I bought this book several months ago, and after breezing through the first few chapters, I’ve struggled to make the time to read more. So I figured if I made it the subject of my post, that’d get me in gear. I’ve since started it over again, this time with a much more focused mind and a highlighter in hand.
It’s impossible to spend much time in the blogosphere and not hear mention of this book. After seeing it mentioned numerous times by various bloggers, then reading through the overwhelmingly positive reviews on Amazon, I figured it was worth about $8 to invest in a paperback version for myself.
The story behind the writing of this book is pretty incredible in itself. After interviewing the billionaire Andrew Carnegie and hearing his firsthand take on the ’secret’ of success, Hill went on to interview hundreds of the most successful people in the world (Edison, Ford, Rockefeller, Schwab, Roosevelt, Wrigley…). Over 20 years after his first meeting with Carnegie, Hill published Think and Grow Rich in 1937, which is a summation of what he learned from all those incredible people.
“Truly, ‘thoughts are things’, and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material wants.”
That opening line of chapter 1, ‘Thoughts are Things’, is a powerful one and it sets the tone for a quality opening chapter. I won’t give much away, but it reminds me a great deal of the law of attraction, which basically states that we attract into our lives whatever dominates our minds- whether it’s for better or for worse (hence, why optimism and pessimism are quite often self-fulfilling prophecies).
Of course, thoughts on their own don’t do squat. The world is full of people who dream big things but fail to accomplish anything worthwhile. Thoughts, however, are the first step to getting somewhere though- if you don’t consciously think about what you want, chances are you won’t get it. To get from A to B, you’ve got to constantly immerse your mind with thoughts of B and how you’re going to get there. Otherwise, you’ll most definitely stay stuck at A.
I was not disappointed in the slightest by the first chapter. I can already tell that this book is about far more than money and material success- or at least it can be applied well beyond those subjects. It should be a great book on achieving success of any kind, and I’m looking forward to continuing further. I’ll definitely be giving updates in the near future as I get deeper into Hill’s masterpiece.
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