Napoleon Hill wrote his book “Think and Grow Rich” almost 100 years ago (1937) and his principles are still as valid today as they were back then.
It is one of the best books ever written and if you want to be successful in life, this is THE ONE to read!
This book was written during a period of 20-years (before internet and cheap flights etc….), whilst Napoleon was researching and interviewing 500 of the most successful people in the world. The likes of: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Charles M. Schwab, Andrew Carnegie etc. Andrew Carnegie was the inspirational source behind the idea but unfortunately he did not live to see the finished work of Napoleons great efforts.
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My intention here is to give you a short summary of what his principles are but also my personal reflections followed with some action points, but before we start, let’s read one of Hills famous quotes on success:
“No one may achieve success without first knowing precisely what he wants. Study any person who is known to be a permanent success and you will find that he has a Definite Major Goal; he has a plan for the attainment of this goal; he devotes the major portion of his thoughts and his efforts to the attainment of this purpose.”
– Napoleon Hill
Hill’s main principles for success:
- Burning Desire
- Faith
- Autosuggestion
- Specialized Knowledge
- Imagination
- Organized Planning
- Decision
- Persistence
- Power of the Master Mind
- The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
- The Subconscious Mind
- The Brain
- The Sixth Sense
Principle 2: Faith
Faith is a state of mind, which you can get via affirmations or instructions to the subconscious mind or autosuggestion to yourself.
Hill is very clear on the importance of having a mental image of you having received that which you want. You have to be able to see yourself as already having it but more importantly feel as if! Emotions are crucial for strengthening your faith in achieving your goal as emotions goes much deeper than just visualization.
He also wants you to have faith in the fact that you can accomplish anything. Because you would never have thought about it in the first place if you wouldn’t be able to achieve it! So if you can imagine it in your mind, you can make it happen!
Our thoughts are super important as thoughts becomes things. All your dominant thoughts will materialize according to Hill. He (and I) therefor urges you to spend 30 minutes per day thinking about the person you will become in the future. It is important to remember that you must have a very vivid picture in your mind. By clearly seeing and feeling the characteristics of that person and having those thoughts occupying your mind frequently, one day you will become that person. The more you focus and the more emotional you get about it, the faster you will see and experience the result you want!
Hill is very firm on the importance of using a written statement of your goal (from Principle 1, Burning Desire) continuously. You should not stop reading and repeating it until it has burned in to the core of you and you have gained the confidence that you will achieve it. By reading this statement out loud several times per day, you will gain faith in the accomplishment and this type of autosuggestion will help you immensely via your subconscious mind.
If it is money which one seeks, it has to be amassed in a fair and honest manner, else it will not last. Deceitful people might make money but without an honest character one will not live a happy and successful life so make sure you treat everyone with respect and good manners.
Many impossible things have been accomplished through faith. The impossible is only impossible till someone does it, why not you?
My reflections and take on the principle of faith:
Faith is crucial. It doesn’t matter how much of a desire you have to accomplish something because if you don’t believe you can do it, you will never make it!
If you have the desire but your mind always tells you otherwise, it just will not happen. Those negative thoughts about failure will be burned into your mind and your subconscious mind. When this happens, it gets impossible to achieve something because you have directly or indirectly been telling yourself that you can’t! This is what I would call self-sabotage and that is why it is super important for you to be in control of your mind. I suggest you also read my posts on Creating a Winning Mindset, Why successful people meditate and Habits of the highly successful.
To help you with this point, Napoleon suggests having a mental image of what it is that you want to accomplish/have. In today’s world, that is easy as we always have our phones with us. Have a picture (and your previously written statement from Principle 1) on your phone and look at it multiple times per day and feel and see yourself having already accomplished those things. By doing this continuously you will eliminate any doubt you might have and strengthening your faith. It will become stronger and stronger as you start noticing more and more things happening in your favor. This is autosuggestion working in your favor via your subconscious mind.
If you don’t believe and have faith in it, how are you going to be able to “persuade” yourself or anybody else for that matter, that YOU WILL achieve your dreams and goals??
It will be very hard so make sure you spend time on this and your mindset to make sure you have unparalleled faith when you go for something and I am sure you will make it happen!
Actions to take:
- Make sure you have your Vision Board readily available and look at it as often as possible!
- Brainwash yourself to become the person you want to become.
- Use your subconscious mind.
- Get inspired by your favorite motivators!
- Create a Winning Mindset.
I would also recommend you to have a look at this clip from someone who IS the definition of Burning Desire AND Faith, Elon Musk (founder of Tesla). He has done several things in a very short period of time which seemed impossible to most BUT he showed the world (several times) that nothing is impossible!
– Jakob
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