Titan- John D.Rockefeller's biography

I first started reading the book Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.[the biography of John D.Rockefeller,the founder of standard oil and the world's first billionaire] looking for an answer as how few could become very very wealthy- what makes them deserve this uncomparable success.Just out of curiosity.I found all my answers there.The certain qualities emphasized by him can be used in any given era.We can easily compare his success to the Titans of today like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.The author's thorough and objective study makes it very informative and extremely useful.
Titan by Ron Chernow is a must read for all of us intrested in improving ourselves.It is no ordinary biography.It lays out in detail how Rockfeller grew from very humble beginnings to unphanthomable heights of success in later life.It tells us even how he organized himself,how he motivated himself and what type of work ethics he followed.It is all about standing on your own two feet and making the most of what you have without anybody's help. All he had was a strong work ethic, a desire to learn and a sharp mind.That was his only investment.He achieved such a huge success all by himself.I complain so many times as to my background,my parents circumstances etc that had stopped me from reaching my big dreams.I used to say, if only my parents were rich enough i could have gone for some good universities and continued my studies.I used to complain of my financial position attributing to my circumstances.I used to complain about my knowledge level attributing to lack of time and so on..NEVER WILL I EVER DO THAT AGAIN.
Mind is were all the riches are made,It is where we decide whether we will be successful or not.Whether we will get what we want.This book showcases his strong will and decision to succeed.His rise and risk taking.His dedication to his dreams and finally his desire to serve the community.The intresting thing here is this book talks about his greatness in philanthropy and his ruthlessness in competition with the same tone.Making it all the more controversial.
No other book inspired me this much.I felt a sudden shot of tremendous energy.Felt like i could reach for all my dreams and make them into reality.I felt very powerful.If he could do it so can i. I have read many a biographies, but this one sank deeply into my mind leaving a very bright light of hope.

You may also like to read Lee Kuan Yew- Father of Singapore and Arnold Schwarzenegger- Mr.Infinite capabilities

Think and Grow Rich

Thoughts Are Things.The opening chapter is merely a series of anecdotes where a person’s thoughts, in various ways, resulted in real world effects, and not in the sense of a brilliant new idea, either. Instead, the focus of these tales is that of determination and desire, attributes that pretty much anyone can have.
Step 1: Desire. After the first chapter, I felt some pretty serious trepidation about the remainder of this book, so I read on with some caution, fearing that the first step in this path to success was merely to want something. Not so. Hill basically says that one should use deep desire as a goal. Is there a job you want? An amount of money you want? Define that goal clearly, then set down a specific plan to get there. In a nutshell, this isn’t really different than many of the financial planning topics I talk about on The Simple Dollar.
Step 2: Faith.By faith, Hill isn’t really referring to belief in a higher power, but instead faith that the future holds better things for you - a truly confident outlook. If you take to heart the perspective that the future holds greater things for you - or any other greater belief that you hold - then your future has a greater likelihood of holding these things. Why? They’re consistently on your mind - thus you pay more attention to the factors that will make them happen.
Step 3: Autosuggestion.Although the title of this chapter screams “scam” to me, I was surprised to find that I actually already use most of the ideas within. Basically, the idea is that if you keep repeating your plan for success to yourself, it has a greater chance of actually coming true. Why? Again, embedding a thought deeply within yourself - and repetition does the trick - increases the chance that the thought will come up at the right time when you need it. Think of it as cramming for a college exam - you study a ton hoping that the right answer will come up when you need it.
Step 4: Specialized Knowledge.Guess what? Getting an education is important, whether it’s a formal education at an institute of higher learning or merely an education at the hands of a mentor. I tend to find that finding a mentor is often really useful for figuring out exactly how to succeed in a certain area, even if you do have a strong formal education.
Step 5: Imagination.Another key element is imagination, or the ability to take a vague idea and transform it into something concrete. I think that, for many, this is one of the key stumbling blocks on their path to success. They see the goal, they see where they are at now, but they lack the imagination to construct the path between here and there. How can you do it? Break it down. Just focus on figuring out the next step, and then the step after that and the one after that…
Step 6: Organized Planning.This chapter is a large mishmash of various ideas on how you can effectively “plan” to be successful - in other words, put other pieces into place beyond just thinking about it that will lead to success. First and foremost, one should surround themselves with a team of support - people who have both knowledge of how to go down the path you want to go, but also care about helping you. Second, write a killer resume that will get you the job you need to start building towards success - Hill even recommends internships, though the language to describe it doesn’t really seem to have existed when this book was written. Third, step up to the plate often and regularly and get the job done well. Finally, practice the traits of leadership, of which Hill lists an abundance. This was a very strong chapter, one that did quite a bit to overcome the slight trepidation that I felt about many of the other chapters. I felt this chapter was key to the whole book, a reminder that in the end, your dreams do take hard work (though a good mindset helps a great deal).
Step 7: Decision.When it comes time to make decisions, make them. Don’t defer to others and don’t delay the decision. This is perhaps the biggest part of becoming a leader and a person that people will depend on and follow. It’s fine to gather information, but when the time comes, be decisive: come up with a firm decision and stick with it.
Step 8: Persistence.Persistence means that you know you’re following the right path for you and that you won’t allow a few mis-steps or stumbles along the way keep you from achieving your goal. Many people give up the first time they’re dealt a blow, but sit down sometime and read a biography of a great leader and see how many times they were knocked down - and how viciously it happens. I recently read a great biography of Winston Churchill and I was actually stunned how true this was in his life - he had a lot of missteps and at least one complete collapse (where he basically had to start again from square one) during his political career, but he was persistent about it and eventually wound up as Prime Minister. Don’t let some bumps in the road keep you from following the path, even if they seem like huge stumbling blocks that you are going to have incredible difficulty surpassing.
Step 9: Power of the Master Mind.The title of this chapter set off warning bells, but it actually just refers to being able to pick the minds of others for ideas, and often sharing them in fair exchange. You remember the suggestion for surrounding yourself with people who can support you? This group should include as many smart people that you know, especially ones that you trust well enough to bounce ideas off of. Basically, find the smartest people in your life that you trust, and utilize them to help you think through your plans.
Step 10: The Mystery of Sex Transmutation.This chapter was perhaps the vaguest in the book; it advises tapping into your sex drive in order to drive yourself to further success. The book offers several tips on how to do this, but I generally feel like many of those would lead to frustration for many people rather than success. For me, the love and support of a caring partner is reallly the best spur to success that you can really have, regardless of the details of one’s sex life.
Step 11: The Subconscious Mind.Whenever you think a negative thought about your dreams, immediately and forcefully remind yourself that not only is such a thought a waste of time, it actually just pulls the dream out of your grasp. Instead, make an effort to think in positive ways about your plan, slowly training your mind to not pull up negative thoughts about achieving what you want to achieve.
Step 12: The Brain.Although the terminology is as fuzzy as can be here, the basic idea is that most people send a lot of nonverbal cues about what they’re thinking, and putting extra effort into trying to pick up on those cues can pay enormous dividends. I will say that quite often I have a terrible time with nonverbal cues that others give me - perhaps that’s why I enjoy blogging so much, because I don’t really have to worry too much about nonverbal cues.
Step 13: The Sixth Sense.Again, buried under a lot of New Age-esque terminology is a really simple idea: meditate. Simply sit back, close your eyes, and let thoughts slip away. Once your mind is empty, the chapter gives a number of things to think about, but I often find that some of my best ideas come from the moments when I really do let all of my thoughts completely slip away from me - the good ideas just appear.
The Six Ghosts of Fear.The six primary fears that fill people’s lives and keep them from being successful are poverty, criticism, ill health, lost love, old age, and death. However, if you let those constantly guide your life, you’re bound to not reach your dreams. I largely agree with this, especially if a person is single and does not have people relying on them for support - if I were single, I’d be much more willing to go through a period without health insurance to build my dreams, for example.
Buy or Don’t Buy?
More than any other book I’ve ever read, the value of Think and Grow Rich depends heavily on the reader. If a reader comes into this book seeking “help” in a get rich quick scheme, they’ll find it. If a reader comes into this book seeking guidance for how to get over a rough patch in life, they’ll find it. If a reader comes at this book needing a confidence booster for making a difficult professional leap, they’ll find it.
The problem is that this book winds up being all things to all people. The stuff Napoleon Hill talks about is merely an amplification of what you already believe and value. That’s because this book is really only about one thing: confidence. The answers for what most people need to do in their life are already in their own heads - this book is just about the confidence to get there.
So what sets it apart from The Secret? Think and Grow Rich doesn’t ever imply that merely thinking about something makes it happen - Hill repeatedly states that it’s a matter of confidence and keeping your eye on the prize, not a matter of just dreaming about it.
So, I agree with the theme behind Think and Grow Rich - the idea that self-confidence and keeping your eyes on the goal are big parts of success - but they’re only a few pieces of a much larger puzzle.
In short, if your primary challenges in life are a sense of focus and a sense of feeling that you actually can achieve your dreams, read this book - but if you’re already confident and still aren’t making it, you may need to look for other answers to solve the problems in your life. For example, my biggest challenge in life is primarily time, so I didn’t find this book to be strongly valuable.

Review Source: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

As A Man Thinketh

This is a timeless classic by James Allen. In this book he speaks clearly on how thoughts make or break lives of everyone of us. For whose of us who are whining and complaining about what life has been and how unfortunate we are- this book is an eye opener.Stating clearly that we are what we are by our own thoughts and actions that followed which we may not be aware

"By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast." is the point he tries to drive into our minds.A man's character,circumstances,health,achievements are all created by his own thoughts in his own mind. He defines mind as a garden which can grow fruit or weed based on the seeds of thoughts that one plants.

In his own words "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." He furthur explains how our thoughts can create weapons to destroy us or can build tools for constructing our dreams. Truly man is made or unmadeby himself. If our character is what that draws our destiny, thoughts are architects that shape it.

Allen also states that our circumstances are truly what we intended for secretly- listing thoughts become habits and habits solidify into our circumstances.
Below are few- Thoughts - habits -circumstances

1. Impure thoughts -enervating and confusing habits -distracting and adverse circumstances


2. Fear, doubt and indecision -weak, unmanly and irresolute habits -failure, indigence and slavish dependence circumstances


3. Lazy thoughts- uncleanliness and dishonesty- Foulness and beggary


4. Pure thoughts- temperence andselfcontrol -repose and peace


5. Courage ,self-relianceand decision -manly habits -sucess,plenty and freedom


6. Energetic thgts -cleanliness and industry -pleasantness

a man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

We need to subdue and replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Continue to replace our negative thinking, then we will create a better way of thinking consciously, which will then also become a subconscious habit. We can now realize our world changing.

Our thoughts have a profound effect on our health too.The Body is the servant of the mind.Disease and health, like circumstances are rooted in thought.Thoughts of illhealth and fear attract their kind. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet. We could have seen ourselves some so called 'Medical Miracles' where a patient pronounced to death by doctors survived and lived through by their own wills.That explains what Allen tries to explain here.

All that said, Allen proceeds to emphasis the importance of a purpose in life.Great thgts with no purpose accomplish nothing.They who have no central purpose in life fall an easy prey to petty worries,fears,troubles and self-pityings
which lead to failure,unhappiness and loss for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.Having conceived his purpose,man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement,looking neither to the right nor left.Doubts n fears should b rigourously excluded.

He who has conquered doubt n fear has conquered failure.Those who dont want to have a great purpose atleast need to fix their thgts upon faultless performance of their duties.A man can only rise,conquer n achieve by lifting his thgts. After completing the book i felt this strange realization that i had such enourmous powers and never knew its existence. Now my test would be how i persist to condition my mind with good thoughts and virtue all the time to see the proof of this great philosophy and unleash my hidden powers.