Think and grow rich - Napoleon Hill : The thought process for success

 

"T&GR" (Think and Grow Rich) by Napoleon Hill was first published in 1937 and is a global phenomenon in self-help books.

It reflects the thought process you need to cultivate to achieve financial growth in your personal and professional life.

With world-renowned real-life examples from the United States of America (USA) and other success stories, the book reveals the power of your own thoughts.

Accordingly, if you are focused on the success you can achieve it with flying colors.

As a reader of self-help books who is thirty years old and has had a very turbulent academic and professional life feel a big regret for not reading these books early in my life. But reading them now at least gives a hope to avoid future mistakes and guide your thought process towards success and riches.

Napoleon Hill's book is evident to be more biased towards capitalism and its concepts as well as the power of the western world.

In this book, "Chapter 06 - Organized Planning" focuses on the new leadership style required by the world. It is not forced or received through hereditary but by transactional relationship or like a partnership.

Since "T&GR" was written in the times of "the great depression" in the USA (1930's) the book's perspective on leadership and mindset required to achieve success is vital for Sri Lanka under the post-covid-19 economic conditions. Sri Lanka in April 2022 is facing dire economic conditions and also is shrouded by dark in nature and corrupted politicians. So this book might give a better perspective to Sri Lankans to change their thought process to achieve success and growth as a nation and in personal life.

13 things mentally strong people don't do - Amy Morin : Waking up from the American dream ( A "Max Payne 2 : The Fall of Max Payne" reference)

 

I was very serious about reading books since 2016. So I read several self-help books to develop myself. I reviewed some of them too and shared them on social media.

(01) Rich Dad, Poor Dad - What the rich teach their kids about money - that the poor and middle class do not! By Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter, C.P.A. - 2021.09.19

(02) සිංහලෙන් බිස්නස් - 8 : සිහියෙන් සිටීම - සතිමත් බව කළමනාකරණ කුසලතාවයක් ලෙස (Mindfulness as an executive capability) : දීපාල් සුරියආරච්චි - 2020.06.13

(03) සිංහලෙන් බිස්නස් - 7 : රැකියාවයි ඔබයි : වෘත්තීය දිවියේ දියුණුවන මඟ (A handy guide to succeed in a job) : දීපාල් සුරියආරච්චි - 2020.06.13

(04) The Power of Now: Eckhart Tolle - 2018.09.08

(05) "The War of Art" and "Turning Pro": Steven Pressfield - 2017.05.08

(06) Unstoppable: The incredible power of faith in action By Nick Vujicic - 2017.01.28

(07) Boy meets depression by Kevin Breel - 2016.11.14

These seven books though were life-changing didn't actually help me to grow as a professional or to find some control in my personal life.

I was shifting jobs and careers constantly leading to my life being failed and unstable.

But these books gave me some sense of hope during these desperate times.

Amy Morin's book I read during the post-pandemic Sri Lanka gave me a hard punch on the face since it woke me up from the American dream I was having living in a third-world nation.

Sri Lanka's inflation is the highest in Asia. (2022 April) United States of America (USA) Dollar has depreciated the rupee value by a great margin. (2022 April) Hence life is pretty hard in Sri Lanka now. (2022 April)

The success you dream of in the USA is unachievable in Sri Lanka due to economic instability, political instability, corruption, and violence.

But in life, you can't give up and Amy Morin's "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do" is a guiding light with strategies to overcome mental instability and also to succeed in personal and professional life.

In the final chapter of the book, "Conclusion - Maintaining Mental Strength" three easy steps are provided to achieve mental strength.

(i) Monitor your behavior

(ii) Regulate your emotions

(iii) Think about your thoughts

To end this review of this great self-help book I will list down the chapters of the book for the readers to identify a bird's eye view of the book's valuable content.

Contents

Introduction

What is mental strength?

Chapter 01 - They don't waste time feeling sorry for themselves

Chapter 02 - They don't give away their power

Chapter 03 - They don't shy away from change

Chapter 04 - They don't focus on things they focus they can't control

Chapter 05 - They don't worry about pleasing everyone

Chapter 06 - They don't fear taking calculated risks

Chapter 07 - They don't dwell on the past

Chapter 08 - They don't make the same mistakes over and over

Chapter 09 - They don't resent other people's success

Chapter 10 - They don't give up after the first failure

Chapter 11 - They don't fear alone time

Chapter 12 - They don't feel the world owes them anything 

Chapter 13 - They don't expect immediate results

Conclusion - Maintaining mental strength 

References

Acknowledgments

Amy Morin herself is a counselor, a person who fought personal struggles and who got a breakthrough after a speech in the "Ted-Ed" forum led her to be a global phenomenon.

The title "waking up from the American dream" was derived from a video game called Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne which I played during my schooling years (1997 - 2010). I felt it was more relevant for my failed personal life as well as the turbulent times Sri Lanka is now facing.

Overall rating - 5 / 5