Andrew Carnegie, a steel magnate, gave Napoleon Hill a challenge in the Autumn of 1908. He challenged him to develop a concrete strategy for success that was based on the experiences of the greatest achievers in the world. Think and Grow Rich was published after a few decades and many pages of research.
What is Think and Grow Rich About ?
Think and Grow Rich combines the wisdom of more than 500 of America’s most accomplished individuals. The insights of these individuals were then reduced to 13 principles, which Hill calls a “Philosophy of Achievement”.
Hill refused to allow Thinking and Growing Rich to be viewed as a system or method for success. He stated that his book had the following goals:
- To assist the reader in becoming self-aware.
- To assist the reader in understanding how to be more effective amid the immutable laws and forces of the universe.
What Are the 13 Principles of Think and Grow Rich?
Napoleon Hill’s 13 principles for success are a philosophy that can be thought about. Each principle will be covered in this Think and Get Rich summary. These principles are:
- Desire
- Faith
- Auto-suggestion
- Specialized Knowledge
- Imagination
- Organized Planning
- Decision
- Persistence
- The Power of the Master Mind
- Sex Transmutation
- The Subconscious Mind
- The Brain
- The Sixth Sense
Think and Grow Rich is a book that’s both philosophical and spiritual. It has been a classic for CEOs and entrepreneurs alike. You’ll be able to control your subconscious and master your destiny by reading this Think & Grow Rich chapter summary.
Desire: The Beginning Point of All Achievement
Hill says that setting a goal is key to success. Then, you must put all your effort, energy, and power into reaching it. Although it may take years to achieve your goals, you can hold on to them until you do.
You won’t get anywhere if you just wish for money. You can only achieve riches if you have an obsessive goal and a plan. Don’t accept failure as an option. Hill offers the Think and Get Rich 66 steps to help you get there.
- Determine how much money you want to make to the dollar.
- Consider what you would be willing to do to get this amount of money.
- You can choose a date when you would like to have this money.
- Make a plan for how you will achieve your goal, and then start immediately, regardless of whether or not you feel ready.
- All of the above should be written down in a clear statement.
- This written statement should be read aloud twice daily – once in the morning, and again at night. Imagine your life as if this amount of money is already in your possession.
Although it may be difficult to imagine yourself as wealthy at first, success is only for those who are money conscious. Money consciousness is the ability to envision yourself as possessing great wealth before you actually attain it. If you have a strong desire to be rich, you will not stop trying to make it happen.
Faith: Attainment and Visualization of the Desire
Faith is something you need to cultivate. Auto-suggestion, which involves repeating affirmations and giving instructions, creates a state that is based on faith. Any thought impulse that is repeated repeatedly and entered into the subconscious mind becomes a continuous loop.
This can have serious negative consequences. We can not only have positive thoughts, but we can also make negative ones. This can lead to us believing we are inept, doomed, or a failure. Hill argues that our subconscious is determined by our beliefs. Repeating affirmations can reprogram your subconscious to see and feel success.
The influences that influence the mind to shape the mind. Positive thoughts are more likely to be fertile for faith. Faith is the foundation of all success. What is the biggest factor that can hold you back from success Lack of self-confidence is the biggest factor that can hold you back from success. Hill suggests the five-fold Believe and Grow Rich affirmation exercise. This can be repeated in writing, and then recalled to improve your self-confidence.
- You can achieve your goal if you believe in yourself.
- Your mind’s dominant thoughts will influence your physical actions and make you a different person. Spend 30 minutes each day imagining the person you want.
- Focus for ten minutes daily on building your self-confidence.
- You should write down the goal and keep at it until you achieve it.
- Realize that you can’t have lasting success if your path to it is immoral. Make a commitment to only enter into a transaction if all parties are benefitted. Negative attitudes towards others will not bring you success.
To be successful, commit this method to your memory and say it aloud every day.
Auto-Suggestion: A Medium to Influence the Subconscious Mind
Auto-suggestion can also be called self-suggestion. It is the bridge between the subconscious and conscious mind. It is not enough to simply read the words aloud. It is important to connect emotion with words. Reciting the affirmations as described in the previous chapter must be accompanied by an emotional response. Only thoughts you feel will be acted upon by your subconscious.
Hill suggests that you add the following steps to the Think & Grow Rich six steps previously outlined in the chapter about desire:
- You will need to find a quiet spot where you won’t get disturbed and read your written statement aloud. Visualize yourself having the money.
- Keep doing this every morning until you have a clear picture of the money that you want to make.
- This written statement should be placed where it can be seen first thing in the morning, and last thing at bedtime. It should be read until it is firmly etched in your memory.
Specialized Knowledge: Personal Experiences and Observations
There are two types of knowledge: general and specialized. When trying to build wealth, general knowledge is not of much use. Only if you are organized and directed towards a specific goal can knowledge generate wealth. You must have specific knowledge about the field in which you want to succeed.
Hill suggests creating a mastermind group if the amount of knowledge you need is beyond your capabilities. This group should include people who possess the knowledge required to achieve your goal and can help you reach it.
The Workshop of the Mind: Imagination
All plans can be created and formed in your imagination. Your imagination is your only limit. Hill says there are two kinds of imagination: creative and synthetic.
Synthetic imagination allows you to transform existing ideas and concepts into new forms. This type of imagination does not create anything, as it uses existing mental material. Inspiration and hunches can lead to creative imagination. It is where new ideas are born. This type of imagination is only possible when your conscious mind can be stimulated by desire. This is a skill that must be learned.
The beginning point of all fortunes is ideas. They are the result of imagination. You can look at the greatest companies, like Coca-Cola, to remind yourself that they all started with one idea. A true salesperson is able to see that ideas can be traded even when tangible merchandise is not. A great idea and a salesperson can make a lot of money. Ideas can be unstoppable when they are matched with passion. They are stronger than the brains that made them. You must listen, cultivate and have a desire for them to succeed.
Organized Planning: How to Transform Desire into Action
Hill suggests these four Steps Help You Think and Grow Rich.
- You can join a Master Mind group of people who will assist you in executing your plan.
- Before you begin to put together the group, make sure that you know what you are willing to offer each member in return for their efforts.
- You should meet with your group at least once a week. If possible, more often if you can, until you have a solid plan.
- Keep good relationships with your group at all times
Collaboration is key to achieving your goals. It is impossible for anyone to do it all on their own. You can always go back to the drawing board if your plans don’t work. Before he invented the incandescent lightbulb, Thomas Edison had 10,000 failed plans. He never gave up, and he kept coming up with new ideas when his previous plans failed. This was the key to his success. Planning intelligently is key to your success.
Decision: The Mastery of Procrastination
Hill analyzed the data from more than 25,000 interviews and concluded that procrastination was the most common reason for failure. People who are most successful make quick and clear decisions. People who have difficulty making a decision often find it easy to be persuaded or influenced by others.
Hill says that being easily persuaded means you don’t have the desire to achieve your goals. Trust yourself and only trust trusted sources if you require information. People who are able to quickly make decisions know what they want and how they can get it. People who are clear in their goals and actions will find the world to bend to them. To decide requires courage. Only the brave can achieve great fortunes.
Persistence: The sustained effort required to induce faith
Persistence is built on the strength of your will. If you combine willpower and desire, nothing can stop the pursuit of your goals. Many people give up when things become too difficult. Persisting in the face of difficulties is the only way forward.
You can overcome a lackluster persistence if you put in a concerted effort. The intensity of your desire to achieve your goals will determine how easy it is to persevere. Hill recommends that you remind yourself daily of your affirmations. Hill suggests that you gather your Master Mind group to help you stay on track.
Hill proposes an eight-stage Thinking and Growing Rich plan to cultivate persistence. It is as follows:
- Determination of purpose: Knowing what you want.
- Desire: To be obsessed with accumulating your monetary fortune.
- Self-reliance: Your persistence will increase if you believe that your plan can be followed.
- Planes that are clear and precise: Organized, detailed plans will help you move forward.
- Accuracy in knowledge: Ensuring your plans are based upon facts.
- Collaboration: Your Master Mind members can help you persevere.
- Willpower: Focus your attention on completing your plans.
- Habit: Persistence can be directly attributed to habit. You are what you do every day. Fear can be overcome by acting with courage every day.
Power of the Mastermind: The Driving Force
You must have the power to accumulate wealth. You cannot make your plans come true without power. Hill states that there are three methods of building power.
- Infinite intelligence
- Experience accrued
- Research and experiment
By organizing knowledge into clear plans, you can transform it into power. Knowledge cannot be gained by itself. You will need the help of others if your plans are comprehensive. You can harness the power of the Master Mind group members to generate your own knowledge. Nearly every great fortune has been built on cooperative alliances. The sum of all the minds produced far more than the sum of their parts.
The Secret of Sex Transmutation: Step Ten Towards Wealth
Transmute is the verb that transforms one form or element of energy into another. Hill claims that sex is the most powerful and primal drive of our species. This desire is so strong that people will risk their reputation and lives to have sex. Hill claims that if this sexual energy can be redirected to other pursuits, it may have a much greater effect. Hill maintains that this requires a lot of willpower but it is well worth the effort.
Hill insists that it is not necessary to suppress the sexual impulse. He suggests that instead, the sexual drive should be allowed to flourish through other outlets that enrich the mind and body. Transmuting the sexual drive can lead to extraordinary creative ability. Hill says that creativity is the sixth sense of humankind. Although creativity is within us, it’s not guided by us. The “still small voice” within is what makes great artists. This is true for all artists and CEOs.
The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting link
Although you cannot direct your subconscious mind, it can be influenced by you to make specific goals, plans, or desires. The subconscious cannot be controlled by you unless you make a habit of it. Your subconscious operates 24/7 so you need to be aware of what negative thoughts and habits you are feeding it. It is important to take action to remove these negative influences from your subconscious and cultivate more positive, desire-driven thoughts.
Emotions accompanied by thoughts are more likely to be absorbed by the subconscious. Hill says that only emotionally charged thoughts can translate into actions. It’s worth learning about what is negative and positive emotions. Hill compares emotions to yeast in bread. They encourage action, e.g. they make the bread rise. The outcome of an emotion’s positive or negative effect on the bread will determine whether it is a good or bad loaf.
The Brain: A Broadcasting & Receiving Station for Thought
Hill believed that the brain could pick up thoughts from other brains. He stated that only thoughts with a high frequency of vibration can transmit between minds. Hill claims that thoughts will vibrate at a higher frequency if they are engaged in sex transmutation.
Hill recommends that you concentrate on your subconscious and creative imagination to maximize your mental “broadcasting”, which can be done through auto-suggestion.
The Sixth Sense: The Gate to the Temple of Wisdom
Hill believed that there was an “Infinite Intelligence” that could be tapped into if the subconscious vibrates at a particularly high, positive frequency. He also stated that Infinite Intelligence can communicate with an individual even if they have not cultivated a mental state suitable for them. Hill calls the creative imagination the sixth sense. Hill believed that what people call “flashes” or “hunches” were messages from the Infinite Intelligence. Therefore, the sixth sense is a combination of spiritual and mental.
You will be able to hear your sixth sense and recognize when you should avoid dangers or when you should seize the opportunity. It is a sort of guardian angel. Hill claims that, if you have read the chapters before, you are ready to accept the notion of the sixth sense. As the other principles are being realized, this ability to hear is gradually developed.
How to defeat the Six Ghosts of Fear | Think and Grow Rich
Hill says that before you can integrate the principles laid out in this book, you need to ensure that you don’t feel held back by any of his six fundamental fears.
- Fear of poverty is characterized by indifference and indecision, worry, doubt, anxiety, procrastination, and overcaution.
- Fear of criticism is embodied in self-consciousness and lack of poise. It can also be manifested as an inferiority complex, extravagance or lack of initiative.
- Fear of illness, which is embodied in hypochondria and poor exercise, susceptibility to infection, self-coddling and intemperance.
- Fear of losing someone’s affection is embodied in jealousy, fault-finding, and gambling.
- Fear of old age is characterized by slowing down and developing an inferiority complex at the age of 40. This refers to oneself as “being old” and kills off the habits of initiative and imagination.
- Fear of death is a fear that you will die. It manifests in a focus on dying instead of living, a lack of purpose and a lack of suitable occupation.
Hill says that fear can be divided into these categories. Because fear is an emotion that can be translated into physical action, any thoughts associated with it will never lead to significant financial gains. Fear is a mental state. The mind can be controlled. You can therefore control your destiny by controlling your mind. This will help you overcome fear and make your way to all your dreams.
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