Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Think and Grow rich, Shelf said to me, doesn't that book
entitled Intrigue? You Think and Grow Rich?
Don't you have to read that book Think and Grow Rich?
I said, Yes Sir, by Napoleon Hill.
I went and found that book in a used bookstore.
That's where I had to start, in a used bookstore.
I paid less than $0.50 for it. I've still got it.
It's one of the rare hardback covers Think and Grow a Rich by
Napoleon Hill. Wow, CHAF was right.
Get a library started, it'll change your life.
Any home over $200,000 has got a library.
Why do you suppose that is? Wouldn't that make you curious?
How come every home over $200,000 has got a library?
Does that tell you something? Does that educate you at all?
You say well I can't afford a $200,000 home.
It doesn't matter what size home.
Take your present apartment, clean out a closet, call it your
library and start acting intelligent and start this
process like I did. Start developing a library.
Here's what your library needs to show that you're a serious
student of health and life, spirituality, culture,
uniqueness, sophistication, economics, prosperity,
productivity, sales, management, skills, values of all kind.
Let your library show you're a serious student.
Don't be casual in learning. Don't be lazy in learning.
Information is the key, OK? Learning is the beginning of
wealth. Learning is the beginning of
health. Learning is the beginning of
prosperity. Learning is the beginning of
democracy, the beginning of freedom.
All values, all virtues start with the learning process.
So don't be lazy and learning. Don't be lazy and gathering the
library that'll teach you and instruct you.
And I got that book Think and Grow Rich.
Some of the ideas in that book inspired me no end.
Help me to change my life now. It's got some weird stuff in it,
you know, It's got some weird stuff.
Napoleon was weird. So you gotta separate out a
little of this weird stuff. But you can do that.
You can separate out the weird stuff.
OK, Unless you're weird, just do the weird stuff.
Anyway. Remember, don't be a follower,
be a student. That's the key to all books.
Don't be a follower, be a student.
OK, Another book he recommended, help me become financially
independent. We're going to cover that before
we finish this afternoon. The book was entitled The
Richest Man in Babylon, The Richest Man in Babylon by George
Claeson CLASON. This little book, The richest
man in Babylon, I use it as a textbook teaching teenagers how
to be rich by 40, living in America, 35 if you're extra
bright, much sooner if you find a unique opportunity.
I got reached by the time I was 31, didn't wait till 35 if you
find a unique opportunity. So we'll get into that after we
come back from our next break. Hey, before we continue, if
you're loving this content, I've got something special for you.
Jim often said discipline is the bridge between goals and
accomplishment. And if you're ready to build
that bridge, grab the Self-discipline Hacks e-book
created for listeners just like you.
It's packed with practical, powerful tips to boost focus,
build habits, and stay consistent even when life gets
chaotic. Tap the link in the episode
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Remember, the right habits change everything.
Now back to Jim. Richest Man of Babylon, get your
library started. Here's some key sections to put
in your library called Mental Food.
In fact, we call it food for thought.
It's so important to nourish the mind, not just the body, but
nourish the mind. Key phrase.
Now it needs to be well balanced.
You can't live on mental candy. Somebody says, well, I just read
this positive stuff. That's to 2nd grade.
You've got to get out of second grade.
You can't just be inspired. You've got to be taught.
You can't just be inspired, you've got to be educated.
Key here's a good book. It's called How to read a book,
good title, How to read a book by Mortimer Adler.
In this book, How to read a book, Mortimer, you know, is
the, is the chief editor of the new Encyclopedia Britannica, a
good set of books, right to have in your library.
The Encyclopedia Britannica chief editor, Mortimer Adler,
He's still in, he's in his 80s, he's still active, still writing
books. I've got several of his books,
the 6th grade ideas, a lot of books, Mortimer Adler, but he
wrote this book, How to read a book.
Now in this book, how to read a book, not only does he give you
some good suggestions on how to get the most out of a book, it's
one thing to read it. It's another thing to get the
best out of it. He'll give you some techniques
on how to get the best out of a book.
It's very good. But here's what's also in his
book, How to Read a Book, a list of what he calls the best
writings ever written, the best writings ever written.
I've used it as a centerpiece for my library.
So I'm just asking you, take a look.
If it suits you, fine. If it doesn't suit you, hey,
keep looking till you find something to suit you.
But well balanced, Let me give you some of that balance #1
history. We've all got to have a sense of
history. American history, National
History, international history, family history, political
history. We all need a sense of history.
Shortest history lesson opportunity mixed with
difficulty. No matter how far back you go.
1000 years ago, 2000 years ago, 3004 thousand years ago.
I'm killing it all reads the same.
Once you understand the thread that it isn't going to change,
then what's going to change for my life answer looks like I'm
going to have to change. History helps us to understand
how it is, what there is to work with seed, soil, sunshine, rain,
and what human beings have done with it in the past and how many
of them have, like I did by age 25.
They have messed up. That's what history's for.
Be a good student of history. Here's a good book.
Lessons of history by Durant. Lessons of History by Durant.
This little book is only 100 pages, but I'm telling you, it's
so well written you'll be intrigued, as I was.
This little book, Lessons of History by Durant Next is
philosophy. Durant also wrote a good book on
philosophy, The Story of Philosophy.
It's got a good rundown of the key philosophers of the last
several 100 years, what they taught, and some of the lives
they lived. You might find it a little
difficult, but hey, you can't just read the easy stuff.
Key phrase to add here in parenthesis.
Don't just read the easy stuff. You won't grow, you won't
change, you won't develop. Tackle the more difficult stuff
next. Novels.
Novels are good. Sometimes an intriguing story
keeps our attention so that the author can weave in the
philosophy he or she is trying to get across.
And Rand was probably better at that than anybody else I could
possibly think of. Atlas Shrugged, Some of those
towering novels. The novel kept us intrigued.
But guess what she was doing all the time?
Feeding us her philosophy, feeding us her philosophy.
Now, whether you agreed with her philosophy or not, you had to
admit she was really good at getting it out there, weaving it
through the story in the dialogue and in the speeches and
in the text. Fabulous novels.
Novels are good. Now here's a little personal
advice. Skip the trash.
I mean, you don't Simon Says. Well, sometimes you can find
something valuable in a trashy novel.
I wouldn't go through it to find it.
You can find a crust of bread in the garbage can, but I wouldn't
go through it. Number one, you don't need the
reputation. So not enough time to read the
brilliant stuff, the good stuff. Skip the trash, really.
My personal advice on personal development becoming more
valuable than you are. Next is biographies and
autobiographies. The story of stories of
successful people, unsuccessful people.
There's some dramatic stuff, right over the last 100 years
it's been written. Biographies and autobiographies.
Here's one of the best the Bible.
The Bible is a unique book because it's got a list of human
stories on one side of the Ledger, another list of human
stories on the other side of the Ledger.
One's called examples, another's called warnings.
And here's what we've got to have on biographies and
autobiographies, both warnings and examples in the Bible.
The examples Bible says, look at these people's lives, follow
them, follow their philosophy, follow their advice.
Then we got the warnings right. Don't do what these people did.
They messed up their life and threw their life away.
Vitally important, both sides of the scenario.
Now if your life story ever gets in one of those books, make sure
they use it as an example, not a warning.
Also, we need balance both sides.
Balance good and evil. Biographies, autobiographies.
You need a book on Gandhi. You need a book on Hitler, one
to illustrate how high a human being can go and the other one
to illustrate what how low and despicable a human being can
become. We need both sides of the
scenario. Next accounting got to have a
little at least primary view of accounting.
Kids have got to Start learning the difference between a debit
and the credit. Next is law we all need, right?
A little bit. You don't have to be a lawyer,
but you got to know contracts, what to sign, what not to sign,
backups. Good advice, how to be safe
rather than sorry. All of us need a little law.
Not a lawyer, but a little law. Especially these complicated
days. Everything's in court these
days. I learned this the hard way.
Company wanted to borrow money long time ago up in Canada,
company wanted to borrow some money.
The bank said well yes, we will loan the company the money if
Mr. Roan will sign personally. And I wanted to play hero and I
knew the company could pay it back quarter of $1,000,000.
So I signed, no problem. Sure enough, within less than a
year they paid it all back. Quarter of $1,000,000.
I am now a hero. Well, about a year later this
company gets into financial trouble.
They go back to the bank and borrow this quarter of
$1,000,000. Again.
I said I hope my phone doesn't ring because I won't sign the
note this time because I knew they were in trouble.
I knew they were probably going to go bankrupt.
My phone never rang. I'm off the hook.
Sure enough, within less than a year, the company goes bankrupt,
can't pay. But I get this letter from the
bank saying, dear Mr. Rome, since the company cannot perform
its obligation to pay this quarter of $1,000,000, and since
we have here your personal guarantee, would you please send
us your check for 1/4 of $1,000,000?
I said, hey, hold it, hold it. There must be some mistake here.
I signed that first note and they paid it all back.
I wouldn't have signed the second note.
I didn't sign the second note. Well, what I didn't know I had
originally signed was a continuing guarantee.
So now I know what the word continuing means.
I'm asking you to study a little law.
Know what to sign, Know how to defend yourself, right?
Say, hey, we'll get back. Don't sign too quickly.
I mean, there's all kinds of things here.
Be a student. Don't be lazy and learning how
to defend as well as nourish, how to grow as well as take care
of your enemies. You got to learn.
Let your library indicate that you're a serious student about
personal relationships with your family, gifts and skills,
economics and all the rest. Here's the next one, Economics.
We're going to study that when we come back from our break.
Economics, we're going to cover, especially for the kids today,
how to become financially independent.
We're going to let the adults listen.
I've been teaching kids for the last 1819 years how to be rich
by 4035. If you're extra bright, most
kids think they're extra bright. They go for 35 or much sooner.
If you find a unique opportunity, we're going to get
into that. Be a student of economics next.
Culture, sophistication. Don't leave that out of your
life. Culture, sophistication.
Culture is part of the fabric of the nation.
Culture is what makes us different than dogs and animals.
Culture is what makes us different from the Barbarians.
Culture, sophistication. Be a student of the dance and
the art and music and all the rest of those extraordinary
human values that are possible for us all to participate in as
well as to enjoy. Be a student of culture.
And the last one is spirituality.
Study it from the Bible and all the related books about
spirituality. If you're a believer, study and
practice. Let your library show you're a
serious student.