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Book Review: "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill

© Sheila Cohill

Andrew Carnegie challenged and encouraged a youthful Napoleon Hill to spend twenty or more years observing, interviewing, and analyzing many self-made millionaires in regard to their money-making achievements. After twenty-five years of doing so, Hill published the now-classic book, Think and Grow Rich, in 1937. The information contained in the book is just as relevant and inspiring today as it was then.

The book contains fifteen chapters, the titles of which are shown below. As you can see, the first chapter contains a general introduction. Chapters 2 through 14 expound on the thirteen steps Hill developed for increasing wealth. The last chapter provides advice on recognizing symptoms of and combating the six basic fears Hill recognized.

Chapter 1: General Introduction
Chapter 2: Desire
Chapter 3: Faith
Chapter 4: Auto-Suggestion
Chapter 5: Specialized Knowledge
Chapter 6: Imagination
Chapter 7: Organized Planning
Chapter 8: Decision
Chapter 9: Persistence
Chapter 10: Power of the Master Mind
Chapter 11: The Mystery of Sex Transmution
Chapter 12: The Sub-Conscious Mind
Chapter 13: The Brain
Chapter 14: The Sixth Sense
Chapter 15: How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear

Each chapter uses language that sounds as if it were written early in the last century (as it was), but the reading is still relatively easy, and the content, despite some repetition, is still quite valuable. That repetition, in fact, could very well be one of Hill's methods for driving a point home, as his book reveals he is a big believer in consistent reinforcement.

While Hill offers the thirteen steps to riches throughout his book, in Chapter 1 he offers "six definite, practical steps" by which "DESIRE for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent." They are excerpted below.

First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire . . . .

Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire . . . .

Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

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.

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 for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

Sixth. Read your 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.

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