Executive Summary: “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill In the book “Think and Grow Rich,” the author, Napoleon Hill, provides a set of principles that he calls the key to financial success. The idea at the center of these principles is that one becomes what he or she frequently thinks about, in this case success (i.e. rich). Hill lays out a method he created to translate one’s thoughts into reality, creating an insatiable hunger and drive within an individual to succeed. Using the examples of his son and some of America’s legendary iconic business leaders, of which Hill studied and interviewed, including Edwin C. Barnes, he demonstrates that anything one puts his or her mind to can be produced and conceived. “…[All] who have …show more content…
Using his son as another example, Hill shows that even what may seem impossible is attainable and did not let any negative stand in the way of his goal. His son was born with no physical ears, even though the doctor said the contrary, Hill did not want accept the fact that his son was deaf. Hill was determined that his son would hear and speak, and wanted to implant in his son the same burning desire at an early age. Every day, Hill repeatedly told himself that he would not accept his son as a deaf mute. Even though his son had a slight capacity to hear, Hill knew that he could develop a greater hearing capacity. Using what his father taught him, at a young age, he used his affliction to his advantage to earn money selling newspapers. He was able to receive extra money from people because of he was handicapped. As he grew older, his son applied the same principles to his lifelong desire to hear, which became reality after going through trial and error of hearing devices, finally stumbling upon one that worked. Both Hill and his son stayed optimistic and did not accept defeat. Through constant thought of wanting to succeed, even with afflictions that were later turned into assets, was how which the goal of hearing, speaking and ultimate being rich were obtained. This book includes many additional principles, but it is said that each has an underlying secret which makes the reader more active, trying to study the
The book contains a series of breakdowns of thoughts, outlooks, and emotional schemes. There are numerous exercises that help one to come to terms with issues relating to the various chapters the book contains. Some are more specific than others and require serious dedication to exercises, such as writing letters to your inner child, some are different tasks than others such as clearing your mind and imagining good in a specific person. As I
The author of this book, Dave Ramsey, is a man who has gone through many struggles in his life. Throughout his book he talks about the times when he went bankrupt and couldn’t provide for his family. Dave Ramsey sat down and wrote a plan on how to be smart with your money. Ramsey says, “The principles are not mine. I stole them all from God and your grandmother” (xi). He talks about how these are not new ideas and that these are not theories because they are proven to work every single time. The central concept of this book is to help people succeed in life with money but also their personal relationships. Ramsey wants to give people hope and happiness by playing a small role in their financial freedom.
They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth. Millionaires budget and also plan their investments. They begin earning and investing early in life. The authors note that “there is an inverse relationship between the time spent purchasing luxury items such as cars and clothes and the time spent planning one’s financial future”. In other words, the more time someone spends buying things
In the book Anthem, Equality 7-2521 (Equality) lived in a society where everyone was equal and treated with disrespect. The society had no tolerance for being different and having their own opinion and ideas. People couldn’t even pursue the career they dreamed of having. They were punished for disobeying any of these “rules”. Despite Equality’s strict society, his motivations in conducting his experiments are finding individuality, starting a new revolution, finding freedom, and trying to become a scholar.
Many people today arrive in the United States of America in pursuit of achieving the American Dream. What is the American Dream, and what does it mean in today 's culture? The term “American Dream” was established since the Great Depression representing Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; the very values this great nation was founded upon. The Dream was said to be successful if a person worked hard to achieve his/her goals. Even though prior the American Dream has been terminated however, citizens have transform it in terms of personal goals since the 1930s. Author Brandon King describes the American Dream as an, “Opportunity for each according to ability and achievement”(610). The American dream has to do with the concept of achieving success; being able to perform daily tasks to provide a brighter future for a person, and his/her family. Essentially, if you are passionate enough about what you do, success is always possible even with manageable obstacles. Although, hard work is one of the factors in achieving the American Dream, self-motivation has also made an impact. The reality is every citizen has the opportunity of achievement depending on his/her choices, and access to education.
As Gladwell dives deeper into the success stories of notable figures, their stories all share a common theme that “their success was not just of their own making” (67) but was “a product of the world in which they grew up in.”(67) The special opportunities hidden in their lives allowed them to achieve the 10,000 hours needed to master their craft, one of Gladwell’s essential components for the recipe to success. Bill Gates, a distinguished figure in the software world serves as a prime example as a beneficiary of the hidden advantages received that launched him into a path to success. Bill Gates’ “sheer brilliance and ambition and guts” (50) were not the only reasons for his success. Gates’ success is owed to his opportunity to “do real-time programming as an eighth grader in 1968” (51), essentially setting him up to become successful, as others did not have the same opportunities as he did. If Bill Joy had not had “an extraordinary, early opportunity to learn programming”(51) and the Beatles had not had the opportunity to perform “for 270 nights on just over a year and a half” (50), would they have become just as successful? Through these cases, Gladwell makes it evident that the role of chance opportunities is significant and vital to the likelihood of one becoming successful.
In his article Rich and Poor, Peter Singer argues that we have a moral obligation to give assistance to people in absolute poverty. He derived this conclusion from three premises. The first states that if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, then we ought to it. The second premise is that absolute poverty is a bad thing. The third premise is that we are able to alleviate some portion of absolute poverty without giving up anything of comparable moral significance. To illustrate the urgency of our duty to assist the poor, he believes that in a case where we happen to walk pass a child drowning in a shallow pond, the vast majority of people would agree that it would be seriously morally wrong to not rescue the child. Connecting this scenario to Singer’s argument, we can say it is seriously morally wrong to not assist the poor because the lives of these people in need are of greater moral importance than the excess income we would otherwise spend on luxury goods. Thus, Singer is correct in saying that we have a moral obligation to assist the poor, and that failing to do so is equally as morally wrong as failing to rescue the drowning child.
In 1931, James Truslow Adams built the foundation of the modern American Dream when he said, “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” Over the past century, people have been striving to achieve the rich and prosperous life that Truslow refers to in hopes that they find happiness. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. While wealth is often equated with happiness and security; however, The Great Gatsby and Into the Wild illustrate that searching for happiness through the acquisition of material wealth is chasing an illusion, because amorality and corruption often follow wealth. Jay Gatsby, Chris McCandless, and Tom Buchanan exemplify the misconceptions of the American Dream, because they are unhappy despite their material wealth.
How does one earn the title of wealthy? Authors Dr. Thomas J. Stanley and Dr. William D. Danko have studied how people become wealthy for over twenty years. They have conducted research, written books, conducted seminars, and advised major corporations on whom the wealthy are and what are the characteristics of the affluent in America. The research for The Millionaire Next Door was comprised of personal, as well as focus group interviews, with more than 500 millionaires. A survey of 1,115 high net worth and/ or high income respondents was also compiled. The authors define the threshold for being wealthy as having a net worth of $1 million or more. This is one distinction that the authors make in comparison
The American Dream is one of the most sought-after things in the United States, even though it is rarely, if ever, achieved. According to historian Matthew Warshauer, the vision of the American Dream has changed dramatically over time. In his 2003 essay “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Changing Conceptions of the American Dream”, Warshauer claims that the American Dream had gone from becoming wealthy by working hard and earning money, to getting rich quickly and easily. He attributes this change to television game shows, state lotteries, and compensation lawsuits. He also argues that most Americans are more concerned with easy money than hard-earned money, and that Americans care mostly about material goods such as consumer products, big
This book is an eye opener, making you look at things in a different way changing your views and perspective of things we thought were impossible or that they had no relationship at all. He incentives you to formulate the correct questions by questioning everything that you feel curious about. Just remember what a genius once said, "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."- Albert Einstein. Just remember how the book says
When it came down to choosing a book from the choices provided, I just had to select Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is a great book to read if you are having financial trouble in your life or if you are just need some motivation to get you going in the right path. Napoleon Hill is a acclaimed author who teaches you in this book the 13 success principles used by the great success stories of the early 20th-century. Napoleon Hill interviewed with William Wrigley, Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie and 500 others. He gives you the secrets that helped these great leaders rise to the top in their respected industries. Many of today's top achievers credit Napoleon Hill's work as being the blueprint to their success. Access the
The popular American capitalist, Warren Buffett, has set the standard for many people by reaching the American Dream for most; from the moment young Warren Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, he had always targeted high and worked harder than anyone, to reach those infinite goals. Many people have different perspectives on what the “American Dream” really means. To some people, being rich, having fame, a happy family, or a healthy lifestyle is what people consider being the American Dream. However, someone like Warren Buffett appears to define the American Dream as having fun with making money rather then the rewarding results that comes from it. Warren Buffett