Posted on 04 Aug, 2010 -
Think and Grow Rich
How a book that has been helping people make their fortunes since 1937 could inspire you to take control of your life and achieve whatever you aim for 5 steps to achieving your goals, making your fortune, or just feeling more in control of your destiny
Plus: the side of us that would actually rather settle for a quiet life, a walk by the sea or a potter in the garden
At the American company I used to work for in London, new employees were given a set of books to read when they first started. The most important among them was a copy of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.
The company was owned by two rich Americans who had used the ideas in the book to grow wealthy - as had thousands of Americans since the book was first published in 1937.
New employees were split over this book between those who thought it was naff and didn’t read it, and those who read it and nodded their heads. It would not be far from the truth to say that the latter group have generally gone on to become more successful and wealthier than the former.
‘Rich’, of course, is something of a dirty, naff or undignified word for some people. But then ‘Think and Grow Comfortable’ or even ‘Think and Get What You Want From Life’ just wouldn’t have had the same ring.
But for me at least it’s exactly that ‘Get What You Want From Life’ message for which the book can be so useful: If there is something that you would like to achieve in life then go out there and achieve it. Don’t be held back by lack of belief in your own abilities or belief that it can be true.
When failure is not an option, success will generally come.
So how exactly do we go about it? Here are a few step-by-step instructions adapted from the book:
Step 1 - Know what you want and want it so much that nothing can stop you from getting it
The first requirement for getting what you want is knowing what that is and then setting that as a goal.
It is not enough to mumble that you wish you had more money… that it would be nice to do something more creative… or that you feel under-used in your current job.
Goals must be strong. They must be specific. And you must desire them with all your heart.
That does not mean that you must be crazed and obsessed about getting or achieving this thing, but rather doggedly and quietly determined to push on until you do because you know that you will.
Step 2 - Exercise ‘great personal power’
In the book that I was given when I first started my job, the words ‘great personal power’ are underlined several times. For me at least, the idea that I could be the master of my own destiny was a much stronger promise than the idea of growing rich.
If you have a strong enough ambition to achieve a certain thing, then you will have a very good chance of making that come true. But you must be determined, you must work hard and you must carry on going even when you get struck by setbacks and failure.
“The longer you work in the right direction, the closer you are to success. Too many men give up when success is within their grasp. They leave it for someone else to capture.”
Step 3 - Self-confidence, faith and the power of the right thoughts
In order to get what you want out of life, you need to believe in your ability to get it and believe that it will happen with such faith that it becomes almost impossible for it not to.
If, for example, I set myself the goal of becoming a doctor and had such a clear picture of that happening that it became a given, that alone would be enough to push me through the process of applying for courses, finding the funding and doing the course.
Where will and belief are strong enough, little can stop it. This is also, however, true for negative beliefs about one’s own destiny:
“There are millions of people who believe themselves ‘doomed’ to poverty and failure because of some strange force over which they believe they have no control. They are the creators of their own ‘misfortunes’ because of this negative belief, which is picked up by the subconscious mind, and translated into its physical equivalent.”
Step 4 - Get the specialised knowledge and contacts you need
While general knowledge is good and enjoyable, if you have a specific aim in mind then you will need to gather specific knowledge about that area to achieve it.
Do not expect things to come to you easily but put time and dedication behind the gathering of the information and contacts you need to succeed. Make friends or get jobs with people who have already achieved what you’d like to achieve. Study the secrets of success. Start putting together an organised plan.
Step 5- Make decisions and act
“Analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced failure disclosed the fact that lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 31 major causes of failure.
Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every man must conquer.”
Making decisions takes courage and history has been made by those with the courage to make them.
“Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want, and generally get it. The leaders in every walk of life decide quickly and firmly. That is the major reason why they are leaders. The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going.”
But what if you’d rather just have a quiet time, a pretty garden or a comfortable armchair?
An interesting thought that struck me when I was reading through what I had written was how often the word ‘must’ appears. This plan of action - at least when carried out to the full - is a strict and demanding plan to follow and quite probably not for everyone.
How many of us really want something so much that we are prepared to work for it so hard and possibly even sacrifice our own lives for it? Aren’t most of us happier to settle for the more gentle pleasures like pottering round the garden, watching a great game of football or having a great day out in the sunshine?
That said and done, I still think there’s something we can all get from these ideas. My ‘personal power’ does not need to be ‘great’. But it needs to be enough to carry forward my desire to achieve certain things in life, to carry on learning and to live my life to the full.
Best wishes for a subtly powerful future
