I recently read through Think and Grow Rich
Chapter 1
– Most important is a burning desire for an outcome: know what you want & have the determination to stand by that desire until it is achieved.
– This desire for a goal will focus your mind, making you ever conscious of that goal, and drive you to make definite plans for achieving it.
Chapter 2: DESIRE
– Choose a definite goal, then place all your energy, willpower, and effort into it, if need be burning all bridges behind you to ensure you remain focused.
– No such thing as something for nothing, you will always need to pay a price.
– Steps: 1) Choose an exact amount of money, 2) Determine what you will give in exchange for the money, 3) Set concrete deadline, 4) Create a definite plan for achieving this desire, 5) Write out a clear & concise statement outlining 1-5, and 6) Read your statement out loud once first thing in the morning, once before going to bed.
Chapter 3: FAITH
– Desire must be backed by faith – a state of mind that can be induced through auto-suggestion.
– Faith is an ironclad belief that you will achieve your goal, empowering you to surpass all obstacles until you do so.
– Any thought that is repeatedly passed through the conscious mind will be eventually accepted and subconsciously acted upon, translating that thought into reality.
– Self confidence: 1) Believing you have the ability to achieve your goal, demanding of yourself persistence until you achieve it, 2) For thirty minutes per day, think of and visualize the person you desire to become, so your subconscious mind translates this to reality, 3) Spend ten minutes per day developing self confidence through auto suggestion, 4) Never stop pursing your goal outlined in chapter two, 5) Know that a castle must be built on bedrock, and resolve to be virtuous in your endeavors.
Chapter 4: AUTO-SUGGESTION
– You must follow the steps outlined in chapter two, mixing emotion and feeling into your words, then see and visualize yourself already in possession of your goal.
– Even if you have no plan yet for achieving your goal, follow these steps, focus your mind on your goal, expect your mind to come up with a plan, and your subconscious will deliver this plan to you.
Chapter 5: KNOWLEDGE
– Two types of knowledge: general knowledge is useless for making money, specialized knowledge is cheaper to acquire and much more useful for making money.
– Knowledge is potential power: after acquiring it, you must know how to organize and use it, for a definite purpose, for a specific plan. Knowledge is only useful when used to solve a problem.
– Specialized knowledge is plentiful, and can be acquired through experience and education, MasterMind alliance, colleges and universities, libraries, and independent study courses.
Chapter 6: IMAGINATION
– Two types of imagination: synthetic, taking old concepts, ideas, and plans, and arranging them into a new combination. There is also creative intelligence, using hunches and inspirations to create new concepts, ideas, and plans.
– Imagination is a muscle that must be exercised to grow – as you follow the steps earlier and focus your mind on your desire, your subconscious mind will continually exercise your imagination to come up with a plan for achieving your desire.
Chapter 7: ORGANIZED PLANNING
– Critical to success is your Mastermind group – a group of people who will contribute their experience, education, ability, and knowledge to help you succeed. Form a Mastermind group, decide what to offer members in return for their cooperation, meet with your group twice weekly to discuss plans, and keep the group in harmony.
– When organizing the mastermind group, keep in mind these attributes of LEADERSHIP, as well as causes of leadership failure
– To get a position you want, 1) decide exactly what kind of job you want, 2) decide on a company, 3) study the company for its policies, culture, advancement opportunities, 4) inventory yourself to figure out what you can offer a company, 5) concentrate on what you can give, 6) write a great cover letter, 7) present this letter to a proper person with authority.
– If you are afraid of failure, keep in mind these CAUSES OF FAILURE – almost all which can be overcome.
– It is also important to keep an SELF-INVENTORY of yourself to see what you have accomplished.
Chapter 8: DECISION
– Lack of decision, or procrastination, is the major cause of failure.
– A habit of reaching decisions promptly, and changing them slowly, is needed to succeed.
– Do not pay attention to the opinions of others except for your Mastermind group; keep your plans secret, if need be.
Chapter 9: PERSISTENCE
– Persistence is required to overcome obstacles to success, and requires having definiteness of purpose, a burning desire, belief in oneself, definiteness of plans, accurate knowledge of your environment, harmonious relationship with Mastermind group, focused willpower, and the habit of doing all of the above.
– Persistence can be developed through 1) a definite purpose backed by a burning desire, 2) a definite plan, 3) a mind that can ignore all negative influences, and 4) a Mastermind group for mutual encouragement.
– Keep in mind the following symptoms of lack of PERSISTENCE.
Chapter 10: MASTERMIND
– There are three ways for gaining knowledge (potential power) – imagination, accumulated experience, and research.
– By creating a mastermind group, you can not only harness the knowledge of many other people, but they will also act to encourage you.
Chapter 11: SEXUAL TRANSMUTATION
– One of the most powerful mind stimuli is sexual energy – sexual expression, love, etc.
– Many people only succeed after 40, after learning to channel and harness raw sexual energy that had been dissipated in their youth.
– For many accomplished people, the greatest source of their motivation is to please a woman.
Chapter 12: THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
– The subconscious mind, always active, is the conduit by which your desires can be translated into actions – but you need to make use of your subconscious, through belief and auto-suggestion.
– For your subconscious mind to be productive, you need to keep it filled with the following emotions: 1) desire, 2) faith, 3) love, 4) sex, 5) enthusiasm, 6) romance, 7) hope
– At the same time, you have to avoid negative emotions: 1) fear, 2) jealousy, 3) hatred, 4) revenge, 5) greed, 6) superstition, 7) anger
Chapter 13: THE BRAIN
– The brain is an amazing organ – the subconscious, if properly primed, will trigger amazing bouts of creative imagination.
Chapter 14: THE SIXTH SENSE
– The sixth sense, also known as hunches and inspirations, is creative imagination from a subconscious that has been primed to be goal conscious.
Chapter 15: DEFEATING FEAR
– Fear of poverty is most detrimental, causing people to accept mediocrity and complacency instead of trying to achieve your goal.
– Fear of criticism, wanting to conform to expectations, prevents you from maintaining a firm personality, and prevents you from taking action.
– Fear of ill health often causes you to constantly think about being ill, which influences you mind and causes you to actually get sick.
– Fear of loss of love often causes jealousy, fault-finding in others, and excessive risk-taking.
– Fear of old age stems from a fear of the accompanying poverty, as well as a (self-fulfilling) fear of decline in physical and mental capabilities.
– Fear of death causes people to focus on what happens after dying, instead of achieving their goals while alive.
– Finally, there is a seventh element: susceptibility to negative influences.
– It is extremely important to know yourself by performing this SELF-ANALYSIS.
– You want to know and avoid these COMMON ALIBIS.