Think and Grow Rich Summary

Who is Napoleon Hill? What is his book Think and Grow Rich about?

Napoleon Hill, born in 1883 in Virginia, is one of the most illustrious authors of all time in
personal success literature. Thanks to his years of experience, he has crafted books that focus
mainly on how an individual can gain enormous success. Most importantly, his books are written
for the common man who sometimes thinks that it’s almost impossible to make large amounts of
money. Hill proves that it’s definitely possible to achieve heights with perseverance and personal
beliefs. Think and Grow Rich is a best seller and has sold more than 20 million copies and if you
read it, you’ll know why. Hill’s personal achievements don’t end there as he also served as an
advisor of President Franklin Roosevelt for three years.

Think and Grow Rich is a compilation of thoughts by some very powerful people back in the late
1800s and early 1900s. Long ago, Andrew Carnegie sought a journalist who had the ability to
pen his thoughts on success. Carnegie was spectacularly successful already because he had sold
his Carnegie Steel Company to JP Morgan for a whopping $480 million in 1901. Today, that
would be worth 310 billion, which makes him one of the wealthiest men of all time – and much
wealthier than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined.

After a while, Carnegie approached Napoleon Hill to find out whether he would be interested to
pen a book that would disclose Carnegie’s secrets to become successful. He also wanted Hill to
talk to at least 500 millionaires and compile their thoughts on how they perceived success.
However, he had one condition – Napoleon Hill had to do it for free! As he presented his offer,
Hill thought about it and accepted it and it was then that Carnegie told him that if he hadn’t
accepted his proposal in under a minute (he also showed a clock he was using to time his
answer!), his proposal would be retracted. Fortunately for all of us, Hill accepted in about 46
seconds and went ahead to create a book that would be one of the best sellers of all time in
history. The book originally consisted of 22 volumes and was later filtered to 250 pages. Hill
took about 20 years to master this book to perfection.

Think and Grow Rich not only teaches you how to train your thoughts and beliefs to accumulate
riches, but it also takes you on a fantastic journey that discloses how millionaires like Thomas
Alva Edison, Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie achieved success. The updated version also
contains amusing anecdotes from billionaires such as Bill Gates, Dave Thomas and other
successful people. It’s astounding to find out how your thoughts, when mixed with your burning
desire and perseverance, can change everything in your life. Most importantly, everything that’s
taught in this book is completely free to obtain and your success or failure depends only and only
on your own mind.
Principle 1: Desire
The basic drive toward achieving success is to believe deeply that you can achieve the goals you
set for yourself. This desire goes beyond simple wishful thinking or hoping. If you have doubts
that you can really reach those targets, you will have less chance of succeeding. Wanting a
desired goal focuses on the lack of its existence. Desiring it concentrates on its realization.

This passion to succeed must burn in you. You must want to achieve your goals against all odds.
If you approach the task hesitantly, wondering whether you can really get there, you are unlikely
to succeed.

Test the depth of your passion by asking yourself whether you are prepared to concentrate
exclusively on that goal, abandoning everything else in the way to achieving it. Should you
encounter setbacks along the way, which are inevitable, you will need to draw on this deep desire
in order to revitalize your determination to achieve your goal.

Hill outlines several actions you should take toward success. Among them are these:

Picture your goal and what exactly it looks like:

 Determine what you can offer in return for the money you will receive;
 Choose a date on which you will achieve your goal;
 Draw up a detailed plan of action that you can follow;
 Read aloud your plan of action before you sleep and when you wake up;
 Envision yourself already having gained your target.

How do you make a plan to become financial independent?

There’s nothing wrong in wishing for money and as humans who understand the very purpose of
money, we usually hope and wish that we attain it as soon as possible. Wishing might help you
attain wealth, but when it becomes an obsession – a burning desire that encompasses your very
being – you inch closer and closer to your goal. Your burning desire needs an outlet and has to
be transmuted into money, but this can be done only if you are persistent and put all your definite
plans into action. Needless to say, persistence is an indispensable factor that distinguishes
between failure and success.

Fortunately, Hill outlines 6 steps that could help you accomplish your goals, but remember to
follow these steps with determination and tenacity.

 1) Fix the exact amount of money you need – There’s a difference between a
wish and burning desire. It’s not possible to gain anything with mere wishes,
but it can be done only if you have definite plans. Therefore, once you fix an
amount you desire, you’re more likely to gain it because there’s also a
psychological reason behind this definiteness.
  2) Determine what you can give, in order to gain the riches you desire – In
order to get something, you need to give up something because, let’s face it,
there’s no free lunch in the world. Now that you know the exact amount of
wealth you need, you also need to discern what you can give up to get closer
to your dream.

 3) Fix an exact date to possess the wealth you want – A goal without a
timeline is just a dream, a wish or a hope. Therefore, it’s not enough to just
think that you want the money, but you need to fix a date that clearly drives
you to get it. Again, this is a psychological element that trains your thoughts.

 4) Create an exact plan and begin immediately, even if you aren’t ready –
Now that you have the amount, date and plan in hand, it’s time you put that
into action. However, don’t put it off any longer because the faster you
begin, the quicker you attain money.

 5) Write down everything – This is a compilation of the first four steps

outlined above, but here, you write everything, including the amount, date
and the plans you’ve made to accomplish wealth. Make sure you also write
down what you intend to give back in order to gain what you desire, which is
step 2.

 6) Train your mind – Read whatever you’ve written aloud at least twice
every day. This again, is a psychological way of training your mind that you
possess the money already. As time progresses and you read your statement,
you will begin to believe that you can do everything you desire. Remember
that this step is the most crucial of all the steps because it makes the
impossible seem possible.

By following the six steps elaborated here, you can definitely achieve financial independence.
Many people might wonder as to how it’s possible to think that they are in possession of the
money before they even see it, but this where your burning desire will come to your rescue. If
you truly want and desire the money you need, you will surely have no problems in convincing
yourself that it is achievable. Be persistent and keep at it no matter how many hurdles you face
and make sure that your focus is completely on your obsession. Like Hill said, it is imperative to
become money conscious in order to gain money and with perseverance, the sky’s the limit.

Principle 2: Faith
The desire to succeed can be turned into reality through having the faith in yourself to
accomplish your target. Faith is the bridge that takes you from your passionate desire to succeed
to having the dream come true. You must have faith in yourself — that you are the one who has
the ability to fulfill your desires.
Those who believe that they are unworthy of love often find that they turn themselves into
victims. You must believe that you are deserving of the success you will reach before it can
become yours.

Your faith is strengthened by constantly conveying positive thoughts to your sub-conscious

mind. Visualize yourself succeeding over and over again and you will set up a mental image of
achievement in your mind. Should you catch yourself having thoughts that set limits on your
ability, replace them with repeated purposeful endorsements of your faith in yourself to succeed.
Many examples can be cited of the world’s greatest achievers who accomplished the impossible
by possessing the faith that they were able to reach their goals.

Principle 3: Auto-suggestion
We need to train our sub-conscious mind to believe that we deserve to be successful. We have
been taught by society that we are not worthy of what we seek and that desiring something great
is wrong.

To train your sub-conscious, continually affirm your passionate drive to succeed through
meditation. Put your mind at rest and say over and over to yourself the goals you will reach. The
seeds of attestation that you plant in this way will grow into firm beliefs.
It helps, too, to record on paper your goals, the time limit to achieve them, and what you are
going to offer to others to reach your goal. For example, you might record the products or
services you will offer (if your goal is to make money), how you will do so, and read them often
so that they are placed in your sub-conscious.

Read your plan so often that you eventually will memorize it. Even as you commit the words to
memory, you should visualize yourself as already having reached your target..

Principle 4: Specialized Knowledge

You should gain the specialized information that you will need to reach your goal. But gaining
knowledge in itself does not mean that you will, in fact, be successful. After all, knowledge is
easily acquired in today’s world. Rather, it is the application of that specialized knowledge that
will lead you to success.

In order to gain the knowledge that you need, follow steps such as these:

 Study to acquire information about the field in which you will work toward success;
 Take courses at a college or university on your subject to broaden your knowledge of it;
 Mix with those business people who have the specialized knowledge that you will need;
 Draw on the ideas that are generated through a “master mind” group (outlined in
principle 9).
Remember, however, that you will need to put that information to use and apply it to your plan
of action so that it is directed toward the specific ends that you wish to reach. Failure to do so
means the knowledge will remain unused and therefore become ineffective.

Go to the 5th Lesson of the Think and Grow Rich summary.

Principle 5: Imagination
We can achieve whatever we can imagine and believe.

Whatever our aims might be, therefore, we know that all successful developments start out in our
imaginations. As a result, we should be constantly probing our imaginative minds to find out
how we can change things, how we can do things better, and how we can accomplish new things.
We need to take those imaginative ideas, draw on them, and use them to power us on the road to
success.

Our imaginative powers will help us when limitations or setbacks confront us. They will help us
to rise above them and will propel us forward.

Principle 6: Organized planning

As mentioned in the first step, we need to have a detailed plan that we can follow as we drive
down the road to success. A person who lacks a plan is like a driver without a road map. With no
direction and no end goal in sight, the likely result is disaster. Indeed, all those who have
achieved success instead of remaining average have always had a specific plan to reach their
targeted destinations.

In drawing up your plan, take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained from members
of your “master mind” group (outlined in principle 9).
Your plan should not remain in your head. It should be committed to writing and followed as you
take each step toward your goal.

Under this chapter of the Think and Grow Rich summary, Hill lists the traits shown by
successful achievers that you’ll need as well:

 Courage that never wavers

 Displaying self control
 Having an acute sense of justice
 Being definite in making plans and reaching decisions
 Going the extra mile at work
 Displaying understanding, expressing empathy, and being pleasant
 Being willing to take complete responsibility for your actions

(6th Lesson of the Think and Grow Rich summary)

Principle 7: Decision
Successful people generally are able to take decisions rapidly and to be slow to change them.
Their decisions are definite, not taken lightly, and not soon forgotten. Unsuccessful people take a
long time to adopt a resolution and are willing easily to change it.
The reason this characteristic is important is that people who keep changing their minds with
every whim are seldom able to achieve success. Once you have made a decision, you need to
stick to it and follow it through to the conclusion. So much so that poor decision making has
been found to be a major reason people fail.

Be careful not to involve too many people in your decision making. Should you do so, they will
influence you too easily and sometimes even ridicule you. Remember that they do not always
share your vision and will find all kinds of obstacles that will prevent you from taking the steps
that you envisage.

Involve only those in your “master mind” group (see principle 9) as confidantes and then only
those whom you have carefully chosen.

Principle 8: Persistence
In many of the cases Hill studied, he found persistence to be a major differentiating factor
between failure and success.

When obstacles crop up and their goal seems unachievable many people will throw in the towel,
even though they have already tried several times to overcome the obstacles. This stage,
however, is often the nadir on our path to success. It is at this point that we need to display
persistence more than ever and soon the first indications of success will start to appear. The
secret is to persist, persist and persist again until you succeed.
For those who might find it hard to show persistence, Hill suggests ways in which the
characteristic can be learned. Here are some:

 Know what you want and be determined to achieve it no matter what stands in the way
 Draw up definite plans and keep to them
 Use your acquired knowledge to determine that your plan is sound
 Exert strong willpower and rely on yourself.

Principle 9: Power of the “Master Mind”

The “Master Mind” group is formed by aligning yourself in a harmonious spirit with two or more
people who share your desires and faith in what you are setting out to achieve.

They will form a third force that generates good ideas that you would be unlikely to create on
your own.
Form such a group from people you respect, who are industrious and who are conscientious.
Meet regularly with them. The result will be that you reach your goals more quickly.
Why have Preston and Stig formed a mastermind group – and why you should do the
same?

Knowledge is power and your power is mandatory to accumulate money. Most importantly, your
plans are worthless if you don’t have sufficient power to transmute your plans into action.
Furthermore, power refers to an organized and definitive way of directing your knowledge into
doing something profitable. As we read the book, it becomes clear that it’s quite simple to make
money. What will really accelerate your accumulating of wealth is to form a Mastermind group.

So what’s exactly a Mastermind group? Well, a Mastermind group is a group of typically 4-6
people that work collectively to attain desired goals. This isn’t simply a group of people with
different interests; in fact, on the contrary, it’s a group of people who share the same beliefs,
interests and goals. There are several advantages in forming a Mastermind group and if you ally
yourself with people who stand with you even when you falter, you’re halfway there already.

However, before you begin forming a Mastermind group, decide about what you can offer to
them in advance. If you give up something now, you’ll be able to harvest spellbinding results
later. Remember that nobody works without a decent compensation and if you value their efforts,
they will reciprocate by valuing your time too.

Remember that it’s important to meet your group regularly and discuss your goals. In addition,
it’s vital to maintain perfect harmony between the members of the group because it’s not
possible to be successful without harmony. With faultless plans and flawless execution, you will
have the advantage of not only your brain, but you will also be able to reap the benefits of plans
formed by likeminded individuals. However, even if you fail, remember not to give up and with
a Mastermind group to support you throughout your journey, you don’t have to procrastinate at
any point.

Your group members might come from a different culture, race and ethnic background. They
might not even work in the same company you work for, but if they have the beliefs you nurture,
then they are perfect for you. With such a huge network, you will be able to constantly challenge
yourself and your beliefs and emerge triumphant at the same time.

In order to gain success, knowledge is most important and you can derive this wealth of
knowledge from the other members of your group. As you meet the members of your group, you
will realize that your knowledge only multiplies over time because it’s a collection of different
individuals with one common goal.

Principle 10: The mystery of sex transmutation

It is useful to recall that this principle was written about 80 years ago and Hill might have
worded it differently today.
He says that a man who has a strong woman at his side will be a strong help to him in achieving
his goals. Hill’s assertion is that a great motivating force for a man is to please a woman.
Gathering this energy and using it through creative imagination enables us to appear more
charming to people, which, in turn, will help us to get what we want by convincing people
around us.

Principle 11: The sub-conscious mind

All our thoughts originate in our sub-conscious mind, which is extremely powerful and can be an
invaluable help in solving problems we might encounter along the way. We need to imprint an
image on our sub-conscious minds of ourselves already reaching our goals and continually
reinforce that picture on a daily basis, particularly before sleep and upon waking.

In this way your sub-conscious mind will help you to attain your goals, partly through hunches
or sparks of inspiration. These prompts are your sub-conscious mind trying to pass on messages
to your conscious mind. Your sub-conscious mind works day and night, even when you are
asleep. If you fail to fill it with positive visions of the future it will find negative ideas to put in
their place. 11th Lesson of the Think and Grow Rich summary.

Principle 12: The Brain

Our brains are amazing organs. We each carry one around with us, yet we fail to understand or
even to make use of the great potential that it offers us. Think of all the people who have made
technical and scientific advances over the years using only their brains.

We need to draw on this power, particularly when being creative, but also when we need
problems to be solved. It is capable of delivering to us all that we want.

Dispatch to your brain the task you have determined it should complete. Sit back and watch as it
is done. (12th Lesson of the Think and Grow Rich summary.)

Principle 13: The sixth sense

Last Lesson of the Think and Grow Rich Summary. Think of the sixth sense as providing us with
an abundance of knowledge without us having to ask for it. It is through this sense that we often
quickly assess situations, receive ideas and devise plans. By drawing on it, we intuitively know
whether something is right or wrong and whether it should be pursued. It provides us with what
we call gut feelings.

You could call it the creative imagination.

Before the sixth sense will work for you, you need to understand and apply the first 12
principles. You need to have a burning passion to achieve success, have faith you will achieve it,
and fill your sub-conscious mind with positive thoughts and detailed plans of how to achieve it,
step by step.
Once you have done that, the sixth sense will convert the thoughts and impulses you have placed
in your mind into their physical counterparts. For, after all, we cannot create anything that we
have not already brought into being through an impulse or a thought.