Can your thoughts really determine what your reality will be?
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
If you have spent any length of time in the motivational section of the bookstore, you’re familiar with the classic written by Napoleon Hill in 1937, “Think and Grow Rich”. I selected this book as the first of 26 books to read this year because I’ve read it 3 times already but haven’t quite finished it.
It turns out I really wasn’t ready to finish it, as in I was too immature to finish it! Well, I finally did it and it couldn’t have been at a better time.
There’s a lot to take away from the book, and there are several action items and lists to be implemented in this book. You can read about those here:
A summary and review of the 6 steps outlined in Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich Principles
Those articles do a pretty good job in reviewing those parts of the book. In this article, I’ll focus on a few points that have made an impression.
The thoughts that you allow to inhibit your mind will eventually become reality.
As Napoleon states, “The oak sleeps in the acorn. The bird waits in the egg, and the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of reality”. In other words, what you focus on expands.
The mind acts as a transmission hub, emitting and receiving. When you focus on the negative, you will certainly attract back the negative. Conversely, if you focus on the positive, your surroundings become more positive. It might seem very simple to you. Just remember, simplicity is profound.
I know, it’s hippie/voodoo/new-agey… And certainly there are circumstances that are out of our control. Life happens. However, you are not a passive spectator. When we shift our own thoughts to focus on certain outcomes, our minds immediately become active in seeking the tools and circumstances for ways to turn those thoughts into reality.
It’s so sad knowing that most people walk through life without any conscious effort in directing our thoughts or consciously seeking positive outcomes in the things we do.
When we don’t make a conscious effort to direct our thoughts, someone else will.
Because our minds are always active and absorbing our surrounding, if we don’t filter out or focus on the outcomes we desire, than anything can be and will be planted in our minds. In Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill outlines a great example of this:
“When men first come into contact with crime, they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to it, and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long enough, they finally embrace, and become influenced by it.
Now, try this short exercise for yourself:
Replace the word “crime” with any negativity that you’ve experienced in your life. Are you being influenced by the crimes in your life?
I know I have. It’s one of the reasons that I stayed away from real estate for so long. After two years of being away from real estate, I was worst off in my attitude than when I first experienced the financial loss because I was so wrapped up in the hurt and disappointment. As a close friend and mentor told me, “So what, you have a booboo, get over yourself and start doing what you need to be doing.” He also gave me a copy of the book Shut up and Stop Whining! Thank you…? 🙂
Definite Chief Aim: the way to becoming the master of your fate and captain of your destiny
Why are you still alive? Is there meaning or purpose to your life? When I read the section on the Definite Chief Aim, the first thing that popped in my mind was was the importance of living a life with purpose. When you know your life’s purpose, and you have a strong desire to live it out, everything becomes clearer. Clarity gives you focus, and focus helps you filter out distractions.
Your life purpose provides the fuel you need to overcome difficulties, setbacks, disappointments, and things that you don’t like to do but have to anyway. When you don’t have purpose, there’s no clarity, and life can be very frustrating. I know firsthand!
So how do you build your Definite Chief Aim? Here are a few questions I found online that helped me, and I used Bruce Lee’s own Definite Chief Aim as a guide.
- What would you do if you’d win $ 1,000,000?
- If you’d have just one more year of life to live, what would you start doing?
- What do you like doing most in the world?
- How would you like to achieve fame?
- What would you do, if you knew you couldn’t fail?
What are the things in life that inspire you?
Knowing what I’m good at and passionate about helped me develop my Chief Definite Aim. Personally, I love to build systems, websites, marketing funnels, businesses, and even loved the process of building homes and subdivisions. So I know that one of my life’s purposes is to build. I am a builder. Some are maintainers, some are creators and innovators, others are starters or finishers, encouragers, teachers, healers. We all have unique gifts and talents.
Mine is to build. And my Definite Chief Aim has a lot of that in it.
So there you have it, my first official book review for 2015. Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments section, especially if you’ve read the book.
Warm regards,
Ruben 😀