If you’ve never read Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill then you’re missing out on one of the best financial success books of all time. It’s a classic that should be read by everyone in school because it’s much more than a financial success book, it’s a book on how to be successful in life. If you learn and apply the principles in the book you have the formula to get whatever you want from life.
Conceive, Believe, Achieve
Napoleon Hill spent twenty years studying high achievers like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford to learn their formula for success. While these men used the principles discussed in the book to accumulate wealth, you can use the same principles in any area of your life, not just in your finances. This book will show you what to do and how to do it. Success according to Andrew Carnegie is “the power with which to acquire whatever one demands of life without violating the rights of others”
Happiness Found in Doing, not Only in Possessing
This book was first published in 1937 so some of the information is outdated in particular some of the specialized knowledge, yet the principles are just as relevant today as they were when the book was first written. There are fourteen principles described in the book which form a “philosophy of achievement” They are:
- Definiteness of Purpose (knowing exactly what you want)
- Desire (the starting point of all achievement)
- Faith
- Autosuggestion
- Specialized Knowledge
- Imagination
- Organized Planning
- Decision
- Persistence
- Power Of The Mastermind
- The Mystery Of Sex Transmutation
- The Subconscious Mind
- The Brain
- The Six Sense
Failure Carries With It The Seed Of Success
I’ve read this book at least ten times in the last fifteen years and every time I come back to it I see something I missed before, not because the book changed but because I have. One of the best lessons in this book is to look at every failure for the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. Every time I pitch a sale and someone says no I analyze it so that I’ll know how to respond next time and how to present it better.
There Are no Limitations Except Those We Accept
The best financial success books go beyond simply teaching you how to make more money and Think And Grow Rich certainly does that. I feel like this is a book that needs to be studied not just read, over and over again until it permeates your thinking. Obviously you need to apply the principles as well, merely reading the book is not going to help you achieve anything but it’s a good starting point.
Thank you for reading and feel free to leave any comments below.