Keys to Positive Thinking Napoleon Hill by Michael J Ritt Jr – Book Review

Title and author: Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Positive Thinking by Michael J. Ritt Jr.

Content synopsis:

Napoleon Hill was one of the most prolific and influential successful writers of the 20th century. As a very young man he interviewed Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was so impressed by the young Hill that he challenged him to conduct a successful 20-year study and then publish a book on the subject. Carnegie did not offer any payment, but he did introduce Hill to almost every successful businessman and politician of the first half of the 20th century.

Hill went on to publish newsletters and books, eventually gaining fame and fortune through his books. Think and Grow Rich Y The Law of Success. Near retirement age, Hill met insurance magnate W. Clement Stone, and the two published a series of books and tapes on success, sales, and a positive mindset.

The concepts in this book are all the work of Napoleon Hill. Ritt puts it together in a somewhat more modern version and removes some of the more controversial parts of Hill’s work.

Ritt boils down Hill’s 17 original success principles to ten essentials:

1. Take possession of your own mind.

2. Focus on what you want and not what you don’t want.

3. Live the golden rule.

4. Eliminate all negative thoughts.

5. Be happy.

6. Form the habit of tolerance.

7. Use positive autosuggestions.

8. Use the power of prayer.

9. Set goals.

10. Study, Think and Plan Daily.

Woven into all of this is the essential element of doing everything with a positive mindset, or what W. Clement Stone called PMA.

At the end of each chapter, Ritt offers some summary material and a suggestion of actions the reader can take to implement the lessons of that chapter in their lives.

Readability/Write Quality:

This book is very readable. It offers many stories and examples. Pages are divided into logical sections and text boxes are used to highlight key ideas.

Author’s Notes:

Michael J. Ritt, Jr. became a protégé of Stone and Hill and became executive director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation. he wrote Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Positive Thinking which he described as Ten Steps to Health, Wealth, and Success. Ritt also wrote a biography of Hill entitled A life of riches.

Napoleon Hill’s background is outlined above, however it should be noted that some critics have disputed his claims. There appears to be no verification of his commission from Carnegie and we have only Hill’s word that he ever met the great man. Hill had many failed businesses and schemes during his lifetime. He may have been involved in some nasty activities and was being hunted by organized crime mobs for some time. Regardless of what one may conclude about Hill’s entire life, he engaged in a lifetime study of success and interviewed many men of great achievement. He had the photographs and letters to prove it. Many people have found Hill’s thinking to be largely sound and a good foundation for success.

Three great ideas you can use:

1. Nothing is as successful as success. People are attracted to positive and successful people and not to negative people. A positive attitude allows you to win the friendship and cooperation of others, which is essential for success. No one does it all alone.

2. We really become what we think. We direct our own destiny through our thoughts and attitudes. It’s not magic. Yet philosophers and others have observed this reality for centuries.

3. As many other successful teachers have preached, setting and following through on goals is the key to success. Hill taught how to apply a goal-setting process that involves determining what you want to accomplish, followed by an assessment of what it will take to get there. He then sets his goal, identifies a date by which it will be achieved, identifies a plan to make it happen, and repeats the steps in writing every day. He called this the Determine, Evaluate, Establish, Identify, Repeat process. He emphasizes that long-term and short-term goals must be set, reviewed, and implemented on a daily basis.

Release information:

Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Positive Thinking by Michael J. Ritt, Jr.

Copyright 1998 Napoleon Hill Foundation

Published by Penguin Books

Overall Rating: Very Good