A quick aside here – I wonder if his book would still be popular to this day if he had STATED the secret rather than leaving it a bit of a mystery. I don’t think so.
Some have said the secret is to “Conceive it, believe it, and then achieve it.” That is, you need to decide what you want, believe with all your heart that you can and WILL achieve it, and then take action necessary to make it happen.
Others have said the secret lies in Chapter 2, where even Napoleon’s son said he could identify the secret. That chapter is about “Desire: The Starting Point Of All Achievement.”
Chapter 2 reads, “The method by which desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical steps…”
“First. Be definite as to the amount.” Desiring a lot of money or being rich won’t work. Making a goal of $5,000 a month in income will help.
“Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.” You get something for nothing – if you did, you could make a wish, and your desire would appear. You’ll need to exchange your efforts for the money you desire, so what can you do? How can you give tremendous value to others?
“Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the desired money.” Never underestimate the power of a deadline or the need to be accountable to someone. Tell the person you least want to disappoint about your deadline, and be sure they hold you to it.
“Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.” Decide what you’re going to do, and then do it. Don’t wait – procrastination leads to excuses which lead to more procrastination. Begin immediately.
“Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.” You’ve heard this before – Write it down. Make it concrete. Make it REAL.
“Sixth. Read your written statement aloud twice daily, once before retiring at night and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ – SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.” Twice a day? I would suggest several times a day. Keep your goal before you, so it’s on your mind constantly, like a mantra. It should be the last thing you think about as you fall asleep, the first thing you think of upon waking, and your prevailing thought throughout the day. As you think about it, BELIEVE it is already done – you are simply going through the formalities.
You’ll notice that these six steps assume one thing – that you will take ACTION and do whatever you need to do to make it happen.
Six steps, plus action.
What would it be if we were to boil this down to its essence?
Conceive it
Believe it
Achieve it
And there you have it – Napoleon Hill’s secret to Thinking and Growing Rich.
Famous salesperson Ben Gay tells the story of being on an ocean-going fishing boat with a very successful friend. His friend hooked a whopper of a fish on his line. The crew went crazy with someone shouting out, “slow down, speed up, hard to port, etc.” Crew members were running around doing whatever they were doing, and the entire boat felt chaos while his friend was working on landing this fish.
But his friend was as calm as could be. When Ben asked his friend how he could stay so quiet amid all this frenzy, he replied, “While the fish and the crew don’t know the outcome of this struggle, I do.”
His friend had already conceived and believed he would catch a giant fish. All that was left was to calmly and serenely land him.
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