Think and Grow Rich began as a project commissioned by Andrew Carnegie, who introduced Hill to the most successful business leaders of the early 20th century. Hill spent roughly 20 years interviewing over 500 people, including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell, to identify what they had in common.
The result is 13 principles, organized into chapters: Desire, Faith, Autosuggestion, Specialized Knowledge, Imagination, Organized Planning, Decision, Persistence, the Master Mind (surrounding yourself with people who complement your weaknesses), the Mystery of Sex Transmutation (redirecting sexual energy into creative pursuits), the Subconscious Mind, the Brain, and the Sixth Sense.
The book is heavy on mindset. Hill’s central claim is that thoughts are things, that whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. This is supported by stories of people who visualized success and then achieved it, but the mechanism is psychological rather than mystical: clear goals, sustained focus, and relentless follow-through tend to produce results.
For modern business readers, some of the language feels dated. The chapter on sex transmutation, for instance, reads strangely by contemporary standards. And Hill’s claims about thought vibrations and the subconscious border on pseudoscience. But the practical core of the book, that success requires a specific desire backed by a concrete plan, a willingness to persist through failure, and a group of advisors who push you, remains solid.
Think and Grow Rich has sold over 100 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, has credited it as a major influence. Many entrepreneurs treat it less as a book to read once and more as a reference to revisit when motivation drops.
The 1937 original is the version most people recommend. Later editions added material that dilutes the directness of Hill’s original writing. The book is best read as a framework for sustained effort and goal clarity, not as a literal recipe for getting rich.
