[Music]
without question this single book has
had a greater influence on the lives
accomplishments and fortunes of more
individuals than any other work of its
kind all over the free world there are
literally thousands of successful men
and all lines of work who are where they
are today because they once picked up
and bought a copy of Think and Grow Rich
and they’ll be quick to tell you so I
first discovered this remarkable book in
the fall of 1949 it was an enormous help
to me it helped me decide once and for
all how I was to accomplish my goal it
unified my thinking and gave me a
straight clear Road to the point I had
decided to reach one of my closest
friends found the book several years ago
and stayed home for three days reading
and digesting its material and he then
went on to reach the top in his industry
I’ve sat in richly paneled carpeted
executive offices and listened to world
famous business leaders some of them old
enough to be my father tell me that
everything worked out fine after they
had read Think and Grow Rich now what’s
the secret of this amazing book why has
this book out of all the thousands of
self-help books remained the one
towering giant I think to understand
this you have to know Napoleon Hill as I
do he certainly was not the first man to
be appalled at the poverty and seemingly
endless struggle and lack of direction
he saw about him as a boy and as a young
man nor was he the first to write on the
subject but he possessed two unique
highly developed abilities seldom found
in one man the first was in the manner
in which he approached his subject
Napoleon Hill went after the answers to
achievement in the same way a scientist
seeks to open to the light of Reason a
secret of nature he went after the
solution to accomplishment in the same
way Thomas Edison discovered the
solution to the electric light
relentlessly indefatigably implacably
until the truth which had been there all
the time was revealed to him his second
important ability
was the knack or skill of writing about
his findings in such a way that it was
instantly understood intellectually but
what is perhaps even more important for
this particular subject understood
emotionally as well when the last page
of think and Grow Rich was read the hand
which put the book down on the table was
a different hand the man who then stood
and walked out into the world was a
different changed man the suffocating
entangling webs of self-imposed
frustration and indirection had fallen
away and now the way was clear the man
was now the possessor of the unique
unseen talent for turning dreams into
reality thoughts into things so called
fate or the idle effects of exterior
circumstances were no longer in command
he who had been a passenger was now
suddenly the captain to begin we have to
understand the simple truth the
principle of philosophy which lies as
the supporting structure of this work
unless whatever it is you build is based
on truth you will end with the entire
structure fallen and scattered about you
like the armor of Homer’s ancient
warriors it simply cannot stand it
cannot withstand the test of time
the reason Think and Grow Rich has
withstood the test of time is because it
rests on the broad clean foundation upon
which may also be found every
accomplishment of man the clear
unchallengeable fact that everything
begins with an idea a philosophy based
on the fact that riches of every kind
begin with the State of Mind that one
may start with nothing but thoughts
ideas and organized plans thoughts are
things incredibly powerful things when
mixed with definiteness of purpose
persistence and a burning desire for
their translation into material objects
or riches riches being whatever it is
you happen to want wise men have been
saying this for centuries and just
recently Charles a sarami wrote the
truth is that the human mind is as real
and organism
any muscle in the body but far greater
in potential power and light muscle
fiber it can be strengthened to lead on
to unimaginative n is the truth on which
Think and Grow Rich is based if you know
what you want and if you want it
strongly enough to muster the kind of
persistence that simply cannot be
stopped
you will most certainly achieve it by
controlling your mind you can control
your destiny here on earth but this is
our foundation let’s talk about napoleon
hill’s famous 13 proven steps to riches
as found in his book Think and Grow Rich
remembering of course that riches are
whatever it is you happen to want and
right here let me make two important
points the first is that whenever you
listen to this have a notebook handy and
make notes as we go along the second is
that this was produced for your own
personal use to go with you on your own
exciting journey to play this or a group
will prove to be of only temporary help
make sure you have your own personal
copy to play again and again
particularly at those times when you may
feel yourself getting off the track and
now napoleon hill’s famous 13 principles
the first principle desire here is the
starting point for all achievement the
first step toward riches but it’s right
here that we so often run into a
stumbling block a person will say I know
what I desire but can I get it
we’ll get into this business of doubt
later but once and for all let’s clear
up this point this point of whether or
not you can accomplish that which you
desire with all your heart I think it
was best expressed by Emerson who wrote
there is 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 each of us has a built-in
governor and our desires are modified by
our abilities and leanings whatever it
is that you desire with all your heart
understand once and for all that it can
and should be yours in Think and Grow
Rich Napoleon Hill cites example after
example of why 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
for as Helvetia put it by annihilating
the desires you annihilate the mind
every man without passions has within
him no principle of action nor motives
to act a good way to determine whether
or not you really have a burning desire
is to examine the way you go after it if
you go after that which you think you
desire tentatively timidly in an attempt
to play it safe you don’t have a burning
desire at all you can’t get the second
base if you keep one foot on first but
if you’re willing to burn your bridges
behind you and say once and for all this
is it this is what I will do and I
never retreat I’ll never go back then
you have the sort of desire that can
only end in success it takes that kind
of resolve to be able to keep picking
yourself up after their Falls you’re
bound to take the only people who don’t
make mistakes are those who never try
anything the timid feeders in the lagoon
who never venture into the broad deep
sea beyond while these principles will
work for anything you may want a more
harmonious home life a more successful
career for our example let’s say your
desire happens to be more money to
better care for your family and provide
for your future years to get your a
share of the prosperity that lies ahead
Napoleon Hill gives us six definite
practical steps to follow one fix in
your mind the exact amount of money you
desire it is not sufficient merely to
say I want plenty of money be definite
as to the amount there’s a psychological
reason for definiteness which will be
described in a subsequent principle
number two determine exactly what you
intend to give in return for the money
you desire there’s no such reality as
something for nothing
3 establish a definite date when you
intend to possess the money you desire
and 4 create a definite plan for
carrying out your desire and begin at
once whether you’re ready or not
to put this plan into action 5 write out
a clear concise statement of the amount
of money you intend to acquire name the
time limit for its acquisition state
what you intend to give and return for
the money and describe clearly the plan
to which you intend to accumulate it 6
read your written statement aloud twice
daily once just before retiring at night
and once after arising in the morning
as you read see and feel and believe
yourself already in prison
of the money or whatever your goal
happens to be it’s important that you
follow these instructions to the letter
play this part over into the avid down
to your satisfaction for this is by far
the most important of the 13 principles
and this chapter the book ends with
these words through some strange and
powerful principle of mental chemistry
which she has never divulged nature
wraps up in the impulse of strong desire
that’s something which recognizes no
such word is impossible and accepts no
such reality as failure the second
principle is faith you never would have
even thought of your main desire unless
faith were tugging at your mind and if
you find it difficult at times to have
faith in yourself you can be certain
that you can have faith in these
principles Napoleon Hill writes faith is
a state of mind which may be induced or
created by affirmation or repeated
instructions to the subconscious mind
through the principle of conscious Auto
suggestion conscious Auto suggestion
simply means a suggestion by yourself
to yourself just as an autobiography is
a biography written by the person it’s
about by getting a mental image of
yourself already having accomplished
your main desire over and over again you
will muster the faith you need faith is
vital to accomplishment the emperor
napoleon once said all the scholastic
scaffolding falls as a ruined edifice
before one single word faith Pascal said
faith affirms many things respecting
which the senses are silent but nothing
which they deny it is superior to their
testimony but never opposed to it Goethe
said epochs of faith are epics of food
fulness but epochs of unbelief however
glittering a barren of all permanent
good and a Schlegel put it in actual
life every great Enterprise begins with
and takes its first forward step it
faith have faith that you can accomplish
that which you seek for you would never
have decided upon it unless it was meant
for you to accomplish in his chapter on
faith Napoleon Hill gives us a
self-confidence formula first I know
that I have the ability to achieve the
object of my definite purpose in life
therefore I demand of myself persistent
continuous action toward its attainment
and I here are now promised to render
such action second I realized that
dominant thoughts of my mind will
eventually reproduce themselves in
upward physical action and gradually
transform themselves into physical
reality therefore I will concentrate my
thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the
task of thinking of the person I intend
to become thereby creating in my mind a
clear mental picture of that person
third I know through the principle of
auto suggestion any desire that I
persistently hold in my mind will
eventually seek expression through some
practical means of attaining the object
back of it therefore I will devote 10
minutes daily to demanding of myself the
development of self-confidence fourth I
have clearly written down a description
of my definite chief aim in life and I
will never stop trying until I have
developed sufficient self-confidence for
its attainment fifth I fully realized
that no wealth or position can long
endure
unless built upon truth and justice
therefore I will engage in no
transaction which does not benefit all
whom it affects I will succeed by
attracting to myself the forces I wish
to use and the cooperation of other
people I will induce others to serve me
because of my willingness to serve
others I will eliminate hatred envy
jealousy selfishness and cynicism by
developing love for all humanity because
I know that a negative attitude toward
others can never bring me success I will
cause others to believe in me because I
will believe in them
and in myself in rereading Think and
Grow Rich so that I could write this
condensation for recording I was
forcibly struck all over again by this
great chapter on faith particularly the
examples of how some of the world’s
greatest men have accomplished what
appeared to be impossible through faith
the third principle is Auto suggestion
and we’ve already touched on this this
chapter the book tells us how through
repeated suggestion the subconscious
mind can be put to work for us it is the
Faculty of being able to concentrate
your mind on your burning desire until
your subconscious mind accepts it as
fact and begins to devise ways of
bringing it about here is where hunches
come from sudden flashes of thought or
inspiration guidance the instructions
given in connection with the six steps
in the second chapter will now be
summarized and blended with the
principles covered by napoleon hill’s
chapter on auto suggestion first go into
some quiet spot perhaps in bed at night
close your eyes and repeat aloud so you
may hear your own words the written
statement of the amount of money you
intend to accumulate or a careful
reaffirmation of whatever your goal
happens to be the time limit for its
accumulation and a description of the
service or merchandise you intend to
give in return for the money as you
carry out these instructions see
yourself already in possession of your
goal for example suppose that you intend
to accumulate fifty thousand dollars by
the first of January five years from now
that you intend to give personal
services in return for the money in the
capacity of a Salesman your written
statement of your purpose should be
similar to the following by the first
day of January 19 whatever it happens to
be I will have in my possession fifty
thousand dollars which will come to me
in various amounts from time to time
during the interim in return for this
money I will give the most efficient
service of which I’m capable rendering
the fullest possible quantity and the
best possible quality of service in the
capacity of salesmen of and here too
the product or service you intend to
sell or whatever it is you do for a
living
it goes on I believe that I will have
this money in my possession my faith is
so strong that I can now see this money
before my eyes I can touch it with my
hands
it is now a waiting transfer to me at
the time and in the proportion that I
deliver the service I intend to render
in return for it I am awaiting a plan by
which to accumulate this money and I
will follow that plan when it is
received second repeat this program
night and morning until you can see in
your imagination the money you intend to
accumulate third place a written copy of
your statement where you can see at
night morning and read it just before
retiring and upon arising until it’s
been memorized as you carry out these
instructions you are applying the
principle of auto suggestion
the fourth principle is specialized
knowledge it is here that I think
Napoleon L makes a very important point
knowledge is power only to the extent
that it is organized into a definite
plan of action and directed to a
definite end to quote from the book
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 which you intend to offer in
return for fortune perhaps you may need
much more specialized knowledge than you
have the ability or the information to
acquire and this should be true
you may bridge your weakness through the
aid of your mastermind group more on
this later but for now realize that you
must learn all you can about your
especially set aside a definite time
every day for learning more about what
it is you do for a living take the
courses that are offered on your subject
and associate with men who know your
business well the fifth principle is
imagination the imagination is literally
the workshop where in our fashion all
plans created by man the impulse the
desire is given shape form and action
through the aid of the imaginative
Faculty of the mind it has been said
that man can create anything he can
imagine as Napoleon Hill says and
teaches whatever the mind of man can
conceive and believe it can achieve
man’s only limitation within reason lies
in his development in use of his
imagination and subsequent motivation to
action the great leaders of business
industry finance and the great artists
musicians poets and writers became great
because they developed the power of self
motivation incidentally one of the best
books ever put together on this subject
if not the greatest is success through
positive mental attitude by Napoleon
Hill and W Clement stone
I suggest you get a copy from your
bookstore at your earliest convenience
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 and if you feel limited
remember the words of the late Frank
Lloyd Wright
he said the human race built most nobly
when limitations were greatest and
therefore when most was required of
imagination in order to build at all
limitations seemed to have always been
the best friends of architecture as you
build your future from this point onward
don’t concern yourself of limitations
but remember that they may be your best
friends since they require imagination
if were to rise above them and as
Beecher said the soul without
imagination is what an observatory would
be without a telescope
the sixth principle is organized
planning you have decided on your desire
your goal now let’s organize the plan
for its accomplishment right on schedule
let me quote again from Think and Grow
Rich you have learned that everything
man creates or acquires begins in the
form of desire the desire is taken on
the first lap of its journey from the
abstract to the concrete in the workshop
of the imagination were plans for its
transition are created and organized
earlier you were instructed to take six
definite practical steps as your first
move in translating the desire for
whatever you want into its physical
equivalent one of these steps is the
formation of a definite practical plan
or plans through which this
transformation may be made one allow
yourself with one or more persons a
group of as many people as you may need
for the creation and carrying out of
your plan or plans for the accumulation
of the money you’ve established as your
goal making use of the mastermind
principle this is important too before
forming your mastermind alliance decide
what advantages and benefits you may
offer the individual members of your
group in return for their cooperation
no one will work indefinitely without
some form of compensation although this
may not always be in the form of money 3
arrange to meet with the members of your
mastermind group at least twice a week
and more often if possible until you
have jointly perfected the necessary
plan or plans for the accomplishment of
your goal 4 maintain perfect harmony
between yourself and every member of
your mastermind group keep in mind these
facts first you’re engaged in an
undertaking of major importance to you
to be sure of success you must have
plans which are faultless second you
must have the advantage of the
experience education native ability and
imagination of other minds this is in
harmony with the methods followed by
every person who has risen above the
average work at this until you have a
well-executed formal plan for
your objective in this way you’re never
confused or wondering what you should do
next
every morning you know exactly what
you’re going to do and why it is in this
chapter of thinking Grow Rich that
Napoleon Hill gives us his eleven
qualities of leadership one unwavering
courage two self-control three a keen
sense of justice for definiteness of
decision five definiteness of plans six
the habit of doing more than paid for
seven a pleasing personality eight
sympathy and understanding nine mastery
of detail ten willingness to assume full
responsibility and eleven cooperation
the chapter on organized planning is one
of the largest and most important in the
book it goes without saying that a man
without a plan to follow is like a ship
without a course no place to go with
disaster a probability the seventh
principle decision the mastery of
procrastination to quote accurate
analysis of over twenty five thousand
men and women who had experienced
failure disclosed the fact that lack of
decision was near the head of the last
of the thirty major causes of failure
this is no mayor statement of a theory
it is effect procrastination the
opposite of decision is a common enemy
which every man must conquer analysis of
several hundred people who had
accumulated fortunes well beyond the
million dollar mark disclosed 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 people who fail
to accumulate money without exception
have the habit of reaching decisions if
at all very slowly and of changing these
decisions quickly and often a definite
objective makes reaching prompt
decisions that much easier Napoleon Hill
gives many examples
one of which is the case of Henry Ford
one of Henry Ford’s most outstanding
qualities was his habit of reaching
decisions quickly and definitely and
changing them slowly this quality was so
pronounced when the late mr. Ford that
it earned form the reputation of being
obstinate it was this quality which
prompted mr. Ford to continue to
manufacture his famous Model T the
world’s ugliest but for the time most
practical car when all of his advisers
and many of the purchasers of the car
were urging him to change it perhaps he
delayed too long in making the change
but the other side of the story is that
his firmness of decision yielded a huge
fortune before the change in model
became necessary and the company’s
certainly none the worse for today when
you make up your mind stay with it the
majority of people who fail to make the
grade are generally easily influenced by
the opinions of others easily swayed
they permit the newspapers and the
gossiping neighbors to do their thinking
for them opinions are the cheapest
commodities on earth keep your own
counsel when you begin to put into
practice the principles we’re describing
here by reaching your own decisions and
following them take no one into your
confidence except the members of your
mastermind group and be very careful in
your selection of this group that you
choose only those who will be in
complete sympathy in harmony with your
purpose close friends and relatives
while not meaning to do so often
handicap one through opinions and
sometimes through ridicule thousands of
men and women carry inferiority
complexes with them all through life
because some well-meaning but ignorant
person destroyed their confidence
through opinions or ridicule if a
decision is worth anything at all it’s
worth sticking to until it’s been
completely worked
the eighth principle persistence
Napoleon Hill defines persistence as the
power of will willpower and desire when
properly combined make an irresistible
pair persistence to an individual is
what carbon is to steal in uncounted
thousands of cases persistence has stood
as the difference between success and
failure it is this quality more than any
other that keeps the majority from great
accomplishment they will try a thing but
as soon as the going gets tough they
fold experience what thousands of people
has proved that lack of persistence is a
weakness common to the majority of men
it is a weakness which may be overcome
by effort if you are to accomplish the
desire you set for yourself you must
form the habit of persistence things
will get dark it will seem as though
there’s no longer any reason to continue
everything in you will tell you to give
up to quit trying and it’s right here
that the men are separated from the boys
it’s right here that if you go that
extra mile and keep going that the skies
will clear and you’ll begin to see the
first signs of the abundance that is to
be yours because you had the courage to
persist with persistence will come
success persistence is a state of mind
therefore it can be cultivated like all
states of mind persistence is based upon
definite causes among them these 1
definiteness of purpose knowing what you
want to desire 3 self-reliance 4
definiteness of plans 5 accurate
knowledge knowing that your plan is
sound 6 cooperation sympathy
understanding and harmonious cooperation
with others tend to develop persistence
7 willpower 8 habit persistence is the
direct result of
the ninth principle power of the
mastermind it is in this section that
Napoleon Hill describes the importance
of forming a group of individuals
sympathetic to your desire they may be
individuals with similar plans a
mastermind group can be made up of two
or more individuals no two Minds ever
come together without thereby creating a
third a third invisible intangible force
which may be likened to a third mind you
may have noticed many times that by
discussing something with another
individual you suddenly get good ideas
as a result of this Association ideas
you would not have gotten without this
Association 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 group
is not meant as a means of letting
others do your thinking for you
far from it it is to stimulate your own
thinking through the association with
other minds no one knows everything the
more sympathetic Minds you get together
and by sympathetic I mean working for a
common purpose the more related
information is going to be available and
great ideas are combination of related
information so pick the member or
members of your mastermind group with
care make sure they’re people you
respect and who are hardworking and
conscientious you have a lot of fun and
you’re all reach your goals just that
much similar the 10th principle could be
called enthusiasm that is the enthusiasm
that comes from the channeling of all
bodily drives into positive worthwhile
outlets
the 11th principle has to do with the
subconscious mind the subconscious mind
consists of a field of consciousness in
which every impulse of thought that
reaches the objective mind through any
of the five senses is classified and
recorded and from which thoughts may be
recalled or withdrawn as letters may be
taken from a filing cabinet it receives
and files sense impressions or thoughts
regardless of their nature you may
voluntarily plant in your subconscious
mind any plan thought or purpose which
you desire to translate into its
physical or monetary equivalent the
subconscious acts first on the
dominating desires which have been mixed
with emotional feeling such as faith
your subconscious mind works night and
day through a method of procedure
unknown to man the subconscious mind
draws upon the forces of infinite
intelligence for the power with which it
voluntarily transmutes one’s desires
into their physical equivalent making
use always of the most practical media
by which this end may be accomplished
you cannot entirely control your
subconscious mind but you can
voluntarily hand over to it any plan
desire or purpose which you wish
transformed in a concrete form
no one knows very much about what we
call the subconscious or unconscious
mind we do know that it is incalculably
powerful and can solve our problems if
we go about using it the right way and
the best way is to hold in your
conscious mind as often as possible
a clearer picture of yourself already
having accomplished your goal you know
what you want define it clearly and then
projected on the motion picture screen
of your mind hold it see yourself doing
the things and having the things you
have when your objective will have been
reached do this as often as possible as
you go about your daily work and
particularly at night just before you go
to sleep and the first thing upon
arising as you do this your subconscious
will begin to lead you in the most
logical ways toward
objective don’t fight it follow your
sudden hunches the ideas that come into
your mind knowing that it’s your
subconscious trying to get through to
your conscious mind if you keep at this
you’ll be amazed and delighted by the
wonderful ideas that just seem to come
from nowhere in the next principle we’ll
talk some more about this sixth sense
that seems to control the lives of the
great men and women but it comes from a
systemic triggering of the subconscious
mind the lives of the great men and
women would seem miraculous to the
average person and nothing more than the
fulfillment of their burning desires
through the power of their subconscious
mind time means nothing to your
subconscious a man could work steadily
at his job for 40 years and not
accomplish as much as is possible in
three or four years through the proper
working of this principle your
subconscious mind cannot remain idle if
you fail to plant desires in your
subconscious mind it will feed upon the
thoughts which reach it as a result of
your neglect remember that you’re living
daily in the midst of all manner of
thought impulses which are reaching your
subconscious mind without your knowledge
some of these impulses are negative some
are positive you are now engaged in
trying to help shut off the flow of
negative impulses and to aid in
voluntarily influencing your
subconscious mind through positive
impulses of desire when you achieve this
you will possess the key which unlocks
the door to your subconscious mind bulwa
wrote the man who succeeds above his
fellows is the one who early in life
clearly discerned his object and toward
that object habitually directs his
powers even genius itself is but fine
observation strengthened by fixity of
purpose
every man who observes vigilantly and
resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously
into genius the key word there is
unconsciously know what you want decide
once and for all that it will be yours
remain steadfast on course propelled by
faith and your subconscious or
unconscious mind
we’ll do the rest the 12th principle as
outlined in thing in Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill has to do with the brain
if you had access to all the wealth in
the world and took a penny you would be
doing exactly what you very probably
have been doing in the use of your brain
nothing in the world is more pitiful
than the misunderstanding by the average
person of the power of his brain and the
minds to which it is connected the
conscious and the subconscious you own
in your brain the most marvelous
miraculous inconceivably powerful force
the world has ever known
take for example the fact that the
number of lines which connect the brain
cells with one another equal the figure
one followed by 15 million ciphers it
has been determined that there are from
ten to fourteen billion cells in the
average human cerebral cortex it is
inconceivable that such a network of
intricate machinery should be in
existence for the sole purpose of
carrying on the physical functions
incidental to growth and maintenance of
the physical body this is the mechanism
that has given us the supersonic
airplane our deep rocket probes into
outer space the sciences the arts all
that we know and use today and will use
tomorrow have hatched from this small
gray mass each of us carries around do
you can you doubt even for a moment that
it can bring you and yours everything
you want here on earth of course it can
if you will recognize your power as an
individual and stop acting like those
who have never even thought about it
give it the job you’ve decided to
accomplish and watch it handle it
the 13th and final principle is called
the sixth sense the sixth sense can be
described as the sense through which
infinite intelligence may and will
communicate voluntarily without any
effort from or demands by the individual
this principle is the apex of the
philosophy it can be assimilated
understood and applied only by first
mastering the other 12 principles the
sixth sense is that portion of the
subconscious mind which has been
referred to as the creative imagination
it has also been referred to as the
receiving set through which ideas plans
and thoughts flash into the mind the
flashes are sometimes called hunches or
inspirations the sixth sense defies
description it cannot be described to a
person who has not mastered the other
principles of this philosophy because
such a person has no knowledge and no
experience with which the sixth sense
may be compared the sixth sense is not
something that one can take off and put
on at will
without question this single book has
had a greater influence on the lives
accomplishments and fortunes of more
individuals than any other work of its
kind all over the free world there are
literally thousands of successful men
and all lines of work who are where they
are today because they once picked up
and bought a copy of Think and Grow Rich
and they’ll be quick to tell you so I
first discovered this remarkable book in
the fall of 1949 it was an enormous help
to me it helped me decide once and for
all how I was to accomplish my goal it
unified my thinking and gave me a
straight clear Road to the point I had
decided to reach one of my closest
friends found the book several years ago
and stayed home for three days reading
and digesting its material and he then
went on to reach the top in his industry
I’ve sat in richly paneled carpeted
executive offices and listened to world
famous business leaders some of them old
enough to be my father tell me that
everything worked out fine after they
had read Think and Grow Rich now what’s
the secret of this amazing book why has
this book out of all the thousands of
self-help books remained the one
towering giant I think to understand
this you have to know Napoleon Hill as I
do he certainly was not the first man to
be appalled at the poverty and seemingly
endless struggle and lack of direction
he saw about him as a boy and as a young
man nor was he the first to write on the
subject but he possessed two unique
highly developed abilities seldom found
in one man the first was in the manner
in which he approached his subject
Napoleon Hill went after the answers to
achievement in the same way a scientist
seeks to open to the light of Reason a
secret of nature he went after the
solution to accomplishment in the same
way Thomas Edison discovered the
solution to the electric light
relentlessly indefatigably implacably
until the truth which had been there all
the time was revealed to him his second
important ability
was the knack or skill of writing about
his findings in such a way that it was
instantly understood intellectually but
what is perhaps even more important for
this particular subject understood
emotionally as well when the last page
of think and Grow Rich was read the hand
which put the book down on the table was
a different hand the man who then stood
and walked out into the world was a
different changed man the suffocating
entangling webs of self-imposed
frustration and indirection had fallen
away and now the way was clear the man
was now the possessor of the unique
unseen talent for turning dreams into
reality thoughts into things so called
fate or the idle effects of exterior
circumstances were no longer in command
he who had been a passenger was now
suddenly the captain to begin we have to
understand the simple truth the
principle of philosophy which lies as
the supporting structure of this work
unless whatever it is you build is based
on truth you will end with the entire
structure fallen and scattered about you
like the armor of Homer’s ancient
warriors it simply cannot stand it
cannot withstand the test of time
the reason Think and Grow Rich has
withstood the test of time is because it
rests on the broad clean foundation upon
which may also be found every
accomplishment of man the clear
unchallengeable fact that everything
begins with an idea a philosophy based
on the fact that riches of every kind
begin with the State of Mind that one
may start with nothing but thoughts
ideas and organized plans thoughts are
things incredibly powerful things when
mixed with definiteness of purpose
persistence and a burning desire for
their translation into material objects
or riches riches being whatever it is
you happen to want wise men have been
saying this for centuries and just
recently Charles a sarami wrote the
truth is that the human mind is as real
and organism
any muscle in the body but far greater
in potential power and light muscle
fiber it can be strengthened to lead on
to unimaginative n is the truth on which
Think and Grow Rich is based if you know
what you want and if you want it
strongly enough to muster the kind of
persistence that simply cannot be
stopped
you will most certainly achieve it by
controlling your mind you can control
your destiny here on earth but this is
our foundation let’s talk about napoleon
hill’s famous 13 proven steps to riches
as found in his book Think and Grow Rich
remembering of course that riches are
whatever it is you happen to want and
right here let me make two important
points the first is that whenever you
listen to this have a notebook handy and
make notes as we go along the second is
that this was produced for your own
personal use to go with you on your own
exciting journey to play this or a group
will prove to be of only temporary help
make sure you have your own personal
copy to play again and again
particularly at those times when you may
feel yourself getting off the track and
now napoleon hill’s famous 13 principles
the first principle desire here is the
starting point for all achievement the
first step toward riches but it’s right
here that we so often run into a
stumbling block a person will say I know
what I desire but can I get it
we’ll get into this business of doubt
later but once and for all let’s clear
up this point this point of whether or
not you can accomplish that which you
desire with all your heart I think it
was best expressed by Emerson who wrote
there is 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 each of us has a built-in
governor and our desires are modified by
our abilities and leanings whatever it
is that you desire with all your heart
understand once and for all that it can
and should be yours in Think and Grow
Rich Napoleon Hill cites example after
example of why 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
for as Helvetia put it by annihilating
the desires you annihilate the mind
every man without passions has within
him no principle of action nor motives
to act a good way to determine whether
or not you really have a burning desire
is to examine the way you go after it if
you go after that which you think you
desire tentatively timidly in an attempt
to play it safe you don’t have a burning
desire at all you can’t get the second
base if you keep one foot on first but
if you’re willing to burn your bridges
behind you and say once and for all this
is it this is what I will do and I
never retreat I’ll never go back then
you have the sort of desire that can
only end in success it takes that kind
of resolve to be able to keep picking
yourself up after their Falls you’re
bound to take the only people who don’t
make mistakes are those who never try
anything the timid feeders in the lagoon
who never venture into the broad deep
sea beyond while these principles will
work for anything you may want a more
harmonious home life a more successful
career for our example let’s say your
desire happens to be more money to
better care for your family and provide
for your future years to get your a
share of the prosperity that lies ahead
Napoleon Hill gives us six definite
practical steps to follow one fix in
your mind the exact amount of money you
desire it is not sufficient merely to
say I want plenty of money be definite
as to the amount there’s a psychological
reason for definiteness which will be
described in a subsequent principle
number two determine exactly what you
intend to give in return for the money
you desire there’s no such reality as
something for nothing
3 establish a definite date when you
intend to possess the money you desire
and 4 create a definite plan for
carrying out your desire and begin at
once whether you’re ready or not
to put this plan into action 5 write out
a clear concise statement of the amount
of money you intend to acquire name the
time limit for its acquisition state
what you intend to give and return for
the money and describe clearly the plan
to which you intend to accumulate it 6
read your written statement aloud twice
daily once just before retiring at night
and once after arising in the morning
as you read see and feel and believe
yourself already in prison
of the money or whatever your goal
happens to be it’s important that you
follow these instructions to the letter
play this part over into the avid down
to your satisfaction for this is by far
the most important of the 13 principles
and this chapter the book ends with
these words through some strange and
powerful principle of mental chemistry
which she has never divulged nature
wraps up in the impulse of strong desire
that’s something which recognizes no
such word is impossible and accepts no
such reality as failure the second
principle is faith you never would have
even thought of your main desire unless
faith were tugging at your mind and if
you find it difficult at times to have
faith in yourself you can be certain
that you can have faith in these
principles Napoleon Hill writes faith is
a state of mind which may be induced or
created by affirmation or repeated
instructions to the subconscious mind
through the principle of conscious Auto
suggestion conscious Auto suggestion
simply means a suggestion by yourself
to yourself just as an autobiography is
a biography written by the person it’s
about by getting a mental image of
yourself already having accomplished
your main desire over and over again you
will muster the faith you need faith is
vital to accomplishment the emperor
napoleon once said all the scholastic
scaffolding falls as a ruined edifice
before one single word faith Pascal said
faith affirms many things respecting
which the senses are silent but nothing
which they deny it is superior to their
testimony but never opposed to it Goethe
said epochs of faith are epics of food
fulness but epochs of unbelief however
glittering a barren of all permanent
good and a Schlegel put it in actual
life every great Enterprise begins with
and takes its first forward step it
faith have faith that you can accomplish
that which you seek for you would never
have decided upon it unless it was meant
for you to accomplish in his chapter on
faith Napoleon Hill gives us a
self-confidence formula first I know
that I have the ability to achieve the
object of my definite purpose in life
therefore I demand of myself persistent
continuous action toward its attainment
and I here are now promised to render
such action second I realized that
dominant thoughts of my mind will
eventually reproduce themselves in
upward physical action and gradually
transform themselves into physical
reality therefore I will concentrate my
thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the
task of thinking of the person I intend
to become thereby creating in my mind a
clear mental picture of that person
third I know through the principle of
auto suggestion any desire that I
persistently hold in my mind will
eventually seek expression through some
practical means of attaining the object
back of it therefore I will devote 10
minutes daily to demanding of myself the
development of self-confidence fourth I
have clearly written down a description
of my definite chief aim in life and I
will never stop trying until I have
developed sufficient self-confidence for
its attainment fifth I fully realized
that no wealth or position can long
endure
unless built upon truth and justice
therefore I will engage in no
transaction which does not benefit all
whom it affects I will succeed by
attracting to myself the forces I wish
to use and the cooperation of other
people I will induce others to serve me
because of my willingness to serve
others I will eliminate hatred envy
jealousy selfishness and cynicism by
developing love for all humanity because
I know that a negative attitude toward
others can never bring me success I will
cause others to believe in me because I
will believe in them
and in myself in rereading Think and
Grow Rich so that I could write this
condensation for recording I was
forcibly struck all over again by this
great chapter on faith particularly the
examples of how some of the world’s
greatest men have accomplished what
appeared to be impossible through faith
the third principle is Auto suggestion
and we’ve already touched on this this
chapter the book tells us how through
repeated suggestion the subconscious
mind can be put to work for us it is the
Faculty of being able to concentrate
your mind on your burning desire until
your subconscious mind accepts it as
fact and begins to devise ways of
bringing it about here is where hunches
come from sudden flashes of thought or
inspiration guidance the instructions
given in connection with the six steps
in the second chapter will now be
summarized and blended with the
principles covered by napoleon hill’s
chapter on auto suggestion first go into
some quiet spot perhaps in bed at night
close your eyes and repeat aloud so you
may hear your own words the written
statement of the amount of money you
intend to accumulate or a careful
reaffirmation of whatever your goal
happens to be the time limit for its
accumulation and a description of the
service or merchandise you intend to
give in return for the money as you
carry out these instructions see
yourself already in possession of your
goal for example suppose that you intend
to accumulate fifty thousand dollars by
the first of January five years from now
that you intend to give personal
services in return for the money in the
capacity of a Salesman your written
statement of your purpose should be
similar to the following by the first
day of January 19 whatever it happens to
be I will have in my possession fifty
thousand dollars which will come to me
in various amounts from time to time
during the interim in return for this
money I will give the most efficient
service of which I’m capable rendering
the fullest possible quantity and the
best possible quality of service in the
capacity of salesmen of and here too
the product or service you intend to
sell or whatever it is you do for a
living
it goes on I believe that I will have
this money in my possession my faith is
so strong that I can now see this money
before my eyes I can touch it with my
hands
it is now a waiting transfer to me at
the time and in the proportion that I
deliver the service I intend to render
in return for it I am awaiting a plan by
which to accumulate this money and I
will follow that plan when it is
received second repeat this program
night and morning until you can see in
your imagination the money you intend to
accumulate third place a written copy of
your statement where you can see at
night morning and read it just before
retiring and upon arising until it’s
been memorized as you carry out these
instructions you are applying the
principle of auto suggestion
the fourth principle is specialized
knowledge it is here that I think
Napoleon L makes a very important point
knowledge is power only to the extent
that it is organized into a definite
plan of action and directed to a
definite end to quote from the book
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 which you intend to offer in
return for fortune perhaps you may need
much more specialized knowledge than you
have the ability or the information to
acquire and this should be true
you may bridge your weakness through the
aid of your mastermind group more on
this later but for now realize that you
must learn all you can about your
especially set aside a definite time
every day for learning more about what
it is you do for a living take the
courses that are offered on your subject
and associate with men who know your
business well the fifth principle is
imagination the imagination is literally
the workshop where in our fashion all
plans created by man the impulse the
desire is given shape form and action
through the aid of the imaginative
Faculty of the mind it has been said
that man can create anything he can
imagine as Napoleon Hill says and
teaches whatever the mind of man can
conceive and believe it can achieve
man’s only limitation within reason lies
in his development in use of his
imagination and subsequent motivation to
action the great leaders of business
industry finance and the great artists
musicians poets and writers became great
because they developed the power of self
motivation incidentally one of the best
books ever put together on this subject
if not the greatest is success through
positive mental attitude by Napoleon
Hill and W Clement stone
I suggest you get a copy from your
bookstore at your earliest convenience
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 and if you feel limited
remember the words of the late Frank
Lloyd Wright
he said the human race built most nobly
when limitations were greatest and
therefore when most was required of
imagination in order to build at all
limitations seemed to have always been
the best friends of architecture as you
build your future from this point onward
don’t concern yourself of limitations
but remember that they may be your best
friends since they require imagination
if were to rise above them and as
Beecher said the soul without
imagination is what an observatory would
be without a telescope
the sixth principle is organized
planning you have decided on your desire
your goal now let’s organize the plan
for its accomplishment right on schedule
let me quote again from Think and Grow
Rich you have learned that everything
man creates or acquires begins in the
form of desire the desire is taken on
the first lap of its journey from the
abstract to the concrete in the workshop
of the imagination were plans for its
transition are created and organized
earlier you were instructed to take six
definite practical steps as your first
move in translating the desire for
whatever you want into its physical
equivalent one of these steps is the
formation of a definite practical plan
or plans through which this
transformation may be made one allow
yourself with one or more persons a
group of as many people as you may need
for the creation and carrying out of
your plan or plans for the accumulation
of the money you’ve established as your
goal making use of the mastermind
principle this is important too before
forming your mastermind alliance decide
what advantages and benefits you may
offer the individual members of your
group in return for their cooperation
no one will work indefinitely without
some form of compensation although this
may not always be in the form of money 3
arrange to meet with the members of your
mastermind group at least twice a week
and more often if possible until you
have jointly perfected the necessary
plan or plans for the accomplishment of
your goal 4 maintain perfect harmony
between yourself and every member of
your mastermind group keep in mind these
facts first you’re engaged in an
undertaking of major importance to you
to be sure of success you must have
plans which are faultless second you
must have the advantage of the
experience education native ability and
imagination of other minds this is in
harmony with the methods followed by
every person who has risen above the
average work at this until you have a
well-executed formal plan for
your objective in this way you’re never
confused or wondering what you should do
next
every morning you know exactly what
you’re going to do and why it is in this
chapter of thinking Grow Rich that
Napoleon Hill gives us his eleven
qualities of leadership one unwavering
courage two self-control three a keen
sense of justice for definiteness of
decision five definiteness of plans six
the habit of doing more than paid for
seven a pleasing personality eight
sympathy and understanding nine mastery
of detail ten willingness to assume full
responsibility and eleven cooperation
the chapter on organized planning is one
of the largest and most important in the
book it goes without saying that a man
without a plan to follow is like a ship
without a course no place to go with
disaster a probability the seventh
principle decision the mastery of
procrastination to quote accurate
analysis of over twenty five thousand
men and women who had experienced
failure disclosed the fact that lack of
decision was near the head of the last
of the thirty major causes of failure
this is no mayor statement of a theory
it is effect procrastination the
opposite of decision is a common enemy
which every man must conquer analysis of
several hundred people who had
accumulated fortunes well beyond the
million dollar mark disclosed 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 people who fail
to accumulate money without exception
have the habit of reaching decisions if
at all very slowly and of changing these
decisions quickly and often a definite
objective makes reaching prompt
decisions that much easier Napoleon Hill
gives many examples
one of which is the case of Henry Ford
one of Henry Ford’s most outstanding
qualities was his habit of reaching
decisions quickly and definitely and
changing them slowly this quality was so
pronounced when the late mr. Ford that
it earned form the reputation of being
obstinate it was this quality which
prompted mr. Ford to continue to
manufacture his famous Model T the
world’s ugliest but for the time most
practical car when all of his advisers
and many of the purchasers of the car
were urging him to change it perhaps he
delayed too long in making the change
but the other side of the story is that
his firmness of decision yielded a huge
fortune before the change in model
became necessary and the company’s
certainly none the worse for today when
you make up your mind stay with it the
majority of people who fail to make the
grade are generally easily influenced by
the opinions of others easily swayed
they permit the newspapers and the
gossiping neighbors to do their thinking
for them opinions are the cheapest
commodities on earth keep your own
counsel when you begin to put into
practice the principles we’re describing
here by reaching your own decisions and
following them take no one into your
confidence except the members of your
mastermind group and be very careful in
your selection of this group that you
choose only those who will be in
complete sympathy in harmony with your
purpose close friends and relatives
while not meaning to do so often
handicap one through opinions and
sometimes through ridicule thousands of
men and women carry inferiority
complexes with them all through life
because some well-meaning but ignorant
person destroyed their confidence
through opinions or ridicule if a
decision is worth anything at all it’s
worth sticking to until it’s been
completely worked
the eighth principle persistence
Napoleon Hill defines persistence as the
power of will willpower and desire when
properly combined make an irresistible
pair persistence to an individual is
what carbon is to steal in uncounted
thousands of cases persistence has stood
as the difference between success and
failure it is this quality more than any
other that keeps the majority from great
accomplishment they will try a thing but
as soon as the going gets tough they
fold experience what thousands of people
has proved that lack of persistence is a
weakness common to the majority of men
it is a weakness which may be overcome
by effort if you are to accomplish the
desire you set for yourself you must
form the habit of persistence things
will get dark it will seem as though
there’s no longer any reason to continue
everything in you will tell you to give
up to quit trying and it’s right here
that the men are separated from the boys
it’s right here that if you go that
extra mile and keep going that the skies
will clear and you’ll begin to see the
first signs of the abundance that is to
be yours because you had the courage to
persist with persistence will come
success persistence is a state of mind
therefore it can be cultivated like all
states of mind persistence is based upon
definite causes among them these 1
definiteness of purpose knowing what you
want to desire 3 self-reliance 4
definiteness of plans 5 accurate
knowledge knowing that your plan is
sound 6 cooperation sympathy
understanding and harmonious cooperation
with others tend to develop persistence
7 willpower 8 habit persistence is the
direct result of
the ninth principle power of the
mastermind it is in this section that
Napoleon Hill describes the importance
of forming a group of individuals
sympathetic to your desire they may be
individuals with similar plans a
mastermind group can be made up of two
or more individuals no two Minds ever
come together without thereby creating a
third a third invisible intangible force
which may be likened to a third mind you
may have noticed many times that by
discussing something with another
individual you suddenly get good ideas
as a result of this Association ideas
you would not have gotten without this
Association 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 group
is not meant as a means of letting
others do your thinking for you
far from it it is to stimulate your own
thinking through the association with
other minds no one knows everything the
more sympathetic Minds you get together
and by sympathetic I mean working for a
common purpose the more related
information is going to be available and
great ideas are combination of related
information so pick the member or
members of your mastermind group with
care make sure they’re people you
respect and who are hardworking and
conscientious you have a lot of fun and
you’re all reach your goals just that
much similar the 10th principle could be
called enthusiasm that is the enthusiasm
that comes from the channeling of all
bodily drives into positive worthwhile
outlets
the 11th principle has to do with the
subconscious mind the subconscious mind
consists of a field of consciousness in
which every impulse of thought that
reaches the objective mind through any
of the five senses is classified and
recorded and from which thoughts may be
recalled or withdrawn as letters may be
taken from a filing cabinet it receives
and files sense impressions or thoughts
regardless of their nature you may
voluntarily plant in your subconscious
mind any plan thought or purpose which
you desire to translate into its
physical or monetary equivalent the
subconscious acts first on the
dominating desires which have been mixed
with emotional feeling such as faith
your subconscious mind works night and
day through a method of procedure
unknown to man the subconscious mind
draws upon the forces of infinite
intelligence for the power with which it
voluntarily transmutes one’s desires
into their physical equivalent making
use always of the most practical media
by which this end may be accomplished
you cannot entirely control your
subconscious mind but you can
voluntarily hand over to it any plan
desire or purpose which you wish
transformed in a concrete form
no one knows very much about what we
call the subconscious or unconscious
mind we do know that it is incalculably
powerful and can solve our problems if
we go about using it the right way and
the best way is to hold in your
conscious mind as often as possible
a clearer picture of yourself already
having accomplished your goal you know
what you want define it clearly and then
projected on the motion picture screen
of your mind hold it see yourself doing
the things and having the things you
have when your objective will have been
reached do this as often as possible as
you go about your daily work and
particularly at night just before you go
to sleep and the first thing upon
arising as you do this your subconscious
will begin to lead you in the most
logical ways toward
objective don’t fight it follow your
sudden hunches the ideas that come into
your mind knowing that it’s your
subconscious trying to get through to
your conscious mind if you keep at this
you’ll be amazed and delighted by the
wonderful ideas that just seem to come
from nowhere in the next principle we’ll
talk some more about this sixth sense
that seems to control the lives of the
great men and women but it comes from a
systemic triggering of the subconscious
mind the lives of the great men and
women would seem miraculous to the
average person and nothing more than the
fulfillment of their burning desires
through the power of their subconscious
mind time means nothing to your
subconscious a man could work steadily
at his job for 40 years and not
accomplish as much as is possible in
three or four years through the proper
working of this principle your
subconscious mind cannot remain idle if
you fail to plant desires in your
subconscious mind it will feed upon the
thoughts which reach it as a result of
your neglect remember that you’re living
daily in the midst of all manner of
thought impulses which are reaching your
subconscious mind without your knowledge
some of these impulses are negative some
are positive you are now engaged in
trying to help shut off the flow of
negative impulses and to aid in
voluntarily influencing your
subconscious mind through positive
impulses of desire when you achieve this
you will possess the key which unlocks
the door to your subconscious mind bulwa
wrote the man who succeeds above his
fellows is the one who early in life
clearly discerned his object and toward
that object habitually directs his
powers even genius itself is but fine
observation strengthened by fixity of
purpose
every man who observes vigilantly and
resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously
into genius the key word there is
unconsciously know what you want decide
once and for all that it will be yours
remain steadfast on course propelled by
faith and your subconscious or
unconscious mind
we’ll do the rest the 12th principle as
outlined in thing in Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill has to do with the brain
if you had access to all the wealth in
the world and took a penny you would be
doing exactly what you very probably
have been doing in the use of your brain
nothing in the world is more pitiful
than the misunderstanding by the average
person of the power of his brain and the
minds to which it is connected the
conscious and the subconscious you own
in your brain the most marvelous
miraculous inconceivably powerful force
the world has ever known
take for example the fact that the
number of lines which connect the brain
cells with one another equal the figure
one followed by 15 million ciphers it
has been determined that there are from
ten to fourteen billion cells in the
average human cerebral cortex it is
inconceivable that such a network of
intricate machinery should be in
existence for the sole purpose of
carrying on the physical functions
incidental to growth and maintenance of
the physical body this is the mechanism
that has given us the supersonic
airplane our deep rocket probes into
outer space the sciences the arts all
that we know and use today and will use
tomorrow have hatched from this small
gray mass each of us carries around do
you can you doubt even for a moment that
it can bring you and yours everything
you want here on earth of course it can
if you will recognize your power as an
individual and stop acting like those
who have never even thought about it
give it the job you’ve decided to
accomplish and watch it handle it
the 13th and final principle is called
the sixth sense the sixth sense can be
described as the sense through which
infinite intelligence may and will
communicate voluntarily without any
effort from or demands by the individual
this principle is the apex of the
philosophy it can be assimilated
understood and applied only by first
mastering the other 12 principles the
sixth sense is that portion of the
subconscious mind which has been
referred to as the creative imagination
it has also been referred to as the
receiving set through which ideas plans
and thoughts flash into the mind the
flashes are sometimes called hunches or
inspirations the sixth sense defies
description it cannot be described to a
person who has not mastered the other
principles of this philosophy because
such a person has no knowledge and no
experience with which the sixth sense
may be compared the sixth sense is not
something that one can take off and put
on at will
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