THINK
AND GROW RICH PRINCIPLES
Napoleon
Hill has arguably influenced the success of more men and women than
any other person in history.
Born
in a one-room cabin, he began his career as a journalist. His big
break came when he was asked to interview steel-magnate Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie was so impressed with the young reporter that he convinced
Hill to research and organized the world's first philosophy of individual
achievement.
The
project took 20 years to complete, and the result was a proven formula
of clearly delineated success principles, which Hill detailed in his
book Think and Grow Rich.
Here
now, the 13 Principles that changed millions of lives — and
made Napoleon Hill a legend for all time.
By Earl Nightingale and Napoleon Hill
All over the free world, there are thousands of successful men and
women who are where they are today because they once picked up a copy
of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Without question, this single
book has had a greater influence on the lives, accomplishments, and
fortunes of more people than any other work of its kind.
This remarkable book helped me decide once and for all how I was to
accomplish my goal. It unified my thinking and gave me a straight,
clear road to the point I decided to reach. One of my closest friends
found the book, stayed home for three days reading and digesting its
material, and he then went on to reach the top of his industry. I’ve
sat in richly paneled executive offices and listened to world famous
business leaders tell me how reading Think and Grow Rich changed their
lives.
When
the last page of Think and Grow Rich is read, the hand that puts the
book down on the table is a different hand. The man who then stands
up and walks out into the world is a different, a changed man —
the possessor of the unique knowledge that will enable him to turn
dreams into reality, thoughts into things. So called fate and exterior
circumstances are no longer in command. He who had been a passenger
is now suddenly the captain.
The secret behind Think and Grow Rich, the reason why it has withstood
the test of time, is because it stands on the foundation of truth:
the clear, unchallengeable fact that everything begins with an idea.
One may start with nothing but ideas, but ideas are incredibly powerful
when they’re supported by Definiteness of Purpose, persistence,
and a burning desire for their translation into material objects or
riches — “riches” being whatever it is you happen
to want.
In other words, by controlling your mind, you can control your destiny.
And you can start that amazing process today, by absorbing and applying
Napoleon Hill’s famous 13 principles for unbridled success.
Desire
Desire is the starting point for all achievement, the first step toward
riches. But it’s here that we so often run into a roadblock.
A person will say, “I know what I desire, but can I get it?
The answer was best expressed by Emerson: “There’s nothing
capricious in nature, and the implanting of a desire indicates that
its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feels
it.” In other words, you would not have the desire unless you
were capable of its achievement.
Your burning desire is nothing more than an accurate picture of what
you will one day become. So right here, firmly establish in your mind
that which you desire more than anything else, and cherish and nurture
that desire. Do not suppress or annihilate it. A man without desire
has within him no principle of action, or motive to act.
Faith
Faith is the state of mind that may be induced or created by affirmation
or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind by conscious auto
suggestion. By summoning over and over again a mental image of yourself
already having accomplished your main desire, you will muster the
faith you need. Faith is vital to accomplishment.
Have faith that you can accomplish that which you seek, for you would
never have decided upon it unless it was meant for you to accomplish
it. If you find it difficult at times to have faith in yourself, you
may be certain that you can have faith in these principles.
Auto Suggestion
Through repeated suggestion, the subconscious mind can be put to work
for you. It’s the faculty of being able to concentrate your
mind on your burning desire until your subconscious mind accepts it
as fact and begins to devise ways of bringing it about. Here’s
where hunches come from, sudden flashes of thought, inspiration, or
guidance.
To
access the power of auto suggestion, go into some quiet spot, perhaps
in bed at night. Close your eyes and repeat aloud so you may hear
your own words a careful reaffirmation of whatever your goal happens
to be. If it’s the accumulation of a sum of money, reiterate
the time limit for its accumulation and a description of the service
or merchandise you intend to give in return for it. As you carry out
these instructions, see yourself already in possession of your goal.
Specialized Knowledge
Knowledge is power only to the extent that it’s organized into
a definite plan of action and directed to a definite end. Before you
can be sure of your ability to transmute desire into its monetary
equivalent, you will require specialized knowledge of the service,
merchandise, or profession that you intend to offer in return for
fortune.
Realize that you must learn all you can about your specialty. Set
aside a definite time every day for learning more about what it is
you do for a living. Take the courses that are offered on your subject
and associate with people who know your business well.
Imagination
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
Man’s only limitation, within reason, lies in the development
and use of his imagination and subsequent motivation to action. The
great leaders of business, industry, and finance, and the great artists,
musicians, poets, and writers became great because they developed
the power of self-motivation.
As you go about your daily work, think constantly of ways in which
it could be done better, more efficiently. Think of the changes that
are inevitable. Can they be made now? If you feel limited, remember
the words of the late Frank Lloyd Wright: “The human race built
most nobly when limitations were greatest and, therefore, when most
was required of imagination in order to build at all.”
Decision
Analysis of several hundred people who’ve accumulated fortunes
well beyond the million-dollar mark disclose the fact that every one
of them had the habit of reaching decisions promptly and of changing
these decisions slowly, if and when they were changed.
When you make up your mind, stay with it. The majority of people who
fail are generally easily influenced by the opinions of others. Opinions
are the cheapest commodities on earth. Keep your own counsel when
you begin to put into practice the principles described here by reaching
your own decisions and following them. Take no one into your confidence
except the members of your mastermind alliance (as discussed later),
and be very careful in your selection of this group, choosing only
those who will be in complete sympathy and harmony with your purpose.
Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap
one through uninformed opinions and sometimes through ridicule.
Persistence
Persistence is simply the power of will. Willpower and desire, when
properly combined, make an irresistible pair. Persistence is to an
individual what carbon is to steel. In uncounted thousands of cases,
persistence has stood as the difference between success and failure.
It is the lack of this quality more than any other that keeps the
majority from great accomplishment. As soon as the going gets tough,
they fold.
If you’re to accomplish the goal you set for yourself, you must
form the habit of persistence. Things will get difficult. It will
seem as though there’s no longer any reason to continue. Everything
in you will tell you to give up, to quit trying. It is right here
that if you’ll go that extra mile and keep going, the skies
will clear and you’ll begin to see the first signs of the abundance
that is to be yours because you had the courage to persist. With persistence
will come success?
Enthusiastic Support
It is of great significance that behind practically every great leader
has been the supportive love and inspiration of a spouse. When things
get tough — and you can count on it, they will — you may
be deserted by some you thought were friends. But if you’ve
got a good woman or man supporting you, you will never be alone. He
or she will be willing to start over again if necessary and will give
you the new enthusiasm that comes through faith in you.
Having someone to love is having someone to share your success and
accomplishments; to give you the praise that all of us need from time
to time. A person can become successful without a spouse and family,
but much of the real joy is lost if it cannot be shared. Take care
of your spouse and children as your greatest possessions.
Organized Planning
The first of the six steps for transforming desire into reality is
the formation of a definite, practical plan through which this transformation
may be made (see From Desire to Reality in Six Easy Steps, pg. 40).
Once you do, it is critical that you ally yourself with one or more
people or a group of as many people as you may need for the creation
and carrying out of your plan.
These people are your “mastermind alliance.”
Before forming your mastermind alliance, decide what advantages and
benefits you may offer the individual members of your group in return
for their cooperation. No one will work indefinitely without compensation,
though this may not always be in the form of money.
Arrange to meet with the members of your mastermind alliance at least
twice a week, and more often if possible, until you have jointly perfected
the necessary plan or plans for the accomplishment of your goal.
Maintain perfect harmony between yourself and every member of your
mastermind alliance. Keep in mind these facts: First, you are engaged
in an undertaking of major importance to you. To be sure of success,
you must have plans that are as faultless as possible. Second, you
must have the advantage of the experience, education, native ability,
and imagination of other minds. This is in harmony with the methods
followed by every person who has risen above the average. Work at
this until you have a well-executed formal plan for reaching your
objective. In this way you’re never confused or wondering what
you should do next. Every morning you know exactly what you’re
going to do and why.
Organized
planning is one the most important principles, because a person without
a plan is like a ship without a course. With no place to go, disaster
is a probability.
The Power of the Mastermind
No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third —
a third invisible, intangible force that may be likened to a third
mind. You may have noticed many times that by discussing something
with another person you suddenly get good ideas as a result of the
discussion, ideas you would not have gotten without this association.
Well, the same thing happens to the other person. A lot of good ideas
have been born in individual minds as a result of having met in committee.
Associating with your mastermind alliance is not meant as a means
of letting others do your thinking for you, far from it. It is meant
to stimulate your own thinking through the association with other
minds. No one knows everything. The more sympathetic minds you get
together — that is, minds working for a common purpose —
the more related information is going to be available. Great ideas
are a combination of related information.
Pick the members of your mastermind group with care. Make sure they’re
people you respect and who are hard working and conscientious. You’ll
have a lot of fun, and you’ll reach your goals just that much
sooner.
The Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is a mental area in which all inputs through
any of the five senses are classified and recorded, and from which
they may be recalled or withdrawn like data from the storage banks
of a limitless computer. No one knows very much about what we call
the subconscious mind but we do know that it is incalculably powerful
and can solve our problems if we go about using it the right way.
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The best way is to hold in your conscious mind as often as possible
a clear picture of yourself already having accomplished your goal.
Know what you want. Define it clearly, and then project it on the
motion picture screen of your mind. Hold it. See yourself doing and
having the things you have when your objective will have been reached.
Do these as often as practical, particularly at night just before
you go to sleep and the first thing upon waking? As you do this, your
subconscious will begin to lead you toward your objective. Don’t
fight it. Follow your sudden hunches, the ideas that come into your
mind, knowing that they may well represent subconscious knowledge.
If you’ll keep at this, you’ll be amazed and delighted
by the ideas that just seem to come from nowhere.
The
Power of the Brain
If you had access to all the wealth in the world and used only a penny,
you would be doing exactly what most of us very probably have been
doing in the use of our brains. You own in your brain the most marvelous,
miraculous, inconceivably powerful force the world has ever known.
It is the brain that has given us the computer, supersonic airplane,
our deep rocket probes into outer space, the sciences, and the arts.
All of what we know today and will achieve tomorrow is born from this
small, gray mass each of us carries around.
Can you doubt, even for a moment, that your brain can bring you and
yours everything you want here on earth? Recognize its power, give
it the job you’ve decided to accomplish, and watch it handle
it.
The Sixth Sense
The sixth sense can be described as the sense through which your infinite
intelligence may and will communicate. This principle is the apex
of the philosophy. It can be assimilated, understood, and applied
only by first mastering the other 12 principles. The sixth sense is
that function of the subconscious mind that has been referred to as
the creative imagination. It’s also been referred to as the
receiving set through which ideas flash into the mind, sometimes called
hunches or inspirations.
The sixth sense cannot be described to a person who has not mastered
the other principles of this philosophy, because such a person has
no knowledge and no experience to serve as points of reference. The
sixth sense is not something one can take off and put on at will.
The ability to use this great power comes slowly through application
of the other principles we’ve outlined. So begin to develop
it now by applying the principles we’ve talked about here.
Remember this: Man can create nothing that he does not first conceive
in the form of an idea, a desire. Keep fear out of your mind. Concentrate
on the mental picture of yourself achieving your desire. Cut yourself
away from the average — from the mediocre — and chart
your course on the dream in your heart.
These 13 principles will never let you down. You need only remember
and use them.
This interpretation of Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow
Rich was created with the express permission of The Napoleon Hill
Foundation (www.naphill.org). Learn more about Napoleon Hill and his
program Think and Grow Rich
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From Desire to Reality in Six Easy Steps
six definite practical steps to transform a burning desire into reality.
1. Fix in your mind an exact picture of what you desire. It’s
not sufficient merely to say, for example, “I want plenty of
money.” Be definite as to the amount.
2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the thing
you desire. There’s no such reality as something for nothing.
3. Establish a definite date by which you intend to possess the desired
thing.
4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at
once, whether you feel entirely ready or not to put this plan into
action.
5. Write out a clear, concise statement of your responses to the preceding
four steps.
6. Read your written statement aloud twice daily. Once after arising
in the morning and once just before retiring at night. As you read,
see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of whatever
your goal happens to be.
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The
Genius behind Napoleon Hill’s Science of Personal Achievement
These are just a few of the influential people Napoleon Hill interviewed
on his 20-year quest to discover the science behind success.
Henry Ford - Founder of Ford Motor Co.
Theodore Roosevelt - President of the United States
Charles M. Schwab - President of United States Steel Corp.
John D. Rockefeller - Founder of Standard Oil Companies
Thomas A. Edison - Inventor
F. W. Woolworth - Founder of F. W. Woolworth Co.
Woodrow Wilson - President of the United States
Wm. Howard Taft - President of the United States
J. Pierpont Morgan Sr. - Builder of “The House of Morgan”
Harvey S. Firestone - Founder of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.
Wm. Wrigley Jr.- Founder of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Julius Rosenwald - Chairman of Board, Sears, Roebuck & Co.
“Through some strange and powerful principle of mental chemistry,
nature wraps up in the impulse [of a] strong desire that something
which recognizes no such word as impossible and accepts no such reality
as failure.”
Napoleon Hill
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