After working on your mindset and working on your networking skills from “How to Win Friend and Influence People” then it’s time to work on your dreams and achieving them. For the objective, we recommend “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This book was published way back in 1937. This book is one of the best-selling books of all time and is a staple reading for most businessmen. It’s another short book you can finish in one sitting or read and finish at your own pace.
The secret of success is the constancy of purpose.
Think and Grow Rich is a mindset book not a lecture on standards and practices. It practically tells you that you can turn everything you manifest into reality as long as you have a strong purpose for it and you are willing to take things to the next level by hustling for it.
Desires + Ideas + Plans + Massive Action = Success
Napoleon divided the book into 13 sections each of which holds its own mini section for each topic. These sections are:
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- Desire
- Faith
- Auto-suggestion
- Specialized Knowledge
- Imagination
- Organized Planning
- Decision
- Persistence
- The Power of the Master Mind
- Sex Transmutation
- The Subconscious Mind
- The Brain
- The Sixth Sense
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But we’re not here to summarize the book. We’re here to give a few lessons we can take away from it.
Thoughts Power Our Success
Napoleon Hill basically tells us that any thoughts we have can be turned into reality. He argues that in order to get what we want, we need to tell the universe what we want and that the universe will conspire and align itself with our desires. With our thoughts, anything is possible. And that the 25 year interviews with the rich people has led him to this technique.
However, it’s not enough that we just want something. Napoleon Hill instructs us to put it into writing and that we need to read and re-read it daily over and over. The list of the things we want must also be specific. We need to manifest this in order to help the universe conspire with us. And, he’s right. Napoleon Hill practically invented S.M.A.R.T. goals back in the day.
Thoughts > Desire > Action
When we really want something, we find ways to attain it. When we don’t want it enough, then we’re not motivated to get it. Desire is something that powers us to earn it. Once we know the difference of just wanting something versus desiring it, then we can make ways to achieve it. If you desire it, get it. If you just want something, you can leave it in the “to be acquired” bin.
Faith Further Propels Our Desires to Reality
After desire, faith is needed in order to convince yourself that the goal is achievable. We become what we think about and therefore if we believe we can achieve something, nothing can stop us from attaining it. Faith separates people who toil in pain versus people who persevere. Given the same circumstance, the person with faith is the person who wins. Because the person with faith thinks that he has nothing to lose but so much to gain. The person without has so much to gain but thinks he has more to lose.
Write Down Your Goals
Napoleon Hill as mentioned above is a believer in daily affirmations and specific goals. He instructs us to write down these in a piece of paper and read them aloud every day when we wake up and every night before going to sleep. Note that these affirmations should be “desires” and not half-hearted “wants.”
In Order to Succeed, You Need to Be Special
Hill states that we are all capable of accumulating general knowledge but we also need to acquire and implement “special knowledge.” Special knowledge is your competitive advantage over everyone else. It is what separates you from your competition.
Be a Doer Not Just A Dreamer
Achieving goals requires action. And a man of action has no room for procrastination. Procrastination gets you away from reaching your goals sooner. Get after your goals. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Done is better than perfect. Well done is better than well said. Well done is well said.
Mastermind Alliance
It has been said before that you are the average of your friends you spend the most time with. Surround yourself with like-minded people who are trying to reach their own goals too. Napoleon says that when great minds get together, a third more powerful mind is created. This third mind can push the duo further than just the individual minds.
Transmute Sex Drive
Hill says that the most successful people had an above-average sex drive. But, the difference between these men and women was that they don’t use their sexual drives physically. They use it to fuel their passion. Successful people transmute their sex drive to enthusiasm, drive to excel at their craft, whether it be on business or their work. Sexual impulse is a very powerful drive. It’s also very hard to control. Those who learn how to control it are usually very successful people.
Be Open-Minded
Napoleon Hill says that meditation is a necessity. He also attributes sudden eureka moments from the brain reactions as a receptacle of ideas from the universe. The universe sends out the ideas to your brain and your sixth sense kicks in. Suddenly, you are aware of impending doom or luck coming. Meditation also helps fight off the six basic fears namely: poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age, and death.
That’s practically our favorite lessons from the book. However, there are more things discussed in detail that we haven’t touched in this blog post. We advise that you read the book yourself. Read it and re-read it as many times as you can. If you want to
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