13 Principals, 4 Distinctions and 6 Steps of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill - Book Report/Review Example

Napoleon Hill was one of original motivational gurus of the United s and “Think and Grow Rich” is one of his famous books. This book was ostensibly written during the days of the Great Economic Depression of 1930s that was marked by inflation, unemployment, poverty, and deprivation. The book had not only served to lift the sagging morale of the countrymen in the days of trial, but to this day helps millions all over the world, to think positive and usher in prosperity and happiness in their lives. The book can be summarized into 13 principles, four additional distinctions, and six steps that Napoleon Hill defined to be implemented. We will discuss them briefly: Principles 1. Desire: Desire is the basic ingredient of the recipe to richness. If we wish to attain wealth in our lives, we got have a ‘burning desire’ for it. It is not wishing, not hoping to get rich, but to nurture an obsession to possess wealth that actually translates into its materialization. Only a person of convictions and indomitable will can overcome the challenges of life to emerge successful. Time and again in the book the author has emphasized the importance of an unconquerable attitude for life. History and contemporary life is full of examples of such people, who first sowed the seeds of success in their minds and later reaped its harvest in the real world. No power on earth can run down the enterprise of the individual, who nourishes the desire to be rich, and to win. But he has to chalk out a plan of action and meticulously translate his ideas and thoughts into action. All great achievements have been made at a tremendous cost. It is important to remember that no failure is permanent and no barrier is insurmountable. A passionate desire to get rich can douse the ensnaring flames of poverty and failure. Even congenital afflictions and deformities can be overcome if the child is imbibed with a winning attitude with mother’s milk. 2. Faith: Faith is the most important spiritual manifestation of human emotions. The spiritual masters, scientists, inventors and the leaders of humanity have given a practical shape to their thoughts with enduring faith. Faith is an eternal channel between the mind and the infinite intelligence. Faith can be consciously instilled in our being by the method of auto-suggestion. Constant injection of positive thoughts by auto-suggestion into the subliminal mind creates and then reinforces faith in ourselves. True leaders instill faith in the minds of their followers. On the other hand lack of faith can have devastating effects both on individual and mass levels. 3. Auto-Suggestion: All sensory perception consciously passed onto the sub-conscious by the mind is called the auto-suggestion. Auto-suggestion depending upon the nature of our thoughts can be both positive and negative. It also acts as a dynamic check post that monitors entry of thought into our sub-conscious. It is a faculty that endows us with a power to consciously improve our life by improving our control over the state of our inner self because our physical life is merely an external manifestation of what we really are. Auto-suggestion only works through a persevering attitude and practical action. 4. Personal Experiences or Observations: The actual experiences of life we go through, by learning, educating, and empowering ourselves with practical knowledge plays a defining role in our success. It is not important to imbibe a vast knowledge for, on its own, it will do us no good. It is only the knowledge that we embody in our daily life to materialize a product, do a particular action, or conduct ourselves in a properly in life that matters. Man is not a product of conventional education but ‘true and directed’ self-education. He should master the art of using knowledge to meet the end. Vocational education or professional education can be acquired at any stage in life. Making observation endows a person with an eye to judge himself and makes self-improvements. Depending upon the faculties, inborn and ingrained, a person can choose a career plan. Modern era is an age of specialization and a master of one trade is better than jack of all. 5. Imagination: Human imagination is a faculty that is as vast as the sky. All domains of the seen and unseen can be shackled, tamed but not the flight of imagination. All creativity, innovation, and excellence begin at the altar of imagination. Broadly it can be categorized as i) Synthetic and ii) Creative Imagination. Synthetic imagination is a product of mere rearrangement of old concepts and knowledge, creative imagination allows man to explore and discover new vistas and venues. The former is perspiration induced while the latter is inspiration based. The accepted realities of today, the scientific principles, mathematically proved laws first appeared as vague specks of ideas on the creative horizons of the genius. The greater the resoluteness of the mind to pursue one’s goals, the more fertile one’s imagination gets. Individual imagination through its clarity of purpose and purity of intent can overlap the imagination of another being to create wealth in unison. 6. Organized Planning: While all the foregoing principles discussed were subjective, this principle creates the first objective rung on the ladder of success. All visualizations, all creative ideas remain as abstract terms without concretizing of plans of their materialization. Be it a war or marketing strategy it needs organized planning. In the current scenario organized planning consists of brain-storming sessions, a discussion into pros and cons, feasibility studies, cost analysis, design layout, SWOT, PEST analysis, brand positioning, strategizing, and creation of prototypes and conducting of trials. The systems by which we make our living are results of organized planning of capital. The moment planning fails it leads to chaos and unrest. The nature itself, the universe, stars, planetary configurations, molecules, cells, atoms and sub-atomic particles all exist in systematic and well-laid out plan of the creator of the universe. On the individual level one should have a definite plan for unfolding in years to come. 7. Decision: Quick and prompt decisions lead to winning situations. Deferment of decision is a sure call to failure. The men who have achieved rare successes were quick to make decisions in face of a dilemma and stick to the adopted line of choice. Weak-kneed people often procrastinate on decisions and find themselves in a situation worse from they started. The author rationalizes the importance of quick decision making by illustrating instances of history where great achievements were made the moment the leaders fathomed the ground situation and made a decision to act. The author goes on to say that the true war of American Independence was won much earlier, when heroes like John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Gen. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had decided unequivocally to oust the British from the American territory. The actual war was won much later! Such is the power of quick decision making. Indecisiveness in an individual can be traced to parental upbringing or faulty education system. Sports like Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, and Badminton help the sportsmen to become quick decision makers. We can study the biographies of world’s greatest generals to learn how momentous decisions made a difference between victory and defeat. 8. Persistence: Very rarely do people succeed in the first instance. It is endurance to adversity, and persistence to carry on despite failures that that makes the difference between winner and loser. Persistence falls exactly in place once the idea has hatched from the shell, and organized planning sets the ball in motion. Generally people get put off by failures that occur at the launch of a new course. Napoleon Hill goes on to tell us that such failure is always temporary. Where losers beat a quick retreat, the winners persist with their ideas. The author also suggests that an alliance with like-minded individuals, that helps create the master-mind provide the necessary cushion to beat the failures and carry on the onslaught till success is reached. Many Biblical parables, Roman and Greek mythological tales give us the lesson in endurance and persistence. Rightly it is said: “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.” 9. The Power of the Master Mind: Power is a prerequisite to bring any idea to its logical fruition, for accumulation and protection of wealth. It is organized effort and can be seen in the both physical and mental light. When two or more people concertedly conceive an idea and work towards its attainment, they become a master mind. The mental power here is not alone, and not even a sum of two or three individuals put together, but it becomes an enormous reservoir out of resonance of thought vibrations pulsating in equal frequency in ether. In modern parlance it is called ‘team work’. In pure intellectual terms it is also called the ‘think tank’—that often leads political parties, pressure groups, trade unions, or corporate groups. All achievers rely on a team. They attribute success to team work than to individual effort. Leaders know how to carry their teams along for that is how they unleash and use the Power of Master Mind towards attainment of their goals. The Power of Master Mind is inculcated with honesty, integrity, cooperation, benevolence and truthfulness. Negative traits like jealousy, covetousness, and ego hamper and disrupt the working of Master Mind. 10. The Mystery of Sexual Transmutation: Sex is the most potent biological power. In the sex energy, nature has seeded its procreating power. Sexual power gives the onward push to living matter and species propagate. Sexual power is also the main force behind evolutionary form. In human beings, sexual power gets manifest during adolescence and peaks towards the youth. Often people fall prey to relentless satiation of sexual energy. This way they dissipate and lose a major chunk of energy that could have been harnessed and used for materialistic pursuits. Whenever someone has reined and transmuted sexual instinct into creative pursuits in young age, he has achieved success, wealth, and glory. Often, people are successful only towards their forties and fifties because by that time the sexual cravings of a person get satiated and he can transmute the energies to realize his definite chief aim and create wealth. 11. The Sub-Conscious Mind: The sub-conscious is the hidden element in the human mind. All thoughts and ideas that generate in the mind also get their imprint recorded on the sub-conscious. This way, the sub-conscious keeps on accumulating a database, a record of all our feelings, ideas, and thinking without our conscious knowledge. The sub-conscious mind keeps on working and aiding us voluntarily. The actual working of the sub-conscious is an intangible phenomenon but we often get to see the reflection of its working in crisis situation. Supposing our car goes out of control on the road, we may make actions to control it, which normally we may not be able to accomplish. People are known to have run much faster when chased by carnivores. Such is the power of sub-conscious. The author suggests that keeping healthy and positive thinking empowers the sub-conscious while negative emotions weaken its firmament. 12. The Brain: Consisting of billions of neurons, nerve transmitters, cells, electric impulses, millions of chemicals the brain is the seat of human intellect. All our sense perceptions and power of thinking emanates from the brain. The human brain is the highest evolved form of matter. A machinery or organic matter that can emulate the activities of brain even to a small extent is inconceivable. The brain gathers thoughts. It stimulates and keeps the thought process working. The brain works best in healthy atmosphere, with good diet and exercising. Yoga-exercises are known to add stimulus to its working. Success is not attainable without proper functioning of the brain. 13. The Sixth Sense: We humans are endowed with a sixth sense. It is variously called as the Extra-sensory perception (ESP), intuition, spiritual power in different studies and schools of thought. But we know it as the ‘voice of conscience’ or the ‘door to wisdom’ in our day to day life. The sixth sense is not only a guide but a miracle worker that may help us overcome the most difficult barriers. A lot of human enterprise owes its existence to sixth sense. Four Distinctions Napoleon Hill has further listed four more principles that can help us to grow rich and prosperous. These may be corollaries of the above-mentioned principles but they need to be discussed separately. 1. Indecision: Indecision is opposite of decisive thinking. Indecision grows out of our own skewed perceptions, skeptical outlook, inherent fears, psychological complexes, or mental deformities. Overcoming indecision can become a tall order for the most prudent minds. We should understand that indecisive mentality is a portentous of failure, depravity and loss and keep it firmly out of our mental control by conscious effort. 2. Doubt: Many a ‘doubting Thomas’ has become a reason of his own undoing. Doubt is that dark shadow that often creeps in the far corners of mind but when we have to make a rapid stride on the road to success, it looms large blurring our perception. Nip the evil in the bud. Even an iota of existence of doubt should make us do the mopping exercise to make the mind shine in radiant light of clear thought day by day. 3. Fear: Napoleon Hill has put six fears into two categories. 1. Fears of Poverty, Criticism and Ill-health. 2 Fears of Loss of Love, Old-age and Death. The first category of fears is of modern making. The second is as old as the mankind itself. As long as these fears exist they will mar the progress towards wealthy future. An individual has to logically discern these fears in the jumble of thoughts pinpoint them and banish them—for they are only fears not true dangers. They are apparitions of dangers, literally ghosts that come to scare us at most opportune moments. The sooner they are exorcised, the better it is for the journey to success. 4. Susceptibility to Negative Influences: As long as we are humans we remain susceptible to negative influences. These influences can be from our immediate environment, school, college, family or neighborhood or from the mass media we interact in. We have to realize that crime; criminal behavior, narcotics, debauchery, dishonesty, destructive thoughts and terrorism are negative influences and keep them at bay. Six-Practical Steps for Growing Rich: Napoleon Hill has not just theorized on an impractical study. He conducted interviews with hundreds of successful people of his times and devised a practical training program that can actually help us grow rich. According to him, poverty is the root cause of human debasement and everyone has the right to grow rich. We will briefly discuss the six steps: One should have a clear cut idea of the amount of money he intends to attain. The amount should be substantial and fixed. It shouldn’t be tentative. The author believes that any tentativeness adopted in this method leads to weakening of mind’s purpose for working towards it. However, I do believe that there is big time gap between when Napoleon Hill wrote the book and today. Increased consumerism and working of market forces may make it difficult for us to arrive at a particular figure. To determine what one can give in lieu of money. This includes the starting capital, the effort, the intellectual labor, the work hours we are ready to put in for achieving our goal. It is as important to decide what we can give as to accept. For giving and taking are commensurate to each other. To fix a date on calendar as to when we desire to have that amount of money. No plan works till it is scheduled and ball is set in motion. There has to be fixed time frame for each step in the money-making program. Don’t make the plan a hanging fire. It should be put into action regardless of the fact whether one is ready or not. The ball once in motion will reach its destination. Many ingenious plans never get realized because a beginning is never made. The first step is often the most difficult. Carve out an effective plan and make the first move. Once on the track the plan moves due to its own momentum making things easier for us. This step entails making a written statement of the money one wants to acquire including the efforts we are ready to bargain for its attainment along with the time limit in which we wish to attain it. The plan for its attainment should be stated in simple straight words. The written statement will help an individual to have a written constitution, a defined parameter to begin working. A written word is always gets etched in memory faster. Napoleon Hill asks us to read aloud the statement twice daily—once after getting up and once before going to bed. It is almost like a daily ritual and saying a prayer that slowly becomes a part of our persona. The author promises that as we do it, we will verily see the money accumulate in our hands. That is ether playing its role. This practical plan has all the 17 principles of making money embedded in it. It is very much like studying chemistry in theory and then see the chemical reactions happen in the laboratory. With each step, I see the unfolding of the theoretical principles. It is like seeing his words come alive from the book. Read More