Audiobook: Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill, 1937)

[madali]

Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill, 1937)

The most impressive thing about "Think and Grow Rich" is not necessarily its content, but the fact that it was written almost 9 decades ago! And you read it and realize, well, not much has changed in the motivational self-help genre in all that time. "Think and Grow Rich" is more inspirational than most of the modern books, mainly because it relies heavily on real life stories. Reading what others have done is always more interesting to read about than reading about what I should do.

This book has been an outstanding success since its print up to now, and it proves what I always knew. The best way to become rich is to take money from people in exchange of making them rich. It is the foundation of every self-help book author's success. How many of them are rich, successful people writing about their success, and how many of them become rich and successful because they sold the concept to others?

There is some sound advice and of course, the main pull of such books, is the short-term high it gives you. I listen to the audio tape and suddenly, I feel like I can conquer the world, but a day or two passes, and I realize there is a reason I'm not fabulously rich. It's hard. And it's really worth it.

One of the issues I have with such books is something that is familiar in other such books and even in people's usual anecdotes. You take a successful case and you portray it as if everything the person did should be commended and a path to success. For example, there are tales of people who risked everything, listened to no one, stubbornly pushed forward, burned all bridges behind them, and finally, made it big. So, we should not be afraid do the same. The problem is, they don't talk about hundreds and thousands of others, who did the same but didn't make it, and instead their actions, not only did not turn out into something positive, but it always damaged their life.

That is, my advice is, be careful. Just because Bill Gates quit college  to follow his dream, doesn't mean you should do it too. You COULD be the next  superstar, but it is also as likely, if not more so, that you will end up driving a taxi. And no one writes a book on that!

3/5

[fizz]

Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill, 1937)
That is, my advice is, be careful. Just because Bill Gates quit college  to follow his dream, doesn't mean you should do it too. You COULD be the next  superstar, but it is also as likely, if not more so, that you will end up driving a taxi. And no one writes a book on that!

I read this piece of crap many years ago and I'm still no richer. What garbage such as this discounts is the element of luck. A lot of people just get fucking lucky, that's all.