My own goals of property investing need the power of thought, without it there is no action. Books such as this are essential ingredients to nourish and plow though the hurtles ahead.Napoleon Hill was the first man to make a documented study of rich successful people in book form, 500 of the most influential people of his time. Steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie asked the young boy Napoleon if he would consider devoting himself to the this task. It took 25 years of his life to compile all this data.
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Many of these successful people are legends in there own right. Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, John D Rockefeller, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt to name a few.
"A real student will not merely read this book, he will absorb it's contents and make them his own" (P5) This from Dr Miller Reese Hutchinson, a long time associate of Thomas Edison.
Napoleons' mentor, Andrew Carnegie thought little of the school system, as it didn't prepare kids for "the business of earning a living or accumulating riches" (P12). Taking on many young men like Charles M Schwab and teaching a formula that this book is based on, and seeing there own fortunes accumulate only added to his resolve. His formula was broken down into key elements.
Desire, consuming, white heated, burning desire. Edwin C Barnes, a tramp that took the freight train to Orange had one dream, one obsession, to be a business partner of Thomas Edison. He confronted Thomas, and expressed his desire dressed as a vagabond. Edison hired him. 5 years Barnes spent employed, waiting, till his moment came. Edison had just invented a dictating machine. His salesmen were not impressed. Edwin piped up that he could sell the machine, and promptly got his chance. He was so successful, that a new slogan was born "Made by Edison and installed by Barnes" (P21).
"Desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent" (P 35) using six basic steps. One, Fix a definite amount of money to be made. Two, what are you willing to give for this. Three, create a definite date. Four, create a definite plan and put it into action, for myself I have borrowed an existing plan. Five, Write out the last four steps. Six, read it allowed twice a day. "As you read - see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money" (P36). It must be a burning desire, as it has to overcome setbacks, failures, and all the tricks that life will throw at you.
Faith is the fuel needed for desire to drive you to success. "Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotions of faith" (P53). Just as people can believe themselves doomed and convert that into physical terms, you can positively affect your physical circumstance for the better.
Self confidence is the start of your building blocks of an ordered life. The aid of Autosuggestion focuses your emotional thought by writing, memorizing, and repeating messages till they become faith. Mr Hill presents a self confidence formula that one should use with the principles of autosuggestion. One, demanding yourself to persist with continuous action till your dream is realized. Two, focus 30 minutes a day on dominating your thoughts with the person you intend to become. Three, demanding your self confidence shows itself in practical ways. Four, writing down a description of your definite goal and that you will never stop trying. Five, realize that wealth can only be enduring if it is also helping humanity in the process, just as it will help you. Six, sign your name to this, commit it to memory, with your repetitive reading it will sink into your sub-couscous and consequently become faith. "All impulses of thought have a tendency to clothe themselves in their physical equivalent" (P58).
Faith was wielded by Mahatma Gandhi. He had no battleships, soldiers, money, or even a home. Though he did have power. He planted his principles of "faith into two hundred million people" (p61), and with it did what England the greatest power of its day could not.
Auto suggestion is the process where we convince ourselves of a new mind set. In order to use it, you must "learn to reach your subconscious mind with thoughts, or spoken words which have been well emotionalized with BELIEF" (P72). Remember "Where failure is experienced, it is the individual, not the method which has failed" (P73). The point being you cant give up, creating these auto suggestions is your arsenal against giving up. Visualize your suggestion, concentrate on it. If it is a set amount of money, see it, feel it.
Knowledge is the fourth key element. Knowledge is "potential power" (P78). To convert it, one must know how to get it when you need it, organise it and make definite plans of action. Henry Ford was put in court at one time, and asked many general knowledge questions, in order to show how ignorant he was. With one particularly insulting question Henry answered "I can summon to my aid men who can answer any question I ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you tell me why I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of answering your questions, when I have men around me that can supply me with any knowledge I require?" (P79). Specialized knowledge is needed for the vehicle on which you can base your fortune. This is where the master mind group comes into play. The amazing thing is Specialized knowledge is cheap, look at the pay roll of any university. The idea is paramount, knowledge is just used to propel it.
Imagination, the fifth element. Now even more than the time of Napoleon Hill, is one of the greatest assets you can have. Is it any wonder with the world moving faster and faster, new inventions and ideas spring up like magic. Mr Hill describes synthetic and creative imagination. The first, arranging old ideas or plans into new combinations. The second, is truly creation. Both are stimulated with intense desire. "Ideas are the products of imagination" (p96).
Organized planning "the crystallization of desire into action" (P106), is the sixth element. It is broken down into four steps. One, find and ally yourself with people able to create and or carry out your plan, a master mind group. Two, figure out how you are going to compensate your group. Three, meet at least twice a week to perfect the plan. Four, maintain harmony within the group.
Planning means creating a near faultless plan. Take advantage of experience, education, imagination of other minds. Check your plans, with your master mind group. If your plan doesn't work make another, and go though the process again. This is the hardest step, as people drop their dreams in the face of failures. We see successful people for there ultimate successes, not for the full process of the defeats and success. "A quitter never wins-and-a winner never quits" (P 109).
Napoleon lists the 30 major reasons people fail. The most common being genetic problems, no defined purpose, no ambition, no self discipline, health problems, unfavorable childhood influences - like associations with criminals, procrastination, no sexual urge control, gambling, no defined decision, fear, wrong mate selection, guessing rather than thinking, & lack of capital. If you know the weaknesses in you, you can plan for them, bridge them or eliminate them.
Decisions is the seventh key element. In his analysis he found that all his selected millionaires reached decisions quickly, and changed decisions slowly. Sometimes these decisions take on great courage. In my own case I am entering into property investing when the market has been trading down in Sydney Australia for 4 years, and interest rates look as though they are about to climb. Yet my own analysis suggests that we are in for a boom time.
Persistence the eight key element. Persistence "will depend entirely upon the intensity of one's desire" (P160). Surround yourself with your master mind group will help this quality. I agree totally, I go to a property group every Monday night for exactly that reason. So how do you develop persistence? with Purpose, Plan, focus against negative influence, and associate with like minded people.
Power "organized and intelligently directed knowledge" (P 175), is the ninth element. The author states Infinite intelligence, accumulated knowledge (ie libraries, Internet etc), and experiment and research are powers sources. One of the principles of power is groups of people with a common purpose. They add together to form more than a group of individuals. The values of each catapults the others.
Sex transmutation is the tenth element, "switching of the mind from thoughts of physical expression to thoughts of some other nature" (P 182). Sexual desire, this most powerful of human desires can be harnessed and redirected into accumulation of riches among other things. As evidence Napoleon name many highly sexed individuals like George Washington, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde who have transmuted that energy into genius. The most interesting of his findings was that successful people seldom become so before the age of forty.
The subconscious mind is the eleventh element. The conscious mind works like a filing cabinet, where facts can be recalled at any time. Subconscious works on the "dominating desires which have been mixed with emotional feeling, such as faith" (P203). You can implant these desires as have been discussed via auto suggestion. Without the subconscious mind on the side of your plans, it is doubtful that you will have the ability to persist when hurtles approach.
The brain is considered the twelfth element. Mr Hill makes the claim that the brain is the receiving station for the 'infinite intelligence". Personally I cant help but think that the world around us is enough for the brain to pick up.
The sixth sense is the thirteen and last element. This is the chapter I least understand. Napoleon makes a fantasy council of great men from the past, to help change his own personality. As time went on, when in meeting with them they exhibited there own personalities. Eventually he started giving them all his questions from clients, and his own life rather than just trying to influence his personality.
The last chapter is Outwitting the ghosts of fear. These are the three enemies to his whole approach. Indecision, doubt and fear. "Indecision crystallizes into doubt, the two blend into fear" (P227). There is six fears poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love of someone, old age, death. Fear is only a state of mind. Problem is "man's thought impulse begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent" (P 228). Napoleon then drills down into each of these fears, the most notable for me was fear of poverty. It halts action, imagination, self-reliance and encourages procrastination.
While not classed as a fear, Napoleon claims the key destructive trait is "susceptibility to negative influences" (P 249). He examines them from external sources and internal sources. With large checklists to see how many you suffer from. Once you know yourself, it is possible for you to take action against them.
What did I learn?
- Desire, nurture desire! fan its flames. Burn it into your subconscious with the use of faith and planning.
- Auto-suggestion, what a powerful tool. Use it, create your definite dreams with plans and emotionally embed them with affirmations.
- Just as auto suggestion can be a positive fears and negative influences can use it to neutralize your actions. Be aware of these fears control them, rather than them control you!
- Persistence, what an underrated trait. If you can plan and learn from mistakes and keep going how can you not succeed?
- Power "organized and intelligently directed knowledge", specialized knowledge is cheap, working with a group of like minded people with different abilities works! like the old adage the sum is greater than its parts.
- Imagination and planning, the necessary ingredients for success.
- Its no use only servicing your conscious mind with facts and figures, you must induce your subconscious mind to believe your definite dreams.
Rating this book is easy, 9/10. Its a classic, and with good reason. The millionaires that Napoleon interviews, analysis are equivalent to the billionaires of today.
Ian's Spin.
What a book! Are you serious about wealth? It all starts from a thought. This book delves into every possible detail about your thoughts. It presents with many examples of successful people. It is so jam packed with stories, and powerful techniques to keep you on track. No wonder it has been a best seller since its inception.
You need this book, luckily for you all you need do is download it for free from the left image.
Though I personally have this on my book shelf, and I wont be parted from it! Any life changing book needs to have its place there as far as I'm concerned, if your the same you can buy the paperback at Amazon (right image).
I am still trying to grasp what Napoleon was talking about with "The brain chapter" and to a lesser extent "The sixth sense" chapter. Have you got these concepts? If so please comment below.
