Think and Grow Rich

This book is the result of a lifetime quest to develop a method of teaching the principles of success to people who were not fortunate enough to have a person of great success close at hand to use as a role model. The author, Napoleon Hill, had the unique opportunity to work closely with Andrew Carnegie, one of the most successful and richest men of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. A steel magnate, Carnegie challenged Hill to discern the secret of success and distill it into a form that any thinking person could grasp it. It took twenty years, but Napoleon Hill did it. The result is Think and Grow Rich.

Through Carnegie's influence, Napoleon Hill was able to rub elbows with the great men of his day, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Asa Candler, the inventor of Coca Cola, Charles Schwab, who put together the first super-corporation, United States Steel, and many other brilliantly successful individuals. Through his conversations with and observation of such powerful individuals, Hill was able to see that Carnegie's initial observation about personal achievement, delivered to Hill in such a casual way, was true. ANYTHING THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE, IT CAN ACHIEVE. Hill learned that consistent effort, persistently applied was the secret that made such great successes of all the individuals he observed over that twenty-year period.

Hill breaks down success into bite-sized chunks, first asserting that "thoughts are things" - anything that exists was once merely a thought in somebody's mind, therefore, it pays to heed what you think about. He goes on to teach about the need for DESIRE -- the ability to dream and imagine your success as a fundamental component of success. He illustrates that FAITH is the next building block of success, then SELF SUGGESTION, IMAGINATION, and so on. In all, Napoleon Hill identifies some thirteen elements that combine to illustrate the practical way to success, in a form that anyone can digest. He also uncovers things that can limit one's success, including FEAR and how to defeat these enemies of success.

As one who has read a number of "self help" books, I can testify that there is little in most of the others I have read that has not already been more than adequately addressed by Napoleon Hill in this marvelous book.

As a book that was written early in the twentieth century, Think and Grow Rich has somewhat archaic language that may not appeal to a reader at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Do not let the flowery language of this perpetual best seller put you off! These principles are real and will benefit any reader who applies them. In closing, another word from Mr. Hill:

ANY ADVERSITY, EVERY FAILURE, AND EVERY HEARTACHE CARRIES WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT OR GREATER BENEFIT




Recommended: Yes