This book was tough to get through…especially after just finishing “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. The goal of reading all of these books was to get more insight into how people think and how it influences their day to day life, especially their buying habits. This book is something I would label more as “Self-Help” than anything else. Being that it did not fit the genre for this particular project that means I simply made an error choosing it for this purpose. So rather than reviewing the book in a genre for which I believe it does not properly fit, I’m going to review it on the properties of a “Self-Help” book.
This book did surprise me at some point with little useful bits of knowledge throughout and I figure rather than ripping on it I would show what I was able to get out of it that I actually found useful. In the first chapter, Napolean Hill mentions how all we need is a single sound idea, and when we have that sound idea we begin to develop a sound plan and make sound choices of collaborators to help make that sound idea a reality. He says when we have ideas we can be our own worst enemy when we believe that OUR limits are THEE limits to the idea, killing it off before it has a chance to bloom. It gives examples of Henry Ford telling his engineers to make an 8-cylinder engine, but his engineers said it was impossible yet he told them to do it anyway.
Here’s the big idea the whole book hits on all throughout: “Desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways to acquire riches and backing those plans with a persistence that does not recognize failure will bring riches.”
- Define the exact amount of riches you wish to possess
- State what you are willing to give to obtain those riches
- Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire
- Create a definite plan for how you will obtain this money and set a date to start
- Name the time limit you have to achieve the goal
- Read your statement as soon as you wake up and before you go to bed
If you don’t see riches in your imagination you will never see them in your bank account. It’s great to have a mindset of determination but there are so many more elements to being or becoming ‘Rich’. It’s such a relative term and the book only addresses a few other categories (faith, though, and sexuality) one could be rich in.
The biggest things I took away from this book were the sections on thought and imagination. It shows the power of the subconscious mind with autosuggestion for use to help map your reality over time. It is useful for making plans, connecting ideas, or making important decisions. I can’t honestly recommend this book, but that’s not to say that I won’t use some of the concepts explained in it. Overall, this book would be one to read if you feel stuck in a certain situation and you need to see some examples of how people thought their way out of their less desirable positions and made it to the top, much of the concepts are common sense but it does lay the groundwork for thought patterns and how to conduct oneself in business.