subject: How To Change Your Financial Blueprint [print this page] Successful people today are finding endless opportunities to advance their financial freedom while helping a lot of people. However, while these stories are inspiring, most see it as impossible or out of their reach.
Our effort in achieving wealth therefore starts with changing that mindset.
Napoleon Hill's landmark book "Think and Grow Rich" is about how to take action to change that mindset. Although it was written more than 70 years ago, it still communicates the same message known by every successful person -- achieving financial freedom is an exercise of a continual shift in thinking.
"Think and Grow Rich" argues that whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve. This argument is the essence of Napoleon Hill's interview with the 500 richest men in America during his time, including Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Elmer Gates, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and many more. In some ways, Hill's book is a summation of the thoughts of these great men.
BACKGROUND OF "THINK AND GROW RICH"
"Think and Grow Rich" was born out of the efforts of the famous Andrew Carnegie. As a Swedish immigrant who grew from poverty to great wealth, Andrew Carnegie saw the need for communicating the practicalities of money making.
Carnegie tabbed Napoleon Hill for the ambitious project. Today, the book has sold over 7 million books and is the main source of inspiration for highly successful people 70 years after it was written!
It outlines 13 steps to achieve financial freedom. Napoleon Hill first talks about desire as the starting point of all achievement.
Desire is not a wish, a dream, or a leaning. Instead, desire involves passion, which allows one to focus on their goal at all costs. For example, for Thomas Edison, the desire/passion to invent allowed him to be what he was. In short, desire is burning, not just a silly figment of our imagination.
Second, he talks about faith or the belief that desire can be attained. Faith allows us to be continually focused on our desire because we know that we can achieve in the future. Napoleon Hill implied that faith makes miracles.
In a parallel view, in order for a desire to be all encompassing, it must border on miracles. Thus, faith and desire are strong factors in achieving financial freedom.
A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH TO CHANGING MINDSET
While there are thirteen very helpful steps to achieve wealth creation, Napoleon Hill also outlines the process of our mind. He discusses the art of decision making and the mastery of procrastination.
Procrastination and decision go hand in hand. Most people tend to hold decisions because they lack a sense of judgment, or they do not like risk taking. However, every pause that we make is time lost in what could have been a productive action.
Napoleon Hill states that most successful people do act quickly and decide often. Therefore procrastination is not a problem of laziness but a myopic view on the value of decision making. It should be our attitude to put action ahead of us.
"Think and Grow Rich" is definitely a must read for people who have not grasped what thinking rich means. While most people will continue to believe their status quo, which puts them at the bottom of the financial chain, Think and Grow Rich will help you change your values and see the world in a different light.
Taking steps to financial freedom as set out by this timeless book starts with what goes on between your ears -- namely, your thinking!
by: David Lazear
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