An Amazing Secret; Think and Grow Rich

For more than a decade now, I’ve enjoyed and literally devoured personal development info. Why? I believe there is an amazing secret that holds the keys to success in all areas of my life in regards to health, wealth and wisdom. One timeless audio program I recently listened to is Napolean Hill’s Keys to Success: the 17 Principles of Personal Achievement. I own a number of Napolean’s audio programs (Think and Grow Rich is my favorite), so I really enjoyed this one too as it builds upon his best seller. What I love best is his no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is style. Think and Grow Rich was published in 1937, but I found that most of the ideas are timeless and relevant today. The amazing “secret” can be summed up in ten words: Whatever the mind can conceive, and believe it can achieve.
The secret isn’t a new idea. In fact, Think and Grow Rich is the No. 1 selling book of the century on personal wealth and lasting success. And it certainly isn’t a unique idea either. It’s a concept that has been expanded upon by Marc Allen’s The Millionaire Course, which extols the virtues “Within every adversity is an equal or greater benefit”, or James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh who believed “He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.”
Not many people would argue that our thoughts control our actions and that our actions control our results. Everything initially begins with a thought. What people often fail to realize is that we have the power to consciously choose our thoughts. Do you ever find your mind continually going over the same thoughts time and time again? If we start choosing to spend time thinking about different things on a consistent basis we can begin to shift our actions in different directions and acquire new results.
Thoughts are like the seeds we plant. If we want different results in life, we have to figure out which thoughts are capable of growing those results and which aren’t. Then we have to consciously fill our mind with the correct thoughts and weed out the incorrect thoughts. People are burdened by the stresses and responsibilities of their life today to even think about living a life of abundance. But thinking that way won’t get you to the place(s) you want to go.
Dr. Napolean Hill says “Whatever the mind can conceive, and believe it can achieve.” It’s through this knowledge and the application of it that and faith in our God given abilities that true empowerment lies. This empowerment can only be obtained, by stretching yourself, and testing your ability reach your full potential. Why would anyone settle for anything less?

Some positive thoughts I think will help you if you are thinking of starting your own business.
There may be risks involved, but I believe in myself, and whatever obstacles come my way, I’ll overcome them.
I’d rather spend my life working hard to build my own business than to build someone else’s. If I’m going to build a business no matter what, it might as well be my own.
The freedom of being my own boss is extremely attractive to me. Imagine being able to decide how to spend my time every minute of every day.
I can only get so far income-wise as an employee. If I want to hit it rich, I need to go into business for myself.

It takes a lot of hard work to build a business. But the right thoughts are the first step. I could have just as easily used the example of quitting smoking, losing weight, or getting out of debt.
If you find yourself in a situation where you want new results in your life (i.e. something other than what you’re currently experiencing), then the first step is to examine your thoughts. The odds are probably better than 95% that if you’re not making progress, then you’re probably thinking the wrong thoughts and need to replace them with new ones. For example, you won’t become a debt free by thinking thoughts like, “Understanding how I control spending money is hard.”
When you start thinking new thoughts, the most common initial reaction is that you’ll feel a great deal of doubt about them. Use your imagination to push past the doubt and keep working on it. See that new reality working out beautifully, even if you have no idea how it could possibly work in the real world. After about 2-3 weeks of this, you’ll start to actually believe in those new thoughts. And that’s when you’ll feel the urge to start taking action. Be patient with yourself, and let your imagination guide you. Albert Einstein believed, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”