Reddit reviews Think and Grow Rich

The Secret works by inducing an obsessive compulsive disorder into your brain. The best HOWTO is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The movie is an interesting gateway for some but as a resource it is next to worthless.

Napoleon Hill was caught up in the late 19th - early 20th century spiritualist movement along with a good third of all of western civilization. This was above Harry-Potter-level popularity. So there is a scale difference if nothing else. There were a few months around 2006 - 2007 when I couldn't go anywhere that somebody did not bring up either the Secret or the Law of Attraction. I know a woman who is a PhD Psychologist Therapist who was pushing it non-stop and, if I had to bet, it would be that she knows absolutely nothing about magic. She only talked to me about it for sixty seconds to evaluate my apathy but I did figure out she had never heard of Napoleon Hill.

Hey there. I think your numbers are a bit off. 99% is not indicated in your source at least. I checked up on your source.

While it turns out the book published by Napoleon Hill based on his 20 year observation period does contain one point, number 10 of 13, regarding sexual energy, it does not mention any statistic based on how many of his observed millionaires attained their success in virtue of this point.

While it is true that Hill wrote:

>Sex desire is the most powerful of human desires. When driven by this desire, men develop keenness of imagination, courage, willpower, persistence, and creative ability unknown to them at other times.
>
>Love, romance, and sex are all emotions capable of driving men to heights of super achievement. When combined, these three emotions may lift one to an altitude of genius.

Note however that Hill does not specifically say satisfaction of sexual desire, only that these 'energies' (his word) are potent drivers for success.

Hill also mentioned in his last point, number 13, called the “sixth sense”, that

>“Through the aid of the sixth sense, you will be warned of impending dangers in time to avoid them, and notified of opportunities in time to embrace them.”

The article in question states regarding point 13 that

>Hill admits this sense is generally not attained until age 40 — his basic claim is that your intuition will change. You’ll have achieved a level of wisdom that will allow you to start making smart financial and life decisions naturally.

Also, the only source the article listed for claim #10 was this article (from the same web page, mind) which references a 2015 study which claims that "Having a conscientious spouse can boost your salary by $4,000 a year."

The claim is based on this study (the file has been removed) by Brittany C. Solomon and Joshua J. Jackson of Washington University in St. Louis. According to the 2015 article,

>Solomon and Jackson looked at data collected from thousands of Australian households to analyse the impact of a spouse’s personality characteristics on an employee’s career prosperity.
>
>They found that of the “big five” personality traits — agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, and openness — only conscientiousness affected work outcomes.

Interestingly, another psychologist, Jordan Peterson, also talks about conscientiousness a great deal, and states that it is the trait most associated with career performance.

The 2015 article states

The researchers provided three reasons why this trait is correlated with income, promotions, and job satisfaction:

>1. Conscientious spouses tend to handle more household chores and planning. This allows their partner to focus more on their career, or simply to have time to mentally recharge and unwind at the end of a workday.
>
>2. People with conscientious spouses generally feel more satisfied with their marriage. An emotionally stable marriage without constant drama and stress at home allows them to bring more energy — physical and emotional — to work.
>
>3. Oftentimes, traits of a conscientious spouse
rub off on their partner. These characteristics, such as organisation, diligence, and attentiveness, can have a positive influence on their careers.
>
>If you want to get ahead at work, it’s important to understand how much your partner’s personality influences your success (and vice versa) — and you may want to start screening your dates for signs of conscientiousness.

As an additional reference they also pointed to this Harvard Business Review Article: https://hbr.org/2014/11/the-one-thing-about-your-spouses-personality-that-affects-your-career

Now, having said all that, I ask you to consider how likely it is to find such a spouse. Not only is conscientiousness an attractive trait, which the article proposes contributes to a relationship with less drama and less stress at home. We know divorce stats are around 50% (give and take), and assuming 50% of those are "Happy marriages" (I happen to think it is less than that, but ok). That would mean 25% of marriages are relatively stable. There are fewer conscientiousness people out there than 25% of the population.

Even if Hill's observations on sexual energy translated into successful sexual intercourse, and even if that translated into a successful marriage, and even if you could land such a marriage with a conscientious individual, to state that 99% of highly successful people have gained their energy from love and sex is, in my opinion, unfounded.

Anyways, thanks for the research challenge. Was fun.

Listed below is a list of resources that help me get started with entrepreneurship, I recommend that you start listening to podcast first and then migrate to the books; if you can do both. Indulge!

Business Podcast-
http://www.tropicalmba.com
http://fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
http://www.entrepreneuronfire.com
https://www.stansberryradio.com/James-Altucher
http://www.smartpassiveincome.com
http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com
http://mixergy.com
http://freedomfastlane.com

Business books-
http://www.amazon.com/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/1453670114
http://www.amazon.com/The-50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X
http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Workweek-Anywhere-Expanded/dp/0307465357
http://www.amazon.com/The-Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0061122416
http://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher-ebook/dp/B00CO8D3G4
http://www.amazon.com/MONEY-Master-Game-Financial-Freedom-ebook/dp/B00MZAIU4G
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Learning-Journey-Performance/dp/0743277465


Internet blogs/resources-
http://www.reddit.com
http://www.quora.com
https://growthhackers.com
http://www.tropicalmba.com


All of the sites listed above will give you an idea of how the game is played if you want to learn more in-depth I recommend https://www.udemy.com/courses/ . If you have any questions just hit me up! hope this helps or at least give you an idea.
GOOD LUCK!!!

This is certainly not scientific evidence, but you or others might be interested in reading the following chapters from Napolean Hill's book Think and Grow Rich if you haven't read it yet. Then decide for yourself if you think that taking time to think can help you solve problems or help you achieve your goals.

I think it was published in 1937, so it won't contain any brand new research or anything :)

Chapter 1 - Thoughts are Things

Chapter 6 - Imagination