Think and Grow Rich

Chapter 3 Preface (1)
Success will only come to those who have a successful mind.

Failure favors those who allow themselves to have the thought of failure and do nothing about it.

Indeed, "the mind of man is material," and when mixed with definite purpose, perseverance, and burning desire, it transforms into wealth or other tangible matter.

About 30 years ago, Edwin C. Barnes discovered that thinking and growing rich is a real, unquestionable truth.His discovery didn't come out of nowhere, but through the accumulation of bits and pieces that first stemmed from a strong desire to be the business partner of the great Thomas Edison.

One of the distinguishing features of Barnes' lust is clarity and determination.He wanted to work with Edison, not for him.You may wish to take a closer look at the description of his process of turning his desire into reality in the article, and then you will have a deeper understanding of these 13 principles of getting rich.

When the desire or thought impulse first flashes into his mind, he is not ready to put the idea into practice.There are two major difficulties in front of him: one, he does not know Mr. Edison; two, he has no money to buy a train ticket to Orange, New Jersey.These two problems are enough to discourage most people and give up their dreams.However, his desire is extraordinary!He had already made up his mind and tried everything possible to realize this wish, so he finally decided to take a "stuffy tank truck" to Orange City instead of being willing to fail (those who have not experienced this can think that he is going to the east by freight train). Orange.)
In Edison's laboratory, he introduced himself and declared that he was here to do things with the great inventor.Years later, speaking of meeting Barnes for the first time, Edison said: "He stood in front of me, looking like an ordinary bum, but with a certain look on his face that gave the impression that he had something. A persistent pursuit. From years of experience in dealing with people, I know that if a person really desires something, he will definitely be willing to give his life to get it, and he will succeed. I gave him this opportunity because I found that He has made up his mind and will not give up until he achieves his goal. As it turns out, I made the right choice."

At the time, what Barnes actually said to Edison was far less important than what he thought.Even Edison himself said so!It certainly wasn't the young man's looks that got Barnes to work in Edison's office, as that was clearly not in his favor.What really mattered was his thinking at the time.

If the true meaning expressed in this sentence is accurately conveyed to each reader, then everyone will not have to read the rest.

Barnes didn't realize his desire to work with Edison when they first met.He just got the chance to work in Edison's office, doing a job that didn't matter to Edison, and living on a meager salary.But for Barnes, this job is extremely important, because it gives him the opportunity to show his "talent" to his long-awaited "partner".Months passed.The long-awaited goal of Barnes still seems to be unattainable on the surface, and his express purpose is still a castle in the air.But Barnes was going through a more important ideological change, and his desire to become Edison's business partner was intensifying.

A psychologist said it well: "When a person really wants to do something, he will definitely reveal this kind of thinking." Barnes is always ready to become Edison's business partner, and he is determined to continue to make such preparations , until this goal is achieved.

He didn't say to himself, "Forget it, what's the use? I'd better change my mind and become a salesman." On the contrary, he said to himself, "I'm here to work with Edison, I must realize it, even if it takes the rest of my life." He has already risked it!If people can set a clear goal, and then spare no effort to pursue it until it is finally achieved, then we will definitely be able to create a completely different life!

Perhaps the young Barnes didn't realize it at the time, but his unshakable determination and dedication to making his dreams come true was bound to overcome all odds and create coveted opportunities.

When the opportunity came, its method and background were completely beyond Barnes' expectations.This is the cunning side of chance.Opportunity always likes to sneak in through the back door, often in the form of disaster, misfortune or temporary setbacks.Maybe that's why most people don't recognize opportunity.Mr. Edison has just improved a new type of office equipment, which was called "Edison dictating machine" at the time.His salesman wasn't enthusiastic about the machine, and didn't believe it would be easy to sell.Barnes, however, sees this as a godsend.Opportunity crept in just like that, behind a strange-looking machine that interested no one but Barnes and Edison.

Barnes knew he could sell the "Edison Dictation Machine."He confided his inner thoughts to Edison, and soon got his chance.He did sell the machine.In fact, he was so successful that Edison contracted him to distribute and sell the machine throughout the United States.In this successful business cooperation, they used "Edison Invented, Barnes Assembled" as the slogan.Barnes was rich.However, he achieved much more than that.He proved to the world that a person can indeed get rich by "ideas".

How much of Barnes's original desire actually paid off, I have no way of knowing.Maybe only two or three million dollars, but no matter how much it is, it pales in comparison to the greater wealth of knowledge he has acquired through a certain belief.This wealth of knowledge is just that—intangible thought impulses can be transformed into objective actions through the application of known principles, and obtain material rewards.

All Barnes had was an idea - to work with the great Edison!He will work hard to realize this wish.Although he starts with nothing, he knows what he wants and is determined to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Completely self-made, with little education and little influence, he had initiative, unyielding conviction and a will to win.With these invisible forces he made himself the most reliant figure of the great inventors alive.

Now, let's look at a different situation - a person who could have had a huge fortune fell short because he gave up when he was three feet away from his goal.

Just three feet from the gold mine

The most common reason for falling short is the habit of giving up in the face of temporary setbacks.Each of us has made such mistakes more or less.

Darby's uncle also wanted to realize his "gold rush dream" in the age of the gold rush, so he went to the western United States to pan for gold, hoping to make a fortune.But he didn't understand that the human brain is a more important mineral treasure, and more gold can be mined than the ground.He defined a range in the excavation area and started digging with a hoe and shovel.Although he worked hard, his desire for gold mines was extremely firm.

After three weeks of hard work, he finally found the gleaming ore.But he lacked the mechanical equipment to transport the ore to the surface, so he quietly hid the ore, followed the same road back to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, and told relatives and several neighbors about this "significant discovery."Everyone collected the money and bought the necessary equipment and transported it to the west by sea.Afterwards, Uncle and Darby went back to digging.

The first carload of ore was dug up and shipped to a smelter.Smelting results show that they have one of the richest gold deposits in Colorado!A few more truckloads of ore will pay off all debts, and then you can sit back and collect the remaining profits.

Drop the drill down and pull up Darby and Uncle Hope!However, at this moment, the veins of the gold mine were nowhere to be found!They've dug to the bottom of the gold texture, and there's no more gold below that!They continued to dig down, desperately trying to find the lost vein, but to no avail.

In the end, they decided to abandon the excavation.They sold the equipment to a junk dealer for a few hundred dollars and took the train home.Some "junk dealers" are stupid, but this guy is not stupid at all!He called in a mining engineer to conduct a field survey and made some simple estimates.Engineers believe the mining project failed because the owners were unaware of the "fault".His calculations showed that just three feet more down, he could find a vein of gold!The gold mine is just three feet down!
This "junk dealer" has made millions off the gold mines because he knows full well that he should seek expert advice before giving up.

Most of the money for the equipment was borrowed hard by R. U. Darby when he was still very young.His relatives and neighbors took out their savings because they believed in him.Although it took several years, Darby eventually paid off all his debts.

Since then, when Mr. Darby discovered that desire can be transformed into gold, he finally made up for his losses and earned back several times his gains.This discovery came after he started selling life insurance.

Because he stopped his efforts and gave up halfway when he was only three feet away from the gold mine, Darby always kept in mind the painful lesson of his missed fortune, and finally gained something in the career he chose later.He simply said to himself, "I've stopped three feet from a gold mine once, but I'll never give up because I was turned down in an insurance sales pitch."

Darby became one of the few people who sold more than a million dollars in insurance every year.He credits his perseverance to lessons learned from past failures of his gold rush dreams.

Anyone is bound to encounter many temporary setbacks, and possibly even failures, before they achieve success.When faced with setbacks, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to give up.That's exactly what most people do.

The experience of more than 500 successful people in the United States tells the author that their greatest success is to take a step forward in the face of failure.Failure is a cunning liar that often fools and deceives people, and often takes pleasure in tripping people up when success is almost at hand.

Persevere for 50 cents

After graduating from "setback university", Mr Darby was determined to benefit from the lessons of mining failure and was fortunate enough not long to be offered the opportunity.Accidentally, he discovered that "no" does not necessarily mean unachievable.

One afternoon, Darby was helping his uncle grind dough in an old-fashioned mill.Uncle ran a large farm that was leased by many black sharecroppers.The door was opened quietly, and in came a Negro child, the daughter of a tenant, and stood in the doorway.

The uncle looked up and saw the child, and yelled at her roughly: "What are you doing here?"

The little girl replied timidly: "Mom said, give her 5 cents." "No," said the uncle, "you go home!" "Okay, sir." Nothing moved there.

The uncle continued to immerse himself in what he was doing, not noticing that the child hadn't left.When he looked up and saw she was still standing there, he yelled at her: "Didn't I tell you to go home quickly? Get out of here, or I will beat you."

"Yes, sir," said the little girl, but remained motionless.Uncle Darby put down a sack of wheat that was about to be poured into the hopper of the mill, and took a stick and walked angrily towards the little girl.

Darby held his breath.He thought he was going to witness a beating, because his uncle had a very bad temper.When the uncle was almost at the place where the little girl was standing, she took a quick step forward, looked him in the eyes, and screamed with all her strength, "My mother wants that 5 cents!"

Uncle Darby was stunned, and stood there looking at her, then slowly put the stick on the ground, reached out and took out fifty cents and gave it to her.

The little girl took the money and slowly backed towards the door, staring intently at the man she had just conquered.After she left, my uncle sat on a box and stared at the sky outside the window for more than 10 minutes.He was filled with awe, thinking that he would give in to such a weak little girl just now.

Darby was thinking too.It was the first time in his life that he had seen a little black girl conquer an imposing white adult.How did she do it?What made Uncle eliminate his anger and become as docile as a lamb?What strange power does this little girl have that can make her master obey her?These questions, and others like them, kept popping up in Darby's mind, and he didn't find the real answer until years later, when he told me the story.

Coincidentally, it was in that old mill, where Darby's uncle was conquered by the little black girl, that Darby told me this extraordinary story.We stood in the dilapidated old mill, and Mr. Darby told me about the special experience again, and finally asked me: "Can you understand the mystery? What strange power did the little girl use to overcome me?" uncle?"

The answer to this question lies in the principles presented in this book.The answers are detailed and complete, with enough detail and instruction to give anyone a clue, and wield the same power that the little girl had inadvertently wielded.

Keep a clear head, and you will discover exactly the strange power that makes the little girl victorious.In the next chapter, you will learn about this power.Somewhere in this book you are bound to have an epiphany that accelerates your receptivity and puts the same irresistible force at your disposal.You may recognize this power in the text, and you may see it in subsequent texts.It may take the form of an independent idea, or it may be a plan or a purpose.Likewise, it may prompt you to look back at past setbacks or failures and draw some lessons.Thus, regaining everything that was lost in failure in the past.

When I summed up the unwitting power of that little girl to Mr. Darby, he immediately traced back more than 30 years as a life insurance salesman and frankly admitted that much of his success in the insurance field Attributed to lessons learned from that little girl.

(End of this chapter)