People read books for many reasons. One of them tends to be finding inspiration and recommendations in how to boost their personal development and self-improvement, including the monetary aspect and not only in essence and personality.
This is why the books that fall in the categories of personal success and self-help are so popular among readers: They are always looking for a new one to guide them to achieve a specific goal.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill has conquered many minds and hearts since its publication, and although it is an old book, it still remains present with many of its suggestions, principles, and tips.
Suppose you are truly interested in finding a book that can be useful for your personal growth and won’t be a waste of time. In that case, you should definitely give this one a try, and if you have your doubts about it, just keep reading this article to get to know it a bit more and make your decision.
Napoleon Hill: The Author Behind the Book
Before we start talking about the book and how it can help you, we always prefer to start with the author who wrote it in the first place.
Why? Because they can be part of the inspiration and push you to need to start reading it and determine if it may be “your taste” or “useful” for you or not.
In this case, we are introduced to Oliver Napoleon Hill, known as Napoleon Hill only, who was born on October 26, 1883, in Pound, Virginia, USA.
He was an American author who had a huge influence on personal growth and the key to success. Therefore, most of the work we will review a bit later will have a special focus on these topics.
When it comes to his childhood, his parents were James Monroe Hill and Sarah Sylvania. Unfortunately, his mother died when he was nine years old, and his father remarried to the widow of a school principal, Martha.
She greatly influenced him by making Napoleon go to school, attend church, and made the known “wild” child into someone you could admire without using violence.
From this point, we jump to the moment he started writing.
When he was thirteen years old, Napoleon Hill began writing as a mountain reporter to help with his father’s newspaper.
When he was 17 years old, Hill graduated from high school and decided to move to Tazewell, Virginia, in order to attend business school.
During this time, in 1901, to be more specific, he accepted a job from the lawyer, Rufus A. Ayers, who served as Attorney General of Virginia.
There are many theories of how he obtained this job. However, we are truly interested in that he enrolled in law school but unfortunately had to withdraw from it due to a lack of funds to continue paying for college.
Following this unfortunate incident and situation, Hill relocated to Mobile, Alabama, in 1907 and tried his luck by co-founding the Acree-Hill Lumber Company.
However, in 1908, The Pensacola Journal reported that the company was under bankruptcy proceedings. They were also facing mail fraud charges for buying lumber from Alabama and Florida from outside Mobile and selling it below market value, thus failing to generate a profit.
As a result, in May 1909, Hill relocated to Washington, D.C., where he decided to launch the Automobile College of Washington that focused on teaching students how to build cars, work as a chauffeur, and sell motors.
However, due to a scandal, the college had to close in 1912.
After he had moved to Chicago, he accepted a job at the La Salle Extension University.
He also co-founded the Betsy Ross Candy Shop. In September 1915, the George Washington Institute of Advertising was established.
Here, he wanted to teach self-confidence and the principles of success. Chicago Tribune reported on June 4, 1918, that Illinois issued two warrants for his arrest.
He was charged with violating blue skies laws and fraudulently trying to sell shares of his school at $100,000 capitalization. The school eventually closed.
Hill claimed later that he was there to advise President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. However, White House records do not mention Hill ever being there.
Hill began other business ventures after the George Washington Institute was closed. These included Napoleon Hill’s Magazine and Hill’s Golden Rule.
In 1922, Hill opened the Intra-Wall Correspondence School, which was a charitable foundation intended to provide educational materials to prisoners in Ohio. He was, among other things, a former convict and check forger Butler Storke.
Why Read His Book? – Plot Summary
Short answer: Because his life as an author was much more reliable, honest, and well-developed than any of his business ventures and attempts for being a magnate.
We know people have their doubts about Hill due to the background that precedes him. However, we promise it won’t be a waste of time since Think and Grow Rich is truly worth your time and not a scam like all of his previous works outside of authorship.
Before he published Think and Grow Rich, he actually focused on relocating to Philadelphia in 1928. He worked hard to convince a Connecticut publisher to take his eight-volume work, “The Law of Success,” which he wrote back in 1925.
It was his first major success and allowed him to finally have an opulent lifestyle.
However, this success followed many downs in terms of finances and also books published that weren’t as successful.
It was until 1937 when he published the best-selling, Think and Grow Rich that is known as his best work nowadays.
Now, with this part of the history and reason clear, we want to focus on the book’s plot, which is clearer and more straightforward than you might think.
Think and Grow Rich combines the wisdom of over 500 of America’s most accomplished individuals.
The insights of these individuals were then reduced to 14 principles by Hill, which he calls a “Philosophy of Achievement.”
However, something to point out about the book and what to expect from it is that Hill refused to allow the book to be viewed as a system or method for success and instead stated that the book has two main goals: Assist the reader in becoming self-aware, and in understating how to be more effective amid the immutable laws and forces of the universe.
Napoleon Hill’s 14 principles for success are a philosophy that can be thought about. Each principle will be covered individually and teach you every aspect you should consider from it. Which one are these 14 principles?
- Thoughts Are Things.
- Desire.
- Faith.
- Auto-suggestion.
- Specialized Knowledge.
- Imagination.
- Organized Planning.
- Decision.
- Persistence.
- The Power of the Master Mind.
- Sex Transmutation.
- The Subconscious Mind.
- The Brain.
- The Sixth Sense.
Think and Grow Rich is a book that’s both philosophical and spiritual. It has been a classic for CEOs and entrepreneurs alike. You’ll be able to control your subconscious and master your destiny by reading it and know how to achieve self-development and success in life, business, and other aspects of life.
Popularity & Reception: Still Updated in the 21st Century?
Many people have a question if those principles still work for people in this century, and it makes sense. After all, it is common to believe it won’t work since we are dealing with a book from the 1930s.
However, you don’t need to worry about this, and instead, we can tell you its success continues to be for a good reason.
The book was well-received not because it is a “guide” to become rich, but rather work in your personal development and self-improvement to succeed in any line of work and do anything you can think about.
In other words, people feel more than simply encouraged by the book and are able to find their peace of mind and tools to know what direction they should take to grow, increase income, and trust in themselves to achieve their goals.
To this date, 2021, the book remains a great example of how you can do this because all the principles approached continue to be a great issue and topic (at the same time) for new entrepreneurs and anyone who just wants to work on themselves.
That being said, the book sold quite handsomely during its first publication during the Great Depression, and to this date, it has sold over 15 million copies.
Its popularity just continues to grow over the years despite the decades passing by, and Think and Grow Rich is now considered a must-read for every single person in the world.
Top 5 Lessons from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- You need to think in order to conduct yourself to success.
- You must want it real bad in order for it to come true, and it must have a connection with your thoughts.
- You must trust in yourself and have faith that what you want to achieve is possible.
- You must be creative and have imagination. Don’t let others limit you in this aspect.
- Be a decision-maker, not a procrastinator.
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