Think and Grow Rich

# Think and Grow Rich

Chapter 1: Thoughts Are Things

Thoughts are things. Hill's opening claim is that a thought backed by Definite Purpose, Persistence, and a burning Desire can be translated into its physical equivalent, including wealth. Riches begin as a state of mind, not as luck or circumstance.

Hill's proof is Edwin C. Barnes, who decided he would go into business with Thomas A. Edison. He had no money and no connections. Yet he held to one purpose until he became Edison's business associate. Hill's point is that Barnes's success began with the thought, long before he met Edison.

What set Barnes apart:

A single definite desire, not a vague wish

Persistence that did not depend on early results

Readiness to act on the thought, not just hold it

Hill credits Andrew Carnegie with inspiring the philosophy behind this approach. He also treats the mind as the starting point for achievement, since you become what your dominant thoughts make you.

Try this: Write one sentence naming the single thing you want most, then read it aloud tonight.

Chapter 2: Desire: The Starting Point of Achievement

Desire, not wishing or hoping, is the starting point of all achievement. Only a burning, definite desire, pursued until it becomes an obsession, turns thought into riches.

Edwin C. Barnes shows the principle at work. He wanted to become Thomas A. Edison's business associate, and he had no money or connections. He let nothing divert him from that one aim, and he eventually became Edison's associate. His desire was specific, and he never allowed an escape route.

Hill's six steps for turning desire into reality:

Fix the exact thing you want, and be specific about it.

Decide what you will give in return. Nothing comes free.

Set a definite date by which you will have it.

Make a plan and begin at once, whether or not you feel ready.

Then write the statement down and read it aloud twice daily, so that Autosuggestion plants it in the Subconscious Mind.

Try this: Write one sentence stating exactly what you want, what you will give for it, and your deadline. Read it aloud tonight.

Chapter 3: Faith: Visualizing and Believing in Desire

Faith is the state of mind that turns desire into reality. Hill calls it the "eternal elixir" that gives thought life, power, and action. It is built by repeatedly feeding your Subconscious Mind with a clear picture of what you want.

The method is Autosuggestion: the self-administered instruction that carries your desire into the subconscious. Emotion drives it, so unfelt words accomplish nothing.

Read your written statement of desire aloud twice daily, once at night and once on rising.

See and feel yourself already in possession of the money or goal as you read.

Hold to this with Persistence, because faith grows through repetition, not through a single effort.

Hill states that faith is the only known antidote to failure, and that doubt and fear are its enemies. Edwin C. Barnes, who wanted to become Thomas A. Edison's partner, held that image so firmly that he eventually became Edison's business associate.

Try this: Tonight, read your written desire aloud and picture yourself already holding it.

Chapter 4: Autosuggestion: Influencing the Subconscious Mind

Autosuggestion is the channel between your conscious intent and your Subconscious Mind. Whatever you repeatedly feed it, it accepts and works to turn into physical reality.

The Subconscious Mind works day and night. It does not judge whether a thought helps or harms you, so it acts on fear and poverty as readily as on desire and abundance. Thoughts charged with emotion and Faith reach it fastest. Plain words repeated without feeling barely register.

Hill's method is a written statement of your Definite Chief Aim, applied through three points:

Write the exact amount of money you want, the date you will have it, what you will give in return, and your plan.

Read the statement aloud twice daily, on rising and before sleep.

As you read, see and feel yourself already holding the money.

Hill admits this may feel foolish at first. Persist anyway, because repetition creates belief.

Try this: Write your money statement tonight and read it aloud, with feeling, before you fall asleep.

Chapter 5: Specialized Knowledge: Personal Experiences or Observations

Specialized Knowledge is the knowledge that makes money, and it pays only when it is organized into definite plans of action aimed at a Definite Chief Aim. General knowledge, however large, earns little. Knowledge is only potential power until it is directed to a specific end.

You do not have to hold all of it yourself. Henry Ford had little formal schooling, yet he surrounded himself with specialists through a Master Mind alliance and commanded the knowledge his business needed.

Hill names three sources:

Your own experience and education: what you have personally learned and observed.

Cooperation of others: the Master Mind alliance with people who know what you do not.

Colleges, public libraries, and special training courses: organized learning you can pursue at any age.

Choose your knowledge to serve your plan. Whatever you study must support your Definite Chief Aim, and learning never stops.

Try this: Write down the specialized knowledge your main goal requires, then list one source for each gap.

Chapter 6: Imagination: The Workshop of the Mind

Imagination is the workshop of the mind, where every plan, idea, and desire is shaped into something real. Hill says it can be developed through use, and that it weakens when ignored.

He names two forms:

Synthetic imagination: Rearranges existing ideas, concepts, and plans into new combinations. Most inventors work this way. Edison's incandescent lamp combined known principles in a new arrangement.

Creative imagination: The channel through which hunches and inspirations arrive. It links the finite mind to Infinite Intelligence and connects to the Sixth Sense.

Hill's point is that Desire needs a plan, and plans come from imagination. Wealth begins as a thought, then becomes an organized plan, then becomes action. People who never use imagination stay stuck in the methods they inherited. Those who exercise it daily find that ideas come faster and with more force.

Try this: Write down one problem you face, then list three new ways to combine tools or ideas you already have to solve it.

Chapter 7: Organized Planning: Crystallizing Desire into Action

Desire becomes wealth only when it is converted into Organized Planning. A wish without a practical plan goes nowhere, and no one reaches a major goal alone. Hill says you must build your plan with the help of a Master Mind alliance.

Ally with others. Gather people with the Specialized Knowledge, experience, and education you lack. Offer them a benefit in return, because no one works for you for free.

Act now. Begin with whatever you have, in whatever position you hold. Don't wait for perfect conditions.

Replace failed plans. Hill treats defeat as temporary until you quit. When one plan fails, replace it with another and continue. Persistence is what makes this work.

Hill's examples show the principle in action. Andrew Carnegie built his success on a Master Mind of capable associates. Edwin C. Barnes, who wanted to become Thomas A. Edison's partner, started in a humble role and used it to get close to Edison.

Try this: Write down your Definite Chief Aim, list three people whose knowledge you need, and note what you will offer each.

Chapter 8: Decision: The Mastery of Procrastination

Procrastination is the opposite of decision, and it is an enemy every person must master. Success belongs to those who decide promptly and change their minds slowly.

Hill's analysis of over 25,000 people who had failed placed lack of decision near the top of the 31 major causes of failure. Those who accumulate wealth reach decisions quickly and hold to them, while those who fail reach decisions slowly, if at all, and change them often.

Edwin C. Barnes shows the principle at work. He decided to become Thomas A. Edison's business associate and left himself no alternative. That decision opened the door.

Know exactly what you want. A Definite Chief Aim makes decision possible.

Decide quickly. Delay feeds doubt and fear.

Resist opinion. Other people's views are cheap, and acting on them dilutes your own decision.

Commit fully. Remove your escape routes.

Try this: Today, make one decision you have been postponing, write it down, and act on it within 24 hours.

Chapter 9: Persistence: Sustained Effort to Induce Faith

Persistence is the sustained effort that turns Desire into its material equivalent, and it is the surest way to induce Faith. It rests on willpower. Hill compares its place in character to that of carbon in steel. Most people quit at the first defeat, so those who keep going stand apart.

Persistence is a habit, and it can be built. Hill names four simple steps:

A definite purpose backed by a burning desire.

A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.

A mind closed against negative and discouraging influences, including those from relatives, friends and acquaintances.

A friendly alliance with one or more people who encourage you to follow through on plan and purpose.

Lack of persistence is a common cause of failure, and it is often fed by weak desire, vague plans and fear of criticism. Hill's remedy is to repeat your plan and purpose until they sink into the Subconscious Mind, then keep acting on them.

Try this: Write your plan and purpose on one page, read it aloud daily, and take one action toward it before you sleep.

Chapter 10: Power of the Master Mind

The Master Mind is the coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people working toward a definite purpose. It gives you power no single mind can generate alone.

Hill identifies two benefits:

Economic advantage: You gain access to the Specialized Knowledge, experience, and education of others without having to acquire it yourself.

Psychic advantage: Minds in harmony stimulate one another, creating a third, more powerful mind that sharpens ideas and feeds the Subconscious Mind.

Andrew Carnegie credited his fortune to a Master Mind group of about 50 men, assembled for one purpose: manufacturing and marketing steel. His success rested on their combined knowledge, not his own.

Harmony is non-negotiable. Hill states that no Master Mind lasts without it, and an alliance without it brings no real power. Every member must also gain something, so the arrangement must be mutually beneficial.

Try this: Name one person whose knowledge fills a gap in your Definite Chief Aim, then propose a specific, mutually beneficial alliance this week.

Chapter 11: The Mystery of Sex Transmutation

Sex Transmutation means switching the mind from thoughts of physical expression to creative effort. Hill calls sex the most powerful human desire and argues that redirecting its energy produces imagination, enthusiasm, and Persistence.

Sex energy is creative energy. Channeled into a Definite Chief Aim, it becomes drive and magnetism.

Transmutation needs a purpose. Without a burning goal to absorb the energy, it returns to its old outlet.

It stimulates the Sixth Sense. Hill says a mind raised to this level receives ideas beyond ordinary reasoning.

Maturity matters. Hill observes that most great achievers did their best work after forty.

Hill lists sex first among ten mind stimuli, followed by love, music, and the Master Mind alliance.

Try this: When restlessness or desire peaks, spend that energy at once on one task tied to your Definite Chief Aim.

Chapter 12: The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting Link

The Subconscious Mind is the connecting link between your conscious thoughts and Infinite Intelligence. It works day and night, and it acts on whatever you feed it, whether that is desire or fear.

Hill says it responds to thoughts mixed with emotion, not to bare ideas. Autosuggestion is the channel through which you deliver instructions to it.

Emotion gives thought its power. Hill names seven major positive emotions, led by desire, faith, and love, and seven negative ones, led by fear, jealousy, and hatred.

Positive and negative cannot share the mind. You must deliberately fill it with positive emotion so negative thoughts have no room.

Repetition plants the instruction. The subconscious acts on what you repeat, so state your Definite Chief Aim with conviction until it takes root.

Fear is the main obstacle. Unchecked, it plants poverty-thoughts just as readily as desire plants wealth-thoughts.

Try this: Each morning and night, read your written goal aloud with real feeling, and replace any fearful thought with it.

Chapter 13: The Brain: Broadcasting and Receiving Station

Every human brain can broadcast and receive the vibrations of thought. Hill treats the brain as a station that sends and picks up thought, and he says the quality of what you send and receive depends on how you condition your mind.

Creative Imagination is the receiving set. It picks up thoughts released by other brains and passes ideas and "hunches" to your conscious mind.

Subconscious Mind is the sending station. Autosuggestion feeds it a Definite Chief Aim, and it broadcasts that aim.

Emotion raises the vibration rate. Thoughts mixed with Desire and Faith carry more force than cold, neutral ones. Fear, jealousy and hatred stifle the receiver.

Master Mind alliances multiply the effect. Brains working in harmony stimulate each other and create a mental power no single mind can match.

Hill presents this as a working hypothesis, not proven science. He asks you to test it by observing your own results.

Try this: Each morning, read your written aim aloud with full emotion, then spend five minutes in silence, noting any ideas that arrive.

Chapter 14: The Sixth Sense: Door to the Temple of Wisdom

The Sixth Sense is the thirteenth principle. It is the part of the mind through which Infinite Intelligence communicates, and it brings hunches, ideas and plans without any effort to seek them. Hill calls it the "door to the Temple of Wisdom" and says it cannot be mastered by will alone. It develops only after you have absorbed the other twelve principles.

Hill describes it as the creative imagination at its highest level. It works as a receiving set for flashes of insight, and it also acts as a built-in warning system against danger.

Prepare the mind first. Desire, faith, autosuggestion and the Master Mind clear the way.

Use the Master Mind as a bridge. Hill says this principle leads toward the Sixth Sense.

Keep emotions positive. Fear and negativity block insight.

Hill says that when he imagined meetings with nine "Invisible Counselors," including Emerson and Lincoln, he received ideas from them. He admits the practice is imaginary, but he says it strengthened his confidence and his creative reception.

Hill's own caution is that the Sixth Sense rewards preparation, not shortcuts.

Try this: Spend ten quiet minutes tonight with your Definite Chief Aim in mind, and write down every idea that comes.

Chapter 15: How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear

Fear is only a state of mind, and the mind can be controlled. Hill names six basic fears, the Six Ghosts of Fear, and says they are the main obstacle between a person and a Definite Chief Aim. They live in the Subconscious Mind, where they feed on neglect and are strengthened by negative suggestion.

The six ghosts are:

Poverty, which Hill calls the most destructive.

Criticism and ill health, which sap initiative and drain energy.

Loss of love, old age and death, which turn ambition into hesitation.

Hill also warns against worry, which he treats as the symptom that shows fear has taken hold. The remedy is to take charge of your thoughts. Use Autosuggestion to plant courage and Faith in place of dread, and keep yourself busy with Desire and Organized Planning. Fear cannot settle in a mind that is occupied with a purpose.

Try this: Write down which of the six fears affects you most, then write one affirmation that contradicts it and read it aloud every morning and night.