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Today’s book review is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
This book has been called the “Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature.” It was originally published in 1937 and to this day remains one of the most referenced books on success and personal achievement.
I had read this book many years ago, and I thought it was very interesting, but I did absolutely nothing useful with any of the information.
When I saw a new edition on Amazon that said revised and updated for the 21st century, I decided I would buy the new edition, read it and commit to putting some of the principles to work in my life.
Now you can probably figure out what this book is about by the title, but don’t let it turn you off if you’re not driven by money. This book is much more than a guide to becoming wealthy.
In a nutshell, Napoleon Hill, based on studying some of the world’s most successful people of his time (people like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie) came to the realization that our thoughts determine our level of success.
Today, this is not a new concept, but back in the 1930’s America was coming out of the Great Depression and no one was talking about The Secret or the Law of Attraction.
According to the author, if you create a vision in your mind and combine it with passion and persistence, you will become an unstoppable force.
The 2 things I am taking away from this book are: (1) The need for a specific, written statement about your desired goal and how you plan to attain it. Now I am a firm believer in goals, but the 6 steps he lays out in Chapter 2, coupled with the instructions to read the statement aloud twice a day, when you awake and before going to sleep, is a strategy I had not employed.
Secondly, I picked up on something I did not remember from reading the book many years ago, and that is the formation of an “Invisible Council” which he discusses in Chapter 14. The basic idea is to close your eyes and picture a roundtable filled with individuals who you admire and all of them are there to give you counsel. These can be people you know, people you have read about or historical figures who have long since passed, but the interesting thing is that you get to pick who makes up your invisible council and then visualize them serving as a mastermind group for you.
In summary, this book should be required reading for anyone trying to better themselves. It definitely belongs in the Success Book Hall of Fame, and it’s why some of the world’s greatest personal achievement teachers still refer to it today.
If you have not read it, and want to grab a copy, I’ve provided you a link to the book and the workbook below. If you do choose to read it, make sure you don’t make the mistake I did years ago and do nothing with the information. Absorb what he tells you, take a good look at yourself, extract what you believe will be useful, go through the exercises and most of all, put it into action.
If you do, I promise it will have an impact on you.
Start making an impact today, so you can lead a full life!
References: please note the links below include affiliate links, so I will receive a small commission if you use them, but your price will remain the same.
Think and Grow Rich: The Original, an Official Publication of The Napoleon Hill Foundation: click here.
Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller – Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century: click here.
The Think and Grow Rich Workbook: The Practical Steps to Transforming Your Desires into Riches (Tarcher Master Mind Editions): click here