I'm going to deliver a book review of Think and Grow Rich, which is one of the highest selling and most read financial motivational books of all time. I came across it many years ago, in the most unusual of ways, when it was mentioned in snooker player Jimmy White's autobiography. He teamed up with two snooker trainers, who used the methods in Think and Grow Rich to greatly improve his performance.
The book Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill. It is regarded as one of the all time great self-help books. Even though the title concerns money, it also talks about how to live a better life. It is filled with anecdotes about real life people who improved their lives immensely.
In my years of money seeking, Think and Grow Rich, was one of the top 4 most recommended books I came across (the other 3 being Rich Dad Poor Dad, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and The Richest Man in Babylon).
The book came into existence when the young Napoleon Hill was commissioned by the richest man in the world, Andrew Carnegie to study and interview the richest people of the day, (such as Thomas Edison) to find out how they became rich. He then created his own system of wealth creation which eventually became this book. A great majority of wealth mentors recommend this book, and Napoleon Hill may well have been the first professional wealth mentor.
Before writing Think and Grow Rich, Hill went around teaching a success course based on what he had learned about wealth from interviewing and observing wealthy people over the years. This course exists today as The Law of Success which you can buy for about £22 on Amazon. Hill later condensed that course down into the shorter Think and Grow Rich, which has enjoyed widespread popularity.
Hill says that humans need a definite major purpose in life, and over 90% of people do not have one. He says that most people questioned could not tell you what their goal in life is. Humans are at their best when they have clearly defined goals, othewise they are tossed every which way, in the ocean of life, never finding their destination.
The first step towards becoming rich is desire, and Hill says without desire, a person has little chance of attaining their goal. He states a system for increasing ones desire, by writing down your objective and repeating it to yourself daily.
Hill talks about the law of "auto suggestion" which is actually the forerunner to "The law of attraction", as discussed in books like The Secret - by Rhonda Byrne. This concept means you imagine things in your mind before they become reality. Napoleon Hill clearly said it first. The difference is that Hill makes it very clear that you also have to work hard to make your dreams reality. It was Hill who coined the phrase that "whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, he can achieve".
The importance of thought, is well explained. Positive thoughts will boost you on your way, and any negative thoughts will only drag you down. If you imagine how you want to be, and remind yourself constantly, you will become what you think about. Hill says "there are no limitations to the mind, except those we acknowledge".
Think and Grow Rich is also a code of honour. Hill says that qualities people must cultivate are honesty, integrity, fairness, etc. This is not a mercenary book about getting rich at all costs, and is in fact an ethical belief system which promotes the best in mankind. I try to derive many of my morals from this book, as it is inspiring to live up to what I consider to be, a good standard of behaviour.
Criticisms are that some of the material is archaic and sexist. (Chapter 10: the law of sex transmutation). It is very old fashioned, but this is due to it being written almost 100 years ago.
I think that many aspects of the book need to be updated for modern times, for example the "mastermind" principle, of discussing ideas with a group of people, will only work if some of the people have some expertise in the subject at hand. I think that this concept should be replaced by simply checking Internet forums and message boards.
Hill says there's no such thing as "something for nothing". He says that mankind's biggest obstacle is the desire for something for nothing. In this day and age, I think this needs to be slightly altered in today's times. I have found I can get many things for free such as: library books, UK government health care, exercising at home, etc. I see his point that excessive belief in a free lunch will eventually get you into big trouble. I expect to pay for the majority of stuff (cheaply), but I'll always be happy to pick up what I can find for free. This article in The Times shows lots of stuff you can get for free. I'm not paying for something when I don't even have to.
The book talks about overcoming failure. "Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit". This is a book which instructs us to never give up. Examples are given of a man who gave up looking for gold when he was only 3 feet away from it, and somebody else gained the prize instead. Anecdotes are given about many famous and successful people who were rejected hundreds, even thousands of times before they became successful. Never give up.
In conclusion, Napoleon Hills key to success is one word "persistence". Never give up. Hill's book can be summed up with the simple phrase "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again". I score this book 4 stars out of 5, for being the first well researched book on how to become rich. I think that a more up to date book such as The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield is preferable, but I still think this is a fantastic book.
I've just checked the internet and you can read Think and Grow Rich for free, on Google.
The book Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill. It is regarded as one of the all time great self-help books. Even though the title concerns money, it also talks about how to live a better life. It is filled with anecdotes about real life people who improved their lives immensely.
In my years of money seeking, Think and Grow Rich, was one of the top 4 most recommended books I came across (the other 3 being Rich Dad Poor Dad, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and The Richest Man in Babylon).
The book came into existence when the young Napoleon Hill was commissioned by the richest man in the world, Andrew Carnegie to study and interview the richest people of the day, (such as Thomas Edison) to find out how they became rich. He then created his own system of wealth creation which eventually became this book. A great majority of wealth mentors recommend this book, and Napoleon Hill may well have been the first professional wealth mentor.
Before writing Think and Grow Rich, Hill went around teaching a success course based on what he had learned about wealth from interviewing and observing wealthy people over the years. This course exists today as The Law of Success which you can buy for about £22 on Amazon. Hill later condensed that course down into the shorter Think and Grow Rich, which has enjoyed widespread popularity.
Hill says that humans need a definite major purpose in life, and over 90% of people do not have one. He says that most people questioned could not tell you what their goal in life is. Humans are at their best when they have clearly defined goals, othewise they are tossed every which way, in the ocean of life, never finding their destination.
The first step towards becoming rich is desire, and Hill says without desire, a person has little chance of attaining their goal. He states a system for increasing ones desire, by writing down your objective and repeating it to yourself daily.
Hill talks about the law of "auto suggestion" which is actually the forerunner to "The law of attraction", as discussed in books like The Secret - by Rhonda Byrne. This concept means you imagine things in your mind before they become reality. Napoleon Hill clearly said it first. The difference is that Hill makes it very clear that you also have to work hard to make your dreams reality. It was Hill who coined the phrase that "whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, he can achieve".
The importance of thought, is well explained. Positive thoughts will boost you on your way, and any negative thoughts will only drag you down. If you imagine how you want to be, and remind yourself constantly, you will become what you think about. Hill says "there are no limitations to the mind, except those we acknowledge".
Think and Grow Rich is also a code of honour. Hill says that qualities people must cultivate are honesty, integrity, fairness, etc. This is not a mercenary book about getting rich at all costs, and is in fact an ethical belief system which promotes the best in mankind. I try to derive many of my morals from this book, as it is inspiring to live up to what I consider to be, a good standard of behaviour.
Criticisms are that some of the material is archaic and sexist. (Chapter 10: the law of sex transmutation). It is very old fashioned, but this is due to it being written almost 100 years ago.
I think that many aspects of the book need to be updated for modern times, for example the "mastermind" principle, of discussing ideas with a group of people, will only work if some of the people have some expertise in the subject at hand. I think that this concept should be replaced by simply checking Internet forums and message boards.
Hill says there's no such thing as "something for nothing". He says that mankind's biggest obstacle is the desire for something for nothing. In this day and age, I think this needs to be slightly altered in today's times. I have found I can get many things for free such as: library books, UK government health care, exercising at home, etc. I see his point that excessive belief in a free lunch will eventually get you into big trouble. I expect to pay for the majority of stuff (cheaply), but I'll always be happy to pick up what I can find for free. This article in The Times shows lots of stuff you can get for free. I'm not paying for something when I don't even have to.
The book talks about overcoming failure. "Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit". This is a book which instructs us to never give up. Examples are given of a man who gave up looking for gold when he was only 3 feet away from it, and somebody else gained the prize instead. Anecdotes are given about many famous and successful people who were rejected hundreds, even thousands of times before they became successful. Never give up.
In conclusion, Napoleon Hills key to success is one word "persistence". Never give up. Hill's book can be summed up with the simple phrase "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again". I score this book 4 stars out of 5, for being the first well researched book on how to become rich. I think that a more up to date book such as The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield is preferable, but I still think this is a fantastic book.
I've just checked the internet and you can read Think and Grow Rich for free, on Google.
No comments:
Post a Comment