think and grow rich resume

Sam Thomas Davies

Think and Grow Rich by Napolen Hill

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The Book in Three Sentences

Napoleon Hill researched more than forty millionaires to find out what made them the men that they were.
In Think and Grow Rich, he imparts that knowledge to you.
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

The Five Big Ideas

The starting point of all achievement is desire.
You are the master of your destiny.
When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.
Your greatest success will often come just one step beyond the point at which defeat has overtaken you.
Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.

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Think and grow rich summary.

Bob Proctor has formed the habit of reading a few lines from Think and Grow Rich every day and has arrived at the conclusion that whatever challenge he may face, his solution will be found in the pages of Think and Grow Rich.

Another habit Proctor has formed that he would urge the reader to follow is to read the chapter on “Persistence” every day for 30 days at least twice a year.

“Don’t wait. The time will never be right.”

“Thoughts are things—and powerful things at that when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches or other material objects.”

Hill learned from years of experience with men that when a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.

“What a different story people would have to tell if only they would adopt a definite purpose and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession.”

“Opportunity has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, often disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat which why so many fail to recognize opportunity.”

“An intangible impulse of thought can be ‘transmuted’ into its physical counterpart.”

Know what you want and have the determination to stand by that desire until you realize it.

“One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.”

Before success comes into your life, you are sure to be met with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failure.

More than 500 of the most successful individuals this country has ever known told Hill that their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them.

“When riches begin to come, they come so quickly, in such great abundance, that one wonders where they have been hiding all those years.”

One of the main weaknesses of the human race is the average person’s familiarity with the word “impossible.”

A great many years ago Hill purchased a dictionary. The first thing he did with it was turn to the word “impossible” and neatly clip it out of the book. Hill advises you to do the same.

Another weakness found in many people is the habit of measuring everything and everyone by their own impressions and beliefs.

“When poet William Ernest Henley wrote the prophetic lines, ‘I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul,’ he should have informed us that we are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains of our Souls, because we have the power to control our thoughts.”

“A burning desire to be and to do is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off. Dreams are not born of indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition.”

“Those who win in any undertaking must be willing to burn their ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win, which is essential to success.”

“Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.”

The method by which desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical actions.

Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say, “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount.”
Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)
Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night and once after arising in the morning. As you read, see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

You can never have riches in great quantities unless you can work yourself into a white heat of desire for money and actually believe you will possess it.

“If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.”

“If the thing you wish to do is right and you believe in it, go ahead and do it. Put your dream across, and never mind what ‘they’ say if you meet with temporary defeat, for ‘they’ perhaps do not know that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success.”

“You may have been disappointed, you may have suffered setbacks and defeat during hard economic times, you may have felt the great heart within you crushed until it bled. Take courage, for these experiences have tempered the spiritual metal of which you are made—they are assets of incomparable value.”

All who succeed in life get off to a bad start and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive.”

“No one ever is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”

“There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. You are never ready for a thing until you believe you can acquire it.”

“No more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty.”

“Nothing is impossible to the person who backs desire with enduring faith.”

“All achievement, no matter what may be its nature or its purpose, must begin with an intense, burning desire for something definite.”

“Faith is a state of mind which may be induced by autosuggestion.”

“Faith is a state of mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmations or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of autosuggestion.”

“Repetition or affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.”

“All thoughts which have been emotionalized (given feeling) and mixed with faith begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.”

“Each of us is what we are because of the dominating thoughts which we permit to occupy our mind.”

“Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.”

“Your subconscious mind recognizes and acts only upon thoughts which have been well-mixed with emotion or feeling.”

“When visualizing (with closed eyes) the money you intend to accumulate, see yourself rendering the service or delivering the merchandise you intend to give in return for this money.

“Go into some quiet spot (preferably in bed at night) where you will not be disturbed or interrupted, close your eyes, and repeat aloud (so you may hear your own words) the written statement of the amount of money you intend to accumulate, the time limit for its accumulation, and a description of the service or merchandise you intend to give in return for the money.”

“As you carry out these instructions, see yourself already in possession of the money. For example, suppose that you intend to accumulate $500,000 by the first of January, five years hence, that you intend to give personal services in return for the money in the capacity of a sales representative.”

Your written statement of your purpose should be similar to the following:

By the first day of January, [here state the year], I will have in my possession $500,000, which will come to me in various amounts from time to time during the interim. In return for this money, I will give the most efficient service of which I am capable, rendering the fullest possible quantity, and the best possible quality of service in the capacity of selling…. (describe the service or merchandise you intend to sell). I believe that I will have this money in my possession. My faith is so strong that I can now see this money before my eyes. I can touch it with my hands. It is now awaiting transfer to me at the time and in the proportion that I deliver the service, I intend to render in return for it. I am awaiting a plan by which to accumulate this money, and I will follow that plan when it is received.

“Repeat this program night and morning until you can clearly visualize (in your imagination) the money you intend to accumulate.”

“Place a written copy of your statement where you can see it night and morning, and read it just before retiring and upon arising until it has been memorized.”

“There are two kinds of knowledge. One is general; the other, specialized. General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money.”

“Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.”

“The individual who can organize and direct a Mastermind Group of people who possess knowledge useful in the accumulation of money is just as educated as anyone in the group. Remember that if you suffer from a feeling of inferiority because your schooling has been limited.”

“Your major purpose in life, the goal toward which you are working, will help determine what knowledge you need.”

“As knowledge is acquired, it must be organized and put into use, for a definite purpose, through practical plans. Knowledge has no value except that which can be gained from its application toward some worthy end.”

“Successful people, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business, or profession.”

“The person who stops studying merely because he or she has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what that person’s calling.”

“The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.”

“We rise to high positions or remain at the bottom because of conditions we can control if we desire to control them.”

“Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth.”

“The only limitation is that which one sets up in one’s own mind.”

“Ideas can be transmuted into cash through the power of definite purpose, plus definite plans.”

“Riches, when they come in huge quantities, are never the result of hard work. Riches come, if they come at all, in response to definite demands, based upon the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck.”

“Success requires no apologies. Failure permits no alibis.”

“Your achievement can be no greater than your plans are sound.”

“No follower of this philosophy can reasonable expect to accumulate a fortune without experiencing temporary defeat.”

“When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.”

“A quitter never wins—and a winner never quits.”

“A follower cannot reasonably expect the compensation to which a leader is entitled, although many followers make the mistake of expecting such pay.”

“Most great leaders began in the capacity of followers. They became great leaders because they were intelligent followers.”

“The person who can follow a leader most efficiently is usually the one who develops into leadership most rapidly.”

“An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the opportunity to acquire knowledge from his or her leader.”

“Most people go through life as failures because they habitually wait for the “time to be right” to start doing something worthwhile.”

“Before you even start to negotiate for a readjustment of your salary in your present position or seek employment elsewhere, be sure that you are worth more than you receive.”

“Many people mistake their wants for their just dues.”

“Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.”

“Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.”

“When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance becomes available to every individual brain in the group.”

“The years between 40 and 50 are, as a rule, the most fruitful. Individuals should approach this age not with fear and trembling, but with hope and eager anticipation.”

“Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time.”

The Seven Major Positive Emotions:

The Seven Major Negative Emotions (To be avoided):

Superstition

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Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Summary (2024)

In the Autumn of 1908, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie gave the young journalist Napoleon Hill a challenge. He asked him to create a concrete philosophy of success based on the experience of the world’s greatest achievers. A couple of decades and thousands of pages of research later, Think and Grow Rich became an international bestseller.

Post Contents

What Is Think and Grow Rich About?

What Are the 13 Principles of Think and Grow Rich?

Desire: The Starting Point of All Achievement

Faith: visualization of and belief in attainment of desire, auto-suggestion: the medium for influencing the subconscious mind, specialized knowledge: personal experiences or observations, imagination: the workshop of the mind, organized planning: the crystallization of desire into action, decision: the mastery of procrastination, persistence: the sustained effort necessary to induce faith, power of the master mind: the driving force, the mystery of sex transmutation: the tenth step towards riches, the subconscious mind: the connecting link, the brain: a broadcasting and receiving station for thought, the sixth sense: the door to the temple of wisdom, how to outwit the six ghosts of fear.

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Think and Grow Rich is the combined wisdom from more than 500 of America’s most successful individuals. Their insights were then narrowed down into 13 principles and contribute to what Hill refers to as an overall “Philosophy of Achievement.”

However, refusing to let Think and Grow Rich be defined purely as a method or system for success, Hill stated that the goals of his book were:

To help the reader become self-aware.
To help the reader understand how to become more effective amidst the immutable laws of the universe.

What Are the 13 Principles of Think and Grow Rich ?

Napoleon Hill’s 13 principles of success present a philosophy of achievement that is intended to be mulled over. This Think and Grow Rich summary will look at each of the 13 principles in turn. They are as follows:

Auto-suggestion
Specialized Knowledge
Imagination
Organized Planning
Persistence
The Power of the Master Mind
Sex Transmutation
The Subconscious Mind
The Sixth Sense

Uniquely philosophical and, at times, veering on spiritual, Think and Grow Rich has become a seminal book for entrepreneurs, CEOs, and individual thinkers alike. By reading the key points from this Think and Grow Rich chapter summary, you’ll learn how to master your subconscious and command your destiny.

Hill states that the key to success is to define a goal and to pour all of your energy, power, and effort into achieving it. It may take many years before you are successful, but if you hold onto your desire, you will eventually attain what you seek.

Merely wishing for money will get you nowhere. However, to desire riches by way of an obsessive goal, a meticulous plan, and not accepting failure as an option, you’ll become rich. To help you do so, Hill presents the Think and Grow Rich six6 steps:

Decide exactly how much money you wish to make, to the dollar.
Determine what you are willing to give to receive this amount of money.
Choose a date by which you want to have amassed this amount of money.
Create a plan of how to achieve your goal and begin at once, whether you feel ready or not.
Write all of the above down in a clear statement.
Read this written statement aloud, twice a day – first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Visualize your life as if you already own this amount of money.

While being able to visualize yourself as rich may seem challenging at first, it’s only those individuals who are “money conscious” that become successful. To be money conscious is to see yourself in possession of great wealth before you attain it. You will only become rich if you possess a deep desire for money, and you stop at nothing to get it.

Faith is a state of mind that you must learn to cultivate. Through repeating affirmations and instructions, a state of faith is created in the subconscious thanks to the process of auto-suggestion. Any impulse of thought that is continuously repeated and entered into the subconscious mind eventually becomes a continuous loop of thought.

However, this can also have negative consequences. In addition to positive thought patterns, we can also enforce negative ones that can result in us believing that we are unworthy, doomed, or a failure. Hill, therefore, argues that it’s our beliefs alone that determine the nature of our subconscious. By repeating affirmations, you can reprogram your mind to visualize and, thus, to feel and believe that your success is guaranteed.

The mind takes on the nature of the influences that guide it. A positive mind is more fertile to faith, and faith is the starting point for all success. The greatest factor holding you back from success? A lack of self-confidence. Hill suggests this five-fold Think and Grow Rich affirmation exercise to repeat in writing and then learn by memory to increase your self-confidence:

Know that you are capable of achieving your goal, and you must promise to be persistent in pursuit of this endeavor.
The dominating thoughts of your mind will result in physical action and change your reality. You must, therefore, spend 30 minutes each day thinking about the type of person you want to become.
For ten minutes each day, focus on increasing your sense of self-confidence.
Write down a description of your goal, and don’t stop reaching for it until it’s attained.
Come to realize that you cannot have enduring success if you attained it through immoral means. Therefore, make a promise to only engage in a transaction if it benefits all that are involved. A negative attitude towards humanity will never bring you success.

Commit this method to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day to become successful.

Auto-suggestion is synonymous with self-suggestion. It’s the bridge between the conscious and the subconscious mind. Merely reading words aloud will have no impact. You have to attach emotion to the words. When reciting your affirmations, as laid out in the previous chapter, you must encourage your desire to consume you. Your subconscious will only act upon thoughts that are felt.

Therefore, Hill recommends adding the following to the Think and Grow Rich six steps previously laid out in the chapter on desire:

Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, and repeat aloud your written statement. As you do so, visualize having that money.
Repeat this morning and night until you have a clear image in your mind of all the money you wish to make.
Place this written statement where you can see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Read it until you have committed it to memory.

There are two types of knowledge: Specialized and general. General knowledge is of little use when attempting to accumulate wealth. Knowledge only generates money when organized and specifically directed to a definite end. To become successful, you must require specific knowledge in the area in which you intend to make your fortune.

If the amount of knowledge required exceeds your capacities, Hill recommends creating a “Master Mind” group. This group should consist of individuals who have the knowledge you seek and who you can manage to help attain your goal.

Within your imagination is where all plans are created and formed. The only limitation you face depends on how much you develop your imagination. According to Hill, there are two types of imagination: synthetic and creative.

Through synthetic imagination, you reformulate existing concepts, ideas, and plans into new forms. Nothing is created in this form of imagination because it works with existing mental material. Creative imagination is what springs forth from hunches and inspiration. Within it, new ideas are formed. This type of imagination can only be reached when your conscious mind is being stimulated through desire. It’s a muscle that must be trained.

Ideas are the starting point for all fortunes, and they are the product of the imagination. It can be useful to look at some of the most successful companies of all time, such as Coca-Cola, and remind yourself that it once began as a single idea. Indeed, a truly wise salesperson will know that ideas can be traded where tangible merchandise cannot. Nearly all considerable fortunes begin when an individual with a great idea meets an individual who sells ideas. When matched with desire, ideas are unstoppable forces. They are more powerful than the brains that created them. Thus, you must listen, cultivate, and develop a desire to see them through.

To put your plan into action, Hill recommends following these four Think and Grow Rich steps:

Ally yourself with a Master Mind group that consists of people who will help you carry out your plan.
However, before assembling the group, be sure to ascertain what it is you can offer each of the members in return for their work.
Meet with the group at least twice a week, or more if possible, until a solid plan has been created.
Maintain good relations between you and the group at all times.

To obtain your fortune, you will need to collaborate with others. No individual can make it entirely on their own. If your plans fail, go back to the drawing board and keep trying until a plan works. Thomas Edison made 10,000 failed plans before he perfected the incandescent light bulb. His key to success was that he never gave up and kept formulating new plans when the previous ones had failed. To plan intelligently is the key to securing your fortune.

After analyzing the data accrued from interviewing more than 25,000 men and women, Hill came to the conclusion that a lack of decision, e.g., procrastination, was one of the leading causes for failure. The most successful people make decisions quickly and definitely. Those who struggle to make a decision are often easily persuaded by the opinions of others.

However, Hill states that to be easily persuadable means that you lack desire and, therefore, will not reach your goals. Learn to trust yourself, and if you need information, only get it from trusted sources. Those who make decisions quickly know what they want and how to get it. The world bends to those whose actions and words indicate that they know where they are going. To decide requires courage. It’s only the bold who go on to achieve great fortunes.

Persistence is built upon strength of will. When desire is combined with willpower, little can stop you from reaching your goals. Most give up the minute things get too challenging. To persist in the face of adversity is the only way to advance.

If you find yourself struggling with a lack of persistence, by putting in some concerted effort, you can overcome this hurdle. How easily you’ll be able to persist depends exclusively on how intense your desire to reach your goals is. Here, Hill suggests reminding yourself of your daily affirmations. Further, if you have carefully assembled your Master Mind group, they can prove beneficial in encouraging you to stay on track.

Hill puts forward an eight-stage Think and Grow Rich action plan to cultivate persistence. It goes as follows:

Definiteness of purpose: Knowing exactly what you want.
Desire: Becoming obsessed with amassing your monetary fortune.
Self-reliance: Belief that you can follow your plan increases your persistence.
Definiteness of plans: Organized, thorough plans guide you forward.
Accurate knowledge: Ensuring that your plans are based on fact.
Co-operation: Members of your Master Mind can encourage you to persist.
Willpower: Concentrating your attention on seeing your plans through to completion.
Habit: Persistence is the direct result of habit. What you do daily becomes who you are. By repeatedly acting courageously, fear can be overcome.

To accumulate money, you must have power. Without power, you cannot put your plans into action. Hill states there are three ways of accumulating power, and they are:

Infinite intelligence
Accumulated experience
Experiment and research

Knowledge is converted into power by organizing it into definite plans. However, knowledge cannot be acquired alone. If your plans are thorough, then they will require the knowledge of others. By using the knowledge of the members of your Master Mind group, you can generate power. Cooperative alliances underpin nearly every great fortune ever amassed. A collection of minds produces results far greater than the sum of their parts.

The word to “transmute” means to transform one element or form of energy into another. Hill argues that sex is our most primal and powerful drive. So strong is this desire that individuals often put their life and reputation on the line to indulge in it. However, Hill argues that, when this sexual energy is redirected into other pursuits, it can have a far more potent effect. While this takes a significant amount of willpower, he maintains that the effort is worth it.

Nonetheless, Hill is quick to point out that he isn’t advocating that the sexual drive be repressed, it should simply be given alternative outlets that can enrich the mind, body, and soul. A transmuted sexual drive results in phenomenal creative ability. Creative imagination, Hill states, is humankind’s sixth sense. Creativity originates within us, but it isn’t guided by us. All of the best artists become great because they are adept at listening to the “still small voice” that speaks from within. The same can be said of all successful people, artists, and CEOs alike.

While you cannot control your subconscious mind, you can suggest it mulls over specific plans, desires, or goals that you wish to achieve. However, the subconscious can only be voluntarily directed through the process of habit. As your subconscious functions 24/7, you must be wary of the types of negative thought patterns and unproductive habits you are feeding into it. You must act to move away from such negative influences and move towards cultivating more positive, desire-driven states of mind.

The subconscious is more receptive to thoughts that come accompanied by an emotion. Hill states that it’s only emotionalized thoughts that translate into action. It is, therefore, worthwhile familiarizing yourself with what constitutes as a negative or a positive emotion. Hill uses the metaphor that emotions attached to thought are like yeast in a loaf of bread; they encourage action, e.g., they make the bread rise. Depending on whether the emotion is positive or negative will result in either a remarkable or disastrous loaf of bread.

Hill firmly believed that the brain was capable of picking up the thought vibrations of other brains. However, he put forward that it’s only thoughts that have been “stepped up” to an exceedingly high rate of vibration that carry between minds. Hill argues that if one is engaging in sex transmutation, then their thoughts will vibrate with a greater frequency.

To operate your mental “broadcasting” abilities to the optimum, Hill suggests that you focus on cultivating your subconscious and your creative imagination thanks to the art of auto-suggestion.

Hill believed in an “Infinite Intelligence” that could be tapped into when the subconscious was vibrating at a particularly high, positive frequency. However, he also states that it is possible for the Infinite Intelligence to communicate to an individual without them having cultivated a suitable mental state beforehand. Hill refers to the creative imagination as the sixth sense. What people call “flashes of inspiration,” or “hunches,” Hill believed were messages from the Infinite Intelligence. The sixth sense is, therefore, a combination of the mental and the spiritual.

When you learn to listen to the messages of your sixth sense, you will know when to avoid dangers and when to seize opportunities. It acts as a guardian angel of sorts. Hill argues that if you have accepted the previous chapters of his book, you will now be ready to accept this notion of the sixth sense without skepticism. The ability to listen to this power happens gradually while the other principles are being realized.

Before you are ready to integrate the philosophy laid out in this book, Hill states that you must ensure that you aren’t being held back by any of what he refers to as “the six basic fears.” The six fears are as follows:

The fear of poverty, embodied by indifference, indecision, doubt, worry, over-caution, and procrastination.
The fear of criticism, embodied by self-consciousness, lack of poise, an inferiority complex, extravagance, lack of initiative, and lack of ambition.
The fear of ill health, embodied by hypochondria, poor exercise, susceptibility, self-coddling, and intemperance.
The fear of the loss of someone’s love, embodied by jealousy, fault finding, and gambling.
The fear of old age, embodied by slowing down and developing an inferiority complex around the age of 40, referring to oneself apologetically as “being old,” and killing off the habits of initiative, imagination, and self-reliance.
The fear of death, embodied by focusing on dying rather than living, lack of purpose, and lack of suitable occupation.

Hill states that all fears can be grouped into one of these headings. As all emotionalized thoughts translate into physical action, all thoughts attached to fear can never result in acts of significant financial gain. However, fear is nothing but a state of mind, and the mind can be directed. Therefore, you can control your fate by controlling your mind and, thus, overcome fear and accumulate all of your desired riches.

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Frame your Resume – the Napoleon Hill way

Napoleon Hill is considered to be one of the pioneer writers of personal-success literature. He was one of the earliest proponents of philosophy-of-success and his book, Think and Grow Rich testifies his authority on the subject. Advocates of personal development refer to his book as a bible and his groundbreaking formulae are still applied by students and aspiring professionals. His works are still subjected to a lot of researches and it has been found that several theories propounded by him can be applied today. His concepts centering on resume writing are relevant today which we will elaborate here.

Resume Writing – Napoleon Hill’s Way

Napoleon Hill did not call the document a Resume or a CV. Instead he called it a “Brief”. His exact thoughts on how important the brief or resume is were:

“This brief should be prepared as carefully as a lawyer would prepare the brief of a case to be tried in court. Unless the applicant is experienced in the preparation of such briefs, an expert should be consulted, and his services enlisted for this purpose. Successful merchants employ men and women who understand the art and the psychology of advertising to present the merits of their merchandise. One who has personal services for sale should do the same.”

Clearly, Hill felt that the content in the resume should present a compelling case to the employer. Afterall, a successful employer would only want to hire a smart employee! He also felt that if one is inexperienced in creating such a document, she should not be shy to take external help.

As the first impression that an aspiring employee creates in the minds of the prospective employers, your resume is of utmost importance. Hill urged young professionals to put in their best efforts to compose a great resume.

Guidelines for creating the best resume

Before writing a resume, you must realize the basic objective of it. A resume should fetch you a job interview and the job subsequently. It is your first chance to make your future employers realize that you can prove valuable to their organizations. Here are some of the essential elements of the resume as Hill felt.

Target your Job – a proper and well composed job objective along with a well-defined Title will set the tone of the resume. Target the role for which you are applying and then compose your title accordingly. The title should be crisp and highlight your experience and skills that make you most suited for the job. Your objective should be very accurate and directed directly to the employer.

“Apply for a specific position. Avoid application for a position without describing EXACTLY what particular position you seek. Never apply for ‘just a position.’ That indicates you lack specialized qualifications. State your qualifications for the particular position for which you apply. Give full details as to the reason you believe you are qualified for the particular position you seek.”

When you apply for a specific profile, your resume Title & Objective are in line with what the employer is expecting. A good title strikes the eye of any hiring manager. So when you apply, apply to the specific role and highlight your Specific Skill which you want to Sell to the employer

Sell your Skill Set – This part will demonstrate to the employers how your skills can be utilized for the post to which you are applying. Again be specific and highlight ALL THOSE SKILLS which the employer is looking for. Don’t make your employer search your resume. Be bold in telling the employer what value you can bring to the company.

Highlight your Experience – The applicant should state the relevant experience she has acquired in his field to substantiate her candidature for the post. All the details about former employers should be included in the resume along with any special experience that makes her most suited for the job.

“If you have had experience in connection with positions similar to the one you seek, describe it fully, [and] state names and addresses of former employers. Be sure to bring out clearly any special experience you may have had which would equip you to fill the position that you seek.”

Mention all relevant Education – It is very important to specifically mention the education and the specialization done by the applicant. The reason behind the specialization should also be clearly explained.

“State briefly, but definitely, what schooling you have had, and in what subjects you specialized in school, giving the reasons for that specialization.”

Also highlight your exact qualifications, additional roles you handled while getting that qualification and in what way can it add value to the role and the company as a whole.

Apply for a specific position – As point #1 stressed, every applicant should apply for a specific position and customize her resume according to that position only. This is extremely important to prove your suitability and also validate your specializations and experiences. In line with this point, the applicant should restructure her job responsibilities to be perfectly in sync with the new role she is applying for.

e.g. This means that if the applicant has donned the cap of both Marketing and HR in her present firm and is applying for a complete HR role now, she should make sure that her HR experience throughout her present experience stands out and is given more prominence than the Marketing one.

Know the employers’ business – Napoleon Hill proved himself to be intuitive when he went on to stress the importance of researching on the company in which the applicants are sending their resumes. Having sufficient knowledge about the business and its visions and applying that knowledge when writing your resume will help the applicant gain the employer’s confidence and increase chances of being hired.

Keep it Neat – Hill also wrote about the importance of having a neat and professional résumé.

“Remember another thing; neatness in the preparation of your brief will indicate that you are a painstaking person.”

Your resume must be free from grammar and spelling errors and it should be pleasing to the eye. Nobody would like to read a dirty looking resume on which the candidate has not put any effort. With an unformatted resume, the employer might be compelled to think that if you cannot write your resume neatly what guarantee will be there with the employer’s work.

Some Conditional Points too:

“Practically every business firm desires to know all about the previous records, antecedents, etc., of prospective employees who seek positions of responsibility. Attach to your brief photostatic copies of letters from:

Former employers
Teachers under whom you studied
Prominent people whose judgement may be relied upon.
Photograph of self. Attach to your brief a recent, unmounted photograph of yourself.”

These points are not very relevant today, but for some employments a photograph is always required when you are applying for a job. Similarly, few employers always ask for references. So it is best to follow the best practices of your place of residence and craft your resume accordingly.

It is evident that Napoleon Hill was a pioneer in the real sense as most of his ideas are still relevant today and young and aspiring professionals can follow his suggestions in developing resumes that will fetch them interviews and even jobs.

This post first appeared on the getsetResumes.com Blog

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Book Summaries

‘think and grow rich’ summary: key takeaways and review.

Senior Content Marketing Manager

February 1, 2024

For nearly 90 years, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill has been one of the most popular self-help books worldwide. Published in 1937 in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the book has sold a whopping 70 million copies so far.

This book is considered the ultimate for individuals looking to attract and grow wealth and success. If you haven’t read it yet and wonder if it’s worth reading, we’ve done the homework for you.

In this blog post, we won’t just study the Think and Grow Rich summary; we’ll discuss different ways you can apply the principles mentioned in the book directly to your life.

Are you ready to unlock the potential that lies within? Let’s go!

Think and Grow Rich Summary at a Glance

1. the power of the subconscious mind, 2. achievement begins with desire, 3. invest in mastermind groups, 4. practice stubbornness, 5. don’t be afraid of failure, 6. have a positive mindset, popular think and grow rich quotes, apply think and grow rich learnings with clickup.

Hill started his career as a special investigator for a business magazine. An interview with American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie motivated him to research successful people’s lives, habits, and attitudes.

After studying the lives of five hundred self-made millionaires, he developed a Law of Success philosophy that laid out thirteen steps to achieving wealth (emotional, spiritual, and financial).

The Think and Grow Rich summary’s core idea is that if you can control your mind, you can control your destiny. Every chapter is packed with insights that change how you think about money, people, psychology, and the self, regardless of your profession and business.

Hill underlines that although every human understands the purpose of money, only wishing will not bring riches. One needs a strong desire to acquire wealth.

Moreover, it isn’t enough to gather knowledge, whether that’s general knowledge picked up at school or specialized expertise in a particular skill. It’s important to apply that knowledge to the right situations to benefit.

The book further delves into how willpower is a crucial component of the journey to success. Obstacles are bound to arise—successful people know how to move past those and keep up their efforts.

Hill also underlines the importance of choosing a life partner who truly supports your desires and the pursuit of them.

Think and Grow Rich’s lessons have influenced and inspired thousands of successes since its launch and the old concepts continue to be widely popular today, especially among finance professionals.

Key Takeaways From Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Here are some of the timeless pearls of wisdom this book offers:

In many ways, your subconscious mind is where the fate of your goals is determined. You can form positive new beliefs and approaches by unlocking your subconscious, and that’s where auto-suggestion comes in.

It involves talking to yourself and nudging yourself to focus your thoughts on what you wish to achieve. This can help you develop self-belief and do what is necessary to make your desire come true, whether financial or otherwise.

If you want to achieve something, you need a singular, burning desire to accomplish it and a concrete plan for how you will do it. You must set financial KPIs to measure your progress.

Don’t dilute your focus with multiple purposes and don’t consider temporary defeat as negative consequences—rather, it implies something is missing from your plan. Most people lack a sound strategy to accumulate a fortune.

Here are five practical steps to get started:

Fix your mind on the exact goal you want to achieve; make it specific and measurable
Determine what you intend to give in return for what you desire
Set a definitive date or time limit for achieving that goal
Create a definitive plan and put it into action immediately
Repeat the statement aloud twice a day to reinforce your belief

Remember, your dream might take several years to materialize, so you must honestly and sincerely want what you’re working towards. Only then can you keep at it. Keep negative emotions at bay.

In the book, Hill talks about how the human brain can pick up “vibrations of thought” from other brains through the ether, similar to how radio broadcasting works. He talks about how to use emotions to improve your mind’s ability to receive the right vibrations.

Who you are depends on who you surround yourself with. Having a reliable mastermind group helps you stay accountable, be cheered on by like-minded people, and have the unique opportunity to tap into their skills and perspectives.

Essentially, supplement your skills with those of other like-minded individuals and acquire the specialized knowledge and self-confidence you need to achieve your goals.

Mastermind groups aren’t just to create mutual accountability. The members have various abilities and perspectives but a shared drive and definite purpose

We’re taught that stubbornness is a bad thing. However, according to Hill, the most successful people know how to make decisions they’re convinced by and then stick to them.

If you believe something will work, there’s no reason to change your mind just because someone said something negative or you ran into an obstacle. Believe in yourself and be persistent in pursuing your one goal or purpose. Keep your thought vibrations positive.

Failure, often, is the result of indecisiveness and procrastination. Hill says that if you seek real success, you must learn to trust your judgment, keep your counsel, and make concrete decisions for your growth.

The goal is not to allow yourself to be swayed by anyone (except for valuable inputs from your mastermind group).

Napoleon Hill firmly believed that having the right mindset can help you achieve anything you want to achieve.

This is vital to overcoming the barriers the conscious mind often imposes in the form of preconceived notions, assumptions, or limiting beliefs around goal-setting.

By repeatedly thinking the right thoughts and visualizing the dream that you’re working towards, you can overcome emotions like fear and lack of conviction and attract the vibrations you need to build wealth and success.

Use goal-setting templates to prioritize tasks, identify milestones, and ensure you are on the right track to achieve your goals.

There are several memorable lines in the book. Here are some of our personal favorites from the Think and Grow Rich summary:

If you do not see great riches in your creative imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.

The quote highlights the unique ability of humans to create and action new ideas with the power of their imagination.

According to Hill, there are two types of imagination:

One is synthetic imagination, which makes new combinations out of previously existing ideas and concepts
The other is creative imagination, which picks up vibrations from the ether and connects with what Hill calls ‘Infinite Intelligence’, to create new ideas and concepts

Both types of imagination are vital for achieving your deepest desires.

There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.

Desire is the starting point of all achievements.You must have an all-consuming obsession with becoming wealthy, and a firm conviction that you can get rich with a clear plan of action. Faith is the only known antidote for failure.

Visualize and believe in achieving what you desire. Do it with faith, which’ll help you turn your dreams into their physical or monetary equivalent. Make regular affirmations or suggestions to your subconscious mind to strengthen your belief.

Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.

An essential point in the Think and Grow Rich summary is that the most successful people have in common the ability to quickly reach decisions without paying attention to the negative influences of others around them. This quote emphasizes taking action.

There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.

Your subconscious mind is the connecting link between the finite human mind and the infinite intelligence of the universal mind. By unlocking its power, you can receive the insights you need to transform your dreams into reality. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.

As this Think and Grow Rich summary shows, you can’t get far in business finance without a strategy. Whether making cash flow projections, managing project budgets , managing employee compensation, or doing cost analysis, you can only make headway with an action plan.

Hill’s philosophy goes beyond mere financial advice; it stresses the power of goal-setting and perseverance to achieve wealth. The advice offered in the book can help finance teams manage resources effectively and identify and capitalize on new opportunities.

A productivity and project management platform like ClickUp can help you and your team track financial goals, manage financial workflows, brainstorm and execute strategy, and more.

Here’s how:

1. Set and visualize your goals

Whether you want to optimize your revenue targets, reduce your business expenses, or improve profit margins, make sure your goals are specific, measurable, and realistic.

For example, let’s say you want to minimize operational costs by 10% in 2024-2025. In that case, your goal is specific (10% reduction), measurable (track cost reductions ), and realistic (achievable within a set timeframe).

This aligns with Hill’s emphasis on the power of desire and having a definite purpose.

Therefore, use ClickUp Goals to set clear financial objectives. Define sprint and weekly sales targets, and manage all your goals in easy-to-use folders. Create folders for OKRs, scorecards, and other important team g oals .

Set up reminders and notifications on ClickUp to consistently reinforce your team’s focus on what they must collectively accomplish. Schedule regular meetings to discuss the progress, which brings us to the next point.

2. Align actions with goals

Hill stresses the importance of a burning desire to achieve something and aligning all actions toward that goal.

Encourage your team members to internalize financial objectives by regularly reviewing and discussing them. Meet with them to reaffirm their daily tasks and actions. Read the written statement aloud. 🙌

ClickUp’s All Hands Meeting Template helps keep track of critical decisions and action items from all hands meetings and empowers everyone to contribute their ideas and perspectives.

Easily manage logistics, time, and planning for your next company meeting with the All Hands Meeting Template by ClickUp

With this template you can:

Allow flexible adjusting of the agenda
Create a consistent format for presenting updates
Ensure relevant topics are covered in the meeting
Conduct more efficient meetings to stay on track and get more done in less time

ClickUp’s small business budgeting software monitors your financial goals, oversees your accounts, and calculates your profits to ensure an organized and efficient budgeting process.

3. Structure your approach to financial management

Financial management involves juggling multiple tricky tasks. Build a definite plan to achieve your goal, divide goals into specific tasks and sub-tasks, and persistently follow through.

For instance, improving the company’s cash flow involves evaluating inventory levels, reviewing invoicing processes, and renegotiating payment terms with suppliers.

Adapt the plan based on what’s working and make changes accordingly.

ClickUp’s Finance Templates help you get started quickly. Project budget templates and project proposal templates allow finance and accounting teams to analyze financial performance with visual analytics tools and collaborate on financial planning with cross-departmental stakeholders.

With AI tools for accounting , manage your organization’s accounts, create shareable reports, and let AI fill in the details as your digital assistant.

4. Build your own ‘mastermind’ alliance

Tap into the collective brain power of your team by cultivating a collaborative environment where everyone can share their ideas and expertise. For example, you could form a budget optimization group to develop strategies that save costs across the organization.

Use the ClickUp Decision Tree Template to identify key decision points that will affect the outcome of your goal, analyze available solutions and their associated risks and rewards, and decide as a team with greater clarity and confidence.

The ClickUp Decision Tree Template helps you quickly evaluate every path and potential outcome for complicated projects

Achieve Your Financial Goals by Focusing on the Right Things

What makes Think and Grow Rich an endearing classic is that it isn’t just meant for general reading. Anyone at any point in their career can apply the Law of Success to their particular circumstances.

There are hundreds of excellent books and courses today on upgrading your life, but all of them can trace their core convictions back to what Hill said—that success begins in the mind.

Whether you’re working your way up the corporate ladder, seeking to attract more wealth, or simply running a finance team with big targets to realize company objectives, the Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill is a timeless piece of wisdom you’ll keep coming back to. And if you liked this Think and Grow Rich summary, we suggest you also read this one about the Psychology of Money .

ClickUp takes care of all your financial management needs, whether you’re a part of the finance team or an individual looking to grow rich.

Project managers use ClickUp to move faster, work smarter, and save valuable time.

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Napoleon Hill

Think and grow rich.

Public Domain , 1987

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Editorial Rating

The rating – what does it mean.

At getAbstract, we summarize books* that help people understand the world and make it better. Whatever we select for our library has to excel in one or the other of these two core criteria:

Enlightening – You’ll learn things that will inform and improve your decisions.

Helpful – You’ll take-away practical advice that will help you get better at what you do.

We rate each piece of content on a scale of 1–10 with regard to these two core criteria. Our rating helps you sort the titles on your reading list from solid (5) to brilliant (10). Books we rate below 5 won’t be summarized. Here's what the ratings mean:

10 – Brilliant. A helpful and/or enlightening book that, in addition to meeting the highest standards in all pertinent aspects, stands out even among the best. Often an instant classic and must-read for everyone. 9 – Superb. A helpful and/or enlightening book that is extremely well rounded, has many strengths and no shortcomings worth mentioning. 8 – Very good. A helpful and/or enlightening book that has a substantial number of outstanding qualities without excelling across the board, e.g. presents the latest findings in a topical field and is written by a renowned expert but lacks a bit in style. 7 – Good. A helpful and/or enlightening book that combines two or more noteworthy strengths, e.g. contains uncommonly novel ideas and presents them in an engaging manner. 6 – Notable. A helpful and/or enlightening book that stands out by at least one aspect, e.g. is particularly well structured. 5 – Solid. A helpful and/or enlightening book, in spite of its obvious shortcomings. For instance, it may offer decent advice in some areas while being repetitive or unremarkable in others.

*getAbstract is summarizing much more than books. We look at every kind of content that may matter to our audience: books, but also articles, reports, videos and podcasts. What we say here about books applies to all formats we cover.

While the rating tells you how good a book is according to our two core criteria, it says nothing about its particular defining features. Therefore, we use a set of 20 qualities to characterize each book by its strengths:

Applicable – You’ll get advice that can be directly applied in the workplace or in everyday situations. Analytical – You’ll understand the inner workings of the subject matter. Background – You’ll get contextual knowledge as a frame for informed action or analysis. Bold – You’ll find arguments that may break with predominant views. Comprehensive – You’ll find every aspect of the subject matter covered. Concrete Examples – You’ll get practical advice illustrated with examples of real-world applications or anecdotes. Controversial – You’ll be confronted with strongly debated opinions. Eloquent – You’ll enjoy a masterfully written or presented text. Engaging – You’ll read or watch this all the way through the end. Eye opening – You’ll be offered highly surprising insights. For beginners – You’ll find this to be a good primer if you’re a learner with little or no prior experience/knowledge. For experts – You’ll get the higher-level knowledge/instructions you need as an expert. Hot Topic – You’ll find yourself in the middle of a highly debated issue. Innovative – You can expect some truly fresh ideas and insights on brand-new products or trends. Insider’s take – You’ll have the privilege of learning from someone who knows her or his topic inside-out. Inspiring – You’ll want to put into practice what you’ve read immediately. Overview – You’ll get a broad treatment of the subject matter, mentioning all its major aspects. Scientific – You’ll get facts and figures grounded in scientific research. Visionary – You’ll get a glimpse of the future and what it might mean for you. Well structured – You’ll find this to be particularly well organized to support its reception or application.

Recommendation

Napoleon Hill, author of this 1930s classic, will remind you of an older, wiser, slightly wacky uncle who advises you about careers, life and love. This book is a wonderful collection of tips – many based on the ideas of Hill’s mentor Andrew Carnegie – that range from the practical (how to prepare a résumé) to surprisingly New Age-like mystical talk about the infinite powers of the universe. Of course, like an old uncle, Hill can get long-winded and repetitive at times, but since he packs so much wisdom into his slender book, you will want to re-read it over and over, repetitions and all. His classic compendium will interest anyone who is dangling from the career ladder and wondering how to prosper.

Your thoughts are a secret wealth generator.

When author Napoleon Hill “was but a boy,” his mentor, Andrew Carnegie, the legendary corporate leader, shared his secret wealth-generating formula with him and challenged him to create a book that would explain this secret approach.

During Hill’s 20-year journey to fulfill that challenge, he studied the habits and philosophies of hundreds of corporate stars. This honor roll includes Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, F. W. Woolworth and many other household names who built large fortunes based on Carnegie’s wisdom. It begins with this simple idea: Your thoughts are real objects! With passion and purpose, your thoughts can evolve into wealth.

Edwin C. Barnes demonstrates this principle. Barnes – an impoverished “nobody” – passionately wanted to launch a partnership with Thomas Edison, the great inventor. Barnes did not know Edison and could barely afford transportation to Edison’s office. At their initial encounter, Edison said Barnes looked like an “ordinary tramp.” But behind that rundown appearance, Edison detected a spark of promise and determination that prompted him to offer Barnes a low-paying job. Barnes...

About the Author

Napoleon Hill was born in 1883. A former newspaper reporter, he studied law and worked for Andrew Carnegie, whose ideas are reflected in Think and Grow Rich . Hill advised numerous prominent people, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi and Thomas Edison.

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Chapters of Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon hill.

John Rogers — Feb 5, 2019

This blog provides a Think and Grow Rich chapter-by-chapter summary that concentrates on explicit exercises to put the success principles of the book into practice.

How long does it take to read Think and Grow Rich ? You can read Think and Grow Rich in several hours. However, the only way to take possession of its secrets is to study it for a lifetime. Moreover, the mistake most people make is to read it once without employing the specific techniques Napoleon Hill suggests.

Overview of Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich is a self-help book focused on how you can utilize a combination of thought and action to become rich. Napoleon Hill argues that no man can become rich except by using the core lessons contained in his book; at the same time, no-one who is rich does not use them. For a summary of the book read our blog Think and Grow Rich Concepts .

Here is a link to a free PDF version of the complete 1937 classic Think and Grow Rich .

List of Think and Grow Rich Chapters

Chapter 1 – Thoughts Are Things
Chapter 2 – Desire
Chapter 3 – Faith
Chapter 4 – Autosuggestion
Chapter 5 – Specialized Knowledge
Chapter 6 – Imagination
Chapter 7 – Organized Planning
Chapter 8 – Decision
Chapter 9 – Persistence
Chapter 10 – Power of The Mastermind
Chapter 11 – The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
Chapter 12 – The Subconscious Mind
Chapter 13 – The Brain
Chapter 14 – The Sixth Sense
Chapter 15 – The Six Ghosts of Fear

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 1 – Thoughts Are Things

Think and Grow Rich chapter 1 summary – One good idea, that you act on with obsessive persistence, and unwavering faith, is all you need to achieve success.

Every thought produces a vibration. In addition, this intangible impulse can be transmuted into material reward. Most noteworthy is that all material compensation is insignificant in comparison to the unshakeable possession of this knowledge. It is the keystone of the Think and Grow Rich philosophy of success.

Exercise – Spend 15 minutes every day in quiet contemplation. Ask Infinite Intelligence for an idea that will empower you to achieve your primary burning desire.

Are you looking for help getting in touch with Infinite Intelligence, and identifying an idea that can change your life? I used this exact concept to go from $250k in debt to being part of the top ½ of 1%, and I’d love to show you how I did it. Join the WCM today .

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 2 Summary – Desire

First, have a vivid, burning desire to accomplish a clear cut, definite purpose. In addition, you must couple that desire with total determination to achieve it. Finally, only then do you have the fuel required to drive you to take the required action.

Know what you want. Have a plan to get it. Be open minded. Have the flexibility to modify your plan or adopt a new one if the old plan isn’t working. Believe in and have faith that Infinite intelligence will assist you. Ask for guidance. Continue to do so until such time as you find a plan that does work.

Definiteness of purpose

The benefit of having a definite purpose is the automatic development of a number of traits that are of vital importance in developing the mental aptitude for success. They include:

self-reliance
imagination
self-discipline
concentration of effort

Exercise – Create a visual image of what your life will be like when you are in possession of what you desire. Design and make a “vision board” with pictures of the things you will have when you are living the life of your dreams. Place your vision board where you will see it most frequently.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 3 Summary – Faith

Faith is the ethereal catalyst that causes your subconscious mind to come in communication with Infinite Intelligence to receive guidance from that infallible, original source.

Napoleon Hill described faith as your most important asset. This because it enables you to tap into the supreme intelligence that moves, motivates and powers the entire universe. For a more complete understanding of this concept read our blog – What is Infinite Intelligence?

The mental attitude of applied faith must be cultivated, strengthened and maintained. The reason is straight forward. Applied faith gives you the ability to clear your mind of fear and doubt. By so doing you can direct your mental faculties to the attainment of your desire instead of dissipating your focus.

No-one is ready to receive anything if they don’t have absolute belief that they can possess that thing. Faith gives you the power to believe that you will be provided with everything you need to achieve your definite purpose in life.

Exercise – Repeat the following affirmation to yourself through the day until it becomes a habit. “I must form a clear mental picture of the things I want. And I must hold this picture in my thoughts, with the fixed purpose to get what I want and the unwavering faith that I will get what I want – closing my mind to all that may tend to shake my purpose, dim my vision, or quench my faith.”

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 4 Summary – Autosuggestion

Self suggestion is the secret to harnessing the Law of Attraction.

Your subconscious mind is the conduit for causing the things you think about to be created. It is the part of your mind that takes all instructions you consciously feed it, in a spirit of faith, belief and conviction; and acts to manifest those directions. The more positive emotion you mix with your thoughts the faster you will begin to attract the results you desire.

It is imperative to know exactly what you want. Furthermore, it is essential to visualize yourself in ownership of what you want. If money is what you want, write out the exact amount of money you desire and your plan to acquire it.

Exercise – In bed at night and first thing in the morning, with eyes closed, repeat aloud the written statement of the amount of money you intend to accumulate, the time limit for its accumulation, and a description of the service or merchandise you intend to give in return for the money. As you carry out these instructions see yourself already in possession of the money.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 5 Summary – Specialized Knowledge

You can’t manifest money by thinking alone. Success requires executing a meticulous plan of action with steadfast resolution.

A fallacy that Napoleon Hill dispels is that knowledge is power. Not true. Knowledge attracts money only after it is organized into a pragmatic plan of action. Specialized knowledge can be obtained by your own research and practical experience. Nevertheless, it is more broadly available from others. Compound your ability to gather practical intelligence. Multiply your effectiveness by relying on the knowledge and experience of others who have already succeeded at what you aspire to.

Exercise – Decide on the merchandise, product or professional service you will apply to generate your fortune. Identify an individual or a group of people who have built their prosperity that way. Find out everything you can from them about how they did it. The best result will come by entering into a mentorship relation with this group.

I built my prosperity this way, going from $250k in debt to having plenty of money to travel the world. I’d love to show you step-by-step how I did it. Join the Wealth Creation Mastermind today .

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 6 Summary – Imagination

Only by building the mental faculty of imagination will you succeed in developing plans that permit you to transform an intangible desire into its physical equivalent.

We are limited only by our imagination. When you conceive something in your mind and convince yourself it is possible, you will come into possession of the means to realize your dream. Use Elon Musk as your touchstone for the use of imagination and belief. From eliminating the dependence on fossil fuel to colonizing Mars, Musk is the ideal example of the use of creative imagination. Elon Musk’s dream ideas are changing the world. Everything you see around you, regardless of where you go, began as a thought in someone’s imagination. What is your dream?

Exercise – Invest 30 minutes every day in creative imagination time. Get into a quiet place with a notebook where you won’t be disturbed for a period of time. Close your eyes. Center your attention. Begin to imagine living your perfect life. See it, sense it and believe it. See yourself performing the task or delivering the service that will deliver the things you desire to you on the physical plane. Now, take the time to journal the ideas that came to you during your daily session.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 7 Summary – Organized Planning

You must have a definite, well organized plan that you are excited about. What’s more, you need to possess faith in your ability to execute the plan. In conclusion, you will not transmute your desire for money into its monetary equivalent until you have developed and acted on your plan.

Follow this method outlined by Napoleon Hill to create practical plans.

Collaborate – get into association with people who will help you generate and carry out your plan.
Mastermind – decide clearly the benefits to others for becoming part of this vital alliance.
Regular meetings – minimum of once weekly, specifically for focusing on a common goal.
Harmony – maintain a friendly rapport with your group.

Exercise – Follow Napoleon Hill’s formula for transmuting desire into results.

Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire.
Determine precisely what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.
Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once to put this plan into action.
Write a concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, the time limit for its acquisition, what you intend to give in exchange, and clearly describe your plan of action.
Read your written statement aloud twice daily. Once before retiring and first thing upon awakening.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 8 Summary – Decision

Use deductive reasoning to make decisions for yourself. Furthermore, never allow yourself to be influenced by the opinions of others. Finally, avoid procrastination at all costs.

The only thing any of us has one hundred percent complete control over are the thoughts and attitudes in our own heads. Regardless of your relationships, guard your thoughts like they are a treasure of incalculable value. Sometimes those we love and trust, through no malice, will try and protect you from yourself. Nothing great is achieved by conforming to timid thinking. Following the herd will only lead you to the corral.

Exercise – Your decisions are reflected by your priorities. Your priorities show up in two places. Your calendar and your check book. Take a look at both and determine where you are investing your time and money.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 9 Summary – Persistence

Keep on keeping on, regardless of any obstacles you encounter. By the way, you will be tested.

Self-discipline is the ability to give yourself an order and follow it. Moreover, executing your directive demands will power. Will power is required to exercise persistence. Most people fail to get what they want in life because they quit at the first sign of opposition. Overcoming challenges is part of becoming successful. Perseverance will eventually advance you toward your goal.

A quitter never wins – and a winner never quits.

Exercise – Determine a goal you have decided to achieve in the next 12 months.

Make a list of action steps you must take to achieve this goal.
In addition, write out the mental attitude you will need to maintain to accomplish it.
Every night take a sticky note and rate yourself from 1 to 10.
1 indicates you let the day go by without doing anything on your list and maintaining a bad attitude.
A 10 written on your sticky note signals top performance, execution and attitude for that day.
Now, place your sticky note on your bathroom mirror.
Each day, add a sticky note to the mirror.
It will become obvious to you how well you are doing at exercising persistence.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 10 Summary – Power of The Mastermind

Power is required to achieve success. You acquire that power from a group of people who have come together for the realization of a definite purpose. A harmonious Mastermind alliance amplifies power exponentially.

Have you ever tried to power a flashlight with a single battery? It’s possible, but it doesn’t shed much light. However, when you link a second, third and fourth battery together the beam of illumination is augmented enormously. Joining two or more people together in a spirit of complete cooperation with the intention of accomplishing a specific vision is akin to compounding power from multiple batteries.

Exercise – Get an ideal for something you want to accomplish. Remember that small plans have no magic to stir the blood. Make plans for a big, bold, ambitious project with an exciting mission. Now, decide with complete clarity what benefits others will receive by joining their knowledge and effort with you to accomplish that goal. Begin presenting your idea to others and select your Mastermind partners with utmost care.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 11 – The Mystery of Sex Transmutation

Think and Grow Rich chapter 11 summary – By mixing a burning desire, with faith, conviction and a strong positive emotional state you have created a vibration of thought. That thought energy is transmitted to an Infinite Intelligence that will assist you in the realization of your objective.

No one can deny the intensity of desire to form a physical bond with the one you love. It’s like a physical force. It produces a dynamic form of energy. You can harness that acute feeling. Get familiar with it. Retain it. Redirect it into the desire for the accomplishment of your major life purpose.

Exercise – Think back on all of the love experiences of your life. There will be one that stands out as the most positive. Reflect on the way that experience made you feel. Concentrate only on the most positive emotions. Preserve that emotional state. Hold that impression. Now couple it with your major desire. Develop a habit by repeating this exercise frequently.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 12 Summary – The Subconscious Mind

The subconscious is the part of the mind that communicates with Infinite Intelligence via thought vibration. In addition, it is the guidance system that causes you to think and act the way you do. It can be influenced by the conscious, volitional part of your mind.

To get a more comprehensive understanding of the working of the subconscious, read our page titled The Power of the Mind . The subconscious is your power center. It is where the creative facilities exist. This is the part of your mind that unconditionally accepts your predominant thoughts. It is programmed with repetition and self-suggestion.

Exercise – Write out a personal affirmation of the person you want to be and what you want to have. Begin your statement with the phrase “I am so happy and grateful now that I am…” Write your affirmation on a small goal card. Carry it with you. Pull it out and read it with powerful, positive emotion several times throughout the day.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 13 Summary – The Brain

What you attract is a result of what you vibrate. Your brain, and how you use it, determines the vibrational thought energy you are transmitting. What you mentally broadcast drives what you receive. You have to be in vibrational harmony with the frequency of thought you want to attract.

Napoleon Hill calls the brain Your broadcasting and receiving station . You control this transmitter and receiver by applying three principles:

Subconscious mind – see the chapter 12 summary
Creative Imagination – see chapter 6 summary
Autosuggestion – see chapter 4 summary

Combine these precepts with faith, intention, positive emotion and persistence. Only then do you take control of consciously creating the results you desire to manifest.

Exercise – Fix in your mind the precise thought you want to impress into the mind of others. What result do you want to generate? Keep your mind on what you want. Come into vibrational harmony with the people you want to help you cause the thing you think about to be created. See yourself in possession of the thing you desire. Have complete faith that will be the conclusion that comes about.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 14 Summary – The Sixth Sense

Infinite Intelligence might have a plan for you that is better than the one you came up with for yourself. The best thing to do for yourself is learn how to listen to what it is telling you.

The principle of the sixth sense is the apex of the Think and Grow Rich philosophy. With it you come into communication with the force that gives origin to everything in the entire universe. It is activated by the creative imagination faculty within your subconscious mind. It can be practiced only by achieving mastery of the previous 12 principles described above.

Exercise – Develop the habit of investing time every day studying Think and Grow Rich . Read the book repeatedly until you can describe from memory all 13 principles described in the book.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 15 Summary – The Six Ghosts of Fear

Before you can benefit from this success system you must diligently prepare your mind. The prerequisite for applying this philosophy is to clear all thoughts of fear, doubt and indecision. This demands a thorough self-analysis practiced regularly.

Mental discipline is the price that is asked in order to benefit from the Napoleon Hill success formula. Your thought impulses are constantly transmuting themselves into their physical equivalent. Whether those thoughts are voluntary or involuntary doesn’t matter. It is happening. You had best do it volitionally.

Exercise – Take the Self-Analysis Test in chapter 15 of Think Grow Rich. Repeat the test annually.

It is highly probable you are seeking the best information you can find regarding the Napoleon Hill success system. As a result you are reading this blog intentionally. Consequently, we have a recommendation to help you take your success with this system to the next level: Don’t be a ‘Lone Ranger.’ As the old truism goes, “You have to do it yourself, but you can’t do it alone.” This is one reason that Napoleon Hill recommends that you become part of a Mastermind alliance. We strongly encourage you do follow Hill’s advice. Click on the ‘Apply for Free!’ button on this page to become a member and subscribe to the WCM Law of Attraction Course.

John Rogers has been in the network marketing industry for over 20 years. He has earned the prestigious Blue Diamond rank with Univera, the highest rank that the health- and wellness-focused network marketing company offers. His team represents 60% of Univera’s annual sales in North America. John was recognized as the Univera Associate of the Year in 2015.

John has also been associated with 2 other network marketing companies and achieved a Platinum rank with Nikken, a Japanese health and wellness company.

John is the former CEO of Premium Enterprises. He has a Masters degree in education (M.Ed.) from the University of Northern Colorado (graduated 1973) and is passionate about teaching fellow network marketers to replicate his success.

Awesome summary! Clear and concise… just the thing to wet the appetite for more! Having the exercises plainly written in one place is a wonderful tool… thank you!

Ditto on what Stever just said. He has such a way with the written word!

Thank you John💯

Yes, great summary. It’s not a book you read just once. Key is putting it into action!

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Tyler DeVries

Think and Grow Rich

Read on Amazon

3 Sentence Summary

After an interview with America’s steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie, Napoleon Hill was inspired to investigate the psychology of success. 20 years later, the result of that quest was this literary classic that kickstarted a boom in the genre of self-help. If you can look past some of the anachronistic language and examples, this book is still a sure source of inspiration that deserves to be revisited time and again.

5 Key Takeaways

Every major achievement begins with the intense belief in one’s ability to accomplish it.
You are who you think you are. Encourage positive thoughts and eliminate fear and doubt.
Knowledge is only as good as the plans you have to use it.
Persistence is insurance against failure.
Make decisions quickly and do not be easily swayed by the negative opinions of other people.

Think and Grow Rich Summary

Please Note

The following book summary is a collection of my notes and highlights taken straight from the book. Most of them are direct quotes. Some are paraphrases. Very few are my own words.

These notes are informal. I try to organize them by chapter. But I pick and choose ideas to include at my discretion.

Introduction

“Thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and burning desire.
When one is truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance.
Opportunity has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.
You don’t need anything more than to know what you want and the determination to stand by that desire until you realize it.
One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.
Failure takes great delight in tripping on when success is almost within reach.
The better portion of all sales I have made were made after people had said, “No.”
When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work.
Success comes to those who become success conscious.
Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious.
A common weakness is the habit of measuring everything, and everyone, by your own impressions and beliefs.

1) Desire: The Starting Point of All Achievement

Leave yourself no possible way of retreat. Make it a do or die situation.
Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win, essential to success.
Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.
If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.
Those who are afraid of new ideas are doomed before they start.
A burning desire to be, and to be is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off.
There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it. The state of mind must be belief, not mere hope or wish. Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief.
All achievement, no matter what may be its nature, or its purpose, must begin with an intense, burning desire for something definite.

6 Steps to Turn Desire Into Riches (Or Accomplish Any Goal)

Define the exact amount of money you desire.
Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.
Establish a definite day when you intend to possess the money you desire.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire. Begin at once, whether you are ready or not.
Write out a clear, concise statement of your plans for #1-4 above.
Read your written statement aloud, twice daily.

2) Faith: Visualization Of, and Belief in Attainment of Desire

Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.
You may benefit, by passing on to your subconscious mind, any desire which you wish translated into its physical, or monetary equivalent, in a state of expectancy or belief that the transmutation will actually take place.
The mind comes to take on the nature of the influences which dominate it.
It is essential to encourage positive emotions and eliminate the negative.
Faith is the “eternal elixir” which gives life, power, and action to the impulse of thought.
Faith is the antidote for failure.
Every man is what he is, because of the dominating thoughts which he permits to occupy his mind.
Be careful of your thoughts. The subconscious mind will turn into reality a thought driven by fear just as readily as it will translate a thought driven by courage, or faith.

Self-Confidence Formula

Believe in your ability to achieve your goal. Therefore, demand persistent, continuous action toward its attainment.
Realize that your thoughts generate action. Concentrate 30 minutes each day on the task of thinking of the person you intend to become. Create a clear mental picture of achieving your goal.
Any desire that you persistently hold in your mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means. Therefore, devote ten minutes daily to demanding of yourself the development of self-confidence.
Clearly write down a description of your goal.
Realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice. Therefore, I will work for the good of others. Others will believe in me because I believe in myself.

3) Auto-Suggestion: The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind

Plain, unemotional words do not influence the subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind takes any orders given it in a spirit of absolute faith, and acts upon those orders, although the orders often have to be repeated over and over again.

4) Specialized Knowledge: Personal Experiences of Observations

General knowledge is little use in the accumulation of money.
Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.
The accumulation of great fortunes calls for power, and power is acquired through highly organized and intelligently directed specialized knowledge, but that knowledge does not, necessarily have to be in the possession of the man who accumulates the fortune.
As knowledge is acquired it must be organized and put into use, for a definite purpose, through practical plans.
Those who are not successful usually make the mistake of believe that the knowledge acquiring period ends when one finishes school.
School merely paves the way to learning how to acquire practical knowledge.
The person who stops studying merely because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may be his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.
Both success and failure are largely the results of habit.

5) Imagination: The Workshop of the Mind

Man’s only limitation, within reason, lies in his development and use of his imagination.
Your imagination improves the more you use it.
Plans of action must be formed with the aid of imagination.
Riches do not come by hard work and honesty alone. They come in response to definite demands, based upon the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck.
An idea is an impulse of thought that impels action, by an appeal to the imagination.
The story of practically every great fortune starts with the day when a creator of ideas and a seller of ideas got together and worked in harmony.

6) Organized Planning: The Crystallization of Desire Into Action

No individual has sufficient experience, education, native ability, and knowledge to insure the accumulation of a great fortune, without the cooperation of other people.
Keep reworking your plan until you find something that works. Be persistent.
Temporary defeat is not permanent failure. It may only mean that your plans have not been sound. Build other plans. Start all over again.
No man is ever whipped, until he quits—in his own mind.
A quitter never wins—and—a winner never quits.
Most men become great leaders because they were first intelligent followers.
The man who can follow a leader most efficiently is usually the man who develops into leadership most rapidly.

How to Build Practical Plans

Ally yourself with a group of as many people as you need to create and carry out your plans.
Decide what advantages, and benefits, you may offer the individual members of your group, in return for their cooperation.
Arrange to meet with this group at least twice a week, and more often if possible, until you have created your plan.
Maintain perfect harmony between yourself and every member of your group.

Important Factors of Leadership

Unwavering courage.
Self-control.
A keen sense of justice.
Definiteness of decision.
Definiteness of plans.
The habit of doing more than paid for.
A pleasing personality.
Sympathy and understanding.
Mastery of detail.
Willingness to assume full responsibility.
Cooperation.

10 Causes of Failure in Leadership

Inability to organize details.
Unwillingness to render humble service.
Expectation of pay for what they “know” instead of what they do with that which they know.
Fear of competition from followers.
Lack of imagination.
Selfishness.
Intemperance.
Disloyalty.
Emphasis of the “authority” of leadership.
Emphasis of title.

8 Elements of A Good Job Application

Level of education
Relevant experience
Former employers, teachers, or other prominent people
Picture of yourself
Apply for a specific position
State your unique qualifications for that position
Your confidence in your ability to fill the position
Your confidence in your prospective employer’s decision to employ you after the trial period
Your determination to have the position you seek
Knowledge of your prospective employer’s business

How to Get the Exact Position You Desire

Decide exactly what kind of job you want. If it doesn’t exist, maybe you can create it.
Choose the company, or individual for whom you wish to work.
Study your prospective employer, as to policies, personnel, and chances of advancement.
Figure out what you can offer and plan ways and means of giving these advantages.
Forget about “a job.” Concentrate on what you can give.
Put you plan to provide value on paper.
Present your plan to the proper person with authority. Every company has room for the man who has a definite plan of action which is to the advantage of that company.

30 Major Causes of Failure

Unfavorable hereditary background.
Lack of a well-defined purpose in life.
Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity.
Insufficient education.
Lack of self-discipline.
Bad health.
Unfavorable environmental influences during childhood.
Procrastination.
Lack of persistence.
Negative personality.
Lack of controlled sexual urge.
Uncontrolled desire for “something for nothing.”
Lack of a well defined power of decision.
One or more of the six basic fears.
Wrong selection of a mate in marriage.
Over-caution.
Wrong selection of associates in business.
Superstition and prejudice.
Wrong selection of a vocation.
Lack o concentration of effort.
The habit of indiscriminate spending.
Lack of enthusiasm.
Intolerance.
Inability to cooperate with others.
Possession of power that was not acquired through self effort.
Intentional dishonesty.
Egotism and vanity.
Guessing instead of thinking.
Lack of capital.

28 Questions You Should Answer Each Year

Have I reached any of my goals?
Have I done my best work?
Have I done the most that I could do?
Have I been cooperative and fun to work with?
Have I procrastinated?
Have I improved my personality?
Have I been persistent in following my plans to completion?
Have I been a good decision maker?
Have I permitted any one or more of the six basic fears to decrease my efficiency?
Have I taken appropriate risks?
Has my relationships with my associates been pleasant, or unpleasant?
Have I lost focused?
Have I been open minded and tolerant of others and new ideas?
In what ways have I improved my skills?
Have I shown lack of self control?
Have I lost check of my ego?
Has my conduct towards others lost respect?
Have I based my opinions on facts or guesses?
Have I budgeted my time and expenses appropriately?
How much time do I waste that could be put to better use?
How can I re-budget my time and focus my work more efficiently in the coming year?
Have I done anything wrong?
In what ways have I exceeded expectations?
Have I been unfair to anyone?
Would I be excited to work with me if I was somebody else?
Am I in the right vocation?
Have people been happy with my services?
What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success?

7) Decision: The Mastery of Procrastination

Reach decisions promptly. Then be slow to change your mind.
If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no desire of your own.
Keep you eyes and ears wide open—and your mouth closed—if you wish to acquire the habit of prompt decision.
Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.
Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.
People who know what they want generally get it.
98% of people are working where they are today because they lacked a decision to plan a definite position and the knowledge of how to choose an employer.

8) Persistence: The Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith

Will-power and desire, when properly combined, make an irresistible pair.
Persistence is to character what carbon is to steel.
The starting point of all achievement is desire. Weak desire brings weak results.
There is no substitute for persistence.
You will never achieve noteworthy success in any calling without persistence.
The only “break” anyone can afford to rely upon is a self-made “break.”
Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.

Symptoms of Lack of Persistence

Failure to recognize and clearly define exactly what you want
Procrastination
Lack of interest in learning new things
The habit of relying on excuses instead of actually trying to solve the problem
Self-satisfaction
Indifference
Blaming others for one’s mistakes
Weakness of desire
Willingness to quit at the first sign of defeat
Lack of organized plans
Neglecting to move on ideas or grasp opportunity
Wishing instead of willing
Compromising with poverty instead of aiming for riches
Searching for shortcuts and cheap bargains
Fear of criticism

How to Develop Persistence

A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment.
A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage you to follow through with both plan and purpose.

9) Power of the Master Mind: The Driving Force

A “Master Mind” is the coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.
There are obvious economic advantages to surrounding yourself with a group who is ready and willing to lend you whole-hearted aid.
No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.
Great power is accumulated through the principle of the Master Mind.

10) The Mystery of Sex: Transmutation

Sex is the most powerful of human desires.
The men of greatest achievement are men with highly developed sex natures.
The men who have accumulated great fortunes and achieved outstanding recognition were motivated by the influence of a woman.
The emotion of sex contains the secret of creative ability.
Remove the sex gland and you will have removed the major source of action.
Men attains to the status of a genius only when, and if, he stimulates his mind so that it draws upon the forces available, through the creative faculty of the imagination.
The world is ruled, and the destiny of civilization is established, by the human emotions. People are influenced in their actions, not by reason so much as by “feelings.”
A mind stimulant is any influence which will either temporarily, or permanently, increase the vibrations of thought.
The average man reaches the period of his greatest capacity to create between forty and sixty.
Love alone will not bring happiness in marriage, nor will sex alone. When these two beautiful emotions are blended, marriage may bring about a state of mind, closest to the spiritual that one may ever know on this earthly plane.
Take women out of their lives, and great wealth would be useless to most men.

The 10 Stimuli of the Mind

Fame, power, and money
A Master Mind alliance
Mutual suffering
Auto-suggestion
Narcotics and alcohol

How to Reach Your Creative Faculty

Stimulate your mind so that it vibrates on a higher-than-average-plane using one or more of the 10 sources (above).
Concentrate first upon the known factors of your invention, and then create in your mind a perfect picture of the unknown factors of your invention.
Let your subconscious mind takeover.
Relax by clearing your mind of all thought, and wait for the answer to “flash” into your mind.

11) The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting Link

The subconscious mind is the connecting link between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence.
It is the medium through which prayer may be transmitted to the source capable of answering prayer. (Like a radio that converts language into a wavelength that can traverse large distances)
Your subconscious mind functions voluntarily, whether you make any effort to influence it or not. This is why it’s so important to master negative impulses and actively feed it desirable food.
Man creates nothing which he does not first conceive in thought.
Your subconscious mind responds best to the language of emotion or feeling.
Fill your mind with positive emotions.
The presence of a single negative in your conscious mind is sufficient to destroy all chances of constructive aid from your subconscious mind.

The 7 Major Positive Emotions

The 7 major negative emotions.

Superstition

12) The Brain: A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought

The subconscious mind is the “sending section” of the brain, through which vibrations of thought are broadcast.
The Creative Imagination is the “receiving set,” through which the vibrations of thought are picked up from the ether.
We know little to nothing of the intangible force of thought.

13) The Sixth Sense: The Door to the Temple of Wisdom

Only attained after mastering the previous 12 principles.
Understanding of the sixth sense comes only by meditation through mind development from within.
Through the aid of the sixth sense, you will be warned of impending dangers in time to avoid them, and notified of opportunities in time to embrace them.

How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear

Indecision crystalizes into doubt, the two blend and become fear.
Fear is nothing more than a state of mind.
Our state of mind is subject to control and direction. We have absolute control over our thoughts.
All thought has the tendency to clothe itself in its physical equivalent.
Thoughts of fear and poverty cannot be translated into terms of courage and financial gain.
Criticism is the one form of service, of which everyone has to much.
Kill the habit of worry by reaching a general , blanket decision that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With this decision will come poise, peace of mind, and calmness of thought which will bring happiness.
The most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people.
Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit.
You either control your mind or it controls you.
The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan.

The 6 Basic Fears

Loss of love of someone

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“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

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Table of Contents

Introduction

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill fundamental premise is how one’s thoughts may change circumstances and lead to achievement. The book outlines a step-by-step method for making dreams come true and accumulating wealth.

Steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie hired novelist Napoleon Hill to research the traits of successful people and create a formula for success. Hill spent 20 years researching the lives of prosperous people and condensing their knowledge into the guidelines presented in the book.

Since its 1937 debut, “Think and get rich” has become a classic in personal development. It has affected innumerable people and is still a valuable and applicable manual for success in the modern world.

A burning desire to be, do, or have something.

This guiding principle states that one must have a strong want to be, accomplish, or have something to achieve their goals and succeed. This insatiable need must be so strong that it propels you to action and directs you toward realizing your goals.

Desire Thoink an grow rich by Napoleon Hill

No labor or resources will ever be enough to help you succeed if you don’t have this enthusiasm. Hill emphasizes that having a strong desire, a positive attitude, and a plan of action for realizing that objective is necessary for success.

No matter how high your dreams may be, the power of desire is a crucial tool for setting and achieving goals. You can use it to help you get beyond any obstacles that may be in your way.

The belief that the object of your desire will be attained.

According to this credo, success comes to those who genuinely believe in their ability to bring about the change they seek. Success at any level requires this. Faith is having the foresight to know that one will succeed in the long run and the self-assurance to act on that confidence.

The power to foresee the future underpins the assurance in one’s convictions and the foresight to look beyond the immediate circumstances. Aside from that, it requires an unwavering belief in one’s abilities and the confidence from knowing one’s own ideas can be realized. Hill continues by saying that one must have confidence in one’s skills and replace worries or fears with hope and optimism to succeed.

Faith Think an grow rich by Napoleon Hill

A person’s faith is crucial in maintaining their drive since it gives them confidence in their ability to succeed. Cause and effect relationship A person’s faith determines confidence in their ability to succeed.

3. Autosuggestion:

Positive self-talk reinforces your desire..

Autosuggestion is a theory that may be found in Napoleon Hill ‘s “Think and Grow Rich” book. It refers to positive self-talk’s power to reinforce an individual’s desire to be successful. The fundamental tenet of this approach is that you may impact your subconscious mind and cultivate a robust self-belief in your capacity to realize your ambitions and goals by frequently and positively declaring them to yourself. This type of self-talk serves as a suggestion to your subconscious, which may work to bring your objectives into a physical reality by utilizing the power of positive thinking and action.

This method can assist you in overcoming negative ideas and beliefs that may be holding you back, and it may also develop a feeling of self-belief and determination inside you. Repeating affirmations, envisioning your intended results, and talking to yourself as if you have already accomplished your objectives are great ways to practice autosuggestion. The essential factor in determining whether or not autosuggestion will be successful for you is the frequency and consistency with which you repeat positive affirmations to yourself. This will ensure that they become a deeply established part of your cognitive processes.

4. Specialized Knowledge:

Acquiring knowledge related to the object of your desire..

According to Napoleon Hill ‘ s “Think and Grow Rich,” one of the most important steps toward achieving your goals is educating yourself on the topic. Hill says that if you want to succeed in life, you need to learn as much as you can about whatever it is you want to do.

His view is that the more you know, the more options you have for approaching problems and ultimately succeeding. To stay ahead of the curve and make the most of chances as they emerge, it is necessary to acquire specific knowledge, which calls for a willingness to study and educate oneself consistently.

One’s chances of succeeding in achieving their goals increase proportion to the depth of their understanding of those goals.

5 -Imagination:

Visualizing the attainment of your goal..

In Napoleon Hill ‘s “Think and Grow Rich,” the idea of “Imagination” relates to the strength of picturing your desired result. According to Hill, a vivid imagination is a helpful skill for achieving success because it enables you to envision your objectives already being fulfilled. You can use the power of your subconscious mind to bring your desires to life by utilizing your imagination to visualize what you want clearly.

To imagine something, you must first use your imagination to develop a clear, precise mental picture of what you want to accomplish. Then, you must consistently direct your thoughts toward this image. Hill contends that by doing this, you can construct a solid mental map that will lead your thoughts and actions toward your objective.

6. Organized Planning:

Develop a detailed plan to reach your goal..

The idea of “Organized Planning” in Napoleon Hill ‘s “Think and Grow Rich” stresses the significance of creating a thorough plan to achieve your goals.

According to Hill, achieving success necessitates a methodical and well-organized strategy to turn that idea into reality. Setting up a schedule and an action plan to complete each step of your goal-achieving process is part of organized planning.

Setting specific, attainable goals, figuring out the tools you’ll need to get there, and choosing the best course of action are all part of this process. You can concentrate your efforts, stay on course, and prevent drifting off track or losing sight of your ultimate goal by having a well-thought-out strategy.

7. Decision:

Making a firm decision to accomplish your goal..

“Choice” is the first of Napoleon Hill ‘s seven principles for success, emphasizing the need to make a final, irrevocable choice to reach your objective.

Hill argues that you need more than wishful thinking and careful preparation to achieve your goals; you need a rock-solid will to see them through no matter what. When you choose, you commit to a course of action and put forth the earnest effort to see it through to completion.

decisions Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill

It means pressing forward regardless of setbacks and refusing to give up in the face of opposition. When you make up your mind to do anything, it activates your subconscious and gives you the willpower to see it through.

8. Persistence:

Persevere in the face of difficulty..

In Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich,” the idea of “Persistence” alludes to the significance of perseverance in the face of adversity. Hill contends that success needs more than desire, preparation, and decision-making; it necessitates the ability to persevere in facing obstacles and disappointments.

Persistence entails keeping going even when things get rough and not giving up on your objective. It involves having the fortitude and resolve to keep going even when faced with challenges or disappointment. Persistence demonstrates your dedication to your purpose and determination to attain it at any length. The concept is that having a persistent mindset boosts your chances of success by overcoming obstacles and progressing toward your desired objective.

9. Power of the Mastermind:

Working with a group of like-minded people..

The “Power of the Mastermind” is a key concept in Napoleon Hill ‘s “Think and Grow Rich,” It entails the idea that collaborating with a group of like-minded people considerably increases the likelihood of success.

Hill claims that a group of people working together can do more than any one person could on their own and that this is especially true when it comes to achieving ambitious goals. The mastermind group members work together toward a common objective and provide each other with encouragement and advice along the way.

The power of Master mind Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill

Group members collaborate on projects, provide constructive criticism, and hold one another to high-performance standards. Joining a mastermind group allows you to tap into the members’ collective wisdom, which can help you see things from different angles, generate fresh ideas, and find practical solutions to problems.

Hill maintains that the mastermind’s ability to pool resources, share obstacles, and provide mutual support in pursuing goals is critical to success.

10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation:

Applying your sexual energy to achieve your goals.

In Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich,” “The Mystery of Sex Transmutation” relates to the notion that one might convert their sexual energy into helpful innovation. According to Hill, the urge for sexual interaction is one of the strongest motivations in the human psyche, and by channeling this need in the right direction, one may achieve great things.

“Sex transmutation” directs that energy and drive toward more beneficial objectives, such as success or development. Sexual desire is a strong motivator. According to Hill , if one accomplishes this, they may be able to access a powerful source of inspiration to help them achieve their goals.

It must be emphasized, nevertheless, that this idea needs to be clarified and might not work for or be appropriate for many individuals or civilizations. Hill’s opinions are not commonly held, and some may find them offensively outdated.

The subconscious mind is the powerhouse of mental activity, controlling all vital bodily and brain functions. It is constantly on the job, taking in material, energy, and thought and transforming it into living tissue to sustain life. Additionally, the subconscious is part of the mind that turns ideas, plans, dreams, and ambitions into reality.

When you visualize abundance, your subconscious draws from the force of Infinite Intelligence to manifest abundance in your life. This is one of the most complex aspects of the thirteen principles of “Think and Grow Rich.”

To get a deeper understanding, you can listen to Joseph Murphy’s The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind audiobook on YouTube.

12. The Sixth Sense:

Using your intuition to make decisions..

This is the pinnacle of “Think and Grow Rich’s entire ideology. A thorough comprehension of the other twelve principles prepares you to accept direction from an infallible source.

The principle of the Sixth Sense in Napoleon Hill ‘s book “Think and Grow Rich” refers to using intuition to make decisions. Hill believed that everyone has a natural inner guidance system that can be accessed and relied upon to make decisions, solve problems and achieve success.

He referred to this as the “Sixth Sense,” which he defined as a spiritual quality or the connection to a higher power that allows individuals to access a limitless source of knowledge and inspiration. Hill emphasized the importance of developing and trusting one’s intuition, or Sixth Sense, to unlock one’s full potential and achieve success.

13. The Brain:

Using your brain to its fullest potential..

According to Hill, the brain is like a radio. Your brain functions at fixed frequencies, just like a radio. These frequencies correspond to several emotions in your brain, including love, hatred, despair, fear, and confidence.

A radio can produce sound only when the transmitter and receiver are tuned to the same frequency. Similarly, you must ensure that your emotions match the frequency of money if you want your brain to generate it. Because that is the only signal that the Infinite Intelligence provides that you will be able to pick up.

If your brain is tuned to a frequency of hopelessness and poverty, that is all you will be able to manifest via Infinite Intelligence. However, if you program your brain to vibrate at a frequency of love, assurance, and plenty, you will unavoidably create such things. We can speak not only with other finite brains but also with the mind of infinite Intelligence when we change our mental frequency.

It’s true. The “secret” of “Think and Grow Rich” is that you, and only you, can control your thoughts and life. The thoughts you choose to think and focus on will ultimately control your mindset, creating the reality you live in. You must learn to modify your emotional state to influence your perspective and the “creative method of thought” that will lead you to success. You only create a negative mental vibration if you feel negative emotions like jealousy, fear, or anger. This vibration will attract more experiences that will make you feel similar.

On the other hand, when you are feeling positive emotions, like love, pleasure, laughter, and happiness, you are sending out positive vibrations that will attract experiences that will make you resonate more of the same. So, it’s essential to monitor your thoughts and feelings and be sure that you are broadcasting feelings of appreciation, fulfillment, and joy if you want to attract abundance into your life. If you make your ambitions a reality and improve your chances of doing so, “Think and Grow Rich” is a must-read.

Even if the authors aren’t perfect, the world is better off because of works like this. Knowing that such books exist has made a tremendous impact on my life. Books like this encourage a change in viewpoint, and making that change helped me significantly reduce stress, strengthen my connections with friends and family, and feel more accomplished at work.

F.A.Q. about “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

What is the main premise of “think and grow rich”.

“Think and Grow Rich” is a book by Napoleon Hill that presents a step-by-step method for achieving success and accumulating wealth. It focuses on key principles like desire, faith, autosuggestion, and more, guiding readers to shape their thoughts, access their subconscious minds, and take inspired action toward their goals.

What are some of the key principles outlined in “Think and Grow Rich”?

Desire, faith, autosuggestion, specialized knowledge, imagination, systematic planning, decision-making, tenacity, the mastermind’s power, the mystery of sex transmutation, the sixth sense, and using one’s intellect to its greatest capacity are all principles highlighted in the book.

How can one apply the principles of “Think and Grow Rich” in daily life?

The principles in “Think and Grow Rich” can be applied in everyday life by understanding and implementing the outlined steps. This may involve cultivating a strong desire, practicing positive autosuggestion, making organized plans, persisting through difficulties, or utilizing specialized knowledge. The goal is to consciously influence one’s thoughts and subconscious mind to guide decisions and actions.

What is the significance of “Think and Grow Rich” in today’s world?

Despite being published in 1937, “Think and Grow Rich” continues to be relevant in today’s world. It’s widely considered a foundational text in personal development, with its principles applicable to various facets of life, including career growth, personal finance, and entrepreneurship.

What does Napoleon Hill mean by the ‘power of the mastermind’ in “Think and Grow Rich”?

The ‘power of the mastermind’ is a principle that refers to the synergistic energy created when a group of like-minded individuals comes together to achieve a common goal. According to Hill, a mastermind group can provide collective intelligence, resources, and support, which can significantly enhance an individual’s ability to succeed.

What other books has Napoleon Hill written, and how do they relate to “Think and Grow Rich”?

Napoleon Hill has written several books on success and personal development, including “The Law of Success” and “Outwitting the Devil.” These books share many of the same themes and principles as “Think and Grow Rich” and offer additional insights and strategies for achieving success and personal fulfillment.

Quotes from “Think and Grow Rich”

“Your major purpose in life, the goal toward which you are working, will help determine what knowledge you need.”

“The person who stops studying merely because he or she has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what that person’s calling.”

“The only limitation is that which one sets up in one’s own mind.”

“Your subconscious mind recognizes and acts only upon thoughts which have been well-mixed with emotion or feeling.”

“Repetition or affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.”

“No follower of this philosophy can reasonable expect to accumulate a fortune without experiencing temporary defeat.”

“Most people go through life as failures because they habitually wait for the “time to be right” to start doing something worthwhile.”

“ Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time.”

You can read Napoleon Hill Biography by clicking the image below. Enjoy!!!

Napoleon Hill Biography

Disclaimer: This blog post is a summary or resume of the book and is not intended to dispense the reading of the original book. This post aims to provide a general overview of the book’s main ideas and themes and encourage readers to read the complete book to gain a deeper understanding of the material. The information presented in this post is intended to be something other than a substitute for the original book and should be used as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the entire book. We strongly encourage readers to read the complete book to benefit from its ideas and teachings fully.

Hi, I'm Tusha, and I founded Booksresume.com. I am the lead author of the website and dedicate myself to providing book summaries for entrepreneurs. Although I don't have an academic background in entrepreneurship, I am an avid reader and writer, and my passion for these topics led me to create this site. My goal is to share my knowledge and help others learn and grow in their businesses.

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The 13 Powerful Principles in “Think and Grow Rich”

Can a book written over 80 years ago (1937 to be precise) still be relevant today?

The answer is a definite “Yes!” At least when it comes to Napoleon Hill’s widely cited volume Think and Grow Rich .

This evergreen classic in personal success and leadership is one of the bestselling management books of all time.

Inspired by a conversation which the author had with business magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, Think and Grow Rich was marketed as a book containing “money-making secrets that can change your life.”

However, it certainly isn’t a scammy “get-rich-quick” book.

Instead, the slim volume acts as a blueprint for personal and professional success, complete with detailed strategies, techniques and examples.

The Power of Thoughts

Focused on the premise that “thoughts are things,” the book extols you to let positive and successful thoughts permeate your mind, so that they can “influence both your conscious and subconscious.”

By managing and controlling your dominating thoughts, you’re better able to steer your way towards greater success – and riches – in all aspects of your life. To accumulate any form of success in great abundance, you need to “magnetize” your mind with an intense desire, create a definite plan, and believe that you’re able to do so.

This is where the Napoleon Hill’s 13 principles come in.

Your starting point for any achievement is desire. To turn any desire into “gold,” Hill suggests six practical steps:

Fix in your mind the exact amount of money that you desire.
Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.
Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once , whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read – see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

Faith is the “eternal elixir” which gives life, power and action to the impulse of thought! – Napoleon Hill

Considered the most powerful of major positive emotions together with love and sex, faith can be strengthened through the principle of autosuggestion. It is a state of mind which can be built through positive thoughts mixed with strong emotions.

To clear your mind of fear, doubt and unbelief, Hill proposed the following faith affirmations to build your self confidence (abridged):

I know I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose in life;
I demand of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment;
I realise the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform into physical reality; therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 minutes daily on thinking of the person I intend to become and creating a clear mental picture;
I know through the principle of autosuggestion that any desire which I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some physical means; I will devote 10 minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of self-confidence ;
I have clearly written down a description of my definite chief aim in life; and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment;
I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others;
I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealously, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity;
I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself;
I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day, with full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful person.

#3 Autosuggestion

Autosuggestion rides on the power of self-suggestion to reach the subconscious mind and influence it with positive thoughts.

In contemporary parlance, it is known as the power of visualisation – a technique used by coaches everywhere to “trick” your subconscious mind into believing in a possibility through repeated instruction.

Here’s how Hill suggests it can be done:

Find Ideal Environment : Look for a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed
Close Eyes and Repeat Aloud : State the written statement of how much money you desire, the time limit for its accomplishment, and the description of the service or product you intend to give for the money.
Repeat : Do this morning and night until you can see in your imagination the money you wish to accumulate.
Written Copy : Place a written copy of your statement where you can see it night and morning, and read it just before retiring and upon arising until it has been memorised.

#4 Specialised Knowledge

Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organised into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end – Napoleon Hill

Knowledge in a specialised and valuable field is where power and wealth can be found.

According to Hill, knowledge will not attract money unless it is organised and intelligently directed through practical plans of action to the definite end of accumulation of money.

To deepen your specialised knowledge, you should spend your time and money on both formal and informal education. This can be done by selecting highly specialised courses in the subjects that you wish to focus on.

#5 Imagination

Touted as “the workshop of the mind,” imagination can be classified into two distinct forms:

Synthetic Imagination : The ability to arrange old concepts, ideas, or plans into new combinations. This harnesses your experience, education and observations, and is mostly used by inventors.
Creative Imagination : This is where the finite mind of man communications directly with Infinite Intelligence. It is represented through “hunches” or “inspirations” received by the subconscious.

Like any organ or muscle, your imagination can only be more alert with use. To strengthen your ideas generating mind machine, you need to have a plan.

#6 Organised Planning

To turn your abstract ideas concrete, you need a plan for action. This can be done through several steps.

a) Form a Master Mind Group

Ally yourself with a group of like-minded folks for the creation and execution of your plan (or plans). Before doing so, decide what advantages and benefits you may offer the individuals of your group.

Arrange to meet with these members at least twice a week or more often if necessary, and maintain perfect harmony with every team member.

b) Build Your Leadership Capability

Here, Hill describes some of the attributes of leadership which we should all aspire towards:

Unwavering courage
Self-control
A keen sense of justice
Definiteness of decision (more later)
Definiteness of plans
Doing more than being paid for
Pleasing personality – leaders can’t be slovenly or careless
Sympathy and understanding
Mastery of detail
Willingness to assume full responsibility
Cooperation of others

In the same breath, we should also avoid the failures of leadership :

Inability to organise details
Unwillingness to render humble service
Expectation of pay for what we “know” instead of what we do with that which we know
Fear of competition from followers
Lack of imagination
Selfishness
Intemperance (eg losing control through use of alcohol or drugs or other vices)
Emphasis of title

c) Apply for Right Position

In this hefty section, we learn about how we should market our “personal services” as an individual to an organisation, and secure the desired job.

Much of it involves sourcing for the right opportunities through multiple channels (job ads, employment agencies, letters of application, personal networks) and creating a perfect “brief” (ie resume and cover letter).

You should also consider the following steps:

Decide the exact job you want
Choose company or individual you wish to work for
Study your prospective employer’s policies, personnel and chances of advancement
Concentrate on what you can give ; forget about “a job”
Arrange with an experienced writer to write a good resume summary and cover letter for yourself
Present to the proper person with authority

d) Use the “QQS” Formula

Adopt the following:

Quality of service: the performance of every detail, in connection with your position, in the most efficient manner possible, with the object of greater efficiency in mind
Quantity of service: the habit of rendering all the service of which you are capable, at all times, with the purpose of increasing the amount of service rendered as greater skill is developed
Spirit of service: the habit of agreeable, harmonious conduct which will induce fellow employees and associates to cooperate

e) Conduct a Self Assessment

To avoid the major causes of failure, it is useful to conduct a personal inventory assessment. In the book, we’re given a detailed list of 28 questions which you can ask yourself (you can find a copy here .)

f) Look for Opportunities

Finally, your plan should include taking stock of opportunities to gain wealth. This can be in virtually any industry where market demand outstrips supply.

#7 Decision

Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. – Napoleon Hill

Citing procrastination as the greatest enemy of success, the book extols us to make decisions quickly , and to change decisions slowly .

A key factor here is to reach your own decisions, and ignore the opinions of everybody else – the newspapers, gossiping neighbours, family members, friends, and others.

Worthy decisions often require immense courage. However, they’re always worthwhile to act upon.

#8 Persistence

Persistence is the cornerstone of any form of worthwhile endeavour. It allows you to overcome your failures, and to withstand the journey along the long road to success.

There are 4-steps cited in the book:

Definite Purpose : Backed by a burning desire for fulfillment.
Definite Plan : Expressed by continuous action.
Independent Mind : Closed against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
Friendly Alliance : Forming a Master Mind with one or more persons who will encourage you to follow through with your plan and purpose.

#9 Power of the Master Mind

Defined as “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose,” the forming of a Master Mind allows you to multiply your brain power.

Mr Andrew Carnegie’s Master Mind group, for example, consisted of 50 staff members whom he surrounded himself with for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing steel.

By identifying and enlisting people into your Master Mind group, you can increase your power – here it refers to the organised effort required to enable you as an individual to “transmute desire into its monetary equivalent.”

#10 The Mystery of Sex Transmutation

“When driven by this desire (ie sex), men develop keenness of imagination, courage, will-power, persistence, and creative ability unknown to them at other times.” – Napoleon Hill

This chapter invariably confounds readers. What it seeks to communicate, is this:

Can you convert your energies, emotional intensity and creativity for sexual expression into a positive force that will bring forth riches?

To do so, consider this two-step approach to transmute your sexual energy in a positive way:

Mental Stimulation : Stimulate your mind so that it functions on a higher-than-average plane, using the same intensity and desire of a sexual encounter.
Form Perfect Picture : Concentrate on the known factors of your invention, and create in your mind a perfect picture of unknown factors. Hold this picture steady until it has been taken over by the subconscious mind, and then wait for your answer to “flash” by your mind.

“The emotion of sex stands at the head of the list of human emotions, as far as intensity and driving force are concerned… The result of sex transmutation is the increase of thoughts to such a pitch that the creative imagination becomes highly receptive to ideas.” – Napoleon Hill

#11 The Subconscious Mind

To energise and feed your subconcious mind with positive thoughts, you should use autosuggestion to give ‘instructions’ that focuses on the 7 positive emotions :

The emotion of desire
The emotion of faith
The emotion of love
The emotion of sex
The emotion of enthusiasm
The emotion of romance
The emotion of hope

At the same time, you should avoid any thoughts associated with the 7 negative emotions :

The emotion of fear
The emotion of jealously
The emotion of hatred
The emotion of revenge
The emotion of greed
The emotion of superstition
The emotion of anger

An interesting point here involves the power of prayer . Here, it is suggested that if you pray for a thing but have fear as you pray that you may not receive it, your prayer will have been in vain!

#12 The Brain

Equating the brain to a “broadcasting and receiving station for thought,” Hill described how the brain, mind and subconscious works.

Let me extract some of its excerpts below:

“The creative imagination is the ‘receiving set’ of the brain, which receives thoughts, released by the brains of others… When stimulated or stepped up to a high rate of vibration, the mind becomes more receptive to thought which reaches it through outside sources.”

“The subconscious mind is the ‘sending station’ of the brain, through which vibrations of thought are broadcast. The creative imagination is the ‘receiving set’ through which the energies of thoughts are picked up.”

“… the principle of autosuggestion, which is the medium by which you may put into operation your ‘broadcasting’ station.”

#13 The Sixth Sense

Some call this your intuition or “hunch.” Others may call it your “genius” or “muse.”

Whatever (or whomever) your source of inspiration may be, Hill suggests that your sixth sense can be nurtured by cultivating in your creative imagination a team of “Invisible Counselors.” In his case, they included men like John Emerson, Thomas Paine, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry Ford, and Andrew Carnegie.

By forming an imaginary cabinet, you can ‘tap’ the ideas, thoughts and knowledge of these distinguished luminaries in your mind!

Dispelling Negative Influences

Towards the end of the book, Hill elaborated at length about the six basic fears and how these could derail your efforts:

The Fear of Poverty :
The Fear of Criticism
The Fear of Ill Health
The Fear of Loss of Love
The Fear of Old Age
The Fear of Death

To overcome these and all other negative thoughts, he suggests the following practical steps:

Recognise that you have a will-power that can be put into constant use
Recognise that you are susceptible to all the six basic fears
Set up habits to counteract those fears
Recognise that negative influences work through your subconscious mind
Keep your mind closed against all people who depress or discourage you in any way
Clean out your medicine chest, throw away all pill bottles, and stop pandering to your hypochondria
Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act for yourself
Do not expect troubles as they have a tendency not to disappoint

Think and Grow Rich is one of the iconic books in self-help literature. Despite being written over 80 years ago, its principles are still valid in the digital and social age.

While some of Napoleon Hill’s philosophies and principles are a bit of a stretch (eg “Sex Transmutation” and “Sixth Sense”), I found that its lessons are still applicable today. Virtually all the “gurus” in the personal development sphere have borrowed his ideas – from Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, to Norman Vincent Peale and Bob Proctor.

Do you find the 13 principles of Think and Grow Rich applicable for you? Have you applied them towards your own goals in life?

Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth. – Napoleon Hill

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Think and Grow Rich

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Hey, you! Yes, you—the person who’s reading this. Changing your thoughts really is the first step to achieving what seems impossible. You’re about to learn how this works in Think and Grow Rich , which is recognized far and wide as the book that laid the groundwork for the positive-thinking concept.

This refreshed edition of the 1937 classic by Napoleon Hill features a foreword by Dave Ramsey—bestselling author, radio host and America’s trusted voice on money—who applied the principles he learned in Think and Grow Rich to achieve success in his life and work.

In Think and Grow Rich , Hill finds a common thread in several successful people of his time, including Dale Carnegie, Henry Ford, William Wrigley Jr., George Eastman, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilbur Wright, Charles M. Schwab and Thomas Edison. Each of their thoughts plays a powerful role in their ability to win with life and money.

Hill outlines 13 principles to guide you on your journey toward personal success:

Auto-Suggestion
Specialized Knowledge
Imagination
Organized Planning
Persistence
Power of the Master Mind
The Subconscious Mind
The Sixth Sense

Take a deeper dive into each of these and find out why the first step to being successful is the practice of believing you can . You’ve got this!

Summary: Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

think and grow rich summary napoleon hill

"When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work. You, and every other person, ought to be interested in knowing how to acquire that state of mind which will attract riches… Observe very closely, as soon as you master the principles of this philosophy, and begin to follow the instructions for applying those principles, your financial status will begin to improve, and everything you touch will begin to transmute itself into an asset for your benefit. Impossible? Not at all!”

Success comes to those who become success conscious. Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious.

The object of this book is to help all who seek it learn the art of changing their minds from failure consciousness to success consciousness.

…that before we can accumulate riches in great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense desire for riches, that we must become ‘money conscious’ until the desire for money drives us to create definite plans for acquiring it."

- Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

Think & Grow Rich is probably THE #1 most famous success book of all time. It was written by Napoleon Hill in 1937 and has sold over 15 million copies.

The premise of the book is simple:

Riches begin with a state of mind. If we want to get rich, we must first change our minds so that we become, as Napoleon Hill calls it, money conscious. He says that we must literally THINK ourselves rich. The term riches by the way could mean any form of wealth like money, happiness, healthy relationships, business success etc..

This book offers the How-To of the aforementioned concept. It shows us how we must think to become money conscious. It shows us how to think ourselves rich, how to control our minds and our thoughts so that we can become rich.

Don't have time to read the whole thing right now? No worries. You can download a free PDF version of this summary by clicking the button below:

Thoughts Become Things

Throughout this philosophy will be found the suggestion that thought, backed by strong desire, has a tendency to transmute itself into its physical equivalent.

The meaning of the word ‘transmute’ is, in simple language, ‘the changing or transferring of one element, or form of energy, into another’.

This book has been confined, exclusively, to instructing the reader how to transmute the definite purpose of desire for money into its monetary equivalent.

Napoleon Hill tells us that thoughts can be transmuted into physical reality. What first only happens in our minds, can one day become real in the physical world.

If we think in our mind that we will become a millionaire, this thought, in this moment, doesn’t equal our physical reality. At least not mine. I am not a millionaire in this moment. (Not yet!) However, through the use of this book, we can transmute that thought into reality and actually become a real millionaire.

This transmutation from thoughts (abstract, only in mind) into reality (concrete, physical) can be achieved through the use of Napoleon Hill’s advice in this book.

Napoleon Hill is not the only one telling us that thoughts become things. Pretty much all of the great teachers emphasize that.

Our life is what our thoughts make it. – James Allen

Thoughts become things . If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand . – Bob Proctor

A good example for the power of thoughts is the placebo effect. If you are ill and take real medication (e.g. pills with actual painkillers), then of course you will get better. That’s to be expected, right? Yet, if you’re ill and get pseudo medication (e.g. pills with sugar and water), you will also get better. Why is that? It’s because you THINK you got real medication. You THINK that this medication will help you and because you THINK that, it’s what actually happens.

If we THINK we will get better, then we will get better (even if all we do is swallow sugar pills).

Keeping this constantly in mind is really important, because if thoughts become things, if thoughts become our reality, then we should start paying much more attention to what we’re thinking all the time.

If we think “failure”, then failure will be transmuted into reality. If we think “success”, then success will be transmuted into reality.

This concept is the cornerstone of Napoleon Hill’s philosophy. If we truly want to think and grow rich, we must start to take control over our thoughts, or in other words over our mind. I can’t emphasize this enough. We must TAKE CONTROL over our own minds. Let’s learn how to do that now...

We MUST Take Control Over Our Thoughts

You have ABSOLUTE CONTROL over but one thing, and that is your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to man! It reflects man’s Divine nature. This Divine prerogative is the sole means by which you may control your own destiny. If you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else.

Study the record of any man who achieves noteworthy success, and you will observe that he has control over his own mind, moreover, that he exercises that control and directs it toward the attainment of definite objectives. Without this control, success is not possible.

This doesn’t come as a surprise… if thoughts become things, then we MUST take control over our thoughts. Otherwise we can never control or even influence what’s going to happen in our lives. And I don’t know about you, but I really want to control my life as much as possible. I want to live a great fcking life. And you do, too, right?

So, if that’s the case, we must start to control our thoughts.

Napoleon Hill goes as far to say that we can never be successful if we don’t control our thoughts.

On the flipside, he also tells us that we can absolutely and 100% control our own destiny, if we DO control our thoughts. I can’t stress this enough… taking control over our thoughts is what this book is all about. Because if we can do that, we can create the necessary money consciousness to attract all kinds of riches into our lives.

Right now you may be thinking, “Okay, I get it. Thoughts become things and therefore I must control my thoughts to create the things that I want in my life… yet, HOW can I do this? HOW can I control my thoughts?”

Don’t worry, this is what this book is here to teach us. Now that we know how important our thinking is, it’s time to play… it’s time for some practical steps.

Have a Burning Desire to Accomplish ONE MAJOR DEFINITE PURPOSE

The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose.

Have a burning desire to accomplish one major definite purpose.

There we have it: the most practical method for controlling the mind is to keep it busy with a definite purpose. In other words, we need a definite goal. PLUS we need a second thing, and that is a burning desire to accomplish that definite purpose. This is important. According to Hill, we need these two things:

A major definite purpose.
A BURNING DESIRE to achieve that major definite purpose.

Let’s start with having a closer look at the major definite purpose. (You’ll learn about desire in the next point)

So, what exactly is a major definite purpose?

It’s quite simply a goal that you want to achieve. It could be losing weight, gaining muscles, getting rich, getting a promotion at work, finding your soulmate, becoming a movie star, becoming a fitness model, becoming a monk, getting a new car… could be anything that you want … what’s crucial is this:

It should be ONE major definite purpose/goal
It should be definite

These two factors are very important.

First, Napoleon Hill is always referring to ONE major definite purpose. Not two… not three… not twenty… just ONE major definite purpose. Solely ONE THING that you want to accomplish.

In my opinion the reason for this is obvious. If we focus on achieving ONE PURPOSE, then the chances of actually achieving it are pretty big. There are not 10, 20 or 30 things to do anymore… there’s just one. This means we can 100% focus on achieving that goal. We can use all of our energy, time, thinking power etc… on the accomplishment of that one goal or purpose.

Think about it this way. If you have person A and person B who are both trying to achieve the same goal of getting a promotion at work. For person A it’s the only goal he has, but person B has four other things he’s trying to accomplish. Person A is completely focused on getting promoted so he works longer hours than person B. Person B can’t work longer, because he also has to work on achieving his other goals. Person A is the first to arrive at work and the last to leave. He takes a lot of responsibility and reads books about how to get better at his job and books on how to get a promotion. Person B on the other hand reads books about his other goals and while Person A is working on getting promoted, person B is working on achieving other things.

In that scenario it’s pretty obvious that person A will get the promotion, and achieve his goal. It’s only fair too, because he invested much more time and energy than person B. All person A was focusing on was the promotion at work, while person B’s focus was scattered on many other things.

Here’s another example. Again, person A and person B both want to achieve the same goal. They want to win a prize for building the biggest hill of sand on the beach. For person A it’s the only goal, but person B simultaneously also wants to dig the biggest hole on the beach. Who do you think will win the prize for the biggest hill?!

Again, it’s probably going to be person A because she can completely focus on doing that. She doesn’t get distracted with anything else and can completely concentrate all of her efforts on achieving her one goal of building the biggest hill of sand.

My point is that if we focus on achieving only one thing, our odds of achieving it are greatly enhanced.

Today’s society is full of distractions and it’s already hard enough to stay focused on the achievement of one goal. Once we have too many goals, it’s almost impossible to find the motivation and discipline to stay focused on all of them. It’s much easier if we just focus on one thing and one thing only.

Success demands singleness of purpose. You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects. – Gary Keller

(By the way, a great example for singleness of purpose are athletes. For them their purpose is their respective sport, and it’s all they focus on during their active careers.)

So that’s the first point I wanted to make about major definite purposes: Napoleon Hill wants us to focus on ONE goal/purpose at a time.

The second important factor is that your goal or purpose should be definite.

That means that we must clearly define what exactly we want. We must be definite. It’s not enough to say that we want to “lose weight”. We must clearly define how much weight we want to lose, by when we want to have lost it, and what kind of weight we want to lose (we probably want to lose fat and keep the muscles, right?).

If we want to earn more money, we must clearly define how much money. Monthly salary? How much? By when? Passive income? How much? By when? Money on our savings account? How much? By when?

If we want a new car, we must clearly define what kind of car. Red? Blue? Mercedes? Toyota? Big? Small? Sports car? Limousine? How many seats? By when do we want it?

Our goal must be DEFINITE, so that the subconscious mind, the universe, God or whatever higher force there is, knows exactly how to help us. This may sound silly, yet it’s exactly how it works.

Let’s say you want to buy 4 roses, but tell the flower seller that you want “some flowers”. How big are the chances that you will actually get exactly 4 roses? It’s almost impossible, isn’t it? How on earth should she know that you want 4 roses if you don’t tell her specifically?

And it’s exactly the same with the universe/subconscious mind/God/whatever. What the fck should a “better job” be? It could be anything! So we have to get specific on what we want for our major goal. In Napoleon Hill’s words, we must have a major definite purpose.

So that’s basically the two things on which Napoleon Hill focuses on when it comes to our purpose/goals:

Focus on ONE goal at a time
Make your goal DEFINITE

That’s what Napoleon Hill constantly repeats like a mad man throughout the book. That we should always focus on achieving ONE MAJOR DEFINITE PURPOSE.

We must direct all of our energy, time, and resources on that ONE THING.

Most importantly, as you’ll learn later in this summary, we should also direct all of our thinking towards that one major definite purpose.

That goal, our major definite purpose should make up the dominating thoughts of our minds. It should become an all-consuming obsession until we achieve it. It should be constantly on our minds. It should almost be all that we think about.

Achieving that major purpose is the most important thing in our life.

And the way we turn that major purpose into an all-consuming obsession is through the help of desire, which we’ll talk about right now in the next point.

Note*: Unfortunately, Napoleon Hill doesn’t describe how we can figure out our major definite purpose. If you’re not sure about that yet, then the goal-setting guide that you got as a bonus with your purchase, should be of help.

A BURNING DESIRE Is The Starting Point of All Achievement

Desire is the starting point of all achievement.

I wish to covey the thought that all achievement, no matter what may be its true nature or its purpose, must begin with an intense, BURNING DESIRE for something definite.

I had learned, from years of experience with men, that when a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.

A BURNING DESIRE to accomplish one major definite purpose is Napoleon Hill’s official first step to riches, and in my opinion by far the most important. (You already know what a major definite purpose is, so now let’s look at why it’s so important to have a HUGE desire to accomplish that.)

Why is desire the most important step?

Because if we really, really, really want something, then we’re very likely to find a way to do it. If our desire is big enough, if it’s really a BURNING desire to achieve something, then we will do almost anything to achieve it. We will automatically feel motivated all the time, we will put in the hard work, and we will do what’s necessary to achieve that burning desire. Accomplishing that desire is what’s constantly on our minds. It becomes a burning obsession. We just MUST accomplish it. It’s all we can think of.

Think about it. Have you ever wanted to lose some weight or gain some muscle mass for example? Chances are you have. Most of us have. So, in the beginning you were probably very motivated. For a few weeks you were exercising regularly and eating healthy… but then all of a sudden that early motivation was gone and you just stopped. You went from truly wanting and desiring it to “just kind of” wanting it. Maybe you’re still eating fairly healthy and are exercising a bit here and there, but you lack the necessary drive or discipline to really do what it takes to lose that weight or gain those muscles.

This has happened to me many times. The problem is that the desire is or was simply not big enough. Yes, we probably all do want to have a better body, but for most of us it’s not something that we want bad enough.

On the other hand, take for example a bodybuilder. For him, building a superior physique is a HUGE DESIRE. It’s very likely THE most important thing in his life. He will do everything to pack on some more muscles and get rid of those last pounds of fat. Improving his body is constantly on his mind. He thinks about it first thing after waking up and last thing before he drifts off to sleep. It’s his #1 thing. It’s his obsession, his burning desire.

Many people often say things like: “If I really wanted it… I could do it.” And they’re right!

Think about it… if you really wanted to have a perfect body. If it was an obsession for you. If it's all you thought about all day long… do you think you could do it? Of course you could! It’s not so fcking complicated. Eat healthy, exercise and be persistent. If your body is all you focus on, it’s not that hard to achieve a better body or the kind of body that you desire.

Again, the problem for most of the people is a lack of motivation. And a lack of motivation always stems from a lack of desire. If we’re not motivated, we don’t want it bad enough. This is HUGELY IMPORTANT. If we truly desire something, then we will do what it takes!

Napoleon Hill says that big desires bring about big results. Weak desires bring weak results.

The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires.

Do we really want something? We will do what it takes.

Do we kind of want something? We will give up at the first sight of defeat.

That’s the difference! That’s why a burning desire is so important!

Good examples for people with a burning desire are great athletes. The Roger Federers, Lionel Messis, Kobe Bryants of this world. For them, being the best at what they do is a HUGE desire. They all started with their sports at a very early age and never changed course. They will do all it takes to become the best at their craft. They work longer and harder than everybody else. They make huge sacrifices. They do everything it takes to achieve their dreams. And the reason why they can do this is because their desire is big enough. It’s a truly burning desire. And that desire is what they are constantly thinking about. It’s what makes up their dominating thoughts. It’s their all-consuming obsession.

For me, this realization was groundbreaking.

Whenever I set myself a goal in the past that I didn’t achieve, I now realize that the desire was simply not big enough. The desire to achieve that goal was not enough. It wasn’t a BURNING desire. It wasn’t an obsession. It wasn’t something I focused on enough. It wasn’t something I thought about all the time.

Here are the two things that define what a burning desire should look or feel like:

1. The burning desire makes up the dominating thoughts of our mind . We constantly think about it all day long. It’s what’s on our minds 24/7 from the minute we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. We possibly even dream about it in the night. And because we keep our desire constantly in mind, it will become a burning obsession. That’s a GREAT thing! That’s what’s necessary! That’s what separates us from the rest. That’s that guarantees that we will do all it takes.

2. The burning desire ensures that we will do whatever it takes to achieve what we desire . We will work hard, make sacrifices, be disciplined, and persistent. We will do almost anything.

DESIRE FVCKS EVERYTHING ELSE!

It’s the most important step to achieving any goal that you have in life.

Okay, so we got that. Now it’s time for a quick recap of what we’ve learned so far.

Quick Recap

1. Thoughts become things. Thoughts get transmuted into the physical reality. This means that we are constantly creating our own reality through the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds. Think “success”, create success. Think “money”, create money. Think “goal X”, create goal X…

2. We MUST control our thoughts. By controlling our thoughts, we can control our lives. We have 100% control over our thinking and this means that we have also control over our destiny. We can, through the power of our thoughts, create our own reality the way we want it. Yet, we can only do that if we start to CONTROL our thoughts.

3. The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is to keep it busy with a definite purpose. We all need ONE MAJOR DEFINITE PURPOSE that we can focus on. This ensures that we can control our minds by constantly thinking about it. (If our desire to achieve this major definite purpose is big enough, this happens almost automatically.)

4. We must have a BURNING DESIRE to accomplish our major definite purpose. If we truly want to achieve our major purpose, then we will think about it all day long, then it will become an all-consuming obsession, and then our mind can constantly be controlled by focusing on accomplishing that desire. A big enough desire ensures that we can control our mind, and therefore our future.

I hope I’ve made this clear by now. The way to control our mind is this: We constantly think about our desire. We constantly think about achieving our major definite purpose. There simply isn’t any space left for other thoughts. And that’s GREAT! We don’t need any other thoughts… they would probably be negative anyway…

Once you have a burning desire to achieve one major purpose, it becomes important to develop belief or faith in the achievement of that purpose. This is what you’ll learn right now...

Have Faith That You Will Succeed

I believe in the power of desire backed by faith.

FAITH is the ‘external’ elixir’, which gives life, power and action to the impulse of thought.

We must develop the faith or belief that we will accomplish our major definite purpose. We must believe (have faith) that it will happen. Once we know what we want, we must create in ourselves the belief that we can do it.

Hill states that the emotion of faith is what gives life, power and action to the impulse of thought . In other words, if we want to transmute our major definite purpose into physical reality, we must have faith. We must believe, and we must be convinced that we will accomplish our major definite purpose.

Again, this is something that all the great teachers tell us.

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford

Believe you can succeed, and you will. – David J. Schwartz

Believe you can and you're halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt

Only when we believe that something is possible, it can become possible. Once we believe that we will become rich, we actually will become rich.

This is again what the Placebo effect is all about. If we THINK we will get better, then we will get better (even if all we do is swallow sugar pills).

If we THINK we will achieve our goal, then we will achieve our goal.

How do we develop that faith or belief? How do we get convinced that we can achieve our purpose? How can we believe in the accomplishment of what we desire?

That’s what you’ll learn in the next point...

How To Create Faith

FAITH: Visualizing and Believing in the Attainment of Desire

Faith is a state of mind that may be induced, or created, by affirmation or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of autosuggestion.

…you may convince the subconscious mind that you believe you will receive what you ask for.

Making repeated affirmations to your subconscious mind is the only known method of developing the emotion of faith voluntarily. Perhaps the meaning may be made clearer through the following explanation as to the way people sometimes become criminals. Stated in the word of a famous criminologist, “When people first come into contact with crime, they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to it, and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long enough, they finally embrace it, and become influenced by it.”

Napoleon Hill says that making repeated affirmations or instructions to our subconscious mind is the only known method to do develop faith. For me, this means that we must constantly bombard our minds with affirmations and visualizations that tell it that we can and will achieve our major definite purpose. We must see and feel ourselves as if we’ve already achieved our purpose. This way, over time, we can convince our subconscious mind that we believe in the achievement of our major definite purpose.

The concept of visualizing our desired outcomes as already achieved is something we find in almost every self-help/success book: We must see our goal as already achieved in our mind first, before it can manifest itself in the real world. We must visualize our desired future as if it was already real.

By doing that we create the necessary feeling of faith that is needed to accomplish our goal. If we constantly tell our mind that we already have achieved our desired outcome, it will slowly start to believe that it’s true. It will slowly get convinced that we can actually accomplish our goal. This is the way through which we develop the faith or belief that we will succeed.

Let’s imagine that there’s a magic pill that would automatically make you accomplish your goal. That pill would give you all the necessary ideas, financial means, business partnerships, confidence etc… that you would need to succeed.

You know what that pill is?

It’s faith.

It’s the placebo effect. Because once you have faith or belief that you will succeed, then you have swallowed that pill from above. Then you will get the ideas, financial means, partnerships, the confidence, energy, and whatever else it takes for you to achieve the desired outcome. Then you make the placebo effect work for you. (Just remember how powerful that effect is if it can heal severe illnesses with a bunch of sugary pills!)

The way to get there, the way to create faith is through making repeated affirmations and instructions to your subconscious mind.

Lucky for us, Napoleon Hill tells us exactly how to make these affirmations and instructions to our subconscious mind. He offers us the exact 6 steps we need to transmute our desires into their physical equivalents. Let’s look at them right now...

Six Practical Steps to Transmute Desires Into Physical Reality

The method by which desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical steps:

1 Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say, “I want plenty of money”. Be definite as to the amount.

2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.

3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.

5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire. Name the time limit for its acquisition. State what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

6. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after rising in the morning. AS YOU READ, SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

(In this example, the desire or major definite purpose is simply a certain amount of money. Again, it could be any other goal that you desire to achieve.)

You should clearly see where the desire and major definite purpose come in in these 6 steps. You also see that you’ll need a plan (which will be discussed in the next point), and you see that you must bombard your mind with these statements at least twice daily, once just before going to bed, and once after rising in the morning. This is how you control your mind, and this is how you will develop faith or belief in the accomplishment of your major purpose.

If your desire is big enough, you will be doing some form of this exercise all day long, because you will be thinking about your purpose all day long. This is how you control your mind. By keeping it busy with a definite purpose.

A burning desire to accomplish one major definite purpose is really the most important thing. Once you have that, you will automatically think about it all the time and therefore also create the necessary faith or belief. You will do almost anything to achieve it.

Just constantly remind yourself of your desire and that desire will become an all-consuming obsession in no time. Once you’re obsessed with something, you will find ways to make it happen.

Before we move on, I want to make something clear…

Napoleon Hill emphasizes that these 6 steps must be executed persistently day in and day out. Only through persistent application can we successfully influence our mind, create faith, and let our desire develop into a burning obsession.

If you’re looking for a way to achieve your goals, look no further. According to Hill, these 6 steps are what it takes to transmute any desire into its physical equivalent.

Create a Plan to Achieve Your Major Definite Purpose

When riches take the place of poverty, the change is usually brought about through well-conceived and carefully executed plans. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless.

Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan plus a burning desire for wealth are the only dependable means of accumulating it.

The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan.

Why are plans so important?

Let’s say you want to go from place A to place B, from Los Angeles to New York by car. When you have a GPS system (=plan), then it’s pretty easy, right? You just follow the instructions… Without a map on the other hand (=without a plan) you will probably get lost. Literally! Or at least you will lose a lot of time, energy and resources that could have been used in a better way. For sure, you will arrive at the desired location later, than if you had had a plan.

The same principle applies to our goals. Without a clear plan we waste a lot of unnecessary time, energy and resources PLUS we achieve the goal (if at all) later than with a clear plan.

Yet, here come the good news…

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, or plans, you need.

When we visualize our major definite purpose as already complete, the subconscious mind will hand over the plans for us. Once we believe in the accomplishment of our desired outcomes, our mind will serve us the plans on a silver plate.

That’s exactly what David J. Schwartz means in his book “Magic of Thinking Big” when he writes:

“The how-to-do-it always comes to the person who believes he can do it.” – David J. Schwartz

This is important if you think stuff like, “But I don’t know how to achieve my major definite purpose. It’s impossible to do. I have no idea how it can be done!” That doesn’t matter in the beginning. Just get started with applying the 6 steps and then your subconscious mind will give you ideas on how it could be done.

Application of the 6 steps will kind of force your subconscious mind to hand over plans for you. The how-to-do-it or the plan will almost mystically appear once you start visualizing your goal as already achieved.

Oh, and one more thing: It doesn’t matter if the first plan isn’t particularly good. Just get started. When the first plan fails, create a new plan. You can find out why this is important right now...

If Your First Plan Fails… Replace it With a New One

If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan, if this new plan fails to work, replace it, in turn with still another, and so on, until you find a plan which DOES WORK. Right here is the point at which the majority of men meet with failure, because of their lack of PERSISTENCE in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.

The majority of people are ready to throw their arms and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on despite all opposition until they attain their goal.

This is HUGE.

When a plan fails, then we must create a new plan. We can’t just give up at the first sign of failure. How pathetic would that be? Instead, if we always create a new plan if one failed, then we are certain to succeed sooner or later, because surely there will come a plan that works.

Think about Thomas Edison for example. He needed over 10,000 attempts to eventually create a functioning lightbulb. In other words, he had to make over 10,000 new plans to achieve his goal. That’s persistence!

Let’s say you want to lose weight and your plan is to make a low-fat diet. Because low-fat diets suck (in my opinion) you fail and don’t lose any weight. Most people would then simply give up. They will say they’ve tried and it didn’t work. What you should do instead in this situation, is to come up with a new plan and start again. Your new plan could be to try a high fat diet (smart idea!), create an exercise regimen, or hire a nutrition coach. There are plenty of options. What’s important: Don’t get discouraged, don’t give up, and instead create a new plan and immediately start to put that plan into action.

After failing once, you are already in a much better position to succeed. You already have feedback. You know that low-fat diets don’t work for you, and you can try another approach.

I like to remind myself that “nothing works the first time”. I don’t mean it in a negative way, but as a way to remind myself to NOT give up. To not throw in the towel, but to give it a fait shot and be persistent. That’s important: Persistence in everything we do. Let’s learn more about that...

Persistence Is Key

Those who have cultivated the HABIT of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up toward the top of the ladder. Sometimes it appears that there is a hidden Guide whose duty is to test men through all sorts of discouraging experiences. Those who pick themselves up after defeat and keep on trying, arrive; and the world cries, “Bravo! I knew you could do it!” The hidden Guide lets no one enjoy great achievement without passing the PERSISTENCE TEST. Those who can’t take it, simply do not make the grade.

Without persistence, you will be defeated, even before you start. With persistence, you will win.

This is the same principle as discussed earlier… even if the first thousand plans have failed, we still have to keep going and create a new plan. No matter how many times we fall down, fail, feel like a total loser, get discouraged, feel like giving up, it doesn’t matter! It’s all part of what Napoleon Hill calls the persistence test .

It’s good to remind ourselves that we must be IN EVERYTHING WE DO. We can’t build muscle, lose weight, build a business or do anything else noteworthy from one day to the next. We need to be patient and persistent.

This means we must also be persistent when applying the principles of this book. We must apply his 6 steps consistently… not just for a week or two… but consistently over a long period of time. Napoleon Hill says that this is crucial if we want to influence our subconscious mind and create a money/success consciousness. We must pay the price of persistence…

“Remember, there is no such possibility as SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. Ability to reach, and influence your subconscious mind has its price, and you MUST PAY THAT PRICE. You cannot cheat, even if you desire to do so. The price of ability to influence your subconscious mind is everlasting PERSISTENCE in applying the principles described here. You cannot develop the desired ability for a lower price. You, and YOU ALONE, must decide whether or not the reward for which you are striving (the “money consciousness”), is worth the price you must pay for it in effort.”

By the way… what helps us in being persistent is to have a BURNING DESIRE to accomplish our goal. If we really want something we will put in the necessary time and energy. We will do what it takes, and we will do it persistently. That’s why I always want to remind you that desire is the most important ingredient whenever we try to achieve a goal or purpose.

When we want it bad enough, we will find ways to make it happen. And we will be PERSISTENT until we succeed. With enough persistence, we enjoy an insurance against failure . How cool is that!?! Who needs car insurance if you can have insurance against failure? Funny enough, in our society almost nobody gets an insurance against failure (by being persistent), but most of the people get a car insurance. Pffff…

Create a Master Mind to Help You Achieve Your One Major Definite Purpose

The Master Mind may be defined as: coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.

A Master Mind is a group of people who work together for the attainment of a definite purpose.

This is pretty simple and straightforward. A Master Mind brings a host of benefits that will help us in accomplishing our major definite purpose.

If you want to build a business, a partner brings additional knowledge, effort, money and depending on the partnership a host of other things. You and your partner can motivate each other when times are tough and each of you brings his or her own ideas to improve the business.

One of the most important things that a Master Mind can bring you is FAITH. If you have powerful people in your Master Mind, chances are that you’ll believe that with the cooperation of your Master Mind allies you will achieve your definite purpose.

Let’s say you want to lose 5 pounds. If you hire a professional trainer, your chances of achieving your major definite purpose are much better than without a trainer. Your coach will bring all the necessary knowledge about how someone can lose weight. Your coach will motivate you and make sure that you stick to your plan. He or she will lift you up when you’re down. And again, most importantly, with a coach you will have more faith that you can lose the 5 pounds.

I’m not sure if that example would technically be a Master Mind, but it shows clearly some of the benefits of finding other people to work with you on achieving your major definite purpose.

Riches begin with a STATE OF MIND.

In order to attract money you must first become money conscious.

You must realize that thoughts become things. Thoughts literally get transmuted from the mental reality in our minds into the physical reality.

Because thoughts are so POWERFUL, we must learn to control our thoughts. According to Hill, the best way to do that is to have a burning desire to accomplish one major definite purpose.

If our desire is BIG and STRONG enough we will automatically think about achieving it 24/7. This means that our mind is constantly filled with positive thoughts of us achieving our desire.

In other words, we can best control our thoughts by occupying our mind with a BURNING DESIRE to accomplish ONE MAJOR DEFINITE PURPOSE.

Once we have both desire and purpose, we must develop faith (through visualization) that we can achieve our purpose. We must believe that it’s going to happen.

Next up, we need to create a plan to achieve our one major definite purpose. If that first plan fails, we must replace it with a new one. In fact, EVERY time one of our plans fails, we must immediately create a new plan. In other words, we must be PERSISTENT and never give up.

Last but not least we want to create a Master Mind. A group of people who help us achieve our major definite purpose.

And that’s it!

That was a quick rundown of Napoleon Hill’s best ideas from Think & Grow Rich.

I hope you enjoyed!

summary think and grow rich by napoleon hill

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Nils Salzgeber

Nils Salzgeber is the author of two books and co-founder of the popular NJlifehacks blog. He is passionate about anything that helps him become a more peaceful, productive, and loving version of himself. After quitting university twice, he has recently gone back to get a psychology degree. Nils lives in Thun, Switzerland.

Fantastic recap Nils! Thank you so much!

Cheers, Lucas!

It’s true, in order to attract money, you must become money conscious.

Thanks Nils for bringing out the essence of the great book. I feel more energised now to achieve my dreams.

Go crush it! 🙂

amazing content… nice explanation

Thanks for the detailed review of this book.

This is one of the greatest books on success to be honest. I have read it a couple of times and just can’t enough of it. It has so much information, not just on how to make money but on a variety of areas of life.

The principles are so true and actually applicable in all aspects of life. Surely success and wealthy starts from the mind, followed by a burning desire to achieve it. Even Grant Cardone says, you should be obsessed or you just will be average. I personally think obsession and persistence are key.

An interesting book for sure. And written by a very, very interesting man.

Great summary! Much appreciated. Andre from South Africa

Thanks, man. You’re most welcome.

Great job man!! Thanks for putting your efforts into this summary.

My pleasure

I find the book accurate on what exactly to do to attain any level of success which again has to be definite. I wish I read the book ten years a go, its a masterpiece. All the way from small village in Kenya – Africa, I find the underlying concepts applicable .

It’s very informative self help book. I really appreciate your efforts. you write summary in good manners. Thanks Nils Salzgeber

thanks, you give us some very positive ideas and some inspiring approaches to goal-setting and to the achievement of those goals. keep up the good work, you’re making a great contribution! Seattle, USA

Thanks, man. Appreciate it! 🙂

Hey man, great summary…although you didn’t cover all the 13 steps. You point out the main ones. Btw i LOVE your writing!!

Thanks, man. Appreciate it.

This was such a great summary! Thank you so much for writing it! I read the book before but your summary really helped organize everything again for me. Cheers from Japan!

Thanks, Thoa. Always great to hear from people who make it through the entire summary! 🙂

thanks a lot for encouragement

Hey man, great summary…although you didn’t cover all the 13 steps

Thanks, Vishal. Yeah, definitely didn’t include everything from the book in this summary. Long enough as it is 😉

Great summery

Thank you Nils Really inspiring

Cheers. My pleasure 🙂

Thank you for your summary! It was very helpful in understanding the book and takes a lot less time to digest. Great writing, too!

Cheers. Glad you enjoyed it.

I read this fantastic book. Thank you for the great summary and revision. It’s much appreciated.

My pleasure, Adrian.

Thank you, I have gotten all my impossible dreams because of this book, it has no limits, it can even take into the supernatural world of real xman like powers. I love you clear precise writing. Keep on plugging away.

Thank you, William. All the best on your journey! 🙂

how you get image in your blog can you answer me plz

Which image do you mean?

Great summary! thanks.

My pleasure.

its quiet amazing

Very nice summary. I like it really

Thanks, Charles!

This is the best summary of all time. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Hah, thanks, man!

Good Job Nils ! But the “Imagination” part dude :(((( the dopest part of the book, otherwise respect for the good modern example employement <3 ! Peace

Whaaooo! What A Great Summary, This Got Me Refreshed Greatly. Thank You Nils.

My pleasure, Femi.

very nice book

Fantastic summary! It felt like I was reading the book. Thank you

My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

All I can say is thanks! I don’t have to read it again just to take notes. I would like to mention the part about looking past what you see in a physical form and learn to believe how the invisible source can make anything become a reality as long as you believe it.

Really fantastic ! I read this book twice, but the way of transferring the points of this book was great, maybe it is good to name this summary, think and grow rich in a nutshell!

Thank you, Cyrus. That’s a good idea.

Much needed one, thanks very much for the brief summary Nils Salzgeber 🙂

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Think and Grow Rich

Chapter 9 : Persistence

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 9 Persistence summary analyzes why persistence is key for any accomplishment. Second, it describes 4 simple steps to develop the habit of persistence.

Summary : Persistence

The sustained effort.

It is the sustained effort necessary to induce faith. In Chapter 9 , Persistence is understood as an essential factor in the procedure of transmuting desire into money, and whose basis is the power of will . Persistence is imperative.Without it, you will be defeated before you start. Read this summary as often as needed, to keep in mind persistence has no substitute .

The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard and give up at first sigh of opposition or misfortune. The very few who carry on despite all opposition until they attain their goals are the Carnegies, the Fords, Rockefellers, Edisons, etc.

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 9 Persistence Summary : Edison on Bulbs

Fortunes gravitate to men whose minds have been prepared to attract them, just as water gravitates to the ocean. This book summary is all the stimuli necessary to attune any normal mind to the vibrations which will attract the object of one’s desire.

To get results you must apply all the rules until their application becomes a fixed habit with you. Occasional effort will be of no value. The lack of persistence (common to the majority of men), may be conquered only through the intensity of the desire.

The first test as to your persistence will come when you begin to follow the six steps in Chapter 2. Unless you are 1 out of 100, you may read the instructions and then pass on with your daily routine and never comply with those instructions. Don’t let you be among the 99 losers.

Poverty consciousness

Poverty consciousness occupy the mind by default. Money consciousness must be created to order unless one is born with it.

You may find it necessary to snap out of your mental inertia, through a similar procedure, moving slowly at first, then increasing your speed until you gain complete control over your will. Be persistent no matter how slowly you may start, as with persistence will come success.

“I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” John D. Rockefeller, on Persistence

The good part of the master mind is that some members can aid other members in the development and maintenance of persistence.

Fear of criticism

People refuse to take chances in business because they fear the criticism if they fail. In those cases the fear of criticism is stronger than the desire for success. Keep in mind most feared criticism comes from relatives and friends.

The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives gives it a better chance of surviving. The fear of criticisms is at the bottom of the destruction of new ideas.

Chapter 9: Persistence is very clear on this respect. If you analyze yourself and you become aware you fear criticism from relatives and friends try to overcome it. If you can’t, don’t hesitate to move somewhere else (new city, new country, etc.) far from criticism.

The habit of persistence

Some people were born with the quality of perseverance. But for most people (including famous businessmen ) it is not innate, it is acquired through training and drilling.

There are four simple steps leading to the habit of persistence:

Definite purpose backed by burning desire.
Definite plan expressed in continuous action.
A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences.
Friendly alliance with the people who will encourage you to achieve.

The purpose of the 13 principles of Carnegie is to enable you to take these 4 steps as a matter of habit. Those give the privilege of making life yield whatever price is asked.

Poverty needs no plan and no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid, and need to be attracted.

Go to Chapter 10 or read our 5-minute summary of the book.

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Key Takeaways From Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

1. Set and visualize your goals

2. Align actions with goals

3. Structure your approach to financial management

4. Build your own ‘mastermind’ alliance

Achieve Your Financial Goals by Focusing on the Right Things

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Chapters of Think and Grow Rich

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Think and Grow Rich Chapter 1 – Thoughts Are Things

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 2 Summary – Desire

Definiteness of purpose

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 3 Summary – Faith

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 4 Summary – Autosuggestion

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 5 Summary – Specialized Knowledge

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 6 Summary – Imagination

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 7 Summary – Organized Planning

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 8 Summary – Decision

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 9 Summary – Persistence

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 10 Summary – Power of The Mastermind

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 11 – The Mystery of Sex Transmutation

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 12 Summary – The Subconscious Mind

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 13 Summary – The Brain

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 14 Summary – The Sixth Sense

Think and Grow Rich Chapter 15 Summary – The Six Ghosts of Fear

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Think and Grow Rich

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Think and Grow Rich Summary

Introduction

1) Desire: The Starting Point of All Achievement

6 Steps to Turn Desire Into Riches (Or Accomplish Any Goal)

2) Faith: Visualization Of, and Belief in Attainment of Desire

Self-Confidence Formula

3) Auto-Suggestion: The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind

4) Specialized Knowledge: Personal Experiences of Observations

5) Imagination: The Workshop of the Mind

6) Organized Planning: The Crystallization of Desire Into Action

How to Build Practical Plans

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10 Causes of Failure in Leadership

8 Elements of A Good Job Application

How to Get the Exact Position You Desire

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