THE ALCHEMIST ABOUT TOWN

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Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill  

Pic from Amazon.co.uk

Thousands of personal finance books today promise to teach you just about anything under the sun but perhaps none said it better than a 200-page book published in 1937, which went to become one of the best-selling books of all time.

Napoleon Hill, former advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, explains entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie's secret to success, revealed to him during private interviews with Carnegie, the richest man of his time and during more than 20 years of research into the lives and philosophies of more than 500 of the most successful people in America.

This little gem presents a systematic approach to developing the skills and mindset required to achieve exceptional success in any field , personal or professional. It was the first book to ask, "What makes a winner?"

The man who asked and listened for the answer, Napoleon Hill, is now counted in the top ranks of the world's winners himself.

The most famous of all teachers of success spent "a fortune and the better part of a lifetime of effort" to produce the "Law of Success" philosophy that forms the basis of his books and that is so powerfully summarised in this one, helping people overcome the psychological barriers that keep them from wealth. 

"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 recognise failure, will bring riches." (Napoleon Hill).

In one passage, he sums up six steps to turning a desire for wealth into "its financial equivalent":

• Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definite-ness).
• Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.").
• Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire. 
• 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.
• 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.
• Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before bed at night, and once after waking up in the morning.

The only ways to achieve true wealth is to understand that more often than not our emotions and our mindset are what keep us from succeeding, and that it's our job to come up with a plan to overcome them.

I though subscribe to the same train of thought of Joe Vitale and I do believe that the real "secret" to Think and Grow Rich is in his Law of Success, where he really reveals it all... for that, you will need to read my blog tomorrow :-)