“Think and Grow Rich” is a self-help book written by Napoleon Hill in 1937. It tells the story of two men, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford, who made their fortunes in the early 20th century through hard work, determination, and wise decision making.
The book is divided into 17 chapters that detail many principles necessary for success, including Definiteness of Purpose, Self-Confidence, Specialized Knowledge, Imagination, or Creativity. Hill argues these are all essential ingredients to having what he calls “the mind of a winner.”
1. Be ready for success
“The two most powerful words in the English language are ‘I believe.'” Napoleon Hill said this, and it applies to so many aspects of life. One of those is your business. If you do not believe that you will succeed, then there is a good chance that you will not. It may seem like an obvious statement, but it bears repeating because too many people fail before they start because they are not convinced that anything will work out for them.
You need to be prepared for success by believing in yourself and your abilities. Self-belief is important because it prepares the mind to wait for success. Without this mindset, you’ll be less likely to pursue your goals. You may even quit if things get tough because it’s easier than pushing through the challenges in front of you.
Napoleon Hill insists that creating a picture of success in the mind is essential. You need to paint a picture of the success you want. It’s also important to remember that failing is not an option because it will confuse your mind if things are tough on the way there. A clear vision of success will prevent you from quitting early.
You should be prepared for your business to succeed by believing in yourself and your abilities. Without belief, it is unlikely that anyone will pursue their goals because there’s a good chance they won’t do well. It takes a lot of hard work to succeed, so you mustn’t choose the easy way out.
Bottom line
You need to develop within yourself the desire and ability to win in any circumstance, no matter how difficult or impossible it may appear at first glance.
2. Vision
The power of vision is a powerful tool that can be used to create success in your life, but how do you know what your vision should be? First, write down all of your life goals. This includes everything from the big to small things in between. Once they are on paper, you can sort them from most important to least.
Second, circle your top goal, or life purpose-this is the one you will work on throughout this process. Whatever it may be – write it down in large print across the paper so that it can be seen and scrolled past on the page.
Third, ask yourself: what would you do if money was no object? This may be a hard question to answer, but take some time and think about it. Once you have your top goal or life purpose circled, go back through all of the goals you wrote down in step one and ask yourself this same question for each item.
Fourth, write down the positive results from completing your top goal or life purpose on one side of the paper and the possible negative consequences of not completing it on the other side.
Fifth, define your next step to completing your top goal or life purpose. If it’s a big task and not something that can be completed in one day/step, break it down into smaller tasks to make each task more manageable. Once the task is defined, write it down on the paper/screen.
Sixth, write down all of your tasks related to achieving each goal or life purpose on a separate piece of paper. Once you have them written down, prioritize your top five tasks and work towards completing them. These steps are a clear picture of what you need to do to actualize your vision.
Bottom line
If you do not know where you are going, then there is nothing more certain than failure. According to Hill, “if you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.”
3. Self-discipline
In his book, Napoleon Hill discusses the power of self-discipline as a factor that has the potential to help people achieve their goals more effectively than any other trait or skill. Self-discipline is about self-control that helps you avoid elements that will not be important in your goal and focusing on those that will help you achieve the goal.
He also suggests that self-discipline should be used as a tool to control your thoughts, words, and actions. Through it, you avoid focusing on things that will help you achieve what is important for yourself. Distraction is an example of elements that will derail your process of achieving the goal. If you cannot focus on what is important, it will be harder for you to achieve your goals successfully.
Self-discipline washes away procrastination and helps in avoiding mistakes. When people are stressed, they need to control their emotions to not make bad decisions that will negatively affect them.
Self-discipline can help you stay away from situations leading to addiction or excessive use of substances like drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes which lead most often than not to fail. Self-discipline is about being aware of everything you do and thinking before doing it. The more mindfulness you have, the easier it is for you to avoid making mistakes that will lead again to failure.
Bottom line
To be successful, one must develop the power of self-control or “self-mastery.”
4. Initiative and leadership
A person can’t lead if they have not learned how to take responsibility and take the initiative. Everyone can acquire leadership, but it takes time and effort to learn the skills required. You must also remember that leadership requires you to do what needs to be done without being told or asked, even when no recognition is given. If you can do this, then you are on the path to success.
You need to take authority over your actions, thoughts, and subconscious mind. You need to direct your actions towards achieving a positive outcome. You need to be unafraid of failure and not let negative thoughts influence your decisions. If you have positive initiative, you can have a position that allows others to look up to you as an example for guidance, inspiration, and motivation.
Being a leader is more about having the ability to encourage others to find their own solutions and take action towards achieving positive results. You can learn how to be an effective leader by practicing these skills: – Take authority over your actions, thoughts, and subconscious mind.
Bottom line
In football, all players are advised of the need to be the quarterback. In life, however, everyone needs to step up and take charge of their own lives.
5. Decision making
The Law of Decision includes finding your purpose, knowing your dominant mental attitude, and understanding how you react under pressure. Good decision-making is based on knowing yourself and your situation. It involves making choices that will lead to the most benefit for yourself and your goals.
Listen to everybody’s opinion; damn, be respectful to them. But remember, they are just opinions. You might find that these opinions might be positive when applied well. Therefore you need to know what you are capable of and what you’re not.
You do not have to please people by implementing their decisions. You do not have to justify your decisions. You can take advice from others, but ultimately it is up to you what the outcome will be.
Decision-making is an art, not a science. There are no right or wrong decisions when it comes to decision-making. Most people, however, do make the mistake of basing their decision on other people’s advice and ideas without thinking for themselves what works best in their situation.
If you find yourself doing this regularly, then try to stop now. The only person who knows what is best for you and your life is you.
Bottom line
Hill calls it “capitalizing on opportunity.” Opportunities are everywhere, but they will not just come knocking at your door. You need to seek them out with all that you have got.
6. Cultivation of patience
Patience is a vital skill that every person should have in their life. It is not something you are born with, but it can be learned through the power of your mind. You can cultivate patience and make it part of your daily routine by Acknowledging when you are frustrated or impatient, taking deep breaths, or reminding yourself that everyone has bad days too. Therefore, it is critical to understand that things might not work according to your expectations, which does not necessarily mean the person is doing it on purpose. They might just be having a bad day, or maybe they do not know what exactly you wanted.
Taking deep breaths and reminding yourself of things like: “I should cut people some slack” and “this too shall pass” can help you. Ultimately, we should all take a step back and see the situation from another perspective.
Of course, there are times when patience is not an option. This might be due to safety reasons or just because you can’t put up with it anymore. For instance, if your partner keeps disrespecting you, then that is something that should never be tolerated for too long without speaking up. Patience is a skill that can be highly beneficial if you are willing to put the time and effort into it. It does not happen overnight, but it can lead to much more joy in your life when cultivated correctly.
Bottom line
Sometimes we want things to happen right now, and that is simply not going to be possible.
7. Mastermind Alliance
Napoleon Hill discusses the importance of building an alliance with people who share your goals and interests. He says that people who work together to achieve their mutual goal are more likely to succeed than those who go it alone. He calls this alliance a mastermind group that can help you achieve your goals faster through combining efforts and sharing knowledge. Hill explains this idea through 4 laws.
Law of Vibration: things in the universe vibrate. Everything moves and constantly changes, even us humans. We need to be aware that we are part of this universal flow and change ourselves accordingly.
Law of Attraction: like attracts like; whatever you think about tends to come true because thoughts have a certain vibration. This means that if you think positive thoughts like love, peace, and joy, people with the same vibration will come into your life.
Law of Correspondence: this is related to the law of vibrations. It states that whatever we experience on our mental plane (thoughts) corresponds to what happens on the physical plane (reality). We can change our reality by changing our thoughts.
Law of Cause and Effect: this law is about what happens after a certain event, cause, or action. It states that every cause has an effect; things happen for a reason. We can use the knowledge of this law to determine why something happened to avoid future mistakes and improve ourselves as individuals.
Bottom line
Surrounding yourself with people who you can learn from as well as those who will support you no matter what is essential.
8. Money management
Napoleon hill’s opinion was that if we want to be rich, we must manage and invest our money well. He talks about how to manage your finances and make smart decisions with money. Money management involves spending money after it is earned and planning for it through a budget. It also includes setting up savings accounts, retirement funds, and insurance plans to protect yourself against unexpected events.
In actualizing dreams, certain events that were not projected might occur, forcing you to spend your money in an unprecedented way. Because of such events, it is critical to save money and plan for the future.
Napoleon Hill’s philosophy of money management is to make sure you save and invest a fixed percentage of your income in accumulating wealth over time. He believed that it is important to spend less than we earn and to put aside some portion of our earnings into a savings account, retirement funds.
Napoleon Hill also believed in spending less than what you earn and investing the rest into retirement funds or savings accounts to accumulate wealth over time with compound interest.
Bottom line
If you do not manage your finances, then how can you expect to be successful?
9. The power that comes from within
Faith can be defined as believing in something that you know is not true. The power of your thoughts will help you manifest what you want into reality if you have faith. Hill uses many real-life examples to illustrate how people who had faith overcame all odds and achieved their goals with hard work, determination, and courage.
Most people fail because they are afraid of taking risks. Napoleon Hill suggests that you should focus on what’s working well for you, rather than worrying about things not going your way all the time. This will allow your mind to feel more confident in achieving success and help you manifest it into reality.
He also encourages readers to “be prepared for the very thing you fear” because it will happen. Suppose you’re afraid of failing at something and consciously worry about that happening all the time. In that case, it’s more likely to keep manifesting into your reality until you accept responsibility and work towards achieving success.
Bottom line
Hill calls it “faith.” with faith. You can do anything. You need to reaffirm that everything is possible.
10. Desire and commitment
If you desire to achieve something, you have to be committed to the activities that will lead to its success. The bigger the goal, the more commitment and hard work it requires. If you desire a positive outcome, then you should be ready to sacrifice your time and efforts. You need to dedicate your precious item and direct them towards the activities that will help you achieve the goal.
Bottom line
If you badly need something, work towards actualizing it. Cut off anything that might obstruct you from achieving the goal.
Final words
Napoleon Hill’s book is a treasure trove of knowledge for anyone looking to better themselves. The lessons in this book can be applied to business and personal goals and relationships. By following the principles outlined by Hill, you will never find yourself stagnating or at a loss when it comes to finding your way forward again.
On the journey of self-discovery, success does not come easy or overnight – it takes hard work, perseverance, faith in oneself, and an unquenchable desire to succeed. You have to cross anything on your way, to get hold of your desires and ambitions.
Related: The Top 10 Key Takeaways from the Book: Think And Grow Rich
