Book Review: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Written by the third most-famous Napoleon of all time (after Bonaparte and Dynamite), Think & Grow Rich has been a classic among people in the business and finance field for nearly a century.  However, the great secret of this book, is that it's not really about money at all. 

Many people are turned off by the title of the book saying, "But I don't want to be rich.  I just want to be happy."  In reality this book could have been named Think and Grow Happy.  This book could have been named almost anything.  Think and Grow Muscles.  Think and Learn to Quilt.  Think and Become a Race Car Driver.  It is not really a book about money (although it does talk a LOT about money).  It's a book about setting goals and using the infinite power of your mind to achieve them.

Long before Stephen Covey taught the world about synergy, Hill was teaching his readers about extraordinary power of mental focus.  A quick look at the table of contents reveals such exciting topics as:

1. THOUGHTS ARE THINGS
2. DESIRE
3. FAITH
4. AUTOSUGGESTION
5. SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE
6. IMAGINATION
7. ORGANIZED PLANNING
8. DECISION
9. PERSISTENCE
10. POWER OF THE MASTER MIND
11. THE MYSTERY OF SEX TRANSMUTATION (okay, so they aren't all winners...)
12. THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
13. THE BRAIN
14. THE SIXTH SENSE
15. THE SIX GHOSTS OF FEAR

My favorite concept in this book is the idea of building an alliance of masterminds.  In short it is an adaptation of the WWJD idea.  Many Christians guide their lives by the question WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?).  When a situation arises and a choice needs to be made, they ask themselves what Jesus would do in their situation.  This idea only works if you are familiar with Jesus' life and His actions, and if you are willing to do what He would do.  In Think and Grow Rich, Hill discusses the idea of building (mostly figuratively within your own mind) an alliance of people whose successes you admire and intend to emulate.  Learn about them.  Know what they are like and how they behave.  Then when a question arises in your life, let your mind go to them and riddle out how they might react to a similar situation.  Most of us at some point or another have asked ourselves, "What would my mom tell me to do if she were here?"  This is the same concept, only instead of searching your memories for an answer to how your mom wants you to behave, you use the same mental strategy to ask, "What would Abe Lincoln do?" or "What would Michael Jordan do?" or "What would my incredibly thrifty friend, Kate, do?"

This book is filled with great stories of the successes and failures of people around the turn of the century.  One of the greatest stories in this book is of Hill's own son, who was born deaf, and how he turned his handicap into great success.

So the book is a little old fashioned, and some of his writing is a bit comical by today's standards, but the underlying principles still apply.  By training your mind to work on the specific tasks you choose, you can accomplish more and achieve far greater success than you ever will through just letting your mind wander and reacting to life as it comes.


Marcia


http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/188175744