Think and Grow Rich (Ch 7)
Napoleon Hill
Watch The Video Summary of Think and Grow Rich
Exercise #13 – Organized Planning
Transcript
Well, hello! Welcome once again. This is Exercise 13 for the curriculum. I’m just so excited about the chapter that we’re into tonight organized Planning, Chapter 7 in Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich. What we’re doing is we’re really mastering, we’re internalizing, we got the knowledge, the application, and then we’re putting the wheels in motion for the creation of the lives of our own personal design, by decoding all of this information, by working together, supporting one another. All of us likeminded people coming together with the intention to create something magnificent for ourselves and for the world. We are truly engaging in the creative method. I could not be more excited and I want to welcome you and congratulate you for not only for being here, for being in the material, but for being part of the Wealth Creation Mastermind and what an extraordinary chapter.
I think this is maybe one of the biggest, most comprehensive chapters in Think and Grow Rich. He talks about no the major reasons for success and failure, what leadership is. He talks about a self-analysis. He talks about the miracle of the capitalist system, the freedoms that we have as Americans. He just lays out and after reading this and being in it, you absolutely know and believe at the very core fiber of your being, that all you have to do is take this material and apply it, combined with the plan that we’ve put together with the Wealth Creation Mastermind for the accumulation of physical, intellectual, and spiritual abundance could not be more excited to have you with us for this exercise on organized planning.
We know that every idea that thoughts are things that everything starts to design as a desire and that desire then matriculate should goes into the imagination. We make a decision, we start you know, to pull to us all of the other likeminded men and women, other thoughts that support the creation of transmutation of the idea from thought into physical form. And definitely this step, organized planning is indeed the crystallization of desire into action. It is the sixth step. You know, Napoleon Hill talks about 13 principles in Think and Grow Rich, this is the 6th principle. The first concept in the book is that thoughts are things that’s kind of the underlying, the foundational basis. And we know that we live in a thought universe. We know that as a man thinketh, so he becomes… And one of the steps for transformation of thought into the material form is definite practical plan. So we will be engaging in a conversation.
One of the great things that we do in the masterminds is we’ve put a great deal of emphasis on something that Napoleon Hill says is absolutely fundamental and critically important. And that is the participation, the formation of a mastermind. You have to be in alliance with other likeminded people. And what we do is we are building a team, a mastermind of a million strong for the purpose of leading others around the world in the lives of freedom and meaning and prosperity. And we’re doing it by this, the power of 4.
So, you take these 4 images of these 4 people and you put a name on each one. This become your team, your mastermind of 4, and knows that each of you are member of another mastermind of 4 of the person who introduced you to the mastermind or who has been your mentor in the mastermind if you found us online. And so you put a name to these and you ally yourself with his group of 4 as many people as you may need for the creation and carrying out your plan. And we have a concrete plan of action in the Wealth Creation Mastermind that we talk about on Tuesday nights. Tonight, Monday, we really go into and delve into the thought process of the creative method.
But know that being in harmony with this group is critically important, but you’ve got to ask yourself, you know, no group of people is going to come together just to help you carry out your ideals. You’ve got to also say, well, what’s in it for them? What’s in it for you? Why should you be a part of this Wealth Creation Mastermind? You’ve got to know very clearly what you intend to do to give to them, and you know, and so this is part of being in perfect harmony. They’ve got to realize, they’re going to get advantage from being in a relationship with you. You got to realize that you’ve got to be in harmony with them by giving them more value than they are expecting. And so the side at the outset, you know what advantages you have to offer each individual member of your group.
Now, one of the things that we have as a group is because we are studying and internalizing the creative method of thought and action, we are becoming proficient exponents of and not only students, but practitioners of the creative method and so by others coming in alignment with you. What you can give them is the hand up the literal and figurative boost of gaining the knowledge, supporting them, having conversations and being in communication with them.
And you’ve always got to keep this fact in mind that lower engaged in here, there is nothing bigger, more profound, and more important. There’s no greater undertaking in your life than mastering and applying the creative method because; if indeed, once mastered then applied gives you the facility and capacity to be, do and have whatever you can imagine yourself. So to ensure your success, one of the things that you’ve got to know about when you implement a plan, that plan needs to be faultless.
And here again, this is one of the profound benefits of the WCM is none of these plans are theoretical. None of the plans are unproven. Everything that we do is based on something that has already taken place. We’re not reinventing the wheel. We are indeed putting into practice what has already been proven by one or more of us. You know, the second thing that you’ve got to keep in mind is that you have to take advantage. No one of us has all of the wisdom, all of the experience, all of the knowledge that we need to succeed on our own. We’ve got to be in companionship, in harmony, in relationship with others that also have a different experiences, different knowledge, different education, more native ability or imagination. And so we combine our minds, but know that you’ve got to not only give others a hand up, but except a hand up from those who are indeed helping you, and then keeping in mind.
If you go about trying to reinvent the wheel, you may indeed end up with something that just doesn’t roll. Okay. And this image is a great, you know, it’s an illusion, right? And it looks as though it’s a wheel, and looks as though it’s circular, it looks as though it should roll, but indeed, if you take a close look at it, you realize that by reinventing the wheel, all have you done is really distract yourself.
And so the point here is understand that everything that we have done to this point has been thoroughly vetted by all of the members of the mastermind and those of us who have indeed succeeded with the plans that have been put in place are indeed those that have proven the validity of the plans. So know that, the only way that any of us arrive is by going through temporary defeat.
Again, one of the other great benefits to you of the mastermind is many of us who have proceeded you have already gone through some of those temporary defeats found what didn’t work, made adjustments, and it’s just part of every business, every entrepreneurial venture is finding out what does not work, modifying, altering and improving the plans and knowing that constant and never ending improvement of the plan is what indeed makes it better and better and better, but expect even you, even though you’re following a proven system and strategy will experience hurdles and fallbacks, but keep in mind that you’re never really truly whipped until you admit defeat in your own mind. And you know, winners never quit and quitters never win.
So, you know make a pact with yourself that you will persevere, that you will have the discipline that you will have the fortitude to carry on, move forward despite what may feel like temporary failure or defeat. And know that, that no achievement can be any greater than your plan, so having big plans, right? Have, you know, Brody of an architect that was responsible for many of the most beautiful parts of some of the most extraordinary cities in the world said, make no small plans, they have no magic, disturb man’s blood. And this is indeed the truth, make grand, bold, beautiful plans that other people see themselves are drawn to being a part of magnificent plans and visions have the power to inspire others and know that…
There’s two types of people, there’s leaders and there’s followers. And there’s nothing wrong with following. In fact, every one of us starts off following someone. The better mentor that you can pick, the better mentor you can follow, the faster you can develop into leadership yourself, but also understand that transitioning from being a follower into being a leader, transitions the amount of remuneration that you’re going to receive. There’s a vast difference between compensation for leaders and followers, and so the side at the outset that you will develop into a great leader.
Understand, you know there are requirements, asked what more can you do? So start studying the attributes of great leaders. Think of yourself as a superhero. Think of yourself as someone who’s going to, you know, when you think of a superhero, of course we all think of the man of steel, right? The Clark Kent Superman and what a great and virtuous being that super hero is unwavering courage and total self-control and absolutely definiteness of decision, definiteness of purpose, definiteness of plan you know, knowing where you’re going, others want to follow someone who knows where they are going and knows how to get there.
And so what are the attributes that you need to develop within yourself that will enhance and build your leadership ability on the mastery of details, knowing everything, going the distance and adding more and more when I started relating to and I wanted to go ahead and get into this attraction marketing program and do it online. I had no experience of designing or being a webmaster. What did I do? I actually took courses, I joined companies that would teach me, I started my own website. Why? So, that I could be a master of it…
No, just so that I could know what was needed so I could identify those with greater capacity than myself that could help me. Alright! So, you’ve got to be willing to pay the price to master all of the details, even if you’re not going to be the one. All leaders delegate to others, but we all have to know what is required. So, you’ve also got to have the willingness to say, hey, the buck stops right here. Take full responsibility for the failures, pass on successes, lift others up, and then know that there’s also major causes of failure in leadership that need to be avoided. Most of those are, you know, are based on pettiness, selfishness, disorganization, lack of imagination, of fear of competition.
Here’s one of the magical things about our industry is there’s a saying, “you want to get to the front of the room as fast as possible and then get to the back of the room as fast as possible”. What does that mean? It means you want to lift others up. You want to make yourself irrelevant. You want to make yourself. You have to replace yourself by elevating others, and the more people that you elevate, the more you become dispensable. But what that’s done is it’s rarely actually made you indispensable. So the more you lift others up, so never fear competition from your followers, in fact, look for others that want to rip leadership away from you because they are indeed the ones that will take the idea, move it further, and grow the vision even more so than you have yourself.
So, disloyalty is just — boy, this is something to watch for. If you see someone who is disloyal to those they’re following, or those who are following them, cut them out, eliminate them, remove them from your circle because they are the bad apple, and you know, when people are overly impressed with the title, I’m the vice president or I’m the president, I’m the CEO or any of that, it’s sort of a sign that they’re too engaged in self. Whereas we’re living in an age where it’s all about adding value to others, pushing it up, lifting others up, and asking yourself constantly, what can I do to be of service to you? What can I do to add value to your life?
And one of the most exciting things that’s going on now and in our age, is this rapid advent of technology that is just changing the world at an incredibly rapid pace. You know, I’m 69 years old now and sometimes I feel, boy, that the moment you stop being technologically current is the moment you start becoming a dinosaur. And so you know, we have always are at that forefront of the technological evolution. And so ask yourself, how are you doing business? You know, we’re all marketing personal services, we’re all marketing ourselves, who we are, what we have. I mean actually there’s very, very, very little that’s truly new and unique in the world. Most of us are just purveying ideas that already exist and providing services that are already manifested. And so the question is, how are we doing it? Are we doing it in a new way that will benefit and enhance the ability of others?
And so what we did in the WCM, we asked, well, how are people finding us? Are we going out like hunters, you know, with a spear in our hand? Or are we casting a net and allowing those who are looking for us to find this? Are we hunting or are we cultivating? And it’s much more satisfying to be a farmer than a hunter because as a farmer you’re actually able to cultivate and add value to others.
And so we’re actually attracting people in large numbers as opposed to the old way of marketing where you were trying to catch fish, you know, by spearing them on the riverbank one at a time. Instead what we’re doing is we’re allowing people to swim to us because they’re looking for what we are providing and what we do on every one of the curriculum calls, we simply provide value for free by being a group of like-minded entrepreneurs who are learning to apply the creative method of thought and action and helping others to get engaged in that.
We don’t charge for it. We give it away on Tuesday night, we show the plan for financial freedom and the lifestyle. There again, there’s actually ways of doing that for no cost. So we are lifting others, giving it away, improving the quality of lives, and we’re really the solicitating and harnessing the change that is already here. Now think about this, how do we introduce others to the Wealth Creation Mastermind? And this is applicable to so much more to just the Wealth Creation Mastermind. You know, you think of the fact that we all have these stacks of business cards. Now this is just one stack, right? And where does it end up, it ends up in my desk drawer and it’s all rubber banded up, right? I never actually dig through these. So if I go over, gosh, who do I know that is a oh gosh, I have a plumber, an attorney, architect rather than digging through, I generally would just go to my phone and I’ll try to go architect, you know, or whatever.
And the beauty of our virtual business card is it’s actually a digital relationship maker with all of the information about you embedded right there, your website, your links, videos, programs, details, everything that you could want to convey to people, and there’s a way for them to just click a button and add you to their contact list in their phone, so rather than ending up in somebody’s desk drawer, never to be looked at again, you’re right there available all the time. It’s a digital relationship maker. This is one of the ways that we add value. And you’ve got to be current.
You know, the question that you’ve got to be asking yourself is, what if you could add value to everyone you came in contact with, regardless of what their business, their pursuit, their personal interests were, what of you could help them spread their word, be better at marketing their personal values. So, but by always giving more in use value than you charge monetary value, what you’re doing is you’re advancing others and you’re giving them increased. And by being a man or woman in the way of increase, you’re actually in harmony with infinite intelligence, and by paying it forward, giving more to others, you actually receive more yourself, you know the old model of being an employee for life and that’s long gone.
And what are we doing today? We’re forming all of these partnerships, all of these interrelationships where we give benefit to others. You want benefit in this area of your life, I can help you here. I’ll receive benefit in my life in this area here. We’re intertwined and interrelated and we’re moving forward in this web of activity of benefiting one another. So the question that you will always ask yourself is what’s my QQS rating? How much quality am I providing to others? Useful quality and what’s the quantity of that service. And what spirit am I providing it?
And you know, one of the interesting things about Napoleon Hill, he’s got these 13 principles in Think and Grow Rich. But this is not the only book by Napoleon Hill, some of his other books get really deeply into this topic of spirit, of being, of having a likable personality, of providing service with a smile on your face, with a smile in your heart, you know, by conveying to others, you love them and care about and for them and want to provide a way of a useful method for them to get increase. Alright, so this is a question, constantly be asking yourself, what’s my QQS, and quality, quantity and spirit of service that you’re rendering to those that you love.
And I always think of yourself as rolling out the red carpet for other people. You know, it’s not okay to just get by to just be adequate because; you know what guys, there’s a lot of other adequate people out there. The only way we can excel is by providing more, by going the distance and by caring more about what others are receiving than what we are gaining. Just get the personal gain equation out of your mind and what all the sudden it happens is you’re in tune, you’re in flow with this evolution of infinite intelligence and this flow is just infinite and abundant and unstoppable and unquenchable. So just by being in flow, you have so much running to and through you, it becomes a river of abundance that you’re swimming in, so how much value.
Again, are you adding to every one you’re in business with? This is the question to always be asking. And then also be aware that you know, that we stop ourselves, right? We are our own cause of failure through the choices or the lack of choices that we make. I’m not going to go into the 31 major causes of failure isn’t Napoleon Hill goes through, but this is a great chapter. I mean you can really get into this and you know, kind of hold up the mirror and say, hey, is this something I need to be working on? Is this something that I need to be improving on? And you know, it’s this lack of a well-defined purpose said, look, the fact of the matter is you ask 100 people, what your major purpose in life and 98%, 98 out of 100, I don’t know. Right? So, have a definite purpose. No, you, you know, in the wealth. Participate in our major purpose, building a team a million strong for the purpose of leading others around the world in the lives of freedom and meaning and purpose filled with physical, intellectual and spiritual abundance.
Wow. You know, so get enthusiastic, stop procrastinating, you know, be persistent, have an indomitable spirit, associate with other likeminded people. Be Selective with who you invite to become your mastermind partners and be enthusiastic, be excited, you know, be and belief and take inventory of yourself. This is a section of this chapter. Boy, if once a year we would all do this, we would all be getting better and better self-improvement, constant and never ending improvement. That’s how to pay it forward by being better ourselves, giving more, going ahead, getting better. You know, you look, you’re either moving forward, you’re standing still, or you’re moving backwards, you’re never absolutely stagnant. So we’re living in this extraordinary country. We are part of this amazing Wealth Creation Mastermind. We have a plan, we’re part of an extraordinary economic system, the capitalist system that denies abundance to no one, no reason, none, no reason not to have abundance, to be, do, and have everything that you desire.
However, know that this system doesn’t and cannot promise something for nothing. There is no such thing,in order to get you must give. Okay? And so create your plan and adopt the Wealth Creation Mastermind plan for financial freedom. Put that plan into action. Follow through with persistence, belief, faith and enthusiasm and you are sure to realize and join us because right now is the time to make hay, right?
We are moving, we are building, we are progressing and we want you with us. So for next week, move on to the next Chapter 8 – Decision, which is the mastery of procrastination. And by all means, you know, think in a certain way. That’s the validity, the vital nature of staying in this material daily. And there are other books, there’s one of my other Wealth Creation Mastermind just told me about a Happy Pocket Full of Money, great book, fabulous book, very much in alignment.
The works of Thomas Troward, fabulous stuff, Genevieve Biram, there’s so much material. Stay in this material and engage in peripheral material. Keep your mind moving forward, centered and focused on the creative method of thought and take advantage of the website beyond making a commitment. Act as though you’re paying a thousand dollars a month to be on these curriculum and financial freedom webcast, take it seriously and act in a certain way. Decide who do you want to be? What do you want to have? What do you want to do? What’s that going to take? How much money, how, what is your plan of action to accumulate? And then take daily action to execute that as Tuesday night. It’s all about join us.
And again, I want to commend you and thank you and recognize you for being the Wealth Creation Mastermind and for making a huge difference in the lives of countless others. You are a catalyst for change on the planet. Thanks! Bye for now.
John Rogers is a former Wall Street portfolio manager and served as CEO of Premium Enterprises and President of The Colorado Tire Recycling Center. He transitioned to digital marketing, founding WealthCreationMastermind.com to empower home-based entrepreneurs with cutting-edge strategies. Creator of the “Mastering the Art of Wealth Creation” online course, John has driven significant growth in network marketing, achieving the Blue Diamond rank and earning the title of Univera Associate of the Year in 2015. His expertise in leveraging technology for financial success transforms how entrepreneurs achieve their business goals.