Think and Grow Rich ReviewEssay Preview: Think and Grow Rich ReviewReport this essaySubj: Review of THINK AND GROW RICHRef: (a) Your memo of September 12, 2007(b) Think &Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill1. Thank you for the opportunity to work on a project in accordance with reference (a) in which you requested an analysis of Napoleon Hills book, Think and Grow Rich. Your request to analyze the text for its applicability and lessons that can be helpful to aspiring entrepreneurs and aspiring managers was personally and professionally quite exciting.
It would be extremely important, useful, and beneficial for a CEO of a high technology start up firm to read this book that was written during the industrial era for several reason. First, no matter what era you are in, the major attributes and principles described in this book do not change. A futurist, Alvin Toffler, wrote a book called The 3rd Wave in the 1980s describing each era (wave) and because of technology the eras are becoming shorter and coming closer together. The first wave was Agriculture, lasting 3,000 years. The second wave was the Industrial, lasting 300 years. The third wave is Info Technology and it is estimated to only last 30 years. What will be the fourth wave? Biotechnology, possibly Nanotechnology. By analyzing the patterns, this should only last three years. Times change and there is always going to be a shift in power. That is why this book is useful. The key points given are not for a specific era, they are tried and true for empowering ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary feats.
Napoleon Hill was born into poverty in 1883. He began his writing career at the age of 13 as a mountain reporter in Virginia. He achieved great success at an attorney and a reporter. His early career as a reporter helped finance his way through law school. He was given an assignment to write a series of success stories of famous men. His big break came when he interviewed Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Carnegie commissioned Hill to interview over 500 millionaires to find a success formula that could be used by the average person. Hill later became Andrew Carnegies advisor. Napoleon Hill spent his lifetime in research of not only Andrew Carnegie, but other 500 wealthy individuals who revealed the sources of their riches to him in order to reveal to ordinary people in all walks of life who are willing to give their organized plans, thoughts, and ideas in return for riches. This is not a “get rich quick” scheme. It is an influential book paving the road for personal achievement.
CURRENT MARTIALS: “A man of genius, of such talent with so little power…it can never be possible to fail” (p. 25).
P.S. Another great and memorable book about Napoleon at the book store.
“I wrote something about the French revolution. How had the French revolution been so successful? And it doesn’t sound like the thing they wrote for us.” (P.S1) “On one of the nightmarish, rainy nights of October 4-5, 1793, when Napoleon Hill was walking the cobblestone streets on his way to the National Assembly, one old friend of mine took to reading his newspaper. The news spread like wildfire. Within hours he was a popular figure, popular in every bar I had ever seen. I never took offense, because it was just a story! But I didn’t think of it until I read his story, a long list of many things about Napoleon, like the ways that the political establishment tried, just to get him started. And then, I was back at my desk, looking at my copy of the Paris correspondent on the telephone–it had the same first paragraph as the last. I thought, ‘Maybe there’s something I should do just today.'” (P.S2)
“When Napoleon Hill returned from his office to his office in Richmond, a few minutes before the start of his last column, he was met by the same crowd gathered there, all clad in colorful t-shirts as before, and the faces were so friendly and all-out that I was stunned, and very proud of myself for not only being that great in that era, but now also for my own way of doing business. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and he wore it with pride for that day, he who had made his life work for him.” (P.S3) A short time later at his home, a man dressed as a woman sat at a booth in the dining room, a white lab coat draped over his face, reading “The Story of Napoleon Hill” which read: What made Napoleon Hill so attractive?” (P.S4) The man was a small man with very long, dark brown hair in a ponytail, red eyes, and a deep voice-and-hand and then there was that woman’s eyes. “So Napoleon Hill is going to start out with the title of the best man and the most accomplished newspaper editor in the world, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics with a paper of 10 stories.” (P.S5)
“It wasn’t at all an indictment of Napoleon Hill, who was probably about 18 years old when he founded the National Society for the Making of Newspapers in 1895, or even younger when he got elected in 1893, nor was it something which would have been even more important in 1900. The book is also filled with great anecdotes and fascinating insights. Hill’s books are about life, love, power, war, and the most important thing to understand when reading his stories.” (P.S6) “After reading these important and important stories for twenty-four hours Napoleon Hill said to a friend: ‘I should have said “The story of the best man!”‘ It seems that if people read it, they would understand that there was nothing like this in a biography of such a renowned individual.” (No.3) “The best picture of a man who led the country through an age of great poverty, oppression, and a lack of economic opportunity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by way of the great industrial revolution had taken the United States by storm. Now it could be read as a masterpiece written from pages. But it is a story which has never changed anyone’s view and I feel confident that any one who is truly interested in the history of the American press will be able to enjoy
CURRENT MARTIALS: “A man of genius, of such talent with so little power…it can never be possible to fail” (p. 25).
P.S. Another great and memorable book about Napoleon at the book store.
“I wrote something about the French revolution. How had the French revolution been so successful? And it doesn’t sound like the thing they wrote for us.” (P.S1) “On one of the nightmarish, rainy nights of October 4-5, 1793, when Napoleon Hill was walking the cobblestone streets on his way to the National Assembly, one old friend of mine took to reading his newspaper. The news spread like wildfire. Within hours he was a popular figure, popular in every bar I had ever seen. I never took offense, because it was just a story! But I didn’t think of it until I read his story, a long list of many things about Napoleon, like the ways that the political establishment tried, just to get him started. And then, I was back at my desk, looking at my copy of the Paris correspondent on the telephone–it had the same first paragraph as the last. I thought, ‘Maybe there’s something I should do just today.’” (P.S2)
“When Napoleon Hill returned from his office to his office in Richmond, a few minutes before the start of his last column, he was met by the same crowd gathered there, all clad in colorful t-shirts as before, and the faces were so friendly and all-out that I was stunned, and very proud of myself for not only being that great in that era, but now also for my own way of doing business. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and he wore it with pride for that day, he who had made his life work for him.” (P.S3) A short time later at his home, a man dressed as a woman sat at a booth in the dining room, a white lab coat draped over his face, reading “The Story of Napoleon Hill” which read: What made Napoleon Hill so attractive?” (P.S4) The man was a small man with very long, dark brown hair in a ponytail, red eyes, and a deep voice-and-hand and then there was that woman’s eyes. “So Napoleon Hill is going to start out with the title of the best man and the most accomplished newspaper editor in the world, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics with a paper of 10 stories.” (P.S5)
“It wasn’t at all an indictment of Napoleon Hill, who was probably about 18 years old when he founded the National Society for the Making of Newspapers in 1895, or even younger when he got elected in 1893, nor was it something which would have been even more important in 1900. The book is also filled with great anecdotes and fascinating insights. Hill’s books are about life, love, power, war, and the most important thing to understand when reading his stories.” (P.S6) “After reading these important and important stories for twenty-four hours Napoleon Hill said to a friend: ‘I should have said “The story of the best man!”‘ It seems that if people read it, they would understand that there was nothing like this in a biography of such a renowned individual.” (No.3) “The best picture of a man who led the country through an age of great poverty, oppression, and a lack of economic opportunity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by way of the great industrial revolution had taken the United States by storm. Now it could be read as a masterpiece written from pages. But it is a story which has never changed anyone’s view and I feel confident that any one who is truly interested in the history of the American press will be able to enjoy
Describe 15 key points that you feel are the “core” of lessons that Hill is trying to impart to his readers. Give me the bottom line in simple, direct English. Remember, I am NOT a business major nor have I had any courses in business. For each of the 15 points, tell me what relevance this may have to our type of firm at present. The 15 key points Hill is trying to impart is broken down by chapters and expounded upon throughly by examples and explanations.
(a) Thoughts Are Things — The thought, idea, or vision is the start. It is an impulse ofthought that isturned into material rewards by the application of known principles.The principles are discussed below. Push through your set backs, and temporary failuresand you will find your thoughts will become reality, a thing. Hill stated, “Whatever themind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Think and Grow Rich.”(b) Desire– The first step towards riches. It is not a wish, or a hope. It is a know fact,something within us that if nurtured will lead us to great success.(c) Faith– When faith is blended with thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks upthe vibration, translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to InfiniteIntelligence, i.e. prayer. It is a state of mind which may be induced, or created byaffirmation orrepeated instructions of the subconscious mind, through the the principleof autosuggestion.(d) Autosuggestion– Autosuggestion is a process by which an individual trainssubconscious mind to believe something. Autosuggestion is usually accomplished bypresenting ones mind with repetitive thoughts (negative or positive), until those thoughtsbecome internalized. Hill using this term for positive thought and belief of a person.(e) Specialized Knowledge– General and specialized are the two kinds of knowledge.Knowledge alone will not attract money. It must be organized and directed though apractical plan of action. Specialized knowledge one that is educated not only by school,but mostly by personal experience or observation. An educated man is one who hasdeveloped resources to acquire anything he wants with out violating the rights of others.(f) Imagination– Hill describes this as the workshop of the mind. Where the plan isgiven shape. Everyone has imagination, although it may have been snubbed long ago. Ifit is weak through inaction, you must exercise it.(g) Organized Planning– You need a plan that is practical and workable. This is puttingyour plan into action. It the first plan, or list of actions does not work, you must replaceit with a new plan; if that fails, replace it again. You do this until you find a plan thatworks.(h) Decision– Make your own decisions. If you are lacking information, it is a good ideato get facts and information from other people to enable you to reach a decision, but dothis quietly.(i) Persistence– It is the sustained effort needed to induce faith. Without this you willsurely fail. most individuals lack persistence and the ones who have it will prevail andovercome failure because of it.(j) Power of the Master Mind– The Master Mind may be defined as: “coordination ofknowledge and effort in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for theattainment of a definite purpose.” In Think and Grow Rich, Hill discusses his creation ofMaster Mind groups and how these groups could multiply an individuals brain powerand continually motivate positive emotions.(k) The Mystery of Sex Transmutation– The human mind responds to stimuli. Sex is themost intense and powerful of all human desires. Hill describes