Think and Grow Rich – 13 Principles from Napoleon Hill

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. The man who then stands up and walks out into the world is a different, a changed man. He becomes someone with the unique knowledge to turn dreams into reality and thoughts into things.

The secret behind Think and Grow Rich, the reason why it has withstood the test of time, is because it is based on the clear, unchangeable fact that everything begins with an idea. Ideas are incredibly powerful when they’re supported by definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into material riches. The riches of course are whatever you happen to want.

In other words, by controlling your mind, you can control your destiny. You can start that amazing process today, by absorbing and applying Napoleon Hill’s famous 13 principles for 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. A man without desire has within him no principle of action, nor 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.

Auto Suggestion

Through repeated suggestion, the subconscious mind can be put to work for you. The 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.

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.

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, art, music and literature 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?

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.

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.

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.

Having someone to love is having someone to share your success and accomplishments. 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. Once you have done this, it is critical that you ally yourself with a group of people as you may need for the creation and carrying out of your plan. These people are your “mastermind alliance.”

Organized planning is one of 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.

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.

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 this 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.

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 is the sense through which your infinite intelligence may and will communicate. This principle is the apex of the philosophy. To understand and apply this philosophy, one has to first master the other 12 principles. The sixth sense is that function of the subconscious mind that provides the creative imagination. It’s also essentially the receiving set through which ideas flash into the mind, sometimes called hunches or inspirations.

The sixth sense is not easy to describe 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 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.