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Hi and Welcome back to the study course of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. We continue our study of Chapter 2. Yesterday we spoke about the 6 points to achieving any amount of money. This can be used not only on money but on any goal you would like to achieve. I know some of you may consider this impractical but remember that this process was taught to Hill by Andrew Carnegie who was an ordinary laborer in a steel mill who later made a fortune well over $100 Million. You need to realize that this was the 1920s. That amount of money nowadays is way more thank this figure. In addition Thomas A. Edison also approves this process stating that they are not only the steps for money but also essential steps of attainment of any goal. Why take my word for it when you have one of the greatest inventors in history swearing that this works.

Most of all it does not require any study, any additional work, nothing but our imagination.  Nowadays that too has changed with the help of technology. You can have a mind movie setup to do exactly the same task that Hill tells you to Imagine. You can see more at www.mindmovies.com (Please note that this is not an affiliate link)

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 need to be a dreamer and desire money and know that you can have it. In fact Hill goes as far as stating, “If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.”

Hill further states, “We who are in this race for riches, should be encouraged to know that this changed world in which we live is demanding new ideas, new ways of doing things, new leaders, new inventions, new methods of teaching, new methods of marketing, new books, new literature, new features for the radio, new ideas for moving pictures. Back of all this demand for new and better things, there is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning DESIRE to possess it.” “The business depression marked the death of one age, and the birth of another. This changed world requires practical dreamers who can, and will put their dreams into action. The practical dreamers have always been, and always will be the pattern-makers of civilization.”

We need to note that times are no different from the time that Hill is quoting. He is speaking of a time straight after the great depression. Our time is no different. We have faced the Great Recession of our time and now is the time that we can turn things around. More or less most of us are staring from ground zero. It is the dreamers who will excel and others who will suffer even more. It is said that when there are more problems there are more opportunities. More opportunities for the smart who can find solutions to all the problems that exist.

“Tolerance and an open mind are practical necessities of the dreamer of today. Those who are afraid of new ideas are doomed before they start. Never has there been a time more favorable to pioneers than the present. True, there is no wild and woolly west to be conquered, as in the days of the Covered Wagon; but there is a vast business, financial, and industrial world to be remolded and redirected along new and better lines.” Hill mentions all of this and more or less when you think about it, it mirrors exactly the same situation we are in.

Hill starts going into examples quoting people like Christopher Columbus, Ford and Edison. Stating “Let us not forget, Columbus dreamed of an Unknown world, staked his life on the existence of such a world, and discovered it!”

He also says “If the thing you wish to do is right, and you believe in it, go ahead and do it! Put your dream across, and never mind what “they” say if you meet with temporary defeat, for “they,” perhaps, do not know that EVERY FAILURE BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT SUCCESS.” These are very wise words and they are so true. You have seen it in Chapter 1 where Hill pointed out failures.

He then points out about Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Lincoln saying, “Henry Ford, poor and uneducated, dreamed of a horseless carriage, went to work with what tools he possessed, without waiting for opportunity to favor him, and now evidence of his dream belts the entire earth. He has put more wheels into operation than any man who ever lived, because he was not afraid to back his dreams.”

He further goes on to say, “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 ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. Practical dreamers DO NOT QUIT!” He then states “Lincoln dreamed of freedom for the black slaves, put his dream into action, and barely missed living to see a united North and South translate his dream into reality. The Wright brothers dreamed of a machine that would fly through the air. Now one may see evidence all over the world, that they dreamed soundly.”

These are just a few of the success stories that Hill points to the others that I will not get into are Marconi and Whelan. He then puts this poetically “The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time, but a dream.” “The oak sleeps in the acorn. The bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. DREAMS ARE THE SEEDLINGS OF REALITY.”

Hill then speaks once more about the Depression. Please remember that the Depression was similar in fact worse than our Recession. Keep in mind if people could use his Principles during the Recession then they can do the same during our Recession. Hill says, “Awake, arise, and assert yourself, you dreamers of the world. Your star is now in the ascendency. The world depression brought the opportunity you have been waiting for. It taught people humility, tolerance, and open-mindedness. The world is filled with an abundance of OPPORTUNITY which 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.”

Hill once again points out to failure saying, “Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive.” The turning point in the lives of those who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some crisis, through which they are introduced to their “other selves.”” This is just a reminder to inform us that we should not lose heart when failure does knock on our door and should carry on with our voyage towards success.

Hill then goes on to pointing out Failures that turned into major success. “John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress, which is among the finest of all English literature, after he had been confined in prison and sorely punished, because of his views on Religion. Edison, the world’s greatest inventor and scientist, was a “tramp” telegraph operator, he failed innumerable times before he was driven, finally, to the discovery of the genius which slept within his brain. Charles Dickens began by pasting labels on blacking pots. The tragedy of his first love penetrated the depths of his soul, and converted him into one of the world’s truly great authors. That tragedy produced, first, David Copperfield, then a succession of other works that made this a richer and better world for all who read his books.”

So Hill shows that all these men faced failure before meeting success. He then states that unfortunately most of us do not know how to transmute our feelings and strongest emotions into dreams of constructive nature. For example Love affairs gone wrong can be transmuted into good, rather than drinking it away at some bar.

Remember to kindle anew in your mind the fire of hope, faith, courage, and tolerance. There is a difference between WISHING for a thing and being READY to receive it. No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it. The state of mind must be BELIEF, not mere hope or wish. Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief.

Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. We will end today’s Chapter Review with a great poet who stated this universal truth through these lines: “I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store. “For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. “I worked for a menial’s hire, only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have willingly paid.”

Awesome words to remember.

Please remember the key point’s to take away from today’s Chapter Study is that we need to have an open mind with a strong Belief that anything can be attained. You have to have Hope, Faith, Courage and Tolerance.

This is the end of this part of Chapter 2 but we will return tomorrow with the continuation of Chapter 2. Once again, thank you for your time. Please visit the page on Sunday to get the Audio of Chapter 1 & Chapter2. Please note that Chapter 1 Podcast could not be placed as we were facing some issues. It will come out next week with Chapter2 Podcast.

The rapper 50 Cent has had his hand in other books including his memoirs called “From Pieces to Weight” and in 2009 saw a book in collaboration with Self Help Guru Robert Greene called “the 50th Law”.

50 Cent is now looking at publishing a young adults novel in 2012 by the name of “Play Ground”. The book is more or less about bullying and how kids become bullies.

50 said the book was inspired by his own childhood and adolescence and he hopes it will be of use to his teenage son. Some Critics are pointing out that its ironic that 50 writes about bullying when at times he seems to play the role of a bully in real life. We have seen a number of these episode where he has blatantly taken on other rappers head on.

So I wonder whether the advise he gives in this book would actually be to combat bullies or actually to further assist bullies out there!!

Edwin C Barnes may have looked like a tramp the day he got off the train but his thoughts were those of kings. That is the opening sentence of Hill’s second chapter and what fine words he states. He further goes on to say that while Barnes walked to his destination he pictured himself standing in front of Edison (Visualization). Many Gurus say that we should get into the habit of picturing our actions before doing them as the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is actually happening and what you are visualizing. So what happens is when you encounter the experience in real life (the second time to your subconscious) it will reenact it in more or less the way you imagined it.

Barnes’ Visualization was so vivid that he heard himself asking Mr. Edison for an opportunity to carry out the one CONSUMING OBSESSION OF HIS LIFE, a BURNING DESIRE to become the business associate of the great inventor. Barnes’ desire was not hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating DESIRE, which transcended everything else. It was DEFINITE. Unlike most of us, most of our dreams are nothing more than hope. They are never definite or burning.

Apart from this Barnes desire was nothing new. It had been a dominating desire for a very long time. In the beginning when the desire popped up it may have been a wish but it was no mere wish when he approached Edison. But if you have a closer look he did have a definite goal and he placed his energy into it. All his power, conviction and effort went straight into this goal of being a business partner of Edison.

So much so that he was content with the initial job that Edison gave him.  As long as it put him one step closer to his final goal.

5 years had passed and he never lost hope of becoming Edison’s Partner.  To everyone else he was just another cog in the Edison Business Wheel but to him in his mind he was a business partner of Edison. The mind is such a mysterious tool that at times it starts to believe what you think and sets in motion the steps for you to achieve what you believe.

The amazing part about Barnes was that he burnt his bridges. He had nothing to go back to, nothing else that he wanted to pursue. In this day and age we always believe that we should not take a risk. Not leave our day job to pursue starting a business and so on. But here we had a man who did just that. He believed in himself and in his goal.

When he went to meet Edison, he didn’t go light heartedly, with the mindset that if I can meet Edison. He was going to meet Edison and that was that. In addition he did not go with the intention that he would try to become a business associate of Edison. No, he went in with the mindset that no matter what he would become the business partner of Edison.

He did not say, “I will work there for a few months, and if I get no encouragement, I will quit and get a job somewhere else.” He did say, “I will start anywhere. I will do anything Edison tells me to do, but before I am through, I will be his associate.”

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.”

That is the true spirit of a successful man. He followed the same mindset that Greek Warriors had. The ancient Greek warriors understood this idea. These Greeks possessed an unwavering attitude to victory and commitment. When the Grecian armies landed on their enemy’s shore, the first order the commanders gave was “Burn the boats.”

These commanders knew the power of motivation and necessity. With no boats to retreat to, the army had to be successful in order to survive. As the soldiers watch the boats burn, they knew there was no turning back – there would be no surrendering. In fact one such Greek General who started this act, before their first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice-we win— or we perish!” Guess what they won.

Hill gives another encounter of the merchants who lost their shops during the great Chicago Fire. They all decided to give in except for one trader who said that he would rebuild his shop on the same ashes and it will be bigger and better no matter how many times it burns down. This is the burning desire that some men have and some do not. Every human being who reaches the age of understanding of the purpose of money wishes for it. Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.

For you want to acquire riches Hill had a practice that many have sworn to have worked. I have used a similar method to get what I have wanted. I can swear upon the Bible that I now earn more than 100 times what I earned some 14 years back thanks to this process.

It is a 6 step process and goes as follows:.
Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you want – Plenty of money will not do, it needs to be more specific.

1. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)
2. Establish a date that you want this.
3. 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.
4. 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. Make sure that the text is written in Present tense. An example is: I am thankful to God that I am now earning $8,000 per month and have been earning this amount since 31st December 2011.
5. 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.

It is important that you follow the instructions described in these six steps. Point number 6 is especially important. You should follow this like clockwork everyday just like you would brush your teeth.

You may complain that it is impossible for you to “see yourself in possession of money” before you actually have it. Here is where a BURNING DESIRE will come to your aid. If you truly DESIRE money so keenly that your desire is an obsession, you will have no difficulty in convincing yourself that you will acquire it. The object is to want money, and to become so determined to have it that you CONVINCE yourself you will have it.

Always remember only those who become “money conscious” ever accumulate great riches. “Money consciousness” means that the mind has become so thoroughly saturated with the DESIRE for money that one can see one’s self already in possession of it.

We end this part of Chapter 2 but will return tomorrow with the continuation of Chapter 2. Once again, thank you for your time. Please visit the page on Sunday to get the Audio of Chapter 1 & Chapter2. Please note that Chapter 1 Podcast could not be placed as we were facing some issues. It will come out next week with Chapter2 Podcast.

If you have any comments or question please feel free to leave them in the comments section or email me at bryceb@personalgrowthbooks.org. For the time being its bye from me. Have a great week.

Hi and welcome to Day 3 of the Think and Grow Rich Study Course. We are still reviewing Chapter 1. After yesterdays story about Darby and his uncle,  Hill  gives us a few more examples which include President Roosevelt and Ford. He mentions how President Roosevelt managed to make a change to the great depression.

Hill points out that Roosevelt instilled in the peoples mind Hope instead of Fear and also showed them to look towards faith. He further goes on to say that Regular men have the weakness of “Impossible”. They know all the rules that will not work.

But Hill  believes all those who read this book will make a change in their thinking pattern. He states that he does not believe in the word Impossible and has actually removed it from his dictionary.

Hill further goes on to state that Success comes to those with Success Consciousness and Failure comes to those with Failure Consciousness – those with the mindset of impossible.

The question that you need to ask yourself is do we want to have the success consciousness or the failure consciousness?

The good news is this book will change your mindset of Failure Consciousness and move it towards Success Consciousness.

Another problem that Hill points out is most people measure things according to impressions or beliefs. Some who read this will doubt that people can “Think and Grow Rich”. These people do not believe because their thought habits have been steeped in poverty, want, misery, failure and defeat.

Hill also mentions how Ford achieved his success in this chapter. People may have pointed out that he was lucky, fortunate, a genius etc but the actual fact was that he was Determined. Hill points out how Ford had asked his engineers to make him a V8 Engine in a single block. At the time this was something impossible, his engineers told him this but Ford insisted that he wanted it and he told them to try their best in achieving it. A whole year went by and Ford questioned them again about the engine. They said it was impossible but he still insisted, and as a stroke of magic it happened. The Ford Determination had won. This story is not that different from Darby’s. It seems that determination and desire as I mentioned above are very important factors for success.

The Chapter comes to end with the quote by the poet Henley “YOU ARE “THE MASTER OF YOUR FATE, THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR SOUL,” BECAUSE….”

Hill says that Henley could have ended it “because we have the power to control our thoughts, that power cannot discriminate from destructive thoughts and constructive thoughts”.

What he means to say that since our thoughts control our destiny, Negative thoughts can hamper our success and guide us towards poverty instead of riches.

But we do have control over our minds and our feelings. In his book “Unlimited Power”, Anthony Robbins actually teaches how to take control of your thoughts and feelings using Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), I would recommend you get your hand on this book and read it. It will help you in ways in controlling your thoughts and helping you towards being more successful.

Hill futher to Henley’s quote goes on to say “He should have told us, too, that our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds, and, by means with which no man is familiar, these “magnets” attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.”

This point which Hill is stating is so true. You will note and you can try this as well. If you are interested in buying a certain car, lets say it’s the latest BMW 7 Series. You will note that all of a sudden there are a number of the same car all around town that you never noted before. It is weird but it is true. You  just start to notice more of them. This can be applied to many things. Give it a try. That is why the saying goes “when the student is ready the teacher will appear”.

Hill continues by stating “He should have told us, that 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.”

Hill closes of this Chapter with a letter from Jennings Randolph and the following statement “Maintain a spirit of open-mindedness, and remember as you read, they are the invention of no one man. The principles were gathered from the life experiences of more than 500 men who actually accumulated riches in huge amounts; men who began in poverty, with but little education, without influence. The principles worked for these men. You can put them to work for your own enduring benefit”.

I would like to close off this Chapter Study with another success story which points in the same direction as Darby, Ford and Edison.

Colonel Sanders the maker of KFC.  At age 65 after retirement wanted to start a business with his retirement fund and decided to do what he knew best. All he knew was to make a really mean fried chicken. So he put his plan into action

He started knocking on doors, telling each restaurant owner his story: “I have a great chicken recipe, and I think if you use it, it’ll increase your sales. And I’d like to get a percentage of that increase.”

Well, many people laughed in his face.  But Colonel Sanders never gave up?

He had the #1 key to success i.e. being persistence and taking action. In addition to this he took back his learning’s and adjusted his strategy differently when it did not work. Instead of feeling bad about the last restaurant that had rejected his idea, he immediately start focusing on how to tell his story more effectively and get better results from the next restaurant.

How many times do you think Colonel Sanders heard “No” before getting the answer he wanted? He was refused 1,009 times before he heard his first yes. His spent two years driving across America in his old, beat-up car, sleeping in the back seat in his rumpled white suit. Often, the only food he had was a quick bite of the samples he was preparing for perspective buyers. Ask yourself this question, would you have done what he did?

If you look at any of the most successful people in history, you will find this common thread: They would not be denied. They would not accept no. They would not allow anything to stop them from making their vision, their goal a reality.

So in a nutshell this is what we have learnt so far. All successful people have the following characteristics:

1. They have Purpose and stand by it until it becomes an all consuming obsession
2. They are Determined & Extremely Persistent
3. They have a burning Desire to Achieve their Goal
4. They take the initiative with faith that it can be achieved
5. They have the will to win
6. They do not give up

So lets try and put these key characteristics in our mind and try to follow them. Everytime you are faced with a decision to make, take a step back and analyze these 6 points and see if you are following them. Once you are more attentive this becomes easy.

Once again, thank you for your time. That is the end of Chapter 1. We start with Chapter 2 from Monday 20, June 2011. Please visit the page on Sunday to get the Audio of Chapter 1. If you have any comments or question please feel free to leave them in the comments section or email me at bryceb@personalgrowthbooks.org. For the time being its bye from me. Have a great weekend.