As I began my selling career at a small radio station in Miami, Florida I struggled mightily with fear, uncertainty and general bewilderment. Before I could give up, one of the old timers took me to lunch, looked me in the eye and said “Listen kid, you might have a shot at making it in this business, but nobody’s really going to teach you how to do it, and you better learn fast”. He nodded sagely and handed me a cassette tape and a small hard back book. “Listen to this tape in your car on your way to sales calls and read this book cover to cover, over and over. Start with page 36”. The cassette was Earl Nightingale’s ‘Acres of Diamonds’ and the book was Napolean Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’. Twenty-five years later this remains the single most valuable piece of business advice I have ever received and Napolean Hill’s book remains the single most important business book I have ever read.
Page 36 of Think and Grow Rich gives the six foundational steps that now appear in just about every self-help and motivational program ever created. Hill calls them “Six Ways to Turn Desires into Gold” and they are six definite, practical steps.
“First: fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient to merely say ‘I want plenty of money.’ Be definite as to the amount.”
The more specific you are the more real it becomes – terms like ‘rich’ and ‘financially free’ are way to flexible, by drawing a line in the sand, by clearly stating your intention, the figure comes alive and the plan begins to grow. Hill uses money as the object of desire, you will find this applicable for anything you want to attract or create in your life.
“Second: determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.” There is no such thing as a free lunch; winning the lottery is not a good bet and ‘hope’ is not a strategy. By knowing what you want and what it’s going to take to get there, you commit to doing the work.
“Third: establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.” Goals have deadlines, pure and simple. The clock is ticking, the pressure is is on. It isn’t tough pressure – it’s pressure from you, to you, for you. To win at life, you have to take action – so, take action.
“Fourth: create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, wether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.”
You have a number, you have a goal, you have a strategy for execution – the next step towards success is taking action, making it happen. The key to taking action is taking it today. Go do something. Doing something, even if it’s not perfect, is way more effective than thinking about doing something. ‘Tomorrow’ is never the answer – the answer is ‘Now’.
“Fifth: write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for it’s acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.”
A goal is just a wish until it’s written down. You have a plan, to make your plan a reality you have to take it out of your head and write it down. With a pen. On paper.
“Six: read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just 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.”
This is where you begin to own your plan fully, where you begin to live your dreams fully as you begin to attain them. As you read your goals, dreams and plans aloud (with fervor and enthusiasm) most of the game is mental – feed your mind real and powerful images of your success, drill down on your action plan and it all starts to work. This part is critical – don’t let anything stand in your way. Now is now the time to feel a little self conscious about your dreams, about your success.
Hill talks about “Riches”, “Wealth” and “Money” throughout the book, I have used these techniques and strategies in all areas of my life; from building my selling career and running a sales team to losing weight and quitting smoking to creating a business plan and launching a business.
You can have anything you want in your life if you have a dream and the motivation, if you make a plan and take consistent, determined action.
We have briefly covered just six points from one page in Napolean Hill’s masterpiece. He began the project in 1908 at the behest of Andrew Carnegie and published the work in 1937. He studied the thinking and successes of the most successful men of his time, who are some of the most successful men of all time. He distilled their lives, their knowledge and their inspiration into a book that took him almost 30 years to write. Don’t miss one single word. Pick up ‘Think and Grow Rich’ and read it, if you will; cover to cover, over and over.
