When you ask anyone closely linked to the success and personal development industry what book influenced them most you’ll often hear one book’s title come up over and over again. That book is Napoleon Hill’s 1937 ground-breaking release titled, Think and Grow Rich. The book’s genesis was planted 20-years before its release when a young Hill was offered an opportunity by US Steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie, to interview and chronicle many of the top business leaders at the time.
Having read Think & Grow Rich many times, as well as many of his other books, I’d like to share with you in this month’s lead article three key reasons why this book is still so important and relevant 75-years after its original release.
In the last blog post we shared the first reason why Think and Grow Rich is still important 75 years later. Here’s the second reason:
#2. Hill’s 10th Step to Riches –The Power of the Mastermind- is what ALL high achievers understand and utilize to get and stay ahead. The old adage, “It’s often not what you know, but who you know,” is actually much truer than most people would either like to believe. Yes, the people you associate with is of extreme importance to sustained success in any field. The people you associate with are either bringing you up to get better, keeping you at their same level, or attempting to bring you down based on their habits, behaviors and outlook on life.
It’s stunning to me how much advice is given these days often times by people who have little if any clue or expertise to be dispensing it. In the age of Google, people have fallen into the trap of thinking that they can become a quasi-expert on any topic after noodling around on Google for 30-45 minutes and reading a few blog posts.
I hate to break this to most people, but a specific skill set will often take a world-class expert years of study and direct application to get good at and eventually achieve mastery. It is rarely mastered in a few minutes or hours. Once again, in an instant gratification world, people seek the shortcut and it often costs them dearly.
In the speaking and writing industry where I spend the majority of my time, I learned early on that getting around and studying from the very best in my field was a non-negotiable. Yes, I’ve paid thousands and thousands dollars above and beyond what I spent to earn a four-year college degree but I can say that without hesitation it’s been a bargain. The chance to network at key industry events, exchange ideas, and bounce best practices off of other super successful people in my industry has been invaluable to not only my own career, but more importantly to my clients who seek me out and count on me to be playing and more importantly associating with the best and brightest minds in the world.
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