I have just finished listening to the almost 11 hour audio recording of this book. It have taken so many notes it has taken me over three months to get through it. Published in 1937, the ideas and content in it are as relevant today as they were over 80 years ago.
If you are in any way interested in learning how to change your mindset and become successful then this has to be one of the main books on your reading list. It is hands down one of the best books I have ever come across in terms of self improvement. I especially like the self analysis questionnaire if you want to take a truly deep look at yourself and your faults. You can download it here.
It seems to be a recurring theme with the books I have been reading lately that I am taking more and more notes. This definitely stands as the one I have taken the most notes/quotes from thus far. So rather than go into detail about what this book is about I shall simply copy below all the notes I have taken to give you an insight into what this book is about. I hope you get as much from it as I have.
Favourite quotes from the book:
Infinite intelligence is the form that connects all things which exist as either energy or matter. Table cloth analogy. Subconscious mind is the connection with infinite intelligence. Creative imagination is the receiver through which flashes of intelligence come to us.
A man who cannot reach a decision promptly, once he has all the necessary facts, cannot be depended on to carry through any decision he makes.
Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thoughts.
When a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to get it. – Barnes determined to become Eddisons business associate
When one is truly ready for a thing it puts in its appearance.
Failures are just practice shots.
When riches begin to come, they come so quickly and with such great abundance that you will wonder where they have been hiding during all those lean years.
Riches begin with a state of mind.
Success comes to those who are success conscious. Failure comes to those who are failure conscious.
I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. – William Henley
Our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts that we hold in our minds, and it is as though our magnetized minds attract to us the forces, the people and the circumstances of life that are in sync with our dominating thoughts.
Dreams followed by failures followed by lessons learned then success.
There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for a thing until they believe they can acquire it. The state of mind must be belief. Not mere hope or wish. Open mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not encourage faith, courage and belief.
No more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty.
Desire outwits mother nature.
I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more.
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
By Jessie B. Rittenhouse
Body mind connection – the mind can manifest physical changes in the body.
The power of desire backed by faith in yourself.
There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.
Your belief or faith is the element that will determine the action of your subconscious mind.
It is a fact that you will come to believe whatever you repeat to yourself, whether that statement is true or false.
Riches begin in the form of thought. The amount is limited only by the person in who’s mind the thought is put into motion. Faith removes limitation.
A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.
The subconscious mind resembles a fertile garden. Weeds will grow it the seeds of more desirable crops are not sown.
The more highly emotionalized the thoughts are when they are input (into the subconscious) the more influence they exert on attitude and behaviour.
Step One. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount.
Step Two. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. There is no such thing as something for nothing.
Step Three. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.
Step Four. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Step Five. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
Step Six. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read, see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.
Mix emotion when reading it out loud.
Your ability to use the principle of auto-suggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession.
Auto suggestion (creative visualisation). Used by athletes, NASA, medical professionals to teach patients to increase their immune system.
Every adversity, every failure and every heartache, carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.
General knowledge is of little use in the accumulation of money.
Knowledge will not attract money, unless it is organised and directed through practical plans for the specific purpose of accumulating money.
Any person is educated who knows where to get knowledge when they need it and how to organise that knowledge into definite plans of action
Thomas Edison had only 3 months of schooling in his entire life.
Einstein was expelled from at least one school but… he could focus his concentration on a goal of his choice. His famous theories were the result of thought experiments. Experiments that took place inside his mind.
It pays to know how to purchase knowledge and it pays to know where to look.
Knowledge has no value except for what can be gained from its application towards some worthy end
Successful people never stop acquiring specialised knowledge related to their major purpose, business or profession.
The way in which a person handles themselves in their relationships is a much better indicator than IQ in predicting whether a person will be successful in life.
(Humans) value only that which has a price.
There is one weakness in people for which there is no remedy. It is the universal weakness of lack of ambition.
W Clement Stone R2A2. Recognize, Relate, Assimilate and Apply.
Through the combination of energy and matter has been created everything perceptible.
Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes. Ideas are products of the imagination.
Ideas can be transmuted into cash through the power of definite purpose plus definite plans.
Many people buy the title of books and not the contents.
Tell the world what you intend to do. But first, show it.
Temporary defeat is not permanent failure.
You are never whipped until you quit in your own mind.
Do not take defeat seriously.
Most great leaders began as followers.
Top 10 unsuccessful leadership skills:
Inability to organize details
Unwillingness to do that which you ask of others
Expectation of pay for what you know rather than what you do
Fear of competition
Lack of imagination
Selfishness
Intemperance, over indulgence
Disloyalty
Emphasis on the “authority” of leadership
Emphasis on title
The person who cannot control himself cannot control others
A manager is someone who does things right. A leader is someone who does the right thing.
You manage things, you lead people.
31 reasons for failure:
1. Unfavorable hereditary background. 2. Lack of a well-defined purpose in life. 3. Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity. 4. Insufficient Education. 5. Lack of Self-Discipline. 6. Ill Health. 7. Unfavourable Environmental Influences During Childhood. 8. Procrastination. 9. Lack of Persistence. 10. Negative Personality. 11. Lack of Controlled Sexual Urge. 12. Uncontrolled Desire for “Something for Nothing”. 13. Lack of a Well Defined Power of Decision. 14. One or More of the Six Basic Fears. 15. Wrong Selection of a Mate in Marriage. 16. Over-Caution. 17. Wrong Selection of Associates in Business. 18. Superstition & Prejudice. 19. Wrong Selection of a Vocation. 20. Lack of Concentration of Effort. 21. The Habit of Indiscriminate Spending. 22. Lack of Enthusiasm. 23. Intolerance. 24. Intemperance. 25. Inability to Cooperate With Others. 26. Possession of Power Not Acquired Through Self-Effort. 27. Intentional Dishonesty. 28. Egotism & Vanity. 29. Guessing Instead of Thinking. 30. Lack of Capital.
You are paid not for what you know but for what you do with what you know.
Discipline comes through self control. This means that you must control all negative qualities. Before you can control conditions you must first control yourself. Self mastery is the hardest job you will ever tackle. if you do not conquer yourself you will be conquered by yourself.
As the twig is bent so shall the tree grow.
Failure cannot cope with persistence.
There is no hope of success for the person who repels people through a negative personality.
Those who succeed reach decisions promptly and change them very slowly. Those who fail reach decisions very slowly and change them frequently and quickly.
Indecision and procrastination are twins. Where one is found the other is usually found. Kill off this pair before they completely tie you to the treadmill of failure.
The person who takes no chances generally has to take whatever is left when everyone else is done choosing, over caution is as bad as under caution, life itself is filled with the element of chance.
Superstition is a form of fear. It is also a form of ignorance. Successful people keep open minds and are afraid of nothing.
You cannot have outstanding success in work that you do not like.
No one can stop you from developing plans to make your goal in life a reality.
Without money you must take what you are offered and be glad to get it.
Without enthusiasm you cannot be convincing. Moreover, enthusiasm is contagious, and the person who has it, under control, is generally welcome in any group of people.
The person with a closed mind on any subject seldom gets ahead. Intolerance means you have stopped acquiring knowledge.
More people lose their positions and their big opportunities in life because of their inability to cooperate with others than for all other reasons combined
Quick riches are more dangerous than poverty.
There is no hope for you if you are dishonest by choice. Sooner or later your deeds will catch up with you.
Egotism and vanity are fatal to success.
Lack of capital is a common cause of failure.
Your value is established entirely by your ability to render useful service or your capacity to induce others to render such service.
Your yearly self analysis should show a decrease in your faults and an increase in your virtues. You go ahead stand still or go backwards in life. Your objective should be to go ahead.
Self analysis questionnaire. Download here. (5:46.50 – 5:50.45)
Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth…if you are too influenced by other peoples opinions when you reach decisions you will not succeed in any undertaking, and will have no desire of your own.
You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it and reach your own decisions.
Those who talk too much generally do little else
The mark of genuine wisdom is modesty and silence.
Tell the world what you intend to do then show it.
Know what you want and you will generally get it.
Definiteness of decision always requires courage.
No man achieves great success who is unwilling to make personal sacrifices
The basis of persistence is the power of will.
Those who accumulate great fortunes (have) a strong desire backed up by will power which they mix with persistence
Persistence does for your character what carbon does to iron. It hardens it to steel.
Lack of persistence is one of the major causes of failure.
The starting point of all achievement is desire, weak desires brings weak results. Just as a small amount of fire brings a small amount of heat.
Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage.
Persist past your failures.
Knowing what you want is the first and most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive will force you to surmount difficulties.
Organised plans encourage persistence.
Guessing instead of knowing destroys persistence.
Persistence is the direct result of habit.
(Fear) can be overcome by forcing yourself to perform and repeat acts of courage.
The majority of people permit friends, relatives and the public at large to influence them so they cannot live their own lives because they fear criticism. Many people make mistakes in marriage but stay married then go through life miserable and unhappy because they fear criticism.
The fear of criticism is stronger than the desire for success.
Most ideas are stillborn. To grow ideas need the breath of life injected into them through definite plans of immediate action. The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives gives it a better chance of surviving. The fear of criticism is what kills most ideas that never reach the planning and action stage.
The only difference between so called lucky and unlucky people was that the lucky people tended to remember the good things that had happened in their lives and those that thought they were unlucky tended to dwell on the bad things.
All we can control is what we say and do. Everything else that happens to us depends upon the actions of others and the random world we live in.
Unlike luck, lucky breaks is something you can control and lucky people, whether they know it or not, have taken specific steps to make their good luck.
If you act like a loser people think you are a loser. If you perceive yourself as lucky it will be easier for others to see you that way.
The only lucky break anyone can afford to rely upon is a self made break. These come through the application of persistence. The starting point is definiteness of purpose.
Riches do not respond to wishes.
4 steps that lead to the habit of persistence
- A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment.
- A definite plan expressed in continuous action.
- A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences.
- A friendly alliance with one or more persons that will encourage you to follow through with both plan and purpose.
People take on the nature and the habit and the power.
More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has ever been taken from the earth.
People are influenced more by feelings than by reason. Your creativity is set into action entirely by emotion and not by cold reason.
Individuals who are most confident sexually are the most efficient sales people. The explanation is the factor of personality that is known as personal magnetism is a manifestation of personal energy.
Those of greatest achievement have a highly developed sexual nature but have learned the art of transmutation of sexual energy.
Stimulation in excess through alcohol or drugs is a destructive intemperance. For some over indulgence in sexual expression may become just as destructive. A sexually obsessed person is not essentially different to a person addicted to drugs or alcohol. Both have lost control over their faculties of reason and will power. Human sexuality is a mighty urge to action but it’s forces are like cyclones, almost impossible to completely control. When an individual is driven solely by emotions relating to sexuality that person may be capable of great achievement but their actions are often disorganised and destructive.
The major reason why many people do not succeed early in life is their tendency to dissipate their energies through over indulgence. The majority of people never learn that sexual energy has possibilities other than physical expression.
Love, romance and sex are all emotions capable of driving people to heights of super achievement. When combined these three emotions may lift you to the altitude of a genius. Every person who has been moved by genuine love knows that it leaves enduring traces upon the human heart. The effect of love endures because love is spiritual in nature. One who has loved truly, can never lose entirely. Love is whimsical and temperamental. It comes when it pleases and goes away without warning. Accept it and enjoy it while it remains but spend no time worrying about it’s departure. Worry will never bring it back. Dismiss the thought that love only comes once. Love may come and go times without number but there are no two love experiences that affect you in just the same way.
Marriages or committed relationships that are not blessed with love properly balanced with sex cannot be happy ones and seldom endure. Love alone will not bring happiness, nor will sex alone. Love is spiritual, sex is biological.
Control of your mind through the power of your will is not difficult. Control comes from persistence and habit. The secret of control lies in understanding the process of transmutation. When any negative emotion presents itself in your mind it can be transmuted into a positive or constructive emotion by the simple procedure of changing your thoughts. There is no other road to genius than through voluntary self effort.
The subconscious mind is the connecting link between the finite mind of man and infinite intelligence. It is the intermediary through which you may draw upon infinite intelligence.
Everything that you create begins in the form of a thought impulse. You can create nothing that you do not first conceive as a thought. Through the aid of the imagination, thoughts may be assembled into plans.
The seven major positive emotions are: desire, faith, love, sex enthusiasm, romance, hope.
The seven major negative emotions to be avoided are: fear, jealousy, hatred, revenge, greed, superstition, anger.
Positive and Negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. One or the other must dominate. It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind.
We form habits based on the degree of reinforcement we receive. Habits make no moral judgement. They can be good or bad. Both are formed through repetition. If we try something and like the results we repeat the action. You can replace negative thoughts with positive ones. You can replace inaction with action and you can form any habit you choose. Your thoughts are the only thing that you can completely control if you choose to do so. You can control your thoughts to control your habit.
Most people only resort to prayer only after everything else has failed, they go to prayer with their minds filled with fear and doubt, these are the emotions the subconscious mind passes on.
The next best thing to being truly great is to emulate the great.
We all become what we are because of our dominating thoughts and desires.
The starting point of all achievement is desire. The finishing point is the kind of knowledge that leads to understanding.
Indecision is the seedling of fear. Indecision crystallises into doubt. The two blend and become fear.
The six fears (states of mind) :
Fear of Poverty
Fear of Criticism
Fear of Ill Health
Fear of Loss of Love
Fear of Old Age
Fear of Death
If you want riches you must refuse to accept any circumstance that leads towards poverty.
Face the facts squarely. Ask yourself definite questions and demand direct answers.
The fear of criticism rob people of their initiative, destroys their power of imagination, limits their individuality, takes away their self reliance and does them damage in a hundred other ways, Parents often do their children irreparable injury by criticising.
Criticism is the one form of service of which everyone has too much, your nearest relatives are often the worst offenders, it is a crime of the worst nature for any parent to build inferiority complexes in the mind of a child through unnecessary criticism.
Get the best there is in people not by criticism but by constructive suggestion. Parents may accomplish the same results with their children. Criticism will plant fear in the human heart, or resentment. But it will not build love or affection.
10:00:00 Symptoms of the fear of criticism are 1. Self consciousness. 2. Lack of poise. 3. Personality weakness. 4. Inferiority complex. (Acting superior to cover up that you feel inferior). 5. Extravagance. 6. Lack of initiative. 7. Lack of ambition
The fear of disease, even when there is not the slightest cause for fear, often produces the physical symptoms of the disease feared.
Powerful and mighty is the human mind, it builds or it destroys.
Hills associate was told 3 times that he looked ill. He believed it was possible. Being told 3 times was convincing and his mind went to work and made it so.
Disease sometimes begins in the form of negative thought impulse. Such thoughts may be planted in your mind by suggestion or created by you in your own mind. Doctors send patients to new climates for their health because a change of mental attitude is necessary. The seed of fear of ill health lives in every human mind. Worry, fear, discouragement or disappointment can cause this seed to germinate and grow.
Jealousy and other similar forms of neurosis grow out of the fear of the loss of love of someone. This fear is the most painful of all the six basic fears. It probably plays more havoc with the body and mind than any of the other basic fears.
The thought of eternal punishment destroys interest in life and makes happiness impossible.
Death is mere transition and if death is not mere change or transition, then nothing comes after death except a long eternal peaceful sleep, and sleep is nothing to be feared.
A busy person finds life too thrilling to worry about death.
Worry is a state of mind based upon fear. It works slowly but persistently. It is insidious and subtle. Step by step it digs itself in until it paralysis the reasoning faculty and destroys self confidence and initiative. Worry is a form of sustained fear caused by indecision therefore it is a state of mind that can be controlled. An unsettled mind is helpless. Indecision makes an unsettled mind. Most individuals lack the will power to reach decisions promptly and to stand by them after they have been made. We do not worry over conditions once we have reached the decision to follow a definite line of action.
Through indecision the 6 basic fears become translated into a state of worry.
10:20:40
Relieve yourself forever of the fear of death by reaching a decision to accept death as an inescapable event. Eliminate the fear of old age by reaching a decision to accept it, not as a handicap, but as a great blessing that carries with it wisdom, self-control, and understanding. Master the fear of loss of love by reaching a decision to get along without love if that is necessary. Defeat the fear of criticism by reaching a decision not to worry about what other people think, do or say. Overcome the fear of ill health by the decision to forget symptoms and whip the fear of poverty by reaching a decision to get along with whatever wealth you can accumulate without worry.
Kill the habit of worry in all its forms by reaching a general blanket decision that nothing life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With this decision will come poise, piece of mind and calmness of thought which will bring happiness. If your mind is filled with fear you not only destroy your chance of intelligent action but you transmit these destructive vibrations to the minds of all those who come into contact with you, and you destroy their chances to. Even a dog or a horse knows when it’s master lacks courage. It will pick up the vibrations of fear given off by it’s master and behave accordingly. The vibrations of fear pass from one mind to another just as quickly and as surely as the sound of the human voice passes from the broadcasting station to a radio receiver.
The person who constantly speaks of negative or destructive thoughts is practically certain to experience the results of those words in the form of destructive feedback. But even negative thoughts without words will come back to you. The release of destructive thought impulses alone also produces feedback in more ways than one. First, and perhaps the most important to be remembered, the person who releases thoughts of a destructive nature must suffer damage through the breaking down of creative imagination. Secondly, the presence in the mind of any destructive emotion develops a negative personality which repels people and often converts them into antagonists. The third source of damage is that negative thoughts not only affect others, but they also embed themselves in the subconscious mind of the person releasing them and there become a part of that person’s character
Your business in life is to achieve success. To be successful you must find peace of mind, acquire the material needs of life and above all obtain happiness. All of these indications of success begin in the form of thought impulse. You control your own mind. You have the power to feed it whatever thought impulses you choose. With this goes the responsibility of using your mind constructively. You are the master of your own earthly destiny just as surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts. You may influence, direct and eventually control your own environment making your life what you want it to be or you may neglect to make your life what you want and you will be adrift on the seas of circumstance where you will be tossed like a wood chip on the waves of the ocean.
Those who accumulate great riches always protect themselves against negative influences. The poverty stricken never do. Those who succeed in any calling must prepare their minds to resist such influences, you should examine yourself very carefully to determine whether you are susceptible to negative influences. If you neglect this self analysis you will give up your right to obtain the object of your desires.
You must deal with your own faults as you would with a real and serious enemy.
This seventh basic evil is more difficult to master because it strikes when you are not aware of its presence, when you are asleep and while you are awake. Moreover it’s weapon is intangible, because it consists of merely a state of mind. Negative influences are also dangerous because they come in so many different forms. Sometimes they enter the mind through the words of your friends and relatives. At other times they come from within, through your own mental attitude. Always it is as deadly as poison, even though it may not kill as quickly.
To protect yourself against negative influences whether of your own making or of the result of negative people around you, recognise that your willpower is your defence. You must put it into constant use until it builds a wall of immunity against negative influences in your own mind. Recognise that you and every other human being are by nature lazy, indifferent and susceptible to all suggestions that reinforce your weaknesses. Recognise that by nature you are susceptible to all of the six basic fears and you must set up habits to counteract all these fears. Recognise that negative influences often work on you through your subconscious mind and are therefore difficult to detect. Keep your mind closed against all people who depress or discourage you in any way. Clean out your medicine chest and stop panderings to colds, aches, pains and imaginary illness. Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act for yourself. Do not expect troubles as they have a tendency not to disappoint. Without doubt the most common weakness of all human beings is their habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influences of other people. This weakness is all the more damaging because most people do not even know they do it.
10:28:01
The following list of questions Is designed to help you see yourself as you really are: Download self analysis questionnaire here. (5:46.50 – 5:50.45)
You have absolute control over only one thing and that is your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to humans. It reflects our divine nature. This ability to control your thoughts is the sole means by which you control your own destiny. If you fail to control your own mind you may be sure you will control nothing else. Your mind is your spiritual estate. Protect and use it with the care to which divine royalty is entitled. You were given your will power for this purpose. Unfortunately there is no legal protection against those who by design or through ignorance poison the minds of others with negative suggestion.
[Edison] knew the mind could produce anything the mind could conceive and believe.
Mind control is the result of self discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no halfway compromise. The most practical method for controlling your mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose backed by a definite plan.
[People] defend their alibi’s because they create them. Your alibi is the child of your own imagination. It is human nature to defend your own brainchild. Building alibi’s is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had this truth in mind when he said “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is of all things, the most shameful and vile”. Another philosopher had the same thought in mind when he said “It was a great surprise to me when I discovered that most of the ugliness I saw in others was but a reflection of my own nature”.
Elbert Hubbard said “It has always been a mystery to me why people spend so much time deliberately fooling themselves by creating alibi’s to cover their weaknesses. If used differently, this same time would be sufficient to cure the weakness, then no alibi’s would be needed.
In parting I would remind you that life is a chequerboard and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving or neglect to move promptly, your men will be wiped off the board by time. You’re playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision.
You are in possession of the master key that unlocks the door to life’s riches. The master key is intangible but it is powerful. It is the privilege of creating in your own mind a burning desire for a definite form of riches. There is no penalty for the use of this key. But there is a price you must pay if you do not use it. The price is failure. There is a reward of stupendous proportions if you put the key to use. It is the satisfaction that will come to you when you conquer self and you force life to pay whatever is asked. The reward is worthy of your effort. Will you make the start and be convinced?
Remember that your real wealth cannot be measured by what you have but by what you are.
Overall: 95%