1. Think and Grow Rich Self-Study Course
Week 1 Notes
Bill Marshall – www.poweraffirmations.com
As I have studied the material for the first week of this self-study course, I thought I’d
share with you the points that stand out to me.
What was Andrew Carnegie’s Secret?
Before I go further, I want to address the question of “Andrew Carnegie’s Secret.”
Here is what Napoleon Hill has to say in the Author’s Preface:
“The secret [Andrew Carnegie’s “secret”] to which I refer has been mentioned no fewer
than a hundred times, throughout this book. It has not been directly named, for it seems
to work more successfully when it is merely uncovered and left in sight, where THOSE
WHO ARE READY, and SEARCHING FOR IT, may pick it up. That is why Mr.
Carnegie tossed it to me so quietly, without giving me its specific name.
If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this secret at least once in every
chapter. I wish I might feel privileged to tell you how you will know if you are ready, but
that would deprive you of much of the benefit you will receive when you make the
discovery in your own way.”
It may be true that it’s better that you discover the secret in your own way (who am I to
argue with Napoleon Hill?), but I think it will be helpful to you if I share with you what I
think his secret is. This will make it easier to see how often Hill repeats this point
throughout the book. Here it is:
Organized effort directed towards a definite chief aim backed by a burning desire
for its attainment.
So there are three parts:
1. A Definite Chief Aim. Also known as a Definite Major Purpose. You must know
what you want. I think a good way to think of this is to create a clear mental
picture of your goal in the completed state. This is why visualization, meditation,
vision boards, and affirmations are so helpful. They help you to create a clearly
defined mental picture. Unless you have a clear image of what you want, the
odds are against your achieving significant goals.
2. A burning desire for its attainment. An ordinary desire is insufficient. It must
be a burning, passionate desire. It must be an obsession.
3. Organized Effort focused on a Definite Chief Aim. Organized Effort actually
includes a few different principles most importantly Organized Plans and the
Master Mind.

2. Originally I thought that the secret was simply knowing what you want and having a
burning desire for its attainment, but my thinking on this has evolved for two reasons:
1. According to Hill, Andrew Carnegie attributed his fortune to his use of the Master
Mind principle.
2. Every large enterprise requires an organization of many people to carry out. It is
exceptionally rare that a person working all by themselves can achieve great
success. Even if you look at a bestselling author, even though he or she may be
responsible for their book, it still takes other people to publish and sell it to the
public. In other words, they still need organized effort to turn the book into a
financial success.
If you look at the successful people who Hill wrote about, every one of them created a
business, a corporation, an organization for the purpose of carrying out their Definite
Major Purpose.
If you study employees who are the most successful, they are usually in management.
In other words, they are leading an organization within an organization. And the larger
portion of the organization they lead, the larger their compensation.
If you look at people who struggle to succeed, they are usually working alone or for
someone else’s business or organization. Or the organization they lead is very small.
You may say, ―Well, what about Faith? Auto-suggestion? Specialized Knowledge?
Imagination? Persistence? etc. ‖ I would suggest that when you know exactly what you
want, have a burning desire, and are organizing your efforts toward a definite chief aim,
you will naturally apply all of the other principles explained in Think and Grow Rich.
But if you do not know what you want, if you have a weak desire, and you have not
created an organization to carry out your Definite Chief Aim, you will struggle applying
any of the other principles.
Here are some questions I ask myself multiple times a day:
1. Do I have a clear mental picture of exactly what I want?
2. Do I have a burning desire for its attainment?
3. How can I create an organization to achieve my goal? Who can help me achieve
my goal? Is there a business or person I can hire to help me?
An organization may be as large a business consisting of thousands of people or as
small as finding one other person to help you achieve your goal.
If you are not able to clearly define your objective and/or your desire is weak, you need
to address these points before wasting any time trying to apply any of the other
principles. Without a clear picture and a strong desire, you will waste a lot of time and
energy pursuing the goal. And until you are able to organize your efforts with at least

3. one other person, you will probably only be able to achieve small goals and accumulate
a modest amount of wealth.
Personally, I spend most of my time clarifying exactly what I want, intensifying my desire
to get it, and then organizing my thoughts and actions to get it.
With these points in mind, here are my bullet point notes for the Publisher’s Preface, the
Author’s Preface, and the Introduction (Chapter 1).
Publisher’s Preface
 Think and Grow Rich is a philosophy of life.
 Detailed study of the philosophy is required for mastery.
 You will get the most out of Think and Grow Rich when you study this material
with other people.
 It is possible to start without material possessions and accumulate large amounts
of wealth. The starting point is your THOUGHTS, IDEAS, and ORGANIZED
PLANS.
 Riches cannot always be measured in money.
Author’s Preface
 Andrew Carnegie had a secret. The secret is repeated multiple times in the
book, but it is not directly named.
 Andrew Carnegie’s coaching made fortunes for the people who followed his
instructions.
 Formal education is not required for creating a fortune. A person’s state of mind
is more important than education.
 The philosophy is based on decades of research. Napoleon Hill analyzed over
25,000 people. This included interviews with over 500 people of outstanding
business and financial success. He interviewed people such as Andrew
Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison.
 All achievement, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.
Introduction- Chapter 1
 Riches begin with thought. Thoughts become things.
 Thoughts that are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning
desire become things.
 You must define what you want and you must have a burning, obsessional desire
for its attainment.

4. Edwin C. Barnes
 Edwin C. Barnes succeeded in his imagination before he succeeded in real life.
 Barnes started with no material possessions or influence.
 Barnes had a burning desire and determination that motivated him to take action.
 Edison picked up on Barnes’ desire by observing his expression, demeanor, and
actions.
 ―It was what he [Barnes] thought that counted. If the significance of this
statement could be conveyed to every person who reads it, there would be no
need for the remainder of this book.‖
 Barnes started at a low level position.
 Barnes intensified his desire to achieve his goal. How do you go about
intensifying a desire?
 He spoke to himself about his goal (auto-suggestion/self-talk).
 He acted in faith.
 Barnes new exactly what he wanted and he was determined to get it.
 Opportunity appeared from an unexpected source. Barnes recognized his
opportunity because he knew what he wanted and had a strong desire to attain it.
If he had not known what he wanted, or had not maintained his desire and
determination, his opportunity would have passed him by.
 ―…an intangible impulse of thought can be translated into its physical counterpart
by the application of known principles.‖ This is a very important statement.
Thought is an invisible, intangible force—energy. If riches are our desire, we can
turn this invisible, intangible force into tangible riches. And we can do this by the
application of known principles. Specifically, the 13 principles outlined in Think
and Grow Rich.
 Barnes thought himself into a partnership with Thomas Edison.
 Barnes had initiative, faith, and the will to win.
R.U. Darby
 More gold has been mined from the brains of men and women than has ever
been taken from the earth.
 Darby and his uncle quit without seeking expert counsel.

5.  The implication of this story is that they were trying to get rich quick. This is why
they gave up at the first sign of defeat. Their desire was weak and they were not
willing to create new plans to get what they wanted.
 The junk man sought expert counsel.
 Darby recouped his losses only after he learned that DESIRE can be turned into
gold—or more accurately money or any other material possession.
 ―I will never stop because people say no when I ask them to buy insurance.‖ If
you are in sales, you must persist through the no’s that you will inevitably
receive. That’s simply part of every sales person’s job description.
 Darby developed ―stickability.‖ Stickability means that you stick to the job until it
is complete.
 Temporary defeat is inevitable if you are going to pursue big goals. People don’t
remember your defeats, they remember your successes—if they are big. Defeat
only becomes permanent if you decide to give up.
 The little child knew what she wanted and had a burning desire to get it. Her
desire was stronger than the uncle’s resistance.
 Analyze your experiences and the experience of others for the lessons you need
to learn.
 The answers you are looking for are within your own mind.
 One sound idea is all you need to succeed.
 ―When riches come, they come so quickly, in such great abundance, that one
wonders where they have been hiding during all of the lean years.‖ That’s
because you have created the state of mind that attracts riches. You are in the
―flow.‖
 ―Riches begin with a STATE OF MIND, definiteness of purpose, and little or no
hard work.‖ As you study Think and Grow Rich, tune in on every occasion where
Napoleon Hill mentions the phrase ―state of mind.‖ Your state of mind can be
consciously cultivated. What is the state of mind that attracts riches?
 When riches come, they will be in the hands of other people. You will get rich
when you influence enough people to exchange a portion of their riches for a
service or product that you are able to provide. To get what you want, you have
to give other people what they want.
 Fear is a destructive state of mind. Fear destroys riches.
 Faith causes fear to disappear.
 Faith causes everything you ―touch‖ to turn into an asset for your benefit.

6.  Success comes to those who become ―success conscious.‖ Failure comes to
those who are failure conscious.
 Developing a success consciousness requires effort. A failure consciousness
generally happens naturally as a result of neglect.
 There is an ―art‖ to changing your mind from being failure conscious to being
success conscious.
 What does it mean to have your thought habits ―steeped in poverty, want, misery,
failure, and defeat?‖ What does it mean to have your thoughts steeped in
prosperity, faith, determination, and positivism? Can you feel the difference in
the energy?
 What is the proper measure of our limitations?
 What do you think are your limitations? Are they true limitations?
Henry Ford’s V-8 Engine
 What was the secret behind Henry Ford’s success?
 ―I want it and I’ll have it.‖
 Henry Ford was a success because he understood and applied the principles of
success.
 DESIRE: knowing what one wants.
“You are the Master of Your Fate”
 We are the masters of our fate and the captains of our souls because we have
the power to control our thoughts.
 ―There is a universal power which adapts itself to the nature of the thoughts we
hold in our minds and influences us in NATURAL WAYS to transmute our
thoughts into their physical equivalent.‖
 Your mental power can be used constructively or destructively.
 Our brains become magnetized with the DOMINATING thoughts which hold in
our minds. These ―magnets‖ attract to us:
o The forces
o The people
o The circumstances of life
That harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.

7.  We must become money conscious until the DESIRE for money drives us to
create definite plans for acquiring it.
 The 13 principles in Think and Grow Rich hold the secret for MASTERY over our
economic fate. How would your life be different if you had mastery over your
economic fate?
 Keep an open mind.
 You can convert ideas into money. You can start from scratch, without finances
and recoup your losses.
Here is one other point to wrap up week 1:
There are two tests that you must pass to measure your progress:
1. Are you following through with your studies? If you are not taking action, that is a
sign that you need to strengthen your desire to master the ideas in Think and
Grow Rich.
2. The most important test is are you getting positive results that you can
measure in the real world? I’m speaking about tangible results that you can
demonstrate to others.
This is more than just ―feeling good.‖ ―Feeling more confident.‖ ―Feeling more
positive.‖ I’m talking about results in the material world. Unless you have
demonstrable results that you have manifested, you have more work to do.
Reasonable, measurable progress.