The One Big Thing You Need to be Careful of on Your Success Journey
The book “Think and Grow Rich”, by Napoleon Hill is a classic. It is certainly responsible for making more wealthy and successful people than almost any other book. The reason it is so powerful is because of the main message in the book.
You Can Only be Successful if You Believe it!
The main idea of the book, well known by the large number of wealthy people that Hill interviewed, including Andrew Carnegie, is that to be successful your mind must first believe that you can achieve your goals. Once you believe it and can clearly see yourself having achieved your goals, you can accomplish virtually anything.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has repeatedly spoken about this. He has stated that once he decided to be a millionaire, he had an incredible sense of relief come over him, because he knew that the hard part was done. He stated that knew he was going to be a millionaire because he had decided, regardless of the fact that he had nothing at the beginning of his career!
The Mind Must Believe
What an incredibly powerful message. The hardest part for Schwarzenegger was not the punishing, six-hour workouts, moving to the United States, learning English, taking acting lessons and becoming the number one movie star in the world. It was getting his mind right so that he would be prepared for the success he so greatly desired.
When he worked out, he visualized his arms as big as mountains, his chest growing to a massive size, his legs as big as tree trunks. When he took acting lessons, he visualized himself as the number one box office draw, equal to Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood at the time. He understood his mind had to believe first and then he would be unstoppable.
The One Step That People Often Miss
In our examples, it is very clear that mindset was vital to the success of these super-achievers, but there is a vital step that often goes over-looked. Carnegie did not just visualize and read about steel production, he started what became the largest steel company in the world. Arnold did not just read about working out, he spent countless hours in the gym exercising and building his body. Once his mind was prepared, the hard work was the next step with the consequence that success would naturally follow.
The real secret to “Think and Grow Rich” is to get your mind ready for your success and then to take ACTION.
Action is Key
The extended title of the book could be “Think and Grow Rich, Then Act!” Too often, we get stuck in the cycle of thinking, researching and reading about our ideas rather than acting on them. Scrolling through posts that are about our subject matter can feel like we are working, but the simple reality is it is not moving us toward achieving our goals. Neither is watching videos or looking at social media, even if they are about our goals.
Rather than get hung up on these things that seem like work, but really are not, to truly achieve our goals and dreams, once our minds are on board, we need to put our heads down and put in the work. Then, we will see the fruits of our efforts and really start achieving the life we desire.