1. Get this mindmap
1.1. www.2000books.com/self
1.2. i button in the top right corner
1.3. Power
1.3.1. Refresh these ideas
1.3.1.1. Without having to watch this whole video
1.3.2. 2 minute refresh of the whole book
1.3.3. Click in and out of any idea in a moment
2. Why this book
2.1. One of my all time favorite books - Top 3
2.2. One of the greatest books ever written on the power of thought
2.2.1. Very concise
2.2.2. Very dense
2.3. One of the earliest works in the modern self help movement
2.4. Read it every month!
2.5. Author James Allen- British philosopher and pioneer in the modern self help movement
2.6. Published in 1903
2.7. Really short book - around 20 pages long
3. The garden and the seeds
3.1. MAN'S mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
3.1.1. If proper thought seeds are not planted, WEED seeds will fall and be planted
3.2. As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those, which are deliberately executed.
3.2.1. Every Act -> From hidden seed of thought
3.3. Thoughts are exactly like seeds
3.3.1. Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles.
3.3.1.1. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it.
3.3.1.1.1. Thoughts are exactly like SEEDS
3.3.1.1.2. We use it in the natural world all the time
3.3.2. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.
3.3.2.1. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.
3.3.2.1.1. Thoughts -> Habits -> Circumstances
4. On circumstances
4.1. Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.
4.1.1. He is the creative power
4.1.2. Commands the hidden soil
4.1.3. He becomes the rightful master of himself
4.2. Circumstances grow out of thought
4.2.1. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances
4.3. Circumstances do not make a man
4.3.1. They reveal him to himself
4.4. As the master of our thoughts, we are the
4.4.1. Author and shaper of our environment
4.5. Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.
4.6. that man is the causer (though nearly always is unconsciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end.
4.6.1. Man is the causer of his circumstances (unconsciously)
4.7. A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. .
4.7.1. Train of Thought -> Character and circumstances
5. On Character
5.1. A man is literally what he thinks - his character being a complete sum of all his thoughts
5.1.1. Character = Result of thoughts
5.2. Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.
5.2.1. We are making ourselves every single moment with our thoughts
5.3. Man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
5.3.1. We mould our character
5.3.1.1. Nobody else is responsible for it
5.3.1.2. You are not a victim
5.3.2. We make our conditions
5.3.2.1. We are not at mercy
5.4. Man contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
5.4.1. We can make ourselves what we want
6. On sacrifices
6.1. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.
6.1.1. Willing to give it all
6.1.2. Willing to die for it
6.2. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object
6.2.1. Great Personal sacrifices
6.2.1.1. 4 Hour work week?!
6.3. There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a man's worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance.
6.3.1. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.
6.3.1.1. Success is proportional to the extent to which you can fix your mind on your purpose
6.3.2. No achievement without sacrifice
6.3.3. Success is proportional to sacrificing of animal thoughts
6.3.3.1. Animal thoughts?
6.3.3.1.1. Base desires
6.4. He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
6.4.1. Accomplishments are proportional to your sacrifices
7. Get a PDF copy of this book for free
7.1. www.2000books.com/self
8. Get this mindmap
8.1. www.2000books.com/self
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8.3. Why
8.3.1. High level overview
8.3.2. Dig deep into any idea in a moment
9. Thought factor in achievement
9.1. ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
9.2. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.
10. On Purpose
10.1. UNTIL thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.
10.1.1. Thoughts * Purpose
10.2. Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
10.2.1. Outwitting the Devil Within - Napoleon Hill
10.2.1.1. Drifting is the biggest reason why the devil gets you
10.2.2. Aimlessness = Vice
10.2.2.1. Aimlessness should not be taken lightly
10.3. Those who have no central purpose fall prey to everything petty
10.3.1. Central Purpose
10.3.2. Falling prey
10.4. A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts.
10.4.1. Purpose = Centralizing Point of thoughts
10.5. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome),
10.5.1. the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph.
10.6. To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones
10.6.1. who make all conditions serve them,
10.6.1.1. Make the condition serve YOU
10.6.1.2. No matter what the condition
10.6.1.2.1. It serves you
10.6.1.2.2. You are no more a victim of that circumstance
10.6.1.2.3. You are using that circumstance to your advantage
10.6.2. who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment;
10.6.2.1. Obstacle is the way - Ryan Holiday
10.6.2.2. Marcus Aurelius - Meditations
10.6.2.2.1. The Impediment to action advances action. what stands in the way becomes the way
10.6.2.3. Failure is a pathway to achievement.
10.6.3. Purpose -> Rank of strong ones
10.6.4. TGR
10.6.4.1. Definiteness of Purpose is the starting point of all great achievement
10.6.4.2. Your plans can change
10.6.4.3. But you must be very definite on the outcome
10.6.5. 7 Habits of Highly Effective people
10.6.5.1. Habit #2
10.6.5.1.1. Begin with the end in mind
10.6.6. 2 Keys to Purpose
10.6.6.1. Definiteness
10.6.6.1.1. Being definite about what you want
10.6.6.1.2. Not changing it
10.6.6.2. Clarity
10.6.6.2.1. Seeing it As vividly as you can
10.7. Thoughts allied to purpose become a creative force
10.8. “The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations. It falls to the level of its unchastened desires – and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.”
10.8.1. We attract what we secretly harbor
10.8.1.1. Whether we love it or hate it
10.8.2. Circumstances = reflection of what we are thinking about all the time
11. On dreams and vision
11.1. The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
11.1.1. It all starts with a dream
11.1.2. Nobody accomplished great things without any dreams
11.2. Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.
11.2.1. Dreams = what you will become
11.3. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be.
11.3.1. Vision = What you will be
11.4. Your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
11.5. Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without.
11.5.1. If you strive for an ideal - your circumstances will change
11.6. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal.
11.6.1. Thoughts
11.6.2. Vision
11.6.3. Ideal
11.7. And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love.
11.7.1. The Key: NOT the Idle Wish
11.8. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration:
11.8.1. As small as your basest controlling desires
11.8.2. As great as your DOMINANT aspirations
11.8.2.1. Dominant is the key word here
11.9. The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance.
11.9.1. Who talks of luck, fortune and chance?
11.10. In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not.
11.11. The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this you will build your life by, this you will become.
11.11.1. Vision in your mind
11.11.2. Ideal in your heart
11.11.3. This is what you will become
11.11.4. Don't just set goals - Cast a vision