Think and Grow Rich: Imagination

"Man's only limitation lies in his development and use of his imagination"

Let go of your personal restrictions, things which are holding you back and focus on how to GET to where you want to go with your life. Use your IMAGINATION, open your mind and ACT.

"Desire is only a thought, and impulse [...] and is of no value until it has been transformed into its physical counterpart"

This seems pretty obvious, but is something that so many people neglect or overlook. How many "good ideas" have you had? How many of those have you acted on, produced, worked towards? How many times have you thought or said "I want that" and didn't get it or try to? These are just thoughts if you don't do anything with them!

Game of Thrones was an idea. Cars were ideas. Computers, phones, internet... all were just "good ideas" and somebody ACTED. Meals stem from ideas (some are not so good, but they lead to good ones!)

Time to externalize some thoughts!


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The reason for this blog is to allow me to summarize and analyze what I read, to take moment to truly think about the lessons I can learn from THINK AND GROW RICH. Many of the chapters in this book simply "link up" ideas from previous chapters or re-enforces those ideas.

Think and Grow Rich: Specialized Knowledge

I mentioned in my previous post how I see Think and Grow Rich as more than a business book, that you can apply the lessons to ALL aspects of your life. While most of what has been said in the book are things we already know, such as how learning or being educated is important, but here it is explained WHY. 

  

"Knowledge is only potential power"

Knowledge is not power. It is not enough to simply know something, it is almost useless if you don't apply it or use what you know to move forward. The application of knowledge is power. Keep learning, keep educated yourself on your field, become an expert yet remain a student of your domain. If you are not at the top of your field yet, use what you learn to get you there. Don't keep all your information inside.

On a personal note, this was a wake up call for me. I have many certifications in my field yet I don't showcase my learnings. From now on, I'll be using MY knowledge and MY education more often.

Do you use what you know? 

"Too many of those who begin at the bottom never manage to lift their heads high enough to be seen by opportunity, so they remain at the bottom"

Think and Grow Rich: Auto Suggestion

"Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better"

This chapter further delves into the concept of believing in yourself and of having faith. Here, Napoleon Hill distinguishes the difference between the conscious mind and the sub-conscious mind and how to change what you think of yourself and your goal or project. He uses the term Auto-suggestion which, to my understanding, means conditioning, or self-conditioning. This chapter explains how to condition yourself to believe something or think a certain way.

"Through dominating thoughts which one permits to remain in the conscious mind, the principle of auto-suggestion voluntarily reaches the subconscious mind and influences it with these thoughts."

Put simply, if you tell yourself something long enough and often enough, you will begin to believe it. Mr. Hill suggests saying aloud, twice daily, what your desired affect is. If you wish to earn a million dollars, tell yourself "I will become a millionaire". If you wish to become a successful fitness coach (hi!), tell yourself "I will become a successful fitness coach". It is encouraged to envision yourself having reached your goal until it becomes as clear as reality.

This chapter is one of the shortest in the book yet probably one of the most significant in order to be able to apply the steps and other tools outlined throughout Think and Grow Rich.

While this is a business book and money is often referenced as the desired goal, I find it may also be used as a "self-help" book because of the focus on confidence building. For example, a lesson from from this chapter; start and end your day saying the following aloud:

"Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better"

Think and Grow Rich: Faith

I'll admit I slacked off on reading for a couple months. I've been back at it for for a couple of weeks and have had a hard time putting the book down. Think and Grow Rich, though a business book, is a great motivational book too. I'm using a lot of the information I find in this book for my challenge groups and as a coaching tool.

This second chapter is about faith.
"Faith is a state of mind which may be induced or created by affirmation or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of auto-suggestion"

Here I came to the conclusion that one can learn to have faith. While reading this chapter, I thought of The Little Engine That Could and the now famous line "I think I can I think I can." This seemed to be the general message behind this chapter. That if you tell yourself something long enough, you'll start to believe it and it will come true. If you tell yourself you can, you'll believe you can and then you will.

Napoleon Hill states that

"faith is the only known antidote for failure"

In this context, I understand faith to mean hope, meaning believing in yourself, in your dream, in your work. Dictionary.com states that faith is

1- confidence or trust in a person or thing

2- belief that is not based on proof         

This means that beyond all the evidence or closed doors you come across, you must have faith in you and your idea. Now, I don't consider myself to be a business person, so I often put things in a context that applies to me. I put this in a fitness context (obviously) and that's when it really made sense to me. If you don't have faith in yourself, if you don't believe you can reach your goals or keep that belief when you hit a few bumps along the way, your lack of faith will leave you discouraged and unmotivated. 

"Every man is what he is because of the dominating thoughts which he permits to occupy his mind"

Think of failing and you will fail. Think of succeeding and you will succeed. 

 

Think And Grow Rich: Chatper 1

I have just completed the first chapter of Think and Grow Rich. I had barely finished the first page when I got up from my seat to get a pen and a notebook. I immediately began to take notes, writing certain phrases that struck a chord, my thoughts or analysis of certain paragraphs, and so on. Even as I sit to write this blog entry, more thoughts and ideas come to mind about what I've just read. I find this first chapter to be uplifting, motivating and empowering.

The following are quotes and excerpts from the book and my thoughts and interpretations:

"That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity"

This is what triggered my need to take notes. Though we often hear the old sayings "when one door closes another one opens", the way Napoleon Hill expressed his idea on opportunity felt more action oriented and stuck me more as a positive affirmation. I also like the use of the word "temporary" to describe defeat, as no one is ever permanently defeated, not even in death.

An example of opportunity found in defeat comes from a story he writes about a Mr. Darby, who gave up on one of his endeavors when things started to go sour. Without going into too much detail about that particular situation, all Mr. Darby needed to do was consult experts and seek their help and he would have found great success. He says that mistake "taught me to keep on keeping on, no mater how hard the going may be, a lesson I needed to learn before I could succeed in anything." If you really want to achieve your goal, to get what you are going after, you must be ready to keep at it even when faced with adversity. Just because you push through one difficulty, doesn't mean you won't be faced with anymore troubles, it also not a matter of worth, it's a matter of importance. How important is that goal to you? How badly do you want it? Whether your goal is financial, health or fitness related, family oriented, it has to be important to you and you have to accord importance to it. People have to know that this is something that matters to you and you will not deter from it. If you are less than 100% dedicated, you are wasting your energy and efforts on something you don't really want.

"Success comes to those who are success conscious.
Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious"

I identified "failure conscious" with self-doubt, indifference, lack of dedication, fear and other feelings of insecurity. Being "success conscious" isn't just thinking to yourself "I am or will be successful" it's also knowing your strengths and your capabilities and being confident about them. It's acknowledging your accomplishments and not shying away from them. It's not just stating I AM but also saying and believing in I CAN and I WILL.

There's so much more I could write, but I'll give myself a bit more time to think about this chapter and to absorb the information I've read. It will also give you time to read the chapter, if you haven't already, and to come up with your own interpretations!

I look foward to reading your thoughts in the comments below!

Read. Think. Grow.

Intro: Think and Grow Rich

A few weeks ago I got myself a copy of Think and Grow Rich. According to the book, we should read but one chapter a week, take notes and discuss the book with others who are currently reading it as well. Not knowing of anybody else reading this book motivated me to come online and create this blog. Hopefully, it will turn into an online book club, where opinions, ideas and book recommendations will be shared.

This month, I begin my book club journey with Think and Grow Rich, "a 1937 motivational personal development and self-help book by Napoleon Hill" (wikipedia). When I first saw and heard of this book, I thought it was a "get rich quick" scheme, but after reading the foreward I realize that this is more of a philosphy book. It's an idea as to how one should lead their lives in order to be happy, successfull and  have a "rich" life.

To join me in reading this book, you can order an inexpensive copy from amazon.

I'll post an entry at the end of every chapter!

Read. Think. Grow.