Think and grow rich summary
Welcome to this think and grow rich summary; a book written by Napoleon Hill. The content of this book has the potential to improve the quality of your life to a degree that is very likely, at this time, beyond the scope of your imagination. The philosophy contained in the following pages is one of the best perspectives on success that you will find anywhere.
IN EVERY CHAPTER of this book, mention has been made of the money-making secret which has made fortunes for more than 500 exceedingly wealthy people whom I have carefully analyzed over a long period of years.
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. —Napoleon Hill
Think and grow rich summary Introduction: Mindpower
When a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.
What a different story people would have to tell if only they would adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession!
Of the people of gain millions in dollars, the amount was insignificant when compared to the far greater asset they acquired in the form of the definite knowledge that an intangible impulse of thought can be “transmuted” into its physical counterpart by the application of known principles.
Most of them had nothing to start with except the capacity to KNOW WHAT HE WANTED AND THE DETERMINATION TO STAND BY THAT DESIRE UNTIL HE REALIZED IT.
Three feet from gold
One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another.
Before success comes in anyone’s life, that individual is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a person, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to QUIT. That is exactly what the majority of people do.
More than 500 of the most successful individuals this country has ever known have told Hill that their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them. Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach.
When riches begin to come, they come so quickly, in such great abundance, that one wonders where they have been hiding during all those lean years.
When you begin to THINK AND GROW RICH, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind—with definiteness of purpose and with little or no hard work.
Success comes to those who become success-conscious. Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure-conscious. The object of this book is to help all who seek it to learn the art of changing their minds from failure consciousness to success consciousness.
You are “the Master of Your Fate, the Captain of Your Soul”
We are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains of our Souls, because we have the power to control our thoughts.
Before we can accumulate riches in great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense DESIRE for riches that we must become “money conscious” until the DESIRE for money drives us to create definite plans for acquiring it.
A burning desire to be and to do is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off. dreams are not born of indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 1: DESIRE: The starting point of all achievement
Of all the men who succeeded in life, their purpose was definite. Napoleon Hill takes Edwin C. Barnes’ example.
Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal, placed all his energy, all his willpower, all his effort, everything back of that goal. Barnes won his goal because he wanted to be a business associate of Mr. Edison more than he wanted anything else. He created a plan by which to attain that purpose. but he burned all bridges behind him. he stood by his desire until it became the dominating obsession of his life— and, finally, a fact.
He did not say, “I will keep my eyes open for another opportunity in case I fail to get what I want in the Edison organization.” He said, “There is but ONE thing in this world that I am determined to have, and that is a business association with Thomas A. Edison. I will burn all bridges behind me and stake my ENTIRE FUTURE on my ability to get what I want.” He left himself no possible way of retreat. He had to win or perish!
How to transmute desire for riches into its financial equivalent
The method by which DESIRE for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical actions:
First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say, “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness which will be described in a subsequent chapter.)
Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)
Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.
Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ, SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.
Practical dreamer
One must realize that all who have accumulated great fortunes first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, desiring, and planning before they acquired money.
You may as well know, right here, that you can never have riches in great quantities unless you can work yourself into a white heat of desire for money and actually believe you will possess it.
You may as well know also that every great leader, from the dawn of civilization down to the present, was a dreamer.
If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.
Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than 10,000 failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. Practical dreamers do not quit!
The world is filled with an abundance of opportunity the dreamers of the past never knew. a burning desire to be, and to do, is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off. Dreams are not born of indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition. The world no longer scoffs at dreamers, nor calls them impractical.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 2: FAITH: Visualization and Belief in the Attainment of Desire
FAITH IS the head chemist of the mind. When FAITH is blended with the “vibration of thought,” the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in the case of prayer.
The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most powerful of all the major positive emotions. When the three are blended, they have the effect of “coloring” the vibration of thought in such a way that it instantly reaches the subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual equivalent—the only form that induces a response from Infinite Intelligence.
How to develop faith
FAITH is a state of mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmations or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of autosuggestion.
Repetition or affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.
any impulse of thought which is repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind is finally accepted and acted upon by the subconscious mind, which proceeds to translate that impulse into its physical equivalent, by the most practical procedure available.
ALL THOUGHTS WHICH HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALIZED (given feeling) AND MIXED WITH FAITH begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.
The subconscious mind will translate into its physical equivalent a thought impulse of a negative or destructive nature just as readily as it will act upon thought impulses of a positive or constructive nature. This accounts for the strange phenomenon, which so many millions of people experience, referred to as “misfortune” or “bad luck.”
There are millions of people who BELIEVE themselves “doomed” to poverty and failure because of some strange force over which they BELIEVE they have no control. They are the creators of their own misfortunes because of this negative BELIEF, which is picked up by their subconscious mind and translated into its physical equivalent.
The subconscious mind will transmute into its physical equivalent, by the most direct and practical media available, any order which is given to it in a state of BELIEF, or FAITH, that the order will be carried out.
Faith is a state of mind which may be induced by autosuggestion
It is a well-known fact that one comes finally to BELIEVE whatever one repeats to one’s self, whether the statement be true or false. If we repeat a lie over and over, we will eventually accept the lie as truth. Moreover, we will BELIEVE it to be the truth. Each of us is what we are because of the DOMINATING THOUGHTS which we permit to occupy our mind. Thoughts which we deliberately place in our own mind, and encourage with sympathy, and with which we mix any one or more of the emotions, constitute the motivating forces which direct and control our every movement, act, and deed!
Thoughts which are mixed with any of the feelings of emotions constitute a “magnetic” force which attracts other similar or related thoughts.
The human mind is constantly attracting vibrations which harmonize with that which DOMINATES the mind. Any thought, idea, plan, or purpose which one holds in one’s mind attracts from the “thought vibrations of existence” a host of its relatives, adds these relatives to its own force, and grows until it becomes the dominating, MOTIVATING MASTER of the individual in whose mind it has been housed.
Repetition is the key
Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought. This is why you are asked in the next few pages to write out a statement of your major purpose, or Definite Chief Aim, commit it to memory, and repeat it out loud day after day until these vibrations of sound have reached your subconscious mind.
We are what we are because of the vibrations of thought which we pick up and register through the stimuli of our daily environment.
The law of autosuggestion
The subconscious mind (the “chemical laboratory” in which all thought impulses are combined and made ready for translation into physical reality) makes no distinction between constructive and destructive thought impulses. It works with the material we feed it through our thought impulses. The subconscious mind will translate into reality a thought driven by FEAR just as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven by COURAGE or FAITH.
If you fill your mind with FEAR, DOUBT, AND UNBELIEF in your ability to connect with and use the forces of Infinite Intelligence, then the Law of Autosuggestion will take this spirit of unbelief and use it as a pattern by which your subconscious mind will translate it into its physical equivalent.
THIS STATEMENT IS AS TRUE AS THE STATEMENT THAT TWO AND TWO EQUALS FOUR!
Like the wind which carries one ship East and another West, the Law of Autosuggestion will lift you up or pull you down, according to the way you set your sails of THOUGHT.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 3: Autosuggestion: the medium for influencing the subconscious mind
The dominating thoughts which one permits to remain in the conscious mind (whether these thoughts be negative or positive is immaterial) will reach and influence the subconscious mind, through the Law of Autosuggestion.
No thought, whether it be negative or positive, can enter the subconscious mind without the aid of the principle of autosuggestion.
Plain, unemotional words do not influence the subconscious mind. You will get no appreciable results until you learn to reach your subconscious mind with thoughts or spoken words which have been well emotionalized with BELIEF.
The price of ability to influence your subconscious mind is everlasting PERSISTENCE in applying the principles described here.
Where failure is experienced, it is the individual, not the method, which has failed. If you try and fail, make another effort, and still another, until you succeed.
Your ability to use the law of autosuggestion will depend very largely upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession.
In fact, the subconscious mind takes any orders given it in a spirit of absolute FAITH, and acts upon those orders, although the orders often have to be presented over and over again, through repetition, before they are interpreted by the subconscious mind.
The keystone of the think and grow rich philosophy
We may become the master of ourselves, and of our environment, because we have the power to influence our own subconscious mind, and through it, to gain the cooperation of Infinite Intelligence. The chapter you are now reading represents the keystone in the arch of The Think and Grow Rich Philosophy. The instructions contained in this chapter must be understood and applied with persistence if you are to succeed in transmuting desire into money or any other result you seek.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 4: Specialized knowledge: personal experiences or observations
There are two kinds of knowledge. One is general; the other, specialized. General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money.
Most of the professors have not amassed great wealth! They specialize in teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization or the use of knowledge for the accumulation of money.
Knowledge will not attract money (or any other kind of success) unless it is organized and intelligently directed, through practical plans of action, to the definite end of accumulating money.
Lack of understanding of this fact has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that “knowledge is power.” It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.
Education only is not enough
The word education or educate is derived from the Latin word educo, meaning toeduce, to draw out, to DEVELOP FROM WITHIN. Students must know how to organize and use knowledge after they acquire it.
Knowledge has no value except that which can be gained from its application toward some worthy end. This is one reason why a college degree in itself is not valued more highly. It often represents nothing but miscellaneous knowledge.
Successful people, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business, or profession.
The person who stops studying merely because he or she has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what that person’s calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 5: Imagination: the workshop of the mind
THE IMAGINATION is literally the workshop wherein are fashioned all plans created by humankind. The impulse, the DESIRE, is given shape, form, and ACTION through the aid of the imaginative faculty of the mind. It has been said that anything can be created which a human being can imagine.
Two forms of imagination
The imaginative faculty functions in two forms. One is known as Synthetic Imagination and the other as Creative Imagination.
Synthetic imagination: Through this faculty, one can arrange old concepts, ideas, or plans into new combinations. This faculty creates nothing.
Creative imagination: Through the faculty of Creative Imagination, the finite human mind has direct communication with Infinite Intelligence. It is by this faculty that all basic or new ideas are handed over to us. It is through this faculty that “thought vibrations” or “influences” from the minds of others are received. It is through this faculty that one individual may “tune in” or communicate with the subconscious minds of others.
The great leaders of business, industry, finance, and the great artists, musicians, poets, and writers became great because they developed the faculty of Creative Imagination.
Transforming the intangible impulse of DESIRE into the tangible reality of MONEY calls for the use of a plan or plans. These plans must be formed with the aid of the imagination, mainly Synthetic Imagination.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 6: Organized planning: the crystallization of desire into action
To build plans, you will now be instructed to:
(a) Ally yourself with a group of as many people as you may need to create and carry out your plan or plans for the accumulation of money.
(b) Before forming your Master Mind Alliance, decide what advantages, and benefits, you may offer the individual members of your group in return for their cooperation.
(c) Arrange to meet with the members of your Master Mind Group at least twice a week, and more often if possible, until you have jointly perfected the necessary plan or plans for the accumulation of money.
(d) Maintain PERFECT HARMONY between yourself and every member of your Master Mind Group. If you fail to carry out this instruction to the letter, you may expect to meet with failure. The Master Mind Principle cannot obtain where PERFECT HARMONY does not prevail.
A few remarks
No individual has sufficient experience, education, native ability, and knowledge to ensure the accumulation of a great fortune without the cooperation of other people. Every plan you adopt in your endeavor to accumulate wealth should be the joint creation of yourself and every other member of your Master Mind Group.
If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan. If this new plan fails to work, replace it in turn with still another and so on until you find a plan which DOES WORK. Right here is the point at which the majority of people meet with failure because of their lack of PERSISTENCE in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.
Temporary defeat should mean only one thing—the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan. Millions of people go through life in misery and poverty because they lack a sound plan through which to accumulate a fortune.
We see people who have accumulated great fortunes, but we often recognize only their triumph, overlooking the temporary defeats which they had to surmount before “arriving.”
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 7: Decision: The Mastery of procrastination
Careful analysis of thousands of men and women who had experienced failure revealed that lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of failure (chapter 6). This is no mere statement of a theory—it is a fact. Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every individual must conquer.
People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, IF AT ALL, very slowly and of changing these decisions quickly and often.
For instance, one of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities was his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly.
Freedom or death on a decision
The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. The great decisions, which have served as the foundation of civilization, were reached by assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death.
Two types of people
Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want and generally get it. The leaders in every walk of life decide quickly and firmly.
Indecision is a habit which usually begins in youth. The habit takes on permanency as the youth goes through grade school, high school, and even through college without definiteness of purpose. The major weakness of all educational systems is that they neither teach nor encourage the habit of definite decision.
Definiteness of decision always requires courage, sometimes very great courage. The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence staked their lives on the DECISION to affix their signatures to that document.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 8: Persistence: The sustained effort necessary to induce faith
Lack of persistence is one of the major causes of failure.
The ease with which lack of persistence may be conquered will depend entirely upon the INTENSITY OF ONE’S DESIRE.
The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires.
Be PERSISTENT no matter how slowly you may at first have to move. WITH PERSISTENCE WILL COME SUCCESS.
Those who have cultivated the HABIT of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive at the top of the ladder.
EVERY FAILURE BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT ADVANTAGE. There are exceptions to this rule. A few people know from experience the soundness of persistence. They are the ones who have not accepted defeat as being anything more than temporary. They are the ones whose DESIRES are so PERSISTENTLY APPLIED that defeat is finally changed into victory.
Wherever men and women accumulate great riches, you may be sure they first acquired PERSISTENCE.
The eight factors of persistence
The author identifies eight factors of persistence such as definiteness of purpose, desire, self-reliance, definiteness of plans, accurate knowledge, cooperation, will power and habit.
How to develop persistence
There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of PERSISTENCE. They call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education, and but little time or effort. The necessary steps are:
1- A definite purpose backed by burning desire for its fulfillment.
2- A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
3- A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
4- A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.
As one makes an impartial study of the prophets, philosophers, miracle workers, and religious leaders of the past, one is drawn to the inevitable conclusion that persistence, concentration of effort, and definiteness of purpose were the major sources of their achievements.
Many individuals, in all eras of human history have demonstrated the tremendous power of the eighth step to riches—persistence, sustained effort in the face of all odds and all adversity.
Persistence creates faith. And faith is the only known antidote for failure, it is the starting point of all accumulation of riches, and it is the only agency through which one can tap the force of infinite intelligence.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 9: Power of the master mind: the driving force
Power may be defined as “organized and intelligently directed knowledge.” power, as the term is here used, refers to organized effort, sufficient to enable an individual to transmute desire into its monetary equivalent. Organized effort is produced through the coordination of effort of two or more people who work toward a definite end, in a spirit of harmony.
Power is required for the accumulation of money! Power is necessary for the retention of money after it has been accumulated!
Gaining power through the master mind
The Master Mind may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”
No individual can have great power without availing himself or herself of the Master Mind Principle.
Example of Henry Ford
Henry Ford began his business career under the handicap of poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance.
Mr. Ford’s most rapid strides became noticeable from the time he became a personal friend of Thomas A. Edison, and you will begin to understand what the influence of one mind upon another can accomplish.
Go a step further and consider the fact that Mr. Ford’s most outstanding achievements began from the time that he formed the acquaintances of Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs, and Luther Burbank (each an individual of great intellectual capacity), and you will have further evidence that POWER may be produced through a friendly alliance of minds.
“Individuals take on the nature and the habits and the POWER OF THOUGHT of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony.”
Henry Ford whipped poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance by allying himself with great minds, whose “vibrations of thought” he absorbed into his own mind. Through his association with Edison, Burbank, Burroughs, and Firestone, Mr. Ford added to his own brain power the sum and substance of the intelligence, experience, knowledge, and spiritual forces of these four individuals.
Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 10: The mystery of sex transmutation
THE MEANING of the word “transmute” is, in simple language, “the changing, or transferring of one element, or form of energy, into another.” The emotion of sex brings into being a state of mind.
Sexual desire is the most powerful of human desires. Its exercise in proper relation and proportion to all other aspects of life is positive and healthy. People who are driven by this desire—in a positive, constructive sense—can “channel” it to develop keenness of imagination, courage, willpower, persistence, and creative ability that are all but unknown at other times.
Sex transmutation and success
Research has disclosed these two significant facts:
1- The individuals of greatest achievement tend to be those who have highly developed sexual natures and who have learned the art of sex transmutation.
2- Generally speaking, those who have accumulated great fortunes and achieved outstanding recognition in literature, art, industry, architecture, and the professions, were motivated by the influence of romantic love for another person.
The research in which these astounding discoveries were made went back through the pages of biography and history for more than 2,000 years. Wherever there was evidence available in connection with the lives of men and women of great achievement, it indicated most convincingly that they possessed highly developed sexual natures.
The 10 mind stimuli
The human mind responds to stimuli, through which it may be “keyed up” to high rates of vibration known as enthusiasm, Creative Imagination, intense desire, and so forth. The ten stimuli to which the mind responds most freely are:
1- The desire for sexual expression
2- Love
3- A burning desire for fame, power, or financial gain—MONEY
4- Music
5- Close friendship between either those of the same sex or those of the opposite sex
6- A Master Mind Alliance based upon the harmony of two or more people who ally themselves for spiritual or temporal advancement
7- Mutual suffering, such as that experienced by people who are persecuted
8- Autosuggestion
9- Fear
10- Narcotics and alcohol
The desire for sexual expression is by far the strongest and most impelling of all the human emotions, and for this very reason this desire— when harnessed and transmuted into action other than that of physical expression—may lift one into the “genius mode.
The most powerful of all human emotions is that of sex. There are other mind stimulants, some of which have been listed, but no one of them, nor all of them combined, can equal the driving power of sex
Successful salespeople and sex transmutation
A teacher, who has trained and directed the efforts of more than 30,000 people involved in sales, made the astounding discovery that individuals with high sex drives generally make the most efficient salespeople. The explanation is that the factor of personality known as personal magnetism is nothing more nor less than sex energy. Individuals with high sex drives always have a plentiful supply of personal magnetism.
Men and women who lack sex energy will never become enthusiastic nor inspire others with enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is one of the most important requisites in salesmanship, no matter what one is selling. The public speaker, orator, preacher, lawyer, or salesperson who is lacking in sex energy is generally a flop when it comes to being able to influence others. Couple with this the fact that most people can be influenced only through an appeal to their emotions, and you will understand the importance of sexual energy as a part of the salesperson’s native ability.
Top salespeople attain the status of mastery in selling because they either consciously or unconsciously transmute the energy of sex into SALES ENTHUSIASM!
Sex must be mixed with love
Sex alone is a mighty urge to action, but its forces are like a cyclone— they are often uncontrollable. When the emotion of love begins to mix itself with the emotion of sex, the result is calmness of purpose, poise, accuracy of judgment, and balance.
When driven by the desire to please a member of the opposite sex, based solely upon the emotion of sex, individuals may be and usually are capable of great achievement, but their actions may be disorganized, distorted, and totally destructive. When driven by their desire to please someone they love, based upon the motive of sex alone, an individual may steal, cheat—even, in an extreme case, commit murder. But when the emotion of LOVE is mixed with the emotion of sex, these same individuals will guide their actions with sanity, balance, and reason.
The road to genius consists of the development, control, and proper use of sex, love, and romance. The process involves encouraging the presence of these emotions as the dominating thoughts in one’s mind, and discouraging the presence of all the destructive emotions. The mind is a creature of habit. It thrives upon the dominating thoughts that are fed to it.
The emotions of love, sex, and romance are sides of the eternal triangle of achievement-building genius. Nature creates geniuses through no other force.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 11: The subconscious mind: the connecting link
THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND WORKS DAY AND NIGHT. Through a method or procedure that is not yet understood, the subconscious mind draws upon the forces of Infinite Intelligence for the power with which it voluntarily transmutes one’s desires into their physical equivalent, making use always of the most practical media by which this end may be accomplished.
You cannot entirely control your subconscious mind, but you can voluntarily hand over to it any plan, desire, or purpose which you wish transformed into concrete form.
Everything which human beings create BEGINS in the form of a thought impulse. No one can create anything which he or she does not first conceive in THOUGHT. Through the aid of the imagination, thought impulses may be assembled into plans. The imagination, when under control, may be used for the creation of plans or purposes that lead to success in one’s chosen occupation.
All thought impulses which are intended for transmutation into their physical equivalent and which are voluntarily planted in the subconscious mind must pass through the imagination and be mixed with faith. The mixing of faith with a plan, or purpose, intended for submission to the subconscious mind may be done ONLY through the imagination.
The importance of emotions in influencing the subconscious mind
The subconscious mind is more susceptible to influence by impulses of thought which are mixed with feeling or emotion than by those originating solely in the reasoning portion of the mind.
Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. One or the other must dominate. It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind.
Therefore, the subconscious mind is the intermediary which translates one’s prayers into terms which Infinite Intelligence utilizes, presents the message, and receives back the answer in the form of a definite plan or idea for procuring the object of the prayer. Faith is the only known agency which will give your thoughts a spiritual nature in this way.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 12: The brain: a broadcasting and receiving station for thought
Every human brain is both a “broadcasting” and a “receiving” station for the impulses of thought. Under the right circumstances and in a fashion that may be likened to that employed by the radio broadcasting principle, every human brain is capable of “picking up” thought impulses which originate in the brains of others.
When the brain is operating in this highly energized state, it not only attracts thoughts and ideas released by other brains, but it also gives to its own thoughts that feeling which is essential before those thoughts will be picked up and acted upon by one’s own subconscious mind. Thus, you will see that the broadcasting principle is the factor through which you mix feeling or emotion with your thoughts and pass them on to your subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind is the sending station of the brain, through which thought impulses are broadcast.
The Creative Imagination is the receiving set, through which thought impulses are picked up.
Think and grow rich summary Chapter 13: The sixth sense: the door to the temple of wisdom
THE THIRTEENTH STEP to Riches, the final step, is known as the SIXTH SENSE, through which Infinite Intelligence may and will communicate voluntarily, without any effort from or demands by the individual.
The SIXTH SENSE is that portion of the subconscious mind which has been referred to as Creative Imagination. It has also been referred to as the “receiving set” through which ideas, plans, and thoughts flash into the mind. These flashes are sometimes called hunches or inspirations.
Through the aid of the Sixth Sense, you will be warned of impending dangers in time to avoid them and notified of opportunities in time to embrace them. With the development of the Sixth Sense, there comes to your aid, to do your bidding, a “Guardian Angel,” who will open to you at all times the door to the Temple of Wisdom. Whether or not this is a statement of truth you will never know except by following the instructions described in the pages of this book or some similar method of procedure.
Think and grow rich summary Epilogue: how to outwit the 6 ghosts of fear
The six basic fears
To close this think and grow rich summary, Napoleon Hill highlights six basic fears. There are six basic fears, with some combination of which every human being suffers at one time or another. Most people are fortunate if they do not suffer from the entire six. Named in the order of their most common appearance, they are: the fear of poverty (at the heart of most people’s worries); the fear of criticism; the fear of ill health; the fear of loss of love of someone; the fear of old age and the fear of death.
Another evil
In addition to the six basic fears, there is another evil by which people suffer. It constitutes a rich soil in which the seeds of failure grow abundantly. It is so subtle that its presence often is not detected. This affliction cannot properly be classed as a fear. It is more deeply seated and more often fatal than all of the six fears. For want of a better name, let us call this evil susceptibility to negative influences.
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