Think and Grow Rich

To all these I wish to convey the thought that all achievement, no matter what may be its nature, or its purpose, must begin with an intense, BURNING DESIRE for something definite. (View Highlight)

RICHES begin in the form of THOUGHT! (View Highlight)

The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the THOUGHT is put into motion. FAITH removes limitations! Remember this when you are ready to bargain with Life for whatever it is that you ask as your price for having passed this way. (View Highlight)

Man may become the master of himself, and of his environment, because he has the POWER TO INFLUENCE HIS OWN SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, and through it, gain the cooperation of Infinite Intelligence. (View Highlight)

If you have the IMAGINATION, and seek a more profitable outlet for your personal services, this suggestion may be the stimulus for which you have been searching. The IDEA is capable of yielding an income far greater than that of the “average” doctor, lawyer, or engineer whose education required several years in college. The idea is saleable to those seeking new positions, in practically all positions calling for managerial or executive ability, and those desiring re-arrangement of incomes in their present positions. (View Highlight)

Millions of people go through life hoping for favorable “breaks.” Perhaps a favorable break can get one an opportunity, but the safest plan is not to depend upon luck. It was a favorable “break” that gave me the biggest opportunity of my life— but— twenty-five years of determined effort had to be devoted to that opportunity before it became an asset. (View Highlight)

SUCCESS REQUIRES NO EXPLANATIONS (View Highlight)

1. UNFAVORABLE HEREDITARY BACKGROUND. There is but little, if anything, which can be done for people who are born with a deficiency in brain power. This philosophy offers but one method of bridging this weakness— through the aid of the Master Mind. Observe with profit, however, that this is the ONLY one of the thirty causes of failure which may not be easily corrected by any individual. (View Highlight)

2. LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE. There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal at which to aim. Ninety-eight out of every hundred of those whom I have analyzed, had no such aim. Perhaps this was the (View Highlight)

a. Overeating of foods not conducive to health

9. LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good “starters” but poor “finishers” of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSISTENCE his watch-word, discovers that “Old Man Failure” finally becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with PERSISTENCE. (View Highlight)

10. NEGATIVE PERSONALITY. There is no hope of success for the person who repels people through a negative personality. Success comes through the application of POWER, and power is attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative personality will not induce cooperation. (View Highlight)

11. LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE. Sex energy is the most powerful of all the stimuli which move people into ACTION. Because it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must be controlled, through transmutation, and converted into other channels. (View Highlight)

12. UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.” The gambling instinct drives millions of people to failure. Evidence of this may be found in a study of the Wall Street crash of ‘29, during which millions of people tried to make money by gambling on stock margins. (View Highlight)

13. LACK OF A WELL DEFINED POWER OF DECISION. Men who succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if at all, very slowly. Men who fail, reach decisions, if at all, very slowly, and change them frequently, and quickly. Indecision and procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is found, the other may usually be found also. Kill off this pair before they completely “hog-tie” you to the treadmill of FAILURE. (View Highlight)

15. WRONG SELECTION OF A MATE IN MARRIAGE. This a most common cause of failure. The relationship of marriage brings people intimately into contact. Unless this relationship is harmonious, failure is likely to follow. Moreover, it will be a form of failure that is marked by misery and unhappiness, destroying all signs of AMBITION. (View Highlight)

16. OVER-CAUTION. The person who takes no chances, generally has to take whatever is left when others are through choosing. Over-caution is as bad as under-caution. Both are extremes to be guarded against. Life itself is filled with the element of chance. (View Highlight)

17. WRONG SELECTION OF ASSOCIATES IN BUSINESS. This is one of the most common causes of failure in business. In marketing personal services, one should use great care to select an employer who will be an inspiration, and who is, himself, intelligent and successful. We emulate those with whom we associate most closely. Pick an employer who is worth emulating. (View Highlight)

20. LACK OF CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT. The “jack-of-all-trades” seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one DEFINITE CHIEF AIM. (View Highlight)

21. THE HABIT OF INDISCRIMINATE SPENDING. The spend-thrift cannot succeed, mainly because he stands eternally in FEAR OF POVERTY. Form the habit of systematic saving by putting aside a definite percentage of your income. Money in the bank gives one a very safe foundation of COURAGE when bar-gaining for the sale of personal services. Without money, one must take what one is offered, and be glad to get it. (View Highlight)

29. GUESSING INSTEAD OF THINKING. Most people are too indifferent or lazy to acquire FACTS with which to THINK ACCURATELY. They prefer to act on “opinions” created by guesswork or snap-judgments. (View Highlight)

SELF-ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PERSONAL INVENTORY (View Highlight)

1. Have I attained the goal which I established as my objective for this year? (You should work with a definite yearly objective to be attained as a part of your major life objective). (View Highlight)

2. Have I delivered service of the best possible QUALITY of which I was capable, or could I have improved any part of this service? (View Highlight)

3. Have I delivered service in the greatest possible QUANTITY of which I was capable? (View Highlight)

4. Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious, and cooperative at all times? (View Highlight)

5. Have I permitted the habit of PROCRASTINATION to decrease my efficiency, and if so, to what extent? (View Highlight)

6. Have I improved my PERSONALITY, and if so, in what ways? (View Highlight)

7. Have I been PERSISTENT in following my plans through to completion? (View Highlight)

8. Have I reached DECISIONS PROMPTLY AND DEFINITELY on all occasions? (View Highlight)

9. Have I permitted any one or more of the six basic fears to decrease my efficiency? (View Highlight)

10. Have I been either “over-cautious,” or “under-cautious?” (View Highlight)

11. Has my relationship with my associates in work been pleasant, or unpleasant? If it has been unpleasant, has the fault been partly, or wholly mine? (View Highlight)

12. Have I dissipated any of my energy through lack of CONCENTRATION of effort? (View Highlight)

13. Have I been open minded and tolerant in con-nection with all subjects? (View Highlight)

14. In what way have I improved my ability to render service? (View Highlight)

15. Have I been intemperate in any of my habits? (View Highlight)

16. Have I expressed, either openly or secretly, any form of EGOTISM? (View Highlight)

17. Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced them to RESPECT me? (View Highlight)

18. Have my opinions and DECISIONS been based upon guesswork, or accuracy of analysis and THOUGHT? (View Highlight)

19. Have I followed the habit of budgeting my time, my expenses, and my income, and have I been conservative in these budgets? (View Highlight)

20. How much time have I devoted to UNPROFITABLE effort which I might have used to better advantage? (View Highlight)

21. How may I RE-BUDGET my time, and change my habits so I will be more efficient during the coming year? (View Highlight)

22. Have I been guilty of any conduct which was not approved by my conscience? (View Highlight)

23. In what ways have I rendered MORE SERVICE AND BETTER SERVICE than I was paid to render? (View Highlight)

24. Have I been unfair to anyone, and if so, in what way? (View Highlight)

25. If I had been the purchaser of my own services for the year, would I be satisfied with my purchase? (View Highlight)

26. Am I in the right vocation, and if not, why not? (View Highlight)

27. Has the purchaser of my services been satisfied with the service I have rendered, and if not, why not? (View Highlight)

28. What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success? (Make this rating fairly, and frankly, and have it checked by someone who is courageous enough to do it accurately). (View Highlight)