The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to 'Think and Grow Rich': All of Napoleon Hill's Lists in One Place
For nearly a century, Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich has been more than just a book—it has been a life-altering blueprint for success. After studying over 500 of the world's most accomplished individuals, Hill distilled their habits, mindsets, and strategies into a set of timeless principles.
But while the wisdom is profound, the book is dense with powerful lists, formulas, and self-assessments. It can be a challenge to keep them all straight.
That’s why we’ve created this ultimate guide. I've clustered and summarized every major "list" from Think and Grow Rich into a single, easy-to-navigate article. Consider this your personal roadmap to mastering Hill's philosophy and building the life you’ve always imagined.
🏛️ The 13 Key Principles: Your Foundational Steps to Riches
This is the core of Hill's philosophy—the 13 essential steps that transform intangible desire into tangible wealth and achievement.
- 🔥 Desire: The starting point of all achievement. Not a mere wish, but a burning, pulsating desire for a definite outcome.
- 🙏 Faith: The unwavering belief that you can and will achieve your desire. It's the "eternal elixir" that gives life and power to your thoughts.
- 🗣️ Autosuggestion: The bridge between your conscious and subconscious mind. Use positive affirmations to program your mind for success.
- 🎓 Specialized Knowledge: General knowledge won't attract money. You must acquire specific, organized knowledge in your chosen field.
- ✨ Imagination: The workshop of the mind. It’s here that your desires are shaped, fashioned, and given a plan for their realization.
- 📋 Organized Planning: The process of crystallizing your desire into a definite, workable plan of action.
- ⚖️ Decision: The mark of a successful person. Make decisions promptly and firmly, and change them slowly. Master the habit of overcoming procrastination.
- 💪 Persistence: The sustained effort necessary to induce faith. It is willpower in action, refusing to quit in the face of temporary defeat.
- 🤝 Power of the Master Mind: The synergistic energy created by a harmonious alliance of two or more people united for a definite purpose.
- ⚡ The Mystery of Sex Transmutation: Channeling the powerful creative energy of sex away from physical expression and toward your goals.
- 🧠 The Subconscious Mind: The fertile garden where the seeds of your dominant thoughts grow. Nurture it with positivity.
- 📡 The Brain: Your personal broadcasting and receiving station for thought. Protect it from negative signals and tune it to the frequency of success.
- 🔮 The Sixth Sense: The apex of the philosophy. A state of heightened intuition and creative inspiration that connects you to Infinite Intelligence.
☀️ Your Daily Blueprint: Rituals for Unstoppable Momentum
Success isn't built in a day; it's forged through daily habits. Here are the core routines Hill recommends to hardwire his principles into your life.
- Recite Your Major Definite Purpose:
- Write down a crystal-clear statement of your chief aim in life.
- Read it aloud every morning upon waking and every night before sleeping. Feel the emotion as if you've already achieved it.
- Practice the Self-Confidence Formula:
- Affirm your belief in yourself and your ability to achieve your goals.
- Remind yourself daily that your dominant thoughts will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical reality.
- Commit to providing value and service, knowing that lasting success is built on reciprocity.
- Visualize Your Success:
- Spend time each day creating a clear mental picture of your goal being realized.
- Infuse this vision with positive emotions like gratitude, faith, and love to impress it upon your subconscious mind.
- Perform a Daily Self-Analysis:
- Before you go to sleep, review your day.
- What went right? What went wrong? How can you improve tomorrow? This habit turns every day into a learning opportunity.
⚔️ Mastering Your Inner World: The Battle for Your Mind
Hill believed that the outer world is a reflection of the inner world. To achieve greatness, you must first win the battle within your own mind.
Conquer the 6 Basic Fears That Hold You Back
These are the specters that haunt humanity and sabotage success. Recognize them, understand them, and master them.
- Fear of Poverty
- Fear of Criticism
- Fear of Ill Health
- Fear of Loss of Love
- Fear of Old Age
- Fear of Death
Choose Your Fuel: The 7 Positive vs. 7 Negative Emotions
Your mind cannot hold both positive and negative emotions simultaneously. One set must dominate. Starve the negative and feed the positive.
| ✅ The 7 Major Positive Emotions | ❌ The 7 Major Negative Emotions |
| Desire | Fear |
| Faith | Jealousy |
| Love | Hatred |
| Sex (Creative Energy) | Revenge |
| Enthusiasm | Greed |
| Romance | Superstition |
| Hope | Anger |
Dodge These Bullets: Common Causes of Failure to Avoid
Hill identified over 30 major causes of failure. Here are the most critical pitfalls to steer clear of:
- Indecision & Procrastination: The twin demons that kill ambition.
- Lack of a Definite Purpose: Drifting aimlessly guarantees you'll end up nowhere.
- Weak Desire: A lukewarm wish won't survive the first challenge.
- Excuse-Making ("Alibis"): Blaming others or circumstances instead of taking ownership.
- Negative Influences: Surrounding yourself with people who doubt and discourage you.
- Failure to Learn from Mistakes: Treating "failure" as an endpoint, not as a lesson.
- Lack of Persistence: Giving up at the first sign of opposition.
🚀 The Advanced Toolkit: Supercharging Your Creativity & Awareness
Once you've mastered the fundamentals, use these tools to sharpen your mind and tap into higher levels of genius.
The 10 Mind Stimuli: How to Spark Genius
These are forces that can elevate your thought to a more creative and vibrant plane:
- The desire for sex expression (transmuted creatively)
- Love
- A burning desire for fame, power, or financial gain
- Music
- Friendship and Master Mind alliances
- Mastery over worry
- Shared hardship (mutual suffering)
- Autosuggestion
- Fear (when harnessed to provoke action)
- Narcotics and alcohol (Hill warns these are destructive and should be avoided, but includes them as mind-altering stimuli).
The Honest Mirror: Key Self-Analysis Questions
Regularly ask yourself tough questions to stay on course. This is your personal audit for success.
- Do I have a clear, definite major purpose, and a plan to achieve it?
- Do I consistently fail to make decisions or postpone them?
- Am I allowing one of the six basic fears to control me?
- Do I blame others for my mistakes, or do I learn from them?
- Are the people in my inner circle lifting me up or holding me back?
Your Journey Begins Now
These lists are not just trivia from a classic book; they are a practical, actionable system for profound personal transformation. You don't need to master all of them overnight. Pick one—the most important one for you right now—and begin.
Define your Desire. Build your Faith. Create your Plan. And above all, Persist.
The principles are here. The only missing ingredient is you. Start today.