In addition to Carnegie’s advice, who started from nothing when he immigrated from Scotland to the U.S. and quickly became one of the richest people in the world thanks to a steel manufacturing company he founded, Hill interviewed over 500 self-made millionaires over 20 years. He published the findings from his interviews in his book "Think and Grow Rich" more than 80 years ago. Among the tips, Hill doesn’t mention the words "real estate" or "stocks" at all, but rather breaks down the psychological barriers that prevent many of us from accumulating wealth. This approach is still relevant today, and here are the 13 steps to wealth based on Hill’s data from the interviews he conducted with the richest people in the world.
1. Desire: You Must Want It
All millionaires started with a dream, a hope, a plan, and a desire before they became rich. They imagined their wealth and saw it already in their bank account. Hill explains that merely wishing won’t bring you wealth, but a burning desire for wealth with a mindset that turns into a real obsession, followed by planning clear ways and means to acquire the money, along with backing those plans and a persistence that doesn’t recognize failure – that’s what brings wealth. This isn’t much different from the modern idea of the power of attraction (The Secret),which requires you to vividly imagine the situation you aim for in every detail.
2. Faith: You Must Believe You Can Achieve Your Goals
Getting rich begins with your mindset – with the belief that you can accumulate a large amount of wealth. Hill writes that wealth starts in the form of a thought. The amount of wealth you’ll attain is limited only by the thoughts you run through your mind, and faith removes those limitations.
The millionaire Steve Siebold – a successful self-made author – once wrote: "Being rich isn’t a privilege. Being rich is a right." He explains that if you create something of value for others, you have the right to be as rich as you want. Believe in yourself and believe that you deserve it.
3. Auto-Suggestion: Convince Yourself to Reach Your Goals
Turning your desire for success into reality requires you to send sentences and mantras that support your goals into your subconscious. You must loudly repeat what you want to achieve and how you plan to do it so that you become obsessed with your goal. Hill explains it this way: the ability to use auto-suggestion largely depends on your ability to focus on what you want until it becomes a burning obsession within you.
For example, if you’re interested in saving a million shekels for retirement by saving a fixed amount every week, you need to repeat the sentence "I set aside money every week until I have a million shekels for retirement" as many times as possible every day.
4. Specialized Knowledge: Gain Experience and Keep Learning
Knowledge is power, but it can lead people and help accumulate wealth only if it’s gathered systematically and applied in reality. You must also continually strive for knowledge – you never stop learning. Hill emphasizes that a successful person never stops acquiring knowledge in the field related to their goals, business, or profession. Those who don’t succeed usually make the mistake of believing that the period of acquiring knowledge ends when they finish their studies. Today’s successful people constantly read content related to the topics they deal with, challenging their minds and thinking.
5. Imagination: Come Up with Ideas and Visualize Your Success
If you can imagine it, you can create it! Hill writes that ideas are the starting point of all wealth, and they are the product of imagination. Your limitations in this area lie solely in how you develop and use your imagination. Don’t be afraid to come up with ideas and develop them. "No matter who you are, where you live, or what your profession is, just remember in the future, every time you see the words 'Coca-Cola,' that it’s a vast empire of wealth and influence that grew from just one idea," Hill writes in his book.
6. Organized Planning: Start Taking Action
After imagining your success, you need to go out and chase your desire. You must act with persistence and enthusiasm. Hill explains that the opportunity already exists, and you just need to take a step forward, choose what you want, create a clear plan, and follow it without compromise. The problem is that most of us are good at starting but not so good at finishing everything we start. Moreover, people tend to give up when they see even a single sign of defeat. That’s why there’s no substitute for persistence – you mustn’t give up!
7. Decision: Defeat Procrastination with Decisiveness
Hill noticed that all millionaires share a common trait in their character: decisiveness. Those who make quick choices and know what they want tend to get what they want. He writes that people who fail to accumulate wealth, even without expecting to do so, tend to make decisions – if at all – very slowly, and they also tend to change them quickly and frequently.
Decisiveness is not only a trait of the rich but also one of the most important qualities for leaders. Ultimately, making bad decisions is better than making no decisions at all, because from bad decisions you learn what the right decisions are.
8. Persistence: Don’t Stop Until You Get What You Want
Persistence and perseverance are an essential part of accumulating wealth, yet very few people have the willpower required to turn their passion for money into real money. Hill writes that the rich don’t wish, but rather have defined plans backed by desires, and they do so with persistence.
The most successful people tend to face many failures, but they overcome them all. "I learned that it doesn’t matter how many times you fail, you only need to be right once. I tried to sell powdered milk. I was foolish many times, and I learned from all of them," said millionaire Mark Cuban.
9. The Power of the Mastermind: Surround Yourself with the Most Talented People
The rich create for themselves what Hill calls a "mastermind." This means they surround themselves with talented friends and colleagues who share their vision. When combining smart and creative minds, their power increases tenfold, far surpassing that of any single mind – even one that comes up with the same brilliant idea.
Think of it like a group of electric batteries providing more power than a single battery alone. This might explain why the richest people in the world tend to associate with each other. "Exposure to people more successful than you can expand your thinking and boost your income," wrote millionaire Steve Siebold. "We become like the people we associate with, which is why successful people are drawn to successful people."
10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation: Choose a Suitable Partner
Sexual energy is a powerful tool for humans – it creates physical life and develops emotional life, and when harnessed and directed correctly, it enhances creativity, passion, enthusiasm, and persistence – all crucial for accumulating wealth. According to Hill, sexual desire is the strongest desire in humans. When driven by it, it instills courage, willpower, and creative abilities unknown to them until that moment.
Hill says that love, romance, and sex – all can lead people to greatness and impressive achievements. He claims that when combined, they can even elevate a person to the level of genius. This step feels a bit less practical than others, but what you should take from it is the importance of finding a supportive partner to achieve success, which is backed by studies.
11. The Subconscious Mind: Take Control of Positivity and Ignore Negative Emotions
If you truly want to be rich, you must plant your desire and plan into your subconscious. Hill says the mind doesn’t sit idle. If you can’t plant your desires in it, it will latch onto the thoughts that come to it as a result of your neglect.
The subconscious can’t deal with negative and positive thoughts at the same time – only one type of thought can dominate it. Your responsibility is to ensure those are positive thoughts. This isn’t surprising, and today there’s plenty of research evidence showing that happy – i.e., more positive – people tend to perform better at work and are less likely to be unemployed.
12. The Brain: Connect with Smart People and Learn from Them
Our brain transmits and receives messages, drawing thoughts from those around us, so we must surround ourselves with intelligent, creative, and positive people. Hill says every person’s mind can be influenced by another’s thoughts, with the creative imagination serving as the brain’s antenna.
This principle can be applied through the mastermind concept, as you learned in step nine, but it can be taken a step further. Instead of just surrounding yourself with smarter and better people, use your friends to find solutions to problems through brainstorming. Hill calls this "mixing several minds into one" and suggests sitting with a small group of people who will help you solve problems you encounter on your path to success.
