Think and Grow Rich
Written by Napoleon Hill in 1937
The Raccoon: Napoleon Hill’s famous financial development book outlines thirteen steps to riches, which he compiled after analyzing the actions and principles of hundreds of America’s most successful businessmen.
UNMASKED: Whether you believe that airplanes operate by magic or by mathematical use of fuel, it does not change the fact that they are the fastest method of traveling far distances. Similarly, although Think and Grow Rich is founded on several pseudoscientific ideas, namely the Law of Attraction, the lessons it presents are still immensely helpful and have stood the test of time.
Think and Grow Rich is the product of 25 years of research, and this is evident in the abundant anecdotes he cites of America’s wealthiest men, including Thomas Edison, Edwin Barnes, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford. Hill has broken down the journeys and mindsets of these men into concrete principles and a methodology for becoming “success conscious.”
Unlike the two other members of the self-development triad, Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, which focus almost entirely on actions and habits to achieve success, Think and Grow Rich highlights proper attitudes and mindsets. The book delivers a strong case that if one knows how to think, their actions as well as their desired results will follow naturally.
The one issue I found with Hill’s philosophy is that the author and I have vastly different definitions of the word “naturally.” While the successes of R.U. Darby and Steven Spielberg indicate, to me, that persistence and “definiteness of purpose” lead to attainment of one’s goals, Hill brushes these ideas aside to assert that “our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds… these “magnets” attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.” Hill repeatedly claims that our thoughts are tangible; their vibrations link directly to an Infinite Intelligence that manifests all desires if only we have faith and think each day about our dreams.
I know that I will return to Think and Grow Rich as the year goes on to complete the recommended exercises and inspire myself to shrug off defeat. However, I prefer to believe that any future achievements of mine come from my dedication and creativity, rather than a universal ether hypersensitive to my subconscious thoughts.
Strong Points:
- Hill uses examples from dozens of highly influential and successful entrepreneurs, most of whom he knew personally.
- Think and Grow Rich is well-organized, allowing it to stuff a massive collection of advice into a relatively short book.
- There are several useful exercises and procedures throughout the work. They are specific enough to find and eliminate problems at their source, yet general enough to be applicable parts of life other than finance.
Weak Points:
- There is a slight but steady decline in the rationality of the book from the first chapter (Desire: The Starting Point of All Achievement) to the last (The Devil’s Workshop). By the end, Hill has substituted examples of entrepreneurs for an entirely spiritual ideology.
- Hill continually references a “secret” which he refuses to name outright. I am still not certain that the conclusion I have reached about its identity is the correct one.
- Only men’s accomplishments are cited, and the chapter “The Mystery of Sex Transmutation” is much clearer from a male perspective than that of a female. Then again, the book was written eighty years ago.
Rating: 16/20 members of your Master Mind group
Ideal Setting: Read this immediately, and then follow it with The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People straightaway. If you know what to take out of each of these works, they will propel you to to new levels of success and happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment