Use your mind to make money.
That’s what it’s all about.
How do you need to think to become rich?
The first step to accomplishing anything is having a clear picture in your mind of what you are trying to do.
You need to really think about how much money you want, and how you are going to get it. Next, you have to put it into action, have faith that success will come your way, and persistently work at it until you get there. Hill covers all the details in these steps in his book Think and Grow Rich.
I personally found Hill’s writing style hard to get used to; regardless, I learned a ton from this book. Putting Hill’s suggestions to practice, I spend a few minutes each day using his tricks to focus myself and develop a clear picture of my future. After doing so, I always feel more motivated and confident, that I too, will grow rich.
Top 5 Takeaways:
1. Passion and a Clear Vision are the First Steps to Riches
First things first, you need to have a clear picture in your head of how much money you want, when you want it, and how you’re going to get it.
Next, you have to have a passionate desire to achieve it.
The key thing here is that it’s not enough to simply think about what you want, you need to also attach emotion to those thoughts.
I found that by simply thinking about what you want, it is hard to create a clear picture. Once you dig deep and stir up some emotions, the vision becomes much clearer and you become more motivated.
Give it a try.
Think about how much money you are going to get, when you are going to get it, and how you will get it. Now really force yourself to feel passionate about wanting money. You will notice that all of a sudden your thoughts are clearer and more focused.
This is the key to success that Hill emphasizes over and over in Think and Grow Rich.
2. Faith is Essential for Achieving What You Work for
Without faith, you have nothing.
Your own thoughts can be your worst enemy if you let them.
Self-doubt cripples your creative thoughts and motivation to succeed.
Faith, on the other hand, pushes yours forward. Even when there is little evidence to support your success, faith encourages you to keep going. It is essential to becoming rich.
But how do you get faith?
Hill teaches that the best way to get faith is through autosuggestion, the act of repeatedly telling yourself what to believe. If you keep telling yourself it’s true, eventually, it will become true.
It may seem obvious since this is what religious folks have been doing for thousands of years. The idea is, that by praying for what you want, it will be more likely to come true.
The part that struck me about this, is that I never considered applying it in a non-religious way.
Another thing to consider…
All of your thoughts during the day count as autosuggestion. This means that If you let yourself have negative thoughts throughout the day, they will be affecting you in the same way that autosuggestion does.
Be aware of your thoughts during the day. Try to think positive thoughts and let autosuggestion do its thing.
3. Indecision is a Killer of Success
This one hit me hard because it is something that I struggle with.
What should I be working on?
How should I be spending my time?
What’s the best way to go about this?
These are questions that I ask myself every day.
Hill teaches that you must come to decisions quickly if you want to attain riches. He tells stories of many successful people who all share this trait. They are able to confidently make decisions and stick with them.
This comes back to faith. You must have faith that you are capable of making good decisions and that you are working towards success.
4. Persistence is Key
Along with decisiveness, you need persistence.
Once you make a decision, you need to stick with it.
Charge ahead with faith that you will receive the money that you are working so hard for.
Most people give in at the first sign of failure. They don’t work hard enough for long enough to really tell if their plan was going to work. Lack of persistence is one of the biggest killers of riches.
When you are working hard on your plan to get money, you need to constantly remind yourself of what your plan is and what you are working towards.
This will ensure that you keep persisting even when things get hard.
5. To Become a Creative Genius, you Need to Stimulate your Mind
A creative genius is someone who is able to elevate their state of mind.
Hill teaches that by stimulating your mind, you can think more clearly and come up with creative solutions to meet your goals. He teaches that the top 10 stimulants are:
- The desire for sexual expression
- Love
- A burning desire for fame, power, or financial gain
- Music
- Friendship
- Working collaboratively
- Mutual suffering
- Autosuggestion
- Fear
- Narcotics and Alcohol
These stimulants make your brain work in a different way.
They energize you. Give you drive.
By understanding these stimulants and how to use them, you can learn to direct the energy generated from these stimulants, into something useful in fulfilling your goals.
Conclusion
Think and Grow Rich was definitely an interesting read. It was initially hard for me to get into, but I did find some value in reading it and practicing the lessons that it teaches. It was similar to The Secret by Rhonda Byrne in that your mind is the controller of your future.
My biggest takeaways were that with desire and a vision, you can set yourself up for success. All you need then is to make good decisions quickly and have a little faith and persistence.
Tell yourself what you want and you can achieve it.
It’s really as simple as that.
Have you read Think and Grow Rich? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!