10 key ideas from “Think and Grow Rich” for achieving success

Editor’s note: This article was first published in December 2015, so its description of Think and Grow Rich as more than 70 years old dates from then; the book was first published in 1937.

In a previous article, “16 things that stop you from getting rich“, we looked at some of the concepts and ideas of Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, a book that is more than 70 years old and whose philosophy of success is still taught today.

We are turning once again to this bible of success thinking to gather 10 ideas and thoughts from the book, written by a man who devoted his career to studying more than 500 millionaires of his day, constantly seeking to understand how these successful people thought, as opposed to those who never managed to succeed in life.

And as we will see, the same pattern repeats itself. It’s not about our means or where we come from, but about how we think.

1. A person who stops studying and learning simply because they have finished school is irredeemably doomed to mediocrity. Whatever your calling, the road to success is the road of the constant pursuit of knowledge.

2. If the first plan you put into action doesn’t work properly, replace it with a new plan; and if that one doesn’t work either, swap it for another, and so on until you find the plan that works.

3. Before success comes into a person’s life, that person will go through temporary defeat and perhaps some failure. When defeat and failure overwhelm someone, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to stop trying and give up. That is what most people do, and that is why a large share of people never achieve success.

4. If you give up before you have reached your goal, you are a quitter. And a quitter never achieves their goals. A winner never gives up.

See also: 6 things the middle class still doesn’t understand about the rich

5. Most of us go through life as if we were failures, because we are waiting for the ideal circumstances to start doing something worthwhile. Don’t wait, because the time will never be just right. Start where you are right now and work with whatever means and tools you have at this very moment, and you will find better tools and means as you go along.

6. If what you want to do is right and you believe in it, go ahead and do it.

7. People who talk too much generally do very little. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to gather useful knowledge, you also reveal your plans and purposes to people who will take pleasure in defeating you because they envy you.

8. Wealth and abundance begin as a thought. The amount of abundance is limited only in our thinking. Setting off towards our goals and having faith in our purpose is the only thing that removes those limits.

9. Negative and positive emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. One or the other must dominate your thoughts. It is your responsibility to make sure that your positive emotions are the dominant influence on your mind.

10. Without enthusiasm, you cannot be convincing. Enthusiasm is also contagious, and a person who has it is usually welcome in any group.

See also: 10 differences between how the rich think and how everyone else does

Featured image: New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper staff photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.