Think and Grow Rich.
So, this book isn’t one of those “get rich quick” formula things.
This book has its place in history and it has actually changed the lives of thousands
and thousands of people all over the world.
The funny thing about this book is that, it doesn’t actually talk about making money,
what it talks about instead is the mindset, the philosophy and principles of wealth creation.
The book is a great introduction to financial education and, it’s basically a guide to
living a better life.
It’s one of the most influential books of all times when it comes to achieving financial
independence and self-development.
That’s why everyone recommends this book for success.
And here’s the thing, this isn’t a book that you read like a novel, this is a book
that you need to actually use, it is basically like a manual.
Let me tell you a quick story.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of being invited to a business networking event in
my city.
And after the event, I had the honour of meeting and having a chat with one of the most successful
businessmen in my city.
He owned various companies and real estate all over the country, and I remember being
so excited to meet him and I had so many questions to ask him.
After a few minutes of chatting, somehow the conversation drifted into books, and he asked
me if I read books.
And I told him, yes I do.
And then he asked me how often?
And I told him about 1 or 2 a month.
And then he looked straight into my eyes and told me.
Young man, if you want to grow financially, you have to start reading more books.
What he told me that day, has stayed with me ever since.
You see, the average person in the US reads 12 books a year, while millionaires read at
least double that number.
I remember asking him why I had to read, and he told me that reading wasn’t enough.
He said:
Read a book and you’ll maybe remember a couple of lines here and there.
Use a book and it will change your life.
And here’s the thing, I don’t care if you don’t like reading.
It’s not about what you like doing, it’s about what you have to do in order to grow.
And if you really, really hate reading, you can always look for the audiobook.
I want you to actually get the most out of this book, so, in today’s video, I will
give you the summary and the most important takeaways from Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon
Hill, written in 1937.
PRINCIPLE #1: You Are Responsible For Your Own Destiny.
One of the most important ideas shared by Napoleon Hill in his book is the fact that
the only person responsible for whatever happens in your life has to be you and you only.
Here’s the thing, in life you have two choices.
1.
You can blame everyone else for what happens and make excuses for why you’re not doing
what you know you are supposed to in order to succeed.
OR 2.
Take responsibility for everything and actually work to change.
Taking responsibility is so important, and here’s why; it gives you power.
Think about it in this way: when you take responsibility for everything in your life,
it means that you are the one that generated every outcome.
At that point, you have the power to stop generating those outcomes by changing your
behaviour.
Makes sense?
Good, next one.
PRINCIPLE #2: Failure Is No More Than A Lesson.
Have you ever failed at something?
Yeah, we all have.
Think about when you were just a little kid and you were learning how to ride your bicycle.
Your parents probably helped you out a little, but still, you had to learn it all by yourself.
You probably fell multiple times, stopped, and then picked yourself up and tried again,
and again, until you made it.
Every time you failed you didn’t stay down, you didn’t complain, you just got back up
and tried again.
When it comes to any form of failure, this is exactly the same attitude you should have
to.
Dust yourself off and get back at it.
Failure is no more than a sign.
Not a sign that you’re stupid, it’s a sign that you’re doing something stupid.
Let’s say for example that maybe you’re developing a skill, such as closing over the
phone.
You’re selling high ticket items to prospects over the phone, and you’re doing your best
to get better at it.
One of the prospects completely rejects you, and every objection he throws at you catches
you completely off-guard.
Obviously, this hurts but you shouldn’t let it affect you.
Remember the bicycle example?
Well, this is exactly the same thing, it only means that you need to improve your skills.
Evaluate, what went wrong, what did you tell them that turned them off?
Maybe you told them that you don’t like fedora hats, and they were wearing one while
speaking to you.
The take-away here is, don’t repeat that same mistakes, study your past failures, because
failure always teaches you something.
And if you are smart, you’ll pick up the lesson and not repeat it.
PRINCIPLE #3: You Need A Vision (otherwise where are you even going?)
Imagine this: You’re hanging out with a couple of friends and one of them tells you
to go.
He doesn’t tell you anything else, just go.
You don’t know where, so you begin walking randomly, directionless, kinda confused and
with no real purpose.
See how overall this is a bad idea?
How are you supposed to get better in life if you don’t even know where you’re going,
or what you’re living for?
It is up to you to decide what’s your purpose, mission, and direction.
Maybe it’s financial freedom, maybe you want to change the world and stop global warming,
or maybe you just want to help your community, your church, or make your family proud.
Whatever that vision looks like, you absolutely, 100% need to know what it looks like, in as
much detail as you can, because clarity is the key, to “knowing where you’re going”.
So back to the friend situation, let's pretend that now he tells you to go to the main plaza
of the city and to look for the cinema.
You go there, and you start looking, and you look, but you just can’t find it.
You see, you can’t find something if you don’t know what it looks like.
Your friend needs to describe to you everything about that cinema: the colours, the height,
the position, the entrance, and literally everything in as much detail as he can!
As soon as he does, he’ll give you all the necessary data for you to look for it, recognize
it and reach it.
This is why you need to have clarity, and when you set goals, please keep this in mind,
otherwise, you seriously risk going nowhere and just wasting time.
PRINCIPLE #4: Create Urgency.
Here’s how we’re going to define urgency from now on.
Urgency indicates how strong your desire for obtaining something in a short period of time
is.
If you have a lot of urgency for an apple, you want to eat right now, and you want it
so bad that you’re willing to give everything up to find an apple and eat it.
This is the kind of urgency, or let’s call it; hunger that I’m talking about.
You have to be hungry and have a lot of urgency to reach your short term and long term goals.
If you have urgency, you stop procrastinating, you stop “waiting for the right time”.
From now on, you’re forbidden from saying “I will wait until the time is right”
or “I’ll do it tomorrow, next week, or next month”.
Don’t postpone what you can do now, just do it.
The “right time” will never come, and here’s why.
Your brain wants to protect you from everything that requires effort and is even remotely
close to being painful.
Since we live in a developed society, we can live without leaving a finger for long periods
of time, so we get used to being 100% comfortable all the time.
In order to achieve success, you need to detach yourself from your comfort zone and do what
you need to do when you need to do it.
You should ignoring the part of your brain that often doesn’t want to do anything because
it does not understand the importance of long-term comfort over short-term comfort.
So here’s how you can create urgency.
Set Deadlines.
Do you remember when you were in high school?
If you were like me, you hated studying, and you’d always postpone it until the very
last day, and the night before your “very important exam”, (don’t judge me).
So you start studying so hard that you learn more in one night than in one whole month.
When you’re under pressure and the deadline feels stressing and close, you’re much more
productive.
So set a deadline to your goals, and let the deadline stress you out so much that you just
can’t, not work on your goal.
Here’s an additional tip; for this to work even better: create annoying consequences
if you don’t meet a deadline.
Make a bet with some friends, or maybe hold yourself accountable by “punishing” yourself:
maybe take away your Netflix subscription, or give some money to someone you hate, or
something that really annoys you.
PRINCIPLE #5: After Defeat There’s Success.
Napoleon Hill, the author of the book we’re talking about, has interviewed numerous successful
people form the US, and he took the information and summarized it in the book “Think And
Grow Rich”
Most of these successful men and women told Napoleon Hill that often, success comes right
after you’re about to give up.
This means that right when things are the hardest when they’re so hard that you are
about to give up, right after that, there's success.
The greatest success comes right after your “last breath”.
You need to keep going, never give, up, and keep your head up while fighting.
I know that success isn’t easy, I 100% agree with that, but that’s not a good excuse
for not making more money, achieving more, and making your life better.
PRINCIPLE #6: Never Stop Learning.
The market changes, people change, and even you change.
With time, people and things change, whether you’re comfortable with it or not.
You have to constantly reinvent yourself and keep learning, especially if you’re in business,
but that’s also true for fitness, learning, and anything else.
As soon as you stop learning, you stop growing, and your soul starts decaying.
In order to keep up to date, reading the news isn’t enough.
The news is actually bad for you.
Most News is over exaggerations of things that happen daily.
And you will do good for yourself if you avoid it.
Stay away from anything negative and that is not related to your goal.
Instead, you should have a mentor and keep reading, as well as have a group of people
that not only understand you, but that does the same thing that you are doing.
This way you can share with each other what the markets are doing, what is happening with
the clients, and experiences.
And if you’re not in business, this is still valid.
Maybe you have a fitness group, then a paintball group, and so on.
You are the average of the 5 people you spend most of your time with.
Would you actually like to be like the 5 people that you spend time with the most?
Think about that, and if that’s the case, change your environment, your goals and purpose
should be what determine who you keep around you.
In conclusion, these are, in my opinion, the most important takeaways from the book “Think
And Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.
This book just doesn’t die, it’s principles and lessons are still relevant today.
In order to generate wealth and get ahead in life, all you need to do is do certain
things very well in a certain way.
The goal of this channel is to teach you exactly what you need to do and how you need to do
it in order to become a better version of yourself and to achieve your goals.
I want you to subscribe to the channel now, so you can get our updates on what are the
best wealth-generating tricks and tips, as well as the philosophy of business, work,
and so much more.
Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.