We are starkly set today to be in the glimpse of great wealth. Today, successful people are finding endless opportunities to advance their financial freedom while helping a lot of people. However, while these stories are inspiring, most see it as impossible or “out of their realm.” This thinking is a reflection of the plight of people in the bins. Our effort in achieving wealth therefore starts with changing that mindset.
Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is a good initial action to change that mindset. Although this book was written more than 70 years ago, it still communicates the same shout that by the most successful people today; that achieving financial freedom is an exercise of continuing shift in thinking.
This is a book of conceiving and achieving. It first argues that “whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” This argument is the essence of Napoleon Hill’s interview with the 500 richest men in America during his time. This is certainly the idea that has come across the likes of Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Elmer Gates, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and many more. Hill’s book is therefore the summation of the thoughts of these great men.
Background of Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich was borne out of the efforts of the famous Andrew Carnegie. As a Swedish immigrant that grew from poverty, Andrew Carnegie saw the need for communicating the practicalities of money making. Carnegie tabbed Napoleon Hill for such ambitious project. Today, the book has sold over 7 million books and is the main source of inspiration for highly successful people 70 years after it was written.
This book outlines thirteen steps to achieve financial freedom. Napoleon Hill first talks about desire as the starting point of all achievement. In this book, desire is not a wish, a dream, or a leaning. Instead, desire talks about the emblem of passion, which allows one to focus on his goal at all cost. For Edison, the desire to invent allowed him to be what he is. In short, desire is burning, not just a silly figment of our actions.
Secondly, he talks about faith or the belief that desire can be attained. Faith allows us to be continually focused on our desire because we know that we can achieve in the future. Napoleon Hill implied that faith makes miracles. In a parallel view, in order for a desire to be all encompassing, it must border on miracles. Thus, faith and desire are strong suggestions in achieving financial freedom.
A Step by Step Approach to Changing Mindset
While there are thirteen very helpful steps to achieve wealth creation, Napoleon Hill also outlines action within our fundamental minds. Thus, in Think and Grow Rich, the art of decision making and the mastery of procrastination are discussed. Procrastination and decision go hand in hand. Most people tend to hold decisions because they lack a sense of judgment, or they do not like risk taking. However, every pause that we make is time lost in what could have been a productive action. Napoleon Hill states that most successful people do act quickly and decide often. Therefore procrastination is not a problem of laziness but a myopic view on the value of decision making. It should be our attitude to put action ahead of us.
This book is definitely a must read for people who have not grasped what thinking rich means. While most people will continue to believe their status quo which puts them at the bottom of the financial chain, Think and Grow Rich will help you change a lot of your values and help you see the world in a different light. Taking steps to financial freedom as set out by a timeless book starts from our heads. After that, you will be surprised what a change of perspective will do to you.
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