Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich!
CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST STEP TO GOING TO WEALTH: DESIRE
Dreams come true when wishes turn into actions.
Ask for much of life,
and life will give you a lot.
——————-
The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule,
but to schedule your priorities. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
THE FIRST STEP TO GOING TO WEALTH: DESIRE
A burning desire is the greatest motivator of every human action. — Paul J. Meyer
More than fifty years ago,
when Edwin S. Barns stepped down
from the freight train at East-Orange, New Jersey,
he looked like a tramp,
but his thoughts were worthy of a king.
On the way from the train station
to Thomas A. Edison’s office,
he thought; he found himself standing in front of Edison;
he heard himself asking Edison about the possibility of fulfilling
his burning desire that had become his obsession
to be in business with the great inventor.
Not hope! Not the reach!
It’s the burning desire that overwhelms everything else.
Actually there.
A few years later Edwin S. Barns stood
in front of Edison again in the same office,
where the first meeting took place.
But stand as a business friend.
Barns succeeds,
because he has chosen a specific goal and all energy,
willpower is devoted to it.
You don’t have to be great to start,
but you have to start to be great. – Zig Ziglar
——————-
Seek first to understand,
then to be understood. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
NO RETURN
Between the two meetings was 5 years.
For everyone,
Barns was a spoke in Edison’s career wheel.
To everyone,
not to himself.
Barns considered himself Edison’s business friend
from the first minute,
the first day on the job.
Barns became that person
because he wanted this more than anything in the world.
He made a plan to achieve the goal.
Then burn the bridge.
And cherish your dream
until it becomes a thought that haunts your whole life,
and eventually becomes life itself.
Desire creates power. ― Raymond Holliwell
Arriving at East-Orange,
he didn’t say to himself:
Let’s try to convince Edison to give me a job.
He said: I will put Edison before the fact
that I came here to do business with him.
He did not say:
I understand that
I may not achieve anything at Edison’s company
and be forced to look for other possibilities.
He said:
In this world we only want one thing to work with Edison.
I spit on everything,
I bet my soul,
but I have to get what I want.
He did not let his way back.
You must win or die!
That’s the whole story of Barns’ success.
The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading
what you want most for what you want right now. – Zig Ziglar
——————-
Most people do not listen
with the intent to understand;
they listen with the intent to reply. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
AND HE BURNED THE VEHICLE
When you are young,
you may not need money,
but when you are old,
you cannot be without money. ― Tennessee Williams
Years ago, a military man had to choose:
he had to make a decision that led to victory.
He must fight an army of enemies many times over.
He put his men on board
and swam out to hostile land.
When he got there,
he ordered all the ships to be burned.
Before the battle he said to his army:
Do you see the smoke of our ships burning?
Which means,
if we don’t win,
we can’t leave here alive.
We have only one choice:
win or die.
And they won.
Those who want to win need to burn all the bridges,
cut off all the ways of retreat.
Only then can you keep the burning desire to win,
so necessary for success.
The morning after the great Chicago fire,
a group of merchants stood
on State-street amid the smoky sprawl of one-time property.
They discussed with each other,
whether to restore the things
that had been destroyed by the fire or give up Chicago to another,
luckier place.
And everyone decided to leave.
Except for one person.
Marshall Field, the merchant
who decided to stay in Chicago, said:
Gentlemen,
on this land I will build the largest store in the world,
no matter how many times it may burn.
This event took place almost a hundred years ago.
The shop is built.
It still stands today,
like a memorial to the state of mind known
as the wish to win.
Of course, for Marshall Field,
walking away was simpler.
But he was different from the other merchants,
that’s what successful people always differ
from those doomed to fail.
Since people started to understand the meaning of money,
people don’t want money to be lost.
But wanting does not mean having.
There is only the passionate desire for wealth,
which turns to obsession,
only to outline specific paths and means to achieve it,
only to persevere in implementing the plan
and not accept failure in a Good day those things will make you rich.
Lack of direction, not lack of time,
is the problem.
We all have twenty-four hour days. – Zig Ziglar
——————-
I am not a product of my circumstances.
I am a product of my decisions. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
SIX TIPS TO TURN THINKS INTO MONEY
You want money?
The following six tips will help you take control of your desires.
Determine exactly how much money you want.
Just saying:
I want a lot of money is not enough.
Be very precise.
(A chapter below will clarify
why it is so important to have a specific number
from a psychological point of view.)
Answer yourself honestly:
what price are you willing to pay for the property you desire?
(Everything has a price, doesn’t it?)
Set a date when you will have that money.
Make a concrete plan to fulfill your wish and start taking action immediately,
regardless of whether you are ready to do it or not.
Write it all down:
the amount of money,
the deadline to have,
what you are willing to sacrifice in exchange for it,
the money-making plan.
Daily – morning and evening before bed –
Read your notes aloud.
As you read,
visualize,
feel,
and believe that the money is already yours.
It is necessary to follow all six tips,
especially the last one.
Don’t complain that it’s impossible
to imagine that money is in your pocket.
The desire to have,
if it has penetrated into you,
will be your effective assistant.
Your goals want money,
want to be good at school,
and the power of autism will make your wishes come true.
People often say motivation doesn’t last.
Neither does bathing,
that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar
——————–
Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent
and not enough time on what is important. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
PRINCIPLE OF ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR VALUE
Those who are not used to exercising their minds
will probably think that this advice is meaningless.
Perhaps they should also know that these tips contain information
the author obtained from Andrew Carneghi.
Sir Carneghi, an early smelter worker who,
despite his rough start,
knew how to apply these principles
to create a fortune worth a hundred million dollars.
It should also be added
that these principles are very welcome by Mr. Thomas A. Edison
when he realizes that the problem is not only related to money,
using them can achieve any purpose.
The principle calls us not to hard labor,
but to sacrifice ourselves.
It doesn’t ask us to be ridiculous or gullible.
To perform does not require high education.
Need to put your awareness to work
and understand that if you want to accumulate money,
do not entrust everything to chance or risk.
Remember: the famous rich people of the century hoped,
wished,
planned a lot
before the money poured into their pockets.
And one more thing:
you can never be rich
without a burning desire for money,
without believing in wealth like yourself.
——————–
Your attitude,
not your aptitude,
determines your altitude. – Zig Ziglar
************************
YESTERDAY IS A GREAT DREAM
– TOMORROW IS A HUGE ASSET
We, the chasers of wealth,
live in an ever-changing world.
That world always demands new ideas,
new approaches,
new leaders,
new inventions,
training and marketing systems,
new books
and scripts for film and television.
And in the competition of the need
for the new and the good,
whoever has a specific purpose
and a burning desire to succeed,
that person will win.
We, who aspire to make wealth,
must remember:
the true leaders of this world are those
who know how to use
and put to work the unseen powers of unmanifest abilities,
and transform those forces (impulses and thoughts) into skyscrapers,
cities, factories,
planes,
cars,
and a host of other amenities that adorn life.
Nothing should interfere with your dreams.
You must imbue the spirit of the great pioneers of the past,
who have given life to the development and expression of talents,
for whom American civilization should be grateful.
If what you want is good,
and the main thing is that you believe in it,
no doubt, act!
And it doesn’t matter what they say
when you’re suddenly unlucky,
because they don’t know that every misfortune carries
the seed of great success.
Thomas Edison dreamed of the electric light bulb.
He immediately began to experiment
and did not give up on his idea despite ten thousand failed attempts,
until the dream began to take on the form of reality.
Realistic dreamers never give up!
Uelan dreamed of a network of tobacco shops,
and today his company’s stores in America are on every street corner.
The Wright brothers dreamed of a flying device.
Nowadays, everyone has to confirm
that their dreams are completely sane.
Marconi dreams of transmitting signals
through the air thanks to invisible forces.
Today’s radio and television have proven that he is not fantasizing.
It is very interesting that his friends took him
to a mental hospital for investigation
when he claimed to have invented the law
that allows transmitting information
through the air without wires or other physical devices.
It’s more widely recognized these days for dreamers, isn’t it?
You never know
when a moment and a few sincere words
can have an impact on a life. – Zig Ziglar
——————–
To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before,
you need to start doing things you’ve never done before. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
DREAM TO GET A DREAM
Thus, for those who dream, desire is the starting point.
Dreams are not born of indifference,
laziness and lack of confidence.
Remember that those who finish first also start from failures.
The turning point in their lives often coincides
with a dramatic moment from
which they become completely different people.
John Banhian wrote The Pilgrimage,
one of the best books in the English language,
after he was imprisoned for religious reasons.
O.Henry discovered his talent at an unhappy time in his life,
when he was in prison in Colombes, Ohio.
His second self was revived by the circumstances.
So it’s understandable that he likes to write about
the lives of unfortunate criminals and social outcasts.
Charles Dickens started by putting labels on the lids of shoe polish boxes.
The tragedy of his first love deepened his soul,
making him one of the greatest writers.
That drama gave David Coperfield’s world
and a series of works that made all those
who read his books richer,
better.
Helen Kepler was mute,
deaf,
and blind shortly after birth.
Despite these colossal misfortunes,
she has forever carved her name into human history.
She has proven throughout her life:
no one fails if they don’t give up on their own.
Robert Berns started out as an uneducated country boy.
Bored with poverty,
he should have become an alcoholic.
But the world has become a better place
because in him lives a soul that turns thoughts into poetry,
turning the land that was once only wormwood into a place where roses grow.
Bethoven is deaf, Milton is blind,
but their names are only lost with the universe
because they not only know how to dream,
but also know how to transform
and organize their dreams.
There is a gap between wanting
and being willing to receive what one wants.
If you don’t believe it,
you’re not ready.
And finally, remember:
to rise above, to want to be rich and prosperous,
requires no more strength than accepting poverty and hunger.
A great poet stated this general truth in the following lines:
I bargained for every penny –
And get every penny.
Try asking for a million –
Take, and don’t be surprised!
This life is still alive,
But only for my part.
And we all
Work for life.
Are you worth five cents?
Don’t complain.
Glance at the rich,
Learn to dream.
Employee or millionaire –
Life is fair treatment
Want to be rewarded by life
Ask yourself.
Yesterday ended last night.
Today is a brand-new day and it’s yours. – Zig Ziglar
———————
There are three constants in life:
change, choice and principles. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
AND THE IMPOSSIBILITY BECOMES POSSIBLE
“Remember, to create wealth,
you can’t just score once,
you must be able to repeat it.”– Grant Cardone
The following story is the culmination of this chapter.
I would like to introduce to you one of the most extraordinary people.
I first saw him a few minutes after he was born.
He has no ears,
and according to the doctor,
he will be deaf and mute for the rest of his life.
I disagree with the doctor,
I have that right because I am the child’s father.
I also have my opinion,
but I just answer silently in the stillness of my heart.
I told myself: my son will hear and speak.
How? I firmly believe there must be a method,
and I know that I will find it.
I recall the words of the immortal Emerson:
The world gives us faith.
It is necessary to obey and live by one’s destiny,
and to concentrate on waiting through the years
and through the loss,
the hour when the Creator of mankind will speak to him.
The Word of the Creator?
Dream!
My son is not deaf and mute,
that’s what I long for more than anything in the world.
I never gave up on that dream.
But what can I do?
I need to instill in my child the same desire as me to find a way
and a means of getting sound into the brain
without going through the ears.
I decided:
as long as he was old enough to be able to communicate,
I would feed his consciousness the desire to hear,
and nature would be forced to back it up.
I don’t tell anyone what I think and decide.
But every day I repeat my vow:
my son cannot bear to be deaf and mute.
As my son grew older
and began to pay attention to the world around him,
we noticed that he also had a slightly weak response to sounds.
And even though at an age
when other children start to talk
and mine doesn’t show any signs,
we can see by observing his behavior
that he can distinguish certain sounds.
That’s what we want to know!
I firmly believe that if it could hear,
even if only faintly,
it would be possible to develop hearing for it.
Then something happened that gave me hope.
And this happened from the most unexpected direction.
You will get all you want in life,
if you help enough other people get what they want. – Zig Ziglar
——————–
Live out of your imagination,
not your history. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
HAD FOUND!
We buy tape recorders.
The first time the child hears the music,
he is in high spirits
and immediately takes the phone.
Once he turned the record for two hours straight,
his teeth biting the edge of the receiver.
We do not fully understand the importance of this habit
when we do not know the sound transmission properties of bone.
I later discovered that it could hear quite well
if I touched its skull with my lips.
When I was sure he could distinguish voices,
I instilled in him the desire to hear and speak.
When I see that he likes to listen to bedtime stories,
I immediately create stories that can help build confidence,
develop imagination
and desire to hear and be normal.
There is a story that I tell most often,
adding new colors
and twists to the content each time.
The general meaning is that its disability is not a weakness,
but an asset of great value.
Although I have the philosophy
that every misfortune carries with it the seed of great advantage,
I still (have to admit it honestly) have no idea
what value could be contained in a child’s disability.
Rich people have small TVs and big libraries,
and poor people have small libraries and big TVs. – Zig Ziglar
——————–
To begin with the end in mind means to start
with a clear understanding of your destination.
It means to know where you’re going
so that you better understand
where you are now
and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
WHAT FITS A STORM?
Now, having re-analyzed the facts,
I can say that the surprising results my child has achieved
are directly related to his trust in me.
It doesn’t argue with anything I tell instilled in him the idea
that he had a huge advantage over his brother,
and this showed in many ways.
For example,
the teacher in the school,
seeing that it has no ears,
will pay more attention to it and will be especially cuddly.
And that’s exactly what it looks like.
Or, I told him,
when he grows up he will sell newspapers
(his brother already does),
and he will have a huge advantage over him,
because they will give him more bonuses
when saw him as an optimistic child
and person of the job despite his disability.
As it approached seven years old,
the first signs appeared
that our forecasting method was bearing fruit.
For months he begged us
for the privilege of selling newspapers,
but his mother refused.
In the end, the boy decided for himself.
Once, when we left him at home with the servants,
he slipped out into the street through the kitchen window,
borrowed 6 cents from the neighbor’s shoemaker,
invested this initial capital in the newspaper,
sold it,
reinvested it,
and so on until the afternoon.
After balancing and paying with the bank,
the net profit is 42 cents.
When we got home in the evening,
we found our son fast asleep.
One hand clenched.
His mother undid her fist,
pulled out some coins,
and burst into tears.
Why? Crying the first victory seemed impossible!
My reaction is the opposite.
I was really happy
because I saw that my persistence in instilling faith in the boy
in himself had borne fruit.
In this first act of business,
his mother saw her little son,
going out into the street
and risking his life to make money.
As for me,
I see a bold,
ambitious and confident small entrepreneur;
His belief in himself doubled
because he decided to do business on his own and won.
This change makes me happy,
it speaks to the vitality that will follow my child for life.
If you are not willing to learn no one can help you.
If you are determined to learn no one can stop you. – Zig Ziglar
**********
The little boy in high school
and college couldn’t hear his teachers
if they hadn’t shouted
from a close enough distance.
But he didn’t go to the school for the deaf.
We don’t allow it to learn sign language.
We are adamant that our son will live a normal life,
communicate with children who develop normally,
and are determined not to give up on his decision,
even though it is nerve-wracking and time consuming.
Arguing with school officials.
When my son was in college,
he tried an electric hearing aid,
but to no avail.
The following week,
purely by chance,
he picked up another listening device,
but he didn’t rush to try it on
for fear of being disappointed again.
When it finally made up its mind,
put on the device and turned it on,
Oh magic!
it seems that at the command of the magic wand,
his lifelong dream has been fulfilled he hears!
Almost clear to people with normal hearing.
Filled with the joy of entering the world of sound,
he rushed to the phone to call his mother,
he heard her mother’s words clearly.
For the first time in his life,
he heard the professors in the lecture hall clearly.
For the first time in his life he could speak freely to people
without them having to speak loudly.
The world changes.
The desire is beginning to pay off,
but the victory is not yet complete.
My son also had to find a specific path
and turn his disability into a valuable asset.
Don’t let someone who gave up on their dreams
talk you out of going after yours. – Zig Ziglar
———————-
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
WONDERFUL! AMAZING SOUNDS!
Still not able to fully understand the meaning of the matter,
but unable to suppress the joy of getting acquainted
with the new world of sound,
he wrote a letter to the manufacturer
of the hearing device
and excitedly told about his case.
I don’t understand
why the company invited the guy to New York.
As it toured the factory and talked to the chief engineer,
something a spark, inspiration, or an idea
(whatever you call it)flashed in his awareness.
At least it was this flash of thought
that turned its disability into an asset
and began to benefit in money
as well as in the happiness of thousands of unhappy people.
It figured that the story of its own changed world,
if told in one form or another,
would help millions of deaf people living without hearing aids.
For a month he actively researched
and analyzed the hearing aid sales system
and thought of ways to contact deaf people all over the world
to share with them his new feeling.
It then plans two years.
When it introduced the plan to the company,
they immediately put it on the payroll to execute the idea.
When she started her work,
did she dream that her fate would bring hope
and relief to thousands of people doomed to be deaf for life?
I never doubted for a moment that if his mother
and I hadn’t formed his son’s awareness like we did,
Blaer would have been deaf and mute for the rest of his life.
When with my heart
and will I infuse it with the desire to hear, speak
and live like everyone else,
I have an impulse,
forcing nature to bridge the sea of silence
that stops dividing,
cut its brain off from the outside world?
Truly only passion knows all the zigzag roads capable of transforming passion,
that is the material equivalent.
Blaer wanted to hear, and he did.
It was born with a disability,
people who are less able to reach the goal will probably accept it
and go to the street selling pencils.
The saving lie that I hypnotized it
(that its disability is a great asset),
became the truth.
Nothing is more irreparable than faith combined with passion.
However, these things are in each person.
When obstacles arise,
you change your direction to reach your goal;
you do not change your decision to get there. – Zig Ziglar
———————-
Be part of the solution,
not part of the problem. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
MIRACLES
A small biography of Shuman Hink published in the newspaper will give us the key
to understand the astonishing success of this extraordinary woman singer.
I quote it here:
Shuman Hink first went to see the director of the Royal Opera House in Vienna
so he could hear her sing.
Looking scornfully at the clumsy,
poorly dressed girl,
he exclaimed without reserve:
With a face and appearance like this,
how could she hope for success in opera?
Girl, give up this idea immediately.
It is better to buy a sewing machine and work.
She won’t be able to become a singer in a century.
But a century is too long!
The director of the Royal Viennese Opera House
knows a lot about vocal technique.
But he knew nothing of the power
of a dream when it became an obsession.
For otherwise he would not have criticized the genius
without giving people a chance to try.
A few years ago a friend of mine was seriously ill.
Health deteriorated,
and finally the decision to have surgery,
he doctor warned me that he was unlikely to survive.
But patients don’t think so.
Before entering the operating room,
he whispered:
Don’t worry, boss.
I’ll be out of here in a few days.
The nurse present in the conversation looked at me with pity.
Yet – the patient lived!
When all was over,
the doctor said this:
The desire to live saved him from death,
nothing more.
He could not have escaped,
if he had agreed to accept death.
I believe in the power of wishes,
reinforced by faith,
because I have seen this power lift people from lowly lows
to the heights of power and wealth,
I have seen it save victims,
make the means of pulling people out of nothingness
after hundreds of misfortunes;
give my baby a normal and happy life,
despite the fact that nature forced my baby to be born without ears.
Nature .
Using strange,
powerful and unknown means of biochemical perception,
nature disguises itself with dream momentum,
never accepting the word impossible
and unwilling to know the word unsuccessful.
Always remember that your present situation
is not your final destination.
The best is yet to come. – Zig Ziglar
———————–
Sow a thought, reap an action;
sow an action, reap a habit;
sow a habit, reap a character;
sow a character, reap a destiny. — Stephen R. Covey
************************
THINKING NEED TO WRITE
When you want to focus your strength on victory,
you don’t need a way out:
victory is guaranteed.
The six tips in this chapter will turn desires into money.
The case of Andrew Carneghi
– to 100,000,000, dollars.
The desire to turn misfortune into victory.
It was the desire that built one of the largest stores in the world on top of the ashes.
The boy without ears has learned to hear.
The woman who didn’t have a chance became a famous opera singer.
The patient whom the doctor condemned to death,
survived.
It is the biochemical awareness that is unusual
and unclear to us that helps these people.
Yes, it’s absolutely true
that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly,
until you can learn to do it well. – Zig Ziglar
————————–
THERE IS NO OBSTACLES TO INTELLIGENCE, ONLY EXCEPTIONS THAT WE RECEIVE
