Improving Our “Signals” and “Beings”

This is a book review of Napoleon Hill’s all-time international classic Think and Grow Rich!. It is the original version, restored and revised by Ross Cornwell, and fully annotated and indexed.

A simple Google search with “Think and Grow Rich” shows millions of results. Since publishing the book in 1937, when the Great Depression was at its strongest, Napoleon Hill has impacted, or rather created, personal development as we know it today. That is why I am reviewing the book: because its teachings are powerfully fundamental to any type of personal development.

Think and Grow Rich! is an accumulation into Hill’s studies of 500 of the world’s most successful people over a 25 year period. Hill studied, and was fortunate enough to develop relationships with many of, the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Gandhi, William Wrigley, Wilbur Wright, Theodore Roosevelt, Elbert Hubbard, Franklin Woolworth, John Rockefeller, Charles Schwab, and Alexander Graham Bell. Such a powerful study alone should be enough reason to buy the book. To tap into the minds of men who pioneered many things we have today is an irresistible opportunity.

Hill’s book is similar to Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friends and Influence People in that they both are classic books shaping many self help teachings today. These are books over 70 years old, that have been reshaped by the author’s family and other experts, which get mentioned in nearly any personal development book. If the book is not directly mentioned, its principles are mostly likely discussed in an indirect manner.

The most mysterious thing about the book is what Hill calls “the secret”. The secret was revealed to him by Andrew Carnegie who gave the secret very subtly without giving it a name. Hill provides half of the secret, but tells the reader it is up to them to figure it out. In the author’s preface, Hill says:

“The secret to which I refer is mentioned no fewer than a hundred times throughout this book. It has not been directly named, for it seems to work more successfully when it is merely uncovered and left in sight, where THOSE WHO ARE READY and SEARCHING FOR IT may pick it up… If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this secret at least once in every chapter. I wish I might feel privileged to tell you how you will know if you are ready, but that would deprive you of much of the benefit you will receive when you make the discovery in your own way.

There is a real interesting seven minute video on YouTube I recommend you go watch where Napoleon Hill discusses the secret. The video captures rare footage of Hill, someone who has shaped personal development today, so I do recommend you watch it, if not to learn about the secret, then to just see Hill.

What is fascinating about the secret is that some people cannot discover it – even after reading Think and Grow Rich! 15 times. This is not a problem on the person’s part, it is merely an indication that they are not ready. As Hill says, the secret is obvious to you when you are ready.

The secret reflects Think and Grow Rich! principles: you can read the book and overlook powerful lessons because your awareness is not ready to gather such lessons. Like Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, by reading the book one time every year you experience powerful new realizations because your awareness and experience you have at the present time is not enough to completely grasp the principles in these classic books.

The 13 steps to riches, which form the books chapters and most of its contents, are as follows:

1. Desire
2. Faith
3. Autosuggestion
4. Specialized Knowledge
5. Imagination
6. Organized Planning
7. Decision
8. Persistence
9. Power of the Master Mind
10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
11. The Subconscious Mind
12. The Brain
13. The Sixth Sense

The chapters on desire and the master mind were the most compelling to me. The master mind section is about gathering a group of like-minded people together. Wealthy individuals often thank Hill for bringing this success principle to their mind because even though you may not have the knowledge or expertise in an area, the master mind gives you connections with like-minded people to gather the information you need for success.

There are a lot of Think and Grow Rich! versions out there, so why should you get this version by Ross Cornwell? Simply put, from my experience and many other people’s experience, this is the best version out there. Ross Cornwell has included a lot of useful material that other versions released after 1960 exclude. In the back of the book is Bruce Lee’s application of Hill’s “Definite Chief Aim” where you write down your goals using the self-confidence formula. Lee’s definite chief aim was found in Hollywood and later matched his success of being the highest paid Oriental star in the United States. As the book’s front page states: “The version of TGR! that makes all others obsolete.”

Go to the following link I’m about to give to you, and take a few minutes to read some people’s life-changing stories. Because the book was released many decades ago, there are people who share their story on how exactly Think and Grow Rich! changed their life. The 13 steps to riches given to you by Hill have great power in changing you to be who you want to be. If you do not already have a copy of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich!, you must grab your copy now from Amazon by clicking here.

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