All achievement, including every fortune ever built, have their beginning in an idea. The wealth comes from turning the idea from something we can see in our minds eye alone into something that serves other people, and for which they are willing to pay. This is done through auto-suggestion, organized planning, master-mind association and an inner harmony between the thoughts of your mind and the actions and achievements of your life. You literally become and achieve what you think about all day long. To control your life, control your thoughts.

1. Thoughts Are Things


Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe man can achieve.

Thoughts are very powerful when mixed with a definiteness of 

purpose and a burning desire for their translation into riches or other 

material objects. 

A man by the name of Edwin Barnes once turned up at Thomas 

Edison’s business and announced he had come to go into business 

with the inventor. 

Thomas Edison later said, 

‘‘He stood there before me like an ordinary tramp, but there was 

something about the expression of his face which conveyed the 

impression he was determined to get what he had come after. I had 

learned from years of experience that when a man really desires 

something so deeply that he’s willing to stake his entire future on a 

single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win. I gave him 

the opportunity he asked for because I saw he had made up his mind 

to stand by until he succeeded. Subsequent events proved no 

mistake had been made.’’

In other words, an intangible impulse of thought can be transmuted 

into material rewards by the application of known principles. You can 

start with nothing except the capacity to know what you want, and add 

determination to realize your desires. To do this, you have to

overcome the habit of quitting when overtaken by temporary defeat.

Before success comes in any person’s life, they are sure to meet with 

temporary defeat and perhaps some failure. Often, success comes 

just one step beyond the point at which defeat has overtaken you. All 

you have to do is to hang on in there.

The answer you may be seeking to the questions raised by 

experiences in your life may be found in your own mind. One sound 

idea is all you need to achieve success. When riches begin to come 

they come so quickly and in such great abundance that you’ll be 

wondering where they had been hiding for all those lean years.

Riches actually begin with a state of mind and definiteness of purpose 

with little or no work. One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the 

average man’s familiarity with the word impossible. He knows all the

rules that won’t work, and all the things that can’t be done. Success 

comes to those who become success conscious - or those who are 

obsessed with success. Failure comes to those who allow themselves 

to be failure conscious.

Another common weakness is the habit of measuring everyone and everything by our own experiences. We can foolishly believe that our own limitations are the exact measure of everyone else’s limitations.

Every person is the master of their own fate - because everyone has the power to control what they think about. Brains become magnetized by the dominating thoughts that are held in the mind.These magnets attract the forces, the people and the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of the most dominating

thoughts.

2. Desire

Summary of Think and Grow Rich

1. Define your major purpose. Definiteness of purpose is one major key to success.
2. A common cause of failure is being overtaken by temporary defeat. Never quit, push yourself to go the extra mile. Great success always lays just one step beyond failure.
3. Don’t stop when someone objects. Reject the urge to cave to negative outside pressure. Think to yourself ‘I have to do this!’
4. Become success conscious. Be aware at all times of your ability to be successful.
5. Stake everything on one good idea and a subsequent plan.
6. You are the master of your own fate – you control your thoughts, and therefore your destiny.
7. Your desire to be successful and acquire material possessions must transcend all else.
8. Burn the bridges that lead to alternative options. Ensure that you must follow through with your plan for success.
9. Your accumulation of wealth cannot be left to chance.
10. Let no one negatively influence you to abandon your plan and your goals. Focus on the positive and on improving your performance and you will achieve your goals.
11. No one is ready for something (i.e. wealth) until they believe they can acquire it.
12. Have faith in what you believe and ensure that this faith is unwavering.
13. You will develop faith through the use of autosuggestion.
14. Faith is a state of mind that is created by repeating suggestions to the sub-conscious mind.
15. No one is doomed to bad luck; bad luck is a result of focusing on the negative aspects of life and the situations within life.
16. Thoughts which are mixed with any of the feelings of emotion constitute a magnetic force which attracts other similar or related thoughts.
17. Ally yourself with a group of as many people as you may need for the creation and carrying out of your plan or plans for the accumulation of wealth.
18. Arrange to meet the members of your group at least twice a week until you’ve perfected the necessary plan(s) for the accumulation of wealth.
19. Maintain perfect harmony between yourself and every member of your group.
20. Keep in mind; you are engaged in an undertaking of major importance to you. To be sure of success, you must have plans which are faultless.
21. Keep in mind; you must have the advantage of the experience, education, native ability and imagination of other minds.
22. Know what you want and you will probably get it.
23. Be money conscious and not poverty conscious. Instead of thinking that you are trying to avoid poverty, think that you are trying to become rich.

Six ways to turn desire into wealth

1. Fix in your mind the exact figure of money or the exact material items you are going to possess. You must be very definite when stating the material wealth you wish to receive.
2. Determine what you will give in return for the wealth you desire. Be definite.
3. Establish the exact date that you intend to possess the wealth you desire.
4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once to put this plan into action, regardless of whether or not your feel ready to follow this plan.
5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the wealth you intend to acquire, name the time limit for it’s acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the wealth and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
6. Read your written statement once before bed and once after waking up in the morning. As you read, see, feel and believe yourself to already be in possession of your defined wealth.

Eight Essential Steps Towards Wealth

1. Desire – the starting point of all achievement.
2. Faith – visualization of and belief in attainment of desire.
3. Autosuggestion – the medium for influencing the subconscious mind.
4. Specialized Knowledge – personal experience or observations.
5. Imagination – the workshop of the mind.
6. Organized Planning – the crystallization of desire into action.
7. Decision – the mastery of procrastination.
8. Persistence – the sustained effort necessary to induce faith.

The Major Attributes of Leadership

1. Unwavering courage – based upon knowledge of self and of one’s occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader for long.
2. Self-control – the man who cannot control himself can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers, which the more intelligent will emulate.
3. A keen sense of justice – without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his followers.
4. Definiteness of decision – the man who wavers in his decisions shows that he is not sure of himself, cannot lead others successfully.
5. Definiteness of plans – the successful leader must plan his work and work his plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without practical, definite plans is comparable to a ship without a rudder; sooner or later he will land on the rocks.
6. The habit of doing more than paid for – one of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader to do more than he requires of his followers.
7. A pleasing personality – no sloppy, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all of the factors of a pleasing personality.
8. Sympathy and understanding – the successful leader must be in sympathy with his followers. Moreover, he must understand them and their problems.
9. Mastery of detail – successful leadership calls for mastery of the details of the leader’s position.
10. Willingness to assume full responsibility – the successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and shortcomings of his followers. If he tries to shift his responsibility, he will not remain the leader. If one of his followers makes a mistake and shows himself incompetent, the leader must consider that it is he who failed.
11. Cooperation – the successful leader must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same. Leadership calls for power, and power calls for cooperation.

The Ten Major Causes of Leadership Failure

1. Inability to organize details.
2. Unwillingness to render humble service.
3. Expectation of pay for what they know instead of what they do with what they know.
4. Fear of competition from followers.
5. Lack of imagination.
6. Selfishness.
7. Intemperance.
8. Disloyalty.
9. Emphasis of the authority of leadership.
10. Emphasis of title.

The Thirty-One Major Causes of Failure

1. Unfavorable hereditary background.
2. Lack of a well-defined purpose in life.
3. Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity.
4. Insufficient education.
5. Lack of self-discipline.
6. Ill health.
7. Unfavorable environmental influences during childhood.
8. Procrastination.
9. Lack of persistence.
10. Negative personality.
11. Lack of controlled sexual urge.
12. Uncontrolled desire for ‘something for nothing’.
13. Lack of a well defined power of decision.
14. One of more of the six basic fears.
15. Wrong selection of a mate in marriage.
16. Over-caution.
17. Wrong selection of associates in business.
18. Superstition and prejudice.
19. Wrong selection of a vocation.
20. Lack of concentration of effort
21. The habit of indiscriminate spending.
22. Lack of enthusiasm.
23. Intolerance.
24. Intemperance.
25. Inability to cooperate with others.
26. Possession of power that was not acquired through self-effort.
27. Intentional dishonesty.
28. Egotism and vanity.
29. Guessing instead of thinking.
30. Lack of capital.
31. Name any particular cause of failure from which you have suffered that has not been included in the list.

Self-Confidence Formula

1. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose in life; therefore I demand of myself persistent, continuous action towards its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.
2. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical reality; therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture.
3. I know through the principle of autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it; therefore, I will devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of self-confidence.
4. I have clearly written down a description of my definite chief aim in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
5. I fully realize that no wealth can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice; therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself. I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day, with a full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful person.

Self-Analysis Questionnaire

1. Have I attained the goal which I established as my objective for this year? (You should work with a definite yearly objective to be attained as a part of your major life objective.)
2. Have I delivered service of the best possible quality of which I was capable, or could I have improved any part of this service?
3. Have I delivered service of the best possible quantity of which I was capable?
4. Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious and cooperative at all times?
5. Have I permitted the habit of procrastination to decrease my efficiency, if so, how much?
6. Have I improved my personality, and if so, in which ways?
7. Have I been persistent in following my plans through to completion?
8. Have I reached decisions promptly and definitely on all occasions?
9. Have I permitted any one or more of the six basic fears to decrease my efficiency?
10. Have I been either over-cautious or under-cautious?
11. Has my relationship with my associates in work been pleasant or unpleasant? If it has been unpleasant, has the fault been partly or wholly mine?
12. Have I dissipated any of my energy through lack of concentration of effort?
13. Have I been open-minded and tolerant in connection with all subjects?
14. In what way have I improved my ability to render service?
15. Have I expressed, either openly or secretly, any form of egotism?
16. Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced them to respect me?
17. Have my opinions and decisions been based upon guesswork, or accuracy of analysis and thought?
18. Have I followed the habit of budgeting my time, my expenses and my income?
19. How much time have I devoted to unprofitable effort which I might have used to better advantage?
20. How may I re-budget my time and change my habits so I will be more efficient next year?
21. Have I been guilty if any conduct that was not approved by my conscience?
22. In what ways have I rendered more service and better service than I was paid to render?
23. Have I been unfair to anyone, and if so, in what way?
24. If I had been the purchaser of my own services for the year, would I be satisfied with my purchase?
25. Am I in the right vocation, and if not, why not?
26. Has the purchaser of my services been satisfied with my services, and if not, why not?
27. What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success? (Be honest.)

Training Yourself to be Persistent

1. Definiteness of purpose – knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.
2. Desire – it is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire.
3. Self-reliance – belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence.
4. Definiteness of plans – Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical encourage persistence.
5. Accurate knowledge – knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; guessing instead of knowing destroys persistence.
6. Will power – the habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose leads to persistence.
7. Habit – persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage.