Free 15 Week "Think and Grow Rich" Self-Study Course
First of all, you can see information about my free list of 488 Power Affirmations and the download link further down this page.
I'm pleased to announce the launch of my free 15 week "Think and Grow Rich" self-study course. The course comes in the form of 15 interactive PDF workbooks. I say 15 weeks, but the truth is you can study the material at your own pace. You can download the first chapter by right clicking on the link below and saving the PDF to your computer:
Preface and 1st Chapter in the Think and Grow Rich Workbook (Week 1)
The above workbook is an interactive PDF meaning that there are places directly in the PDF where you can answer the questions and take notes. I recommend that you archive a blank copy of the file so that you can re-use it in the future as needed.
In order for the PDF to work properly, you must use the most current version of Adobe Reader. While you will be able to read the file through your regular browser, you won’t be able to save the data you enter into the file. You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/. This is a link to Adobe Reader, not the workbook.
Here is the link to the first workbook: Think and Grow Rich Workbook (Week 1 only)
In order to get the additional 14 workbooks--one for each chapter in "Think and Grow Rich"--you will need to join my email list. When you do, starting in approximately 7 days, you will receive 1 additional chapter each week for the next 14 weeks (15 chapters total to make up the 15 week self-study course).
What was Andrew Carnegie’s Secret?
For those of you who don't know, Andrew Carnegie was the richest man in America in his day (the early 1900's). He commissioned Napoleon Hill to spend over 20 years organizing a philosophy of achievement. Hill published this success philosophy in several books of which "Think and Grow Rich" is the most famous.
I want to address the question of “Andrew Carnegie’s Secret.” This is critical to understanding "Think and Grow Rich."
Here is what Napoleon Hill has to say in the Author’s Preface:
“The secret [Andrew Carnegie’s “secret”] to which I refer has been mentioned no fewer than a hundred times, throughout this book. It has not been directly named, for it seems to work more successfully when it is merely uncovered and left in sight, where THOSE WHO ARE READY, and SEARCHING FOR IT, may pick it up. That is why Mr. Carnegie tossed it to me so quietly, without giving me its specific name.
If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this secret at least once in every chapter. I wish I might feel privileged to tell you how you will know if you are ready, but that would deprive you of much of the benefit you will receive when you make the discovery in your own way.”
It may be true that it’s better that you discover the secret in your own way (who am I to argue with Napoleon Hill?), but I think it will be helpful to you if I share with you what I think Carnegie's secret is as I have come to understand it. This will make it easier to see how often Hill repeats this point throughout the book. Here it is stated as briefly as possible:
Organized effort directed toward a definite chief aim backed by a burning desire for its attainment.
When you have a clear mental picture of what you want and have a BURNING desire for its attainment, the probability that you will achieve your goal increases dramatically. But then you have to have an organized effort to achieve your goal. In my own life, when I meet these three criteria, I almost always achieve my goal. When I don't achieve a goal, inevitably it's because I didn't have a clear mental picture or my desire wasn't strong enough or I was not able to create an organized effort.
If you look at every super successful person, in virtually every case, they created an organization of some sort for the purpose of achieving their definite chief aim or definite major purpose.
You can easily test this idea by observing people and organizations around you:
- The best sports teams have the best organizations on and off the field. If the players are in sync (highly organized) they are more difficult to beat.
- An orchestra is comprised of highly organized, well trained musicians reading music that is highly organized.
- A franchise business with several locations is the result of highly organized effort. Look at a store like Best Buy for example. No matter which Best Buy you enter, the look and feel and the experience is similar. Organized businesses create more profits for their owners than businesses that are are not organized.
- A television station is the result of the organized efforts of many people. A national network is the result of even higher organization. In fact the word "network" implies an organized effort.
- Your own body is the result of organized effort.
- A church or charity is only as successful as it's organization.
- A government is the result of an organized effort. Without the organization of law and order, we would life in a chaotic society. This is what happens in a war. War destroys prosperity. Peace creates prosperity.
- If you want to achieve a personal goal like lose weight, your chances of success are much greater if you hire a personal trainer at a gym and organize your combined efforts toward this goal.
- If you want to save and invest money, your chances of success are greater if you work with a competent financial planner. Even that, as simple as it is, is organized effort.
So, if you want to achieve outstanding success, the odds are much higher if you learn how to create and lead an organization of 2 or more people who willingly work together in harmonious cooperation towards a definite chief aim. And you need to back that effort with a burning desire so that you have the energy and power to persist and overcome the obstacles that will inevitably appear.
Just clearly understanding this one concept and applying it rigorously to every goal you set can turn you into a super achiever.
This is easy to articulate, but not as easy to consistently apply. Fully understanding and applying this formula is the goal of this 15 week course.
Whether or not you choose to participate in this self-study course, I suggest that you commit to getting a copy of the book and studying it yourself. Napoleon Hill interviewed over 25,000 people over 25 years. This includes over 500 of the most successful people in business history. People like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. If you are a serious student of success, one author you must study is Napoleon Hill--"Think and Grow Rich" and his other works.
How strong is your desire to achieve your goals? Do you have a clear mental picture of what you want? Have you created an organized effort to achieve it?
About My Free List of 488 Power Affirmations
These 488 Power Affirmations were inspired by such best-selling books as "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, "Awaken the Giant Within" by Tony Robbins, "See You at the Top" by Zig Ziglar, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, and "The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace D. Wattles. I took several of the most important life-changing ideas and transformed them into 1st person, present tense affirmations I could use to improve my life and achieve my goals.
The difference between these affirmations and the original material that inspired them is that they are personal, short, and easy to remember. It's easy to repeat these ideas over and over and over again as affirmations so that you condition your subconscious mind so that you habitually take positive action. That you act in such a way to achieve your goals without having to consciously think much about it. When that happens, your positive actions create your positive results.
Through the process of repeating affirmations, you get a clearer picture of what you want and you intensify your desire to get it. In other words, the proper use of affirmations is a practical application of Andrew Carnegie's secret.
You can get my list of 488 of my Power Affirmations right now as a free PDF by right clicking the link below and saving the PDF to your hard drive. The collection also covers areas such as self-confidence, health, and relationships.
Here is the List of 488 Sample Power Affirmations
If you need the latest version of Adobe Reader for free, you can download it for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
If you have problems opening the file by just left clicking on it, I have found the problem is usually resolved if you right click and save the file to your computer first. Then open it with Adobe Reader.
Imagination Creates Reality
How do affirmations work? They work by helping you focus your imagination on what you want. Mix your affirmation with the feeling of belief and watch what happens.
You can also use vision boards, mind movies, visualization...anything that helps you focus your imagination on what you want with a feeling of faith. Napoleon Hill defines faith as "the visualization of, and belief in, attainment of desire." In your imagination, see and feel that you already have what you desire. "Whatever you conceive, and believe you can achieve."
The Principle of Autosuggestion
In his classic book "Think and Grow Rich," Napoleon Hill identified one of his 13 steps to riches as Autosuggestion. Autosuggestion is simply self-suggestion or what you say to yourself. When Hill referred to Autosuggestion as a one of his steps to success, he had in mind the conscious use of autosuggestion. In other words, choosing what you say to yourself--the use of affirmations.
Notice that Autosuggestion is only ONE of Hill's steps to success. It is not the only step. I don't know of anyone who achieved success who only used affirmations. But affirmations/autosuggestion help you consistently apply the other 12 steps by habit.
Using this one principle of Autosuggestion helps you create a clear mental picture of what you want and a burning desire for its attainment.
If you have any questions about affirmations, just email me at whmarshall@earthlink.net. I will do what I can to help you.