These Principles are from Napoleon Hill’s “Think & Grow Rich”. If you are in your personal and success journey, this is a perfect book to start with. We will be going through these principles very simply and clearly. Let’s get to it.
1. Desire
The starting point of all that is is desire. Desire is to long for. Have looked into your deepest desires? What brings you fulfillment? Notice if you have been passive and content with just getting by or being comfortable. Try looking deeper into what would really be amazing to you! You could be that, it is best to lay them out on paper. Loving relationships? creative projects? physical feat? What kind? Get specific down to the last detail. This is called designing your life, taking responsibility in building the life of your dreams. It is also a must that you be specific in asking / desiring. Write that desire down on paper and imagine that you already are that you desire. Be not attached to the gap between now and your achievement. The now is always changing and it is best to not be attached. Become watchful of your thoughts and always keep in mind that you only think that of desirable things. It is said in the Bible that “What so ever things that are pure noble and Godlike; Think on these things”.
2. Faith
Florence Scovel Shinn said “Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly”. This is where most people get stuck. The common man puts so much faith in things that he sees therefore he always ends up where he is. Have faith in things hoped for, believe in things unseen. Once again we are quoting the Bible “Calleth the things that are not as if they were and the unseen will become seen”. Try to look back 5 years from now, don’t you have some achievements now that you only dreamed of then? Knowing this law you can practice the act of faith. That you work with great power and everything can be brought upon you, but first you gotta believe. So keep faith in mind and heart.
3. Auto Suggestion
Napoleon touched upon the concept of the Subconscious mind. If this is the first time you are encountering this concept it is simply this. The conscious mind is what you know and think, the subconscious mind receives commands or information with no judgment whatsoever so it brings what ever you think to you. If you think you are having a great day and seeing the good in everything, the sub conscious mind brings it to you through illogical and unreasonable situations in your life. So train the Subconscious mind with repeated affirmations of good such as “I am now happy and grateful now that I am receiving such and such from the universe”. Make a habit of maintaining a positive inner dialogue.
4. Specialized Knowledge
You have written what you want, how and when you are getting it. Specialized knowledge is how you will achieve your desire. Dig deep on what stirs you up. Discover your innate talents and passions, engage in learning the industry that surrounds that craft and alot a daily schedule in practicing. Master a craft, specialize in a skill, the one unique skill that will compensate you in leveling up towards the manifestation of your full potential. Take a moment, close your eyes, imagine yourself engaging in your ideal craft. Be free here, it can be anything, imagine yourself being skillful in crafts like, speaking, cooking, painting, singing. You are creating a blueprint for your destiny and when you see yourself in your head doing something, the subconscious mind already works on how to bring it to your reality. Plan out your next steps. Take a course, read books and schedule deliberate practice. In doing this you are on your way to mastery, and we all know masters rule.
5. Imagination
“As within so without”. You ended up right here right now because of all of your accumulated habitual thinking, feeling and acting. Develop the skill of imagining. Visualize the thing that you desire, visualize how you are getting there, visualize the process. Notice the feeing as you imagine. Remember that the subconscious doesn’t know the difference between something really happening and imagining. As long as you are firing up the emotions of what is longed for the subconscious grants it as real and done. So imagine your ideal day, imagine your ideal partner, imagine your ideal business, feel it, feel the texture of the paper as you receive the check. Vision boards help a lot. So practice imagining, imagine the meeting going well. Imagine the best possible good. Be consistent and see changes.
6. Organized Planning
You have designed the best possible outcome of your life and how to get there, now time to put it on paper and act upon this time space reality. Remember that in your mind things are already built as intended but in the real world there might be some obstacles, use them, stay flexible with your plan but consistent with the goal. Learn from others and know that we are all here to progress and bring each other up. Time to put a date and time on your power move, if you want to write a book, start the first page. Engage and connect with people in the industry you are in ask questions, move forward and course correct as you move along. Remember, have an organized plan of action towards your ideal. Imagination without action leads nowhere, you might levitate but what long term good does that do in this lifetime?
7. Decision
Be decisive. When you decide, you say no to all distractions, you cut out all pathways that leads you farther from your goal. Once you decide, there is no looking back. This is the time where you decide on what you want to become and not what others want for you. Decide fully and adjust as you go along. Do not get stuck in paralysis by analysis, you know what happened to the donkey who couldn’t decide whether to eat some hay or drink water… yes that donkey went to heaven. So don’t be afraid to decide, usually your first gut is the right one, choose what’s right, choose what feels right. Here’s another thought, all of your decisions in your pursuit will be wrong, but it will be wrong in the right direction. So muster up that courage to become more decisive.
8. Persistence
I know and believe that I can achieve what I set out for myself so I demand of myself persistent consistent effort towards its attainment. Make deliberate practice a lifestyle, stay persistent, observe what happens if you persist on a certain practice for a certain amount of hours and days. Little by little, a little becomes a lot. Every effort compounds, 1% towards a goal each day adds up to a lot. If you haven’t figured out what to be persistent in, try simple things like taking a walk every after lunch. Observe your resistance, observe how you handle them, think of how you can be persistent, starting is always the hard part so it is best to start simple and easy.
9. The Power Of The Master Mind
No matter how awesome you think you are, you will become exponentially more if you use the capabilities and skills of others. Join a mastermind, find a mentor, study a person you look up to, biographies are great. So harness the power of the collective mind. Keep an open mind on what your mastermind has to say and figure out practices that would be mutually beneficial.
10. Sex Transmutation
This is harnessing your sexual energy and channeling it towards the attainment of your goal. Notice when you are having these urges and choose to divert your attention into activities that will help you grow instead of squandering your energy. If you resist giving into these urges, your energy will be released through creativity and productivity
11. The Subconscious Mind
We have mentioned the Sun conscious mind in the desiring and imagining principles. Joseph Murphy specializes in this topic and he does a good explanation of this. Your subconscious mind is where your true beliefs are contained, therefore it is the gate keeper of your comfort zone. What does this mean? It means that you are only going as far as your subconscious pre programmed limit is. But here is the truth, there are no limits. We have discussed earlier that the subconscious mind takes command from the conscious mind, so be intentional and identify your resistance in some areas. Speak, feel and believe your success as a present fact, not a future plan, affirm this persistently and consistently to imprint the subconscious mind sometimes also called the subjective mind. Know that the subconscious mind is open to suggestions from the conscious mind so suggest only life affirming facts. Expand your limits, go to new places and create new experiences. Having a beginner’s mind and an attitude of gratitude imprints the subconscious mind that you are open to receive and already have so it will bring forth instances in your life that are alike to what you are thankful for and expecting. To that which is like unto itself is drawn, life makes more life, money makes more money, good creates more good.
12. The Brain
There are more connections in your brain than there are subatomic particles in the universe?! This is what Gerald Edelman, the Nobel prize winner, claims. That’s the magical thing you have in between your ears. It has been said that we only use 10% of our brains so there’s more to explore and become! Look into Neuroplasticity and Growth Mindset. There is no limit to what you can be, do or have. You have a brain right?
13. The 6th Sense
It is the sense through which Infinite Intelligence communicates voluntarily without any effort from the individual. Learn to listen to this intelligence. Make time for silence and meditation and listen to messages from the source. This is where you will get insights that will help you get closer in achieving your goal. So have a daily practice of tapping into your 6th sense, early in the morning and upon retiring at night. There is infinite knowledge and ways of achieving that is out there and you can tap into it. All you gotta do is be persistent in practicing.
Hope these principles help you set up framework that works within your day to day. With definiteness of purpose, a plan and consistency. Nothing is impossible.