desire, faith, love, sex, enthusiasm, romance, hope) and thse are most commonly used in creative effort.
Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. One or the other must dominate. It is your responsibility to make sure the positive emotions constitute the dominating influence. Here’s where the law of habit will come to your aid -- form the habit of applying and using positive emotions.
Faith and fear make poor bedfellows. Where one is found, the other cannot exist.
Chapter 13: The Brain
When stepped up to a high rate of vibration, the mind becomes more receptive to the vibration of thought that reaches it through the ether from outside sources. This “stepping up” process takes place through positive emotions
Thought is energy traveling at an exceedingly rate of vibration
Chapter 14: The Sixth Sense
The sixth sense = “creative imagination” or the receiving set through which ideas, plas, and thoughts flash into the mind. People call these “inspirations” or hunches.
The next best thing to be truly great is to emulate the great, by feeling and action, as closely as possible. Follow the habit of reshaping your character by trying to imitate the lives and life works most impressive to you
All people become what they are because of their dominating thoughts and desires. Deeply seated desire seeks outward expression through which it is transmuted into reality.
Self-suggestion is a powerful factor in building character and the sole principle in which character is built
Your own thoughts and desires serve as the magnet that attracts the units of life, from the great ocean of life out there
One of the greatest lessons of maturity is that it brings one greater courage to be truthful, regardless of what those who do not understand may think or say.
Chapter 15: How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear
Fear is nothing more that state of mind and one’s state of mind is subject to control and direction. A state of mind is something that one assumes. It cannot be purchased, it must be created.
We live in a society of overabundance of everything, with nothing standing between us and our desires, except lack of definite purpose.
Worry is a form of sustained fear caused by indecision, therefore it is a state of mind that can be controlled. Most people lack the willpower to reach decisions promptly and stand by them after they have been made.
Kill the habit of worry by the blanket decision that nothing life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With this decision will come poise, ease of mind, and calmness of thought that will bring happiness.
A person whose mind is filled with fear destroys their chances of intelligent action and transmits these destructive vibrations to the mind of other people. A dog or horse knows when its master lacks courage. A honeybee immediately senses fear in the mind of a person - people can feel those vibrations. The presence of destructive emotion development a negative personality and that repels people
You may control your own mind; you have the power to feed it whatever thought impulses you choose.
You are the master of your own earthly destiny just as surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts.
Chapter 16: The Devil’s Workshop
Keep your mind closed against people who discourage you. Seek the company of people who influence you to think and act for yourself. Do not expect troubles as they have a tendency to not disappoint.
If you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else. Your mind is a spiritual estate. Protect and use it with care to which divine royalty is entitled. You were given willpower for this purpose.
Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no half way compromise.
People who do not succeed have the one trait of believing these alibis for their own lack of achievement “if only I had the money… if only I had a good family… if only I was able to work for XYZ company…”
The first and best victory is to conquer self.