‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich is based on Napoleon Hill’s earlier work The Law of Success, the result of more than twenty years of research based on Hill’s close association of more than 500 men of great wealth during their lifetimes. This book was endorsed by many leading businessmen of the era and became a best seller.
“By applying many of the 17 fundamentals of the Law of Success philosophy we have built a great chain of successful stores. I presume it would be no exaggeration of fact if I said that the Woolworth Building might properly be called a monument to the soundness of these principles.” FW Woolworth
Andrew Carnegie believed that becoming successful in business was a skill that could be learned by anyone who applied the principles of success correctly. Hill was summoned to study these great achievers and developed 17 “laws” of success. Think and Grow Rich condenses these laws further and provides the reader with 13 principles in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement.
Here’s a summary of the 13 principles
1. Desire – The first step towards riches
2. Faith – Visualisation and belief in attainment of desire
3. Auto-suggestion – the medium for influencing the subconscious mind
4. Specialised knowledge – personal experiences or observations
5. Imagination – The workshop of the mind
6. Organised planning – The crystallisation of desire into action
7. Decision – The seventh step toward riches
8. Persistence – The sustained effort necessary to induce faith
9. The power of the master mind – The driving force
10. The mystery of sex transmutation
11. The subconscious mind – The connecting link
12. The brain – a broadcast and receiving station for thought
13. The sixth sense – the door to the temple of wisdom
The book has lots of stories about individuals who refused to compromise with life by accepting and keeping a job they did not want. Instead, they looked for opportunities to climb the ladder and did not allow temporary defeats to stop them in their ultimate goal. Henry Ford and Thomas A Edison are frequently used in examples by the author as both men had to over come insurmountable odds and set backs before achieving success.
Is this book useful and relevant today?
As Hill points out this book is not for reading once, but must be digested several times and reflected upon. Senior figures in business believed it should be adopted by all high schools and no boy or girl should be permitted to graduate without having satisfactorily passed an examination on it.
The word ‘think’ in the book’s title is key here as one of the most important principles in the book is the notion of directing your mind to whatever end you may choose. As Hill points out: “thoughts are things, and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material objects.”
As an example, he tells the story of Edwin C Barnes who ‘thought’ his way into partnership with Thomas A Edison. One day Mr Barnes decided he wanted to become a business associate of Mr Edison. Without knowing Mr Edison or anyone connected to the inventor, he travelled by freight train to seek employment at Edison’s offices. After working in Edison’s office in low paid job for several months, Barnes patiently waited for an opportunity to advance his prospects of becoming a business partner with Edison.
When the opportunity arrived, it came disguised as misfortune or temporary defeat. Misfortune is one of the reasons why many give up at this point, as they fail to recognise an opportunity within it.
Mr Edison had just perfected the Ediphone (dictating machine). His salesmen were not convinced it would sell. Barnes saw this as an opportunity and demanded that he get the chance to sell it. This alliance proved so successful that, Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all over the nation, giving birth to the slogan, ‘Made by Edison and installed by Barnes.’ Needless to say this partnership made Barnes very rich.
The book is filled with similar stories to illustrate the application of the 13 principles. Some readers might find it hard to believe that ‘broadcasting’ one’s thoughts and desires (principle 12) to create conditions and opportunities for success would work for them. Furthermore, the notion of diverting one’s sexual energy (chapter 10) into their business ambitions too much to ask. Nonetheless, there is plenty evidence in the book to suggest these principles do work. The author also believes that most men reach the height of their intellectual and business powers between the ages of 40 and 60.
On a more pragmatic level, the author explains how successful men leave other skill sets and knowledge bases to others. For example, Andrew Carnegie knew little about the technical side to steel, instead he surrounded himself with a Master Mind group of fifty men who were experts in the manufacture and marketing of steel. Henry Ford had a similar Master Mind group to assist him with the specialised knowledge needed to pioneer in the motor industry. It is by organising and directing specialised knowledge through a plan of action that success can be achieved. Knowledge alone is not enough, it’s how you organise and apply it that counts.
This does not mean that one should become lazy and stop learning as Hill points out: “The person who stops studying because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.” While personal development is noble it can only take you so far and there is no substitute for the wise counsel of associates – very few make it on their own.
Overall book is a worthwhile read, although Hill is sometimes guilty of making ridiculous statements, such as: “Bald-headed men are bald for no other reason than their fear of criticism”. Nonetheless, there are some valuable information and insights conveyed and the stories used to back up key points are interesting and inspiring, especially since many are accounts of men and women becoming successful after losing everything in The Great Depression or adverse circumstances.
In the present day motivational speakers like Douglas Vermeeren have continued Hill’s research and have expanded upon his efforts by including professions and circumstances that were not available in Hill’s day. For example, Vermeeren’s research includes celebrities, athletes, internet entrepreneurs and network marketing giants for example. The Napoleon Hill Foundation continues to promote Hill’s work and other motivational tools.
If you plan to read this book I would suggest you read the definitive version published by Ross Cornwell in 2004: Think and Grow Rich! The Original Version, Restored and Revised (ISBN 1-59330-200-2), which restored the book to its original content, with slight revisions, and added the first comprehensive endnotes, index, and appendix the book has ever contained. This version went into a third printing in 2008.
Below is short clip of Napoleon Hill taking about the book in his later years.
‘The E Myth Revisited’ by Michael E. Geber
The E Myth Revisited. Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it. A book by Michael E Geber
Many people become self-employed for a variety of reasons or circumstances. However, if you aim to grow your company and focus on the wrong things in the business, it will eventually end in disaster. It might take five or ten years for this to happen but the day will come.
In becoming a one-man business they haven’t really created a business, they have merely created a job. The E-Myth means the entrepreneurial myth. The myth being that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs. The fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work.
The problem with many small business owners is that they end up doing the wrong kind of work. As a result, most of their businesses end up in chaos – unmanageable, unpredictable and unrewarding.
This book helps the self-employed or small businesses with how to plan and build a better business. A business that earns more money, and more importantly, a business that does not need the owner to be there all the time. Anyone would agree that your business should be just a part of your life and not consume all of it. Although, it is very easy for it to become the latter. This book shows how to avoid the pitfalls and what to focus on.
The author uses the dramatic device of using an interview with Sarah who is struggling to run her business, All about pies. Sarah has taken on all of the responsibilities in the business including the technical work – making the pies. Sarah soon realises from talking to the author that she must look at her business differently in order for her to achieve everything we wants for the business and her life. Once the author has explained that she must focus on systems and the components of the business rather than the technical work of the service. Sarah therefore, must stop making the pies and hire someone to bake them to her exact specifications, freeing her to manage the business.
However, it is not as simple as that. Sarah needs to make sure everything about the business works well and meets the customers’ expectations time after time. She needs to introduce a culture and systems that keep her staff motivated and all the components of the business working together for a common goal. She needs to plan for growth and manage any expansion effectively. The E-Myth gives an insight in what Sarah must consider if she wishes to do all this, and there is plenty to think about. It is an on going process that requires a lot of innovation and trial and error.
A business must start somewhere and in order to get established the owner will probably work long hours doing everything to get the business off the ground. However, you can’t live like that forever. This book provides advice and insights into how to leverage that kind of fledgling business into a mature one.
The thing is, managing a growing business is not easy and can be traumatic. This is because the owner is often not equipped with the knowledge on how to manage their business through the various challenges. Fear, ignorance and a lack of certain skills can stop the owner from talking the business to next level.
A growing business will usually take the owner out their comfort zone, and if they don’t like this, they will simply revert back to the stage in business they felt more comfortable. For example, downsize from 20 to 5 staff, or a size where the owner feels they have control over everything.
If really want to expand a business you need take on an entrepreneurial perspective and focus on the right areas. This book points out the subjects to address with a significant portion of the book devoted to franchising and creating a turn-key operation.
A turn-key operation is a business where anyone with the right training can take the keys to a business and run it successfully from day one. Operations like this have training manuals that have considered every detail of the business and perfected systems in place. These are then shared with a buyer or franchisee.
The favourite case study of business books, McDonalds, is used to demonstrate how to create a successful turn-key operation. While you may not respect the food they serve, you should respect it as a business, as everything is done to exacting standards and repeated the world over in 30,000 restaurants.
Even if you don’t wish to franchise your business you should manage and structure it as though it were the prototype for 5,000 more like it and make it a business that someone might want to buy. To achieve this the owner must introduce a interdependent program which consists of:
- Your Primary Aim (overall life goals – what do you want out of life)
- You Strategic Objective (define the goals for the business)
- Your Organisational Strategy (create an organisational chart and define the roles for each person in the business, even if its just a few people)
- Your Management Strategy (manage your business to achieve the best experience for your customers)
- Your People Strategy (create the right culture for your staff)
- Your Marketing Strategy (delivering a promise your customer wants to hear and doing it better than your competitors)
- Your Systems Strategy (how to integrate the things, actions, ideas and information to produce a desirable result).
Many of the systems and ideas that you need to introduce into your business needn’t cost a fortune.
You can introduce staff handbooks to explain exactly how their jobs should be carried out and offer incentive schemes to motivate your employees. McDonalds for example, cook all their products to the exact same standards in all it restaurants to ensure the customer’s experience is always the same.
If you own a shop you could change how your staff greet your customers. For example we all usually hear “Good morning sir/madam, how can I help you?” The reply will often be, “I am just looking thanks!” Alternatively, the assistant could ask if they have ever shopped at the store before. If the customer says “yes” the assistant could reply, “May I show you this weeks special offers?” or if the customer says “no” a response could be, “May I show you around our store and help you find what you are looking for?” This approach would create more interaction between the customer and the business and consequently opportunities for sales.
Details like this, no matter how small can make a big difference in a business, and these are the responsibility of the owner. In the early days of McDonalds Ray Kroc would fuss over how long the fries stayed in the fryer, or how the pickles were placed on the burger – McDonalds still do this and nothing is left to chance. Everything is tried and test before becoming the standard at every restaurant on the planet.
How customers feel about your business is also crucial. Sometimes the experience of buying the product is more important than the product or service itself. We all know that the experience of staying in modest B&B is vastly different from a 5 star hotel – both are just beds for the night. Nonetheless, many people prefer the 5 start treatment because they want the experience. Again, the experience of the business is the responsibility of the owner and he or she will need to spend a lot time perfecting their customers’ experience.
I would recommend that novice business owners read this book. We I first read it, especially chapters such as ‘The Technician’s Phase’ it related exactly to my experience of being self-employed. On reading the book several times it has given me the basic tools for taking my business to the next level. I owe debt of gratitude to the business coach for recommending I read this book in the first place.
‘How to Get Rich’ by Felix Dennis
Many business books are written ultimately to earn additional income for the author. Not so Felix Dennis, he one of the richest men in the UK and his motivation for writing this book is simply to help those who wish to undertake the massive task in becoming rich. He is very qualified to do so, as his life is a real rags to riches story – he nearly lost it all too.
For readers that don’t know, Felix Dennis is Chairman of Dennis Publishing. Titles include The Week, Auto Express, Computer Shopper, Blender, Mac User and Evo. Dennis Publishing is also the owner of Maxim, the world’s biggest selling men’s lifestyle magazine. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimates that Felix Dennis is worth £750 million. He is also a best selling poet, and poetry is his favourite past time.
Dennis uses his poems and passages from those he admires to illustrate key points and chapters in the book. He is not being indulgent either, they do convey the sentiment very well and some are quite pogniant.
The book is essentially an autobiography about Dennis’s business career. Starting out in the late sixties with the controversial OZ magazine, then a well timed Bruce Lee biography in 1973, followed by Kung-Fu magazines then pioneering personal computer titles in the eighties. From here Dennis Publishing introduced other titles with varying degrees of success. The Bruce Lee book was his first major financial success and the circumstances around it are bizarre. Dennis has no interest in Kung-Fu for a start.
Dennis likes to explain his errors and failures more than his success, in the hope that the reader will take heed and avoid similar pitfalls in their journey, even if it’s on a smaller scale. He has come close to losing everything by succumbing to drink, drugs and other vices. Luckily he pulled himself out of the quagmire. Although he regrets the consequences to his health and the time he lost. He wishes he used the time to practice poetry instead.
Dennis’s business principles are usually backed up with a story from his past, which are always interesting and sometimes surprising. For example, few would know that Dennis and Pet Shop Boy’s singer Neil Tennant worked together on the launch of magazine Star Hits in the USA. Tennant left at the height of the magazine’s success to pursue the Pet Shop Boys. His parting shot to Dennis was that his band would be on the cover of the Star Hits within a year – they did it too. Tennant’s departure from the successful magazine, demonstrated Dennis’s credo of never procrastinating on your ambitions or passing on better opportunities.
Overall the book is difficult to put down and deserves several readings. I like to re-visit chapters every now and then. While one may think being rich is the only way to be, there are many downsides as Dennis explains. While he owns many homes and collects art, the author values time as it’s greatest advantage, as it gives him freedom to do as he pleases – like writing poetry everyday and worthwhile books like this one.
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