As the blog title clearly states I do actually have one big problem with this philosophy. You see, I’ve read and re-read the books, in fact I’ve just finished the new version by Ted Ciuba and I’ve also heard him and others speak live on the subject. Firstly I agree the approach does work. There are many people who serve as a testimony to that but it clearly states in all the books I’ve read that the starting point of all riches is a ‘burning desire’ for them.
Now if I can just illustrate this problem by using some of the examples in the book it might be clearer. Anyone familiar with the books will recognise these.
Edwin Barnes a no-hoper from New Jersey deisired to work with the incredible inventor Thomas Edison, after taking the only job he could get in his company as a cleaner he eventually ended up marketing Edison’s inventions and subsequently becoming very wealthy.
Henry Ford dreamed of and desired a horseless carriage. He has subsequently created more cars than anyone else…and became ridiculously rich.
Arnold Scwarzenegger desired to the worlds best built man…a movie star and now a politician, he has subsequently become very rich.
I could go on with a lot more similar examples. Has anybody spotted my problem yet?
My point is these people did not set out to become rich, there intial desires did not appear to be that of money. They seem to have followed that one innate drive they had inside each of them. They all followed their dreams, were true to themselves and pursued the one object of their desire as hard as they could but…the object of their desire was not money!
Their desires were goals and achievments and very prominent ones at that. In return for achieving their goals they were passed great wealth.
You see there in lies the problem. If you have to desire money so much that you will do anything to get it then sorry count me out. These guys were not pursuing money! they were pursuing their main purpose in life… not money.
I can’t say I know anybody who could tell me their main purpose in life was to make money…..to me that’s a very shallow life purpose. Sure some people are very rich but generally their main purpose is not to make money. They have gained great wealth from providing other products and services which have just happened to have yielded great wealth.
This leads me to the question ….what if you if your main purpose in life from within, one you are following with all your heart ….is not a profitable one. I see many nurses, teachers and so on, many of whom I believe may be pursuing their main purpose in life….their rewards just don’t happen to be in the way of money.
If your still with me here well done, stick with it. Therefore if you do want to use ’Think And Grow Rich’ to make money but your inner goal and desires are not profitable ones…..then in my humble opinion you are going to really struggle with this philosophy.
Why is that then?
Well, first off you are going to have to ignore what it is you know you do truly desire deep down, which might be to teach for example. I’m guessing now that the teacher in you is going to feel pretty frustrated and unhappy, how long is it going to be therefore before you give-up on your self -inflicted desire for money?
Ok so apparently you can reshape your mind and beliefs through ‘auto-suggestion’ but can you kid your imagination that you want something more than the thing you’ve always really known you want in life?
They might even be opposites! If your deisre in life is to run orphanages in Africa then I think this might struggle to make you rich and you may struggle to change your thinking to desire money.
How can I say all this well…..I’ve tried it. And for the above reasons, it didn’t work for me. I now know that I don’t actually desire to become rich, I do however desire to achieve other things in life that may if followed whole-heartedly make me rich…….. but to me a desire for riches is not what makes the philosphy work.
Following your inner hearts desire and goals with all your might may well lead you to great achievment, but this may not necessarliy mean riches. On the occassion where you hearts desire is a highly profitable one…like creating the worlds first motor car…..then for sure you will become very wealthy. If your main desire is not profitable then how can you monetise this desire? and can you really change your deep seated desires nurtured inside you for years to profitable ones?
Maybe I mis-read the philospohy…but In my opinion it should not be called’ Think And grow Rich’ at all it should be called ‘Think and Achieve’…and then possibly get rich on the back of your achievements.
I actually made a list of the things that I would do if I was a millionaire and they actually included all the things that I can do now for FREE such as hiking in the mountains, spending time with family and so on….. how bizarre is that. Ok being wealthy would give me the time to do these things more I guess but hey I can still enjoy them all freely now without being rich.
‘The rich man is the one who needs least, not the one who has most!’
Any thoughts?
