I’ve been studying various books over the last 6 months in order to find the secret of success and wealth. And I’m likely to continue researching and studying these books for years to come. My search originally began by identifying the historically revered books such as:
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
- The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
Of these I found Napoleon Hill’s philosophy is the most practical because it gives very specific step by step instructions. I went as far as downloading an audio interview with Napoleon Hill by American motivational speaker, Anthony Robbins. I’ve given copies of this audio interview to several people and I can only hope they will find as much benefit from it as I have. The key to success is to know what you want to achieve, and the incrementally do the necessary steps to achieve the goals. Becoming the best God intended you to be.
Think and Grow Rich! is a motivational book. Written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by Andrew Carnegie, it was published in 1937 at the end of the Great Depression. In 1960, Hill published an abridged version of the book, which for years was the only one generally available. In 2004, Ross Cornwell published Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised, which restored the book to its original content, with slight revisions, and added the first comprehensive endnotes, index, and appendix the book had ever contained.
The text of Think and Grow Rich! is founded on Hill’s earlier work, The Law of Success, the result of more than twenty years of research based on Hill’s close association with a large number of individuals who achieved great wealth during their lifetimes.
At Carnegie’s bidding, Hill studied the characteristics of these achievers and developed fifteen “laws” intended to be applied by anybody to achieve success. Think and Grow Rich! itself condenses these laws further and provides the reader with 13 principles in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement.
Reflected in these principles is the importance of cultivating a burning desire, faith, autosuggestion and persistence in the attainment of one’s goals. Hill also discusses the importance of overcoming many of the common fears that can adversely affect one’s thinking and potential.
In his introduction, Hill refers to the “Carnegie Secret“, a conception which he reports is the foundation of all success and appears to be the premise of the book. Hill promises to indirectly describe this “secret” in every chapter, but never state it plainly, believing the use of the secret is only available to those who possess a “readiness” for it, a disposition Hill describes as essential to the concept itself.
