• The Secret to Think and Grow Rich

    by Alexander Becker

    The original bestseller Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, first published in 1937, was the outcome of interviewing and researching more than 500 successful men and women in an effort to discover the exact method they applied in order to achieve their respective goals. Included among them were Thomas Edison, Charles Schwab, Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, and John D. Rockefeller, alongside many others.

    The purpose of the studies was to be able to consciously reproduce the natural ways that led to the success of the aforementioned people. Please note that none of them ever consciously applied any secret method to accomplish their goals.

    Only in hindsight -- after the fact -- is it possible to recognize the patterns that were most successful. It doesn't even take a Rockefeller -- you could as well study young children's behavior and derive the exact same blueprint.

    In the introduction to Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, indirectly describes a -- somewhat hidden -- how-to methodology of thinking and achieving any goal you desire, not limited to achieving financial success.

    Throughout this philosophy will be found the suggestion that thought, backed by strong desire, has a tendency to transmute itself into its physical equivalent. --Napoleon Hill

    The latest take on Think and Grow Rich, is the "manual" The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich by Brian Kim. It is published in electronic form and is actually a workbook, a step-by-step walk-through, dealing with the virtues and their sequence required to think and grow rich.

    Brian Kim has found the secret, he cites the natural process of goal achievement as a main outcome of the application of the secret as well as a major ingredient of the recipe itself.

    The main point is: The secret is the secret. It takes the understanding of the secret to spot it. And the reverse is also true: The steps towards discovering the secret are exactly what you're after, as in the journey is the reward, only better. Stated in only slightly different words, the secret is -- while being somewhat elusive -- that there is no secret.

    While Napoleon Hill states that specialized knowledge is an important part of the method, in the Hidden Secret, Brian Kim recognizes that it's a mere by-product which is almost taking care of itself. The aquisition of specialized knowledge is another instance of a natural outcome, if and only if, you follow the steps and the sequence to the letter.

    It is said that the secret jumps from the page once you're ready.

    Somewhere as you read, the secret to which I refer will jump from the page and stand boldly before you, if you are ready for it! When it appears, you will recognize it.

    The best thing about the secret is that it can be spelled out and yet you're only able to grasp it, if and when, you are ready for it.

    On the other hand, although the secret, the recipe, is a natural process, it is not quite sure that this natural process is in fact learnable by anybody who even gets the book and the manual read aloud. The theory is that even with the most thoroughly annotated and delicately explained step-by-step instructions to discover the secret, it is not universally reproducible for an arbitrary reader.

    It's like teaching an art: The techniques can be acquired by almost anybody yet only a few wanna-be painters have the talent -- the other half. Without talent, you teach technicians, not artists.

    Back to Napoleon Hill --

    If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it.

    Want proof? Here is the secret: Apply burning desire, absolute faith, and a definite plan to your major purpose using this exact sequence, without ever giving up while staying religiously consistent all the time, whatever it takes.

    So what you say? There you go, as a prerequisite to think and grow rich you already need to possess half of it...

    Conclusion: Get all the info you can and -- if you really want it -- you will find the secret. I recommend the annotated edition by Ross Cornwell even though the original book is in the public domain. Get the Hidden Secret by and from Brian Kim. The step-by-step instructions are particularly helpful and interesting and will give you some valuable insight both into the methodology and your own thinking. Brian Kim teaches you the secret -- guaranteed --, it's up to you whether you end up as a technician or a true artist.

    Of note is the revised edition, Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised, an edited and annotated homage by Ross Cornwell who --

    restore[d] Dr. Hill's book to its original manuscript content (it was first published in 1937, but was abridged in 1960), annotate[d] it with more than 50 pages of endnotes (most of the persons and events he discusses are generally unknown to readers today), index[ed] it thoroughly, add[ed] an appendix with a wealth of additional information about Dr. Hill and his work, and revise[d] the book in ways to help remove certain "impediments" to reading the book today...

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  • Enhance your Predictions

    by Alexander Becker

    Once you master your perception, predictions are easy and come for free.

    It is introspection which makes predictions possible in the first place. It is honest and non-judging introspection which makes predictions a delicate and difficult affair.

    Making predictions is extrapolating situations as accurately as possible including the specific personalities of the actors involved. Requirements: No judgement and no projection of your own, current, experience. Assumption: Most situations unfold in linear ways. Exception: Quantum leaps, are by definition unforeseeable, although at times, they are absolutely required to achieve certain results, thus you can take them into account and predict at least their occurrence.

    Making predictions is about consequences and consequential action. By analyzing the signs and recognizing incongruencies in other people's behavior and actions, you are able to foretell, with great accuracy, the course of events that are evolving over time. These incongruencies influence the desired outcome and change the unfolding of the future.

    Predicting failure is often very easy, even long before it eventually happens. The neutral, uninvolved observer -- any observer -- can tell that and why certain developments lead to particular circumstances.

    A special prediction is the self-fulfilling prophesy which is essentially predicting itself. While the observer at best influences the outcome with his presence and through the mere act of observing, he or she at worst actively sets up the results through communicating and revealing the prediction. The prediction becomes a substitute plan in the absence of an original one. It is not the prophesy that is fulfilling itself, rather it is the situation which, from the very beginning, carries the seed for its particular outcome within itself. We do not even have to recall fate as a possible explanation, whether you are going to fail or win is written and inscribed in each and every move you do. You can change your intention at any time. Just make sure that your faith follows your intention, that you follow your chosen purpose.

    To refine your predictions, carefully monitor your input. You overhear random conversations between people during the day. Accidentally, of course. These are for you. Try to make sense about the fragments you hear -- there may be nothing more to the dialogue than the apparently incomplete parts you intercept. Even the glimpses and the glances you give and take during your everyday experience -- they are all for you. Gathering information gets a whole new meaning this way.

    In addition to the information you presume to accidentally hear or see, there is the constant flow of input directed towards you in one-on-one or one-to-many exchanges. Again, making sense of this communication and integrating it into the bigger picture of your overall input is crucial for the quality of your predictions. This means staying on top of everything within your area of influence and perception.

    The accurate and undistorted perception and analysis of your own input -- your introspection -- is a prerequisite for accurately extrapolating developments involving others.

    After you manage to perceive without judging, you come close to observing neutrally, you are able to compare the different parts of the puzzle with your very own actions, reactions, and reflections. The outcome of almost any situation becomes clear and evident -- often at early stages and in surprising ways.

    In order to improve the accuracy of your predictions, ensure a perception as unbiased as possible. Ultimately, perception and prediction are one and the same.

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  • Veganism and Subjective Reality

    by Alexander Becker

    A recent discussion taking place in Steve Pavlina's forums questions the implications of subjective reality on a vegan diet.

    This essay is part of The Subjective Reality Series.

    What if factory farming, over grazing, and the destruction of the rainforests to raise cattle, are all extrapolations, projections of a subjective reality -- indeed, they have to be. What if we separate the cruelty from the meat?

    Once all reality is subjective and addressable by your thoughts, by your mind or by your self for that matter, some say that ultimately, the peaceful way of eating like a herbivore is practically unavoidable. On the other hand, eating vegan is said to be almost a prerequisite for discovering, achieving and eventually following your bliss. Then there is the notion that all reality, your subjective reality that is, depends on your good intentions, implying that a hypothetical child can eat meat without any conscious wrongdoing. That child would therefore thrive only to realize later that eating meat does in fact harm others and consequently adopt the conclusion and the guilt of doing harm him- or herself.

    Benefiting from a particular diet obviously depends on your own perspective. There are as many proponents of a high carbohydrates and low fat diet as there are people who are convinced that the optimal diet consists of low carbs and high fat. And we're not even talking about meat vs. plants here.

    Based on the assumption that all reality is in fact subjective, there is absolutely no point in exchanging scientific data of any kind. Research supporting both sides is available in abundance and you can freely choose which particular diet is your personal and most effective way of eating.

    Whatever works for you is working because you adopt a perspective and a model of reality that is most plausible for you. There is not one optimal way of eating because there is not one reality but only yours. There is one constant across all diets, be it herbivore or carnivore, omnivore or hunter-gatherer, a system of beliefs about reality and a theory that you basically sell yourself in order to follow it. The better you are in selling it to yourself, the better results will return at the end of the day.

    Most abstractly, whichever way you choose, you are successful when adhering to a strong theory that, in order to experience, you are required to exert a certain amount of discipline. You believe in the theory of your current choice, you adopt its prescriptions, you reassure yourself -- through discipline -- that you continually believe and you get your results delivered as expected. You break your discipline only to get delivered what you expect in this case: The negative proof of your theory.

    An intriguing implication of eating vegan for spiritual reasons is the conclusion that eventually even animals have to stop eating animals. This is absolutely possible -- it's your reality after all and your vegan spirit is not supposed to harm or kill any animal.

    Let's, for a short moment, go back to plain subjective reality without any preinstalled features and requirements. While the discussion revolves around the consequences of eating vegan, the question can be extended: Is eating herbivorous required to achieve the peak of spiritual awareness?

    Are we hunters or gatherers, do we intend to be predators or not? Isn't the absolute taboo of killing (animals) a somewhat limiting belief? Obviously, the answer is as subjective as reality can be. You decide and you manifest. Once you are absolutely positively convinced, beyond any doubt, that eating meat -- and thus killing animals -- is reasonable because you are a predator for example, then you, by the laws of subjective reality have no choice except for thriving in your reality.

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  • How to Avoid Misunderstandings

    by Alexander Becker

    Every once in a while you get into an argument. After a short time, your opponent du jour, sometimes even yourself, would step back and talk about misunderstanding and eventually end or postpone the fight.

    Why do you think you always run into misunderstandings? Misunderstanding is failing to interpret correctly. You interpret best what is least definitive. Your misunderstandings are signs of mismatches, even cracks within your reality.

    Misunderstanding is -- more often than not -- a mismatch between actual content and perceived way of delivery. While the content is almost never touched, fighting erupts over the presentation of the message. Misunderstanding is not about failing to receive all of the information. Misunderstanding is about receiving too much information to make sense of within your own context at this very moment.

    Let's examine the various levels of detail and the respective perception involved. The problem is hidden in the details, in fact, the problem is the details. The more specific the provided details, the more you have to adapt your imagination and the resulting expectation to the message received.

    Computer-generated film delivers only as much detail as needed to sufficiently communicate a given story. When you see a panorama shot, for example, you get a very rough scenery with minimal amounts of detail. Your mind takes over the decoration part and makes you perceive a rich scenery when in fact, you barely receive enough stimulation to not get overwhelmed. You appreciate the details because you are not fed them but instead, you create them yourself. Your mind completes the picture and as you zoom in and immerse yourself in the story, your mental experience matches and ultimately exceeds the actually seen imagery.

    The more detail a situation provides, the more specific it is and the higher the chance of not exactly matching your preconceived interpretation. The most vague and unspecific arbitrary message reaching you comes with the opportunity to have you custom-color the pale information and personalize it with your own expectation. You are amazed by the highly targeted content that was destined only and especially for you. The same words delivered to you being in positive, allowing mode of expectation make you happy and leave you full of joy, in contrast, when received expecting an insult, you will get just that.

    To counter and prevent misunderstanding, two courses of action are implicit --

    1. Communicate as detailed as possible, including all possible misconceptions and discuss every single instance of being potentially unclear. Reiterate what you intend to communicate as often as you think is necessary to make your point bullet-proof.
    2. Communicate with brevity and in generic terms in order to allow the recipient to fill in the positive or negative touch of the message. Your job is to predict the best moment for the message to arrive.

    The first option -- reiterating endlessly -- is what most people do most of the time only to run into even more arguments. The second option -- let the recipient fill in his expectation -- is the smarter choice, leading to less arguments and ultimately eliminating fights over conflicting perceptions.

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  • Subjective Reality: The Onion Theory of Problem Solving

    by Alexander Becker

    This essay is part of The Subjective Reality Series.

    In order to solve a problem, any problem, it has to be properly assessed and correctly addressed. You first recognize and accept the existence of a conflict, then try to locate and define it as precise as possible and finally you identify and determine the conflicting parts and decide to fix, exchange, or completely remove the offending elements.

    Imagine someone having trouble, dealing with a problem that she doesn't seem to be able to solve on her own. Imagine a second person actively taking part in the conflict by trying to solve the problem. Imagine layers of an onion.

    Now, imagine to be the one to recognize the issues of the first person and the inability of the second person to help the first one. The second one may be the one who theoretically creates the problem in the first place. But now, with your awareness of the situation, you become the next layer.

    Enter the theory of subjective reality and the assumption that there is only one consciousness. The moment you become aware of the first person's problem, you recognize and further manifest the conflict. The awareness shifts to you as the observer and at the same exact moment, you take over responsibility since now, you are conscious consciousness.

    The sole purpose of the second person is the introduction of even more detail and complexity to the problem at hand. It's as if the first person, the originator, isn't capable of expressing and manifesting the whole range and the extent of the conflict on its own, consequently, the second person, the multiplier, adds to and magnifies the expression.

    As a problem situation between two or more people unfolds, the involvement of any additional people -- even in the role of mediators -- adds to the problem in that they become part of it, spreading the conflict sideways, alongside, and parallel to the layers. All these people are detailed expressions, layers of your very conflict.

    By now it is clear that the different layers of the onion are cascading, conflicting thoughts that probably have to be solved in just the right sequence, layer after layer. The question remains, whether there are thoughts which cannot be addressed directly but only and exclusively through the mechanisms and filters and functions of other thoughts.

    • Consciousness is the core.
    • Thoughts make up the layers, stacked on top of each other in a predefined sequence.
    • People represent thoughts.
    • Problems between people represent conflicting thoughts.

    What about ignoring intermediate layers to get right through to the originating ones? Ignorance and denial don't work, for obvious reasons: An existing layer can't be ignored. Every layer or thought acts as a barrier and as a filter. How about removing the apparently superfluous layer then? Turns out that the target layer would be lost as well. Thoughts stick together. The problem sticks to its hosting thought. No ignoring nor removing of layers, once they are introduced and thus involved. Afterall, it is the intermediate layer that the initial one is filtered through which makes the problem visible in the first place. It has to be dealt with since it is the only one that can be dealt with directly. Without this secondary thought, there is no expression of conflict of the primary thought.

    As long as there is only one person dealing with a conflict, only that part of consciousness is affected, the next person entering broadens the impact and eventually alerts and invites another actor, you. As long as there are more and more people involved -- and entangled, -- the conflict, your conflict, has not yet reached its ultimate extent.

    Now, you too are involved and take over the party, since, once the conflict has reached you, you have to deal with it and you alone. Remember, each one of the participants described, is but one of your thoughts. You are consciousness. Release the thoughts and acknowledge the existence of the conflict, deal with it but do not fight it.

    What is the nature of the conflict? Is the problem the problem? A layer between layers? Go back to the beginning and acknowledge and relax and let go. There is no problem. Allocate each thought its discrete layer and assign it enough space to expand and to thrive.

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  • Subjective Reality: The Difference between Experience and Adventure

    by Alexander Becker

    This essay is part of The Subjective Reality Series.

    What is an experience? Everything you see, hear, feel, touch, smell, taste, every sensory input is an experience. Furthermore, every thought, emotion or feeling is an experience as well.

    Your brain is not even able to differentiate between a real-world, physical experience delivered by your senses, and a merely imagined, mental or emotional experience.

    The prevailing definition states that an experience produces knowledge after the fact. This definition makes you only react and respond to experiences instead of consciously planning and creating your own reality.

    You experience only and exclusively events that you either perceive through your senses or that you create from and within your imagination. Nothing else. You do not experience anything which is outside your sensory or imaginary reach. Nothing.

    Not convinced? You may try and prove that the opposite is true.

    Two conclusions seem to be evident --

    1. There is nothing that exists beyond your current experience.
    2. You and only you create your experience either in your imagination alone or through exposing yourself to tangible situations.

    Again, try to prove that there is anything which exists beyond your experience. Focus on your current experience because even past and future experiences do not exist.

    Since the rules of subjective reality make you responsible for your experience anyway, make good and complete use of the opportunity to shape your environment.

    What is an adventure? An adventure is an exciting experience. A potential experience with an often uncertain and sometimes risky outcome. Imagine your only risk being overwhelmed by unexpected joy...

    What makes an experience exciting? You. Your thoughts: There is nothing beyond your thoughts. Circumstances: Your thoughts determine and create your circumstances. Unexpected outcomes: Your thoughts are surprising yourself. The precise manifestation of everything you desire: Joy.

    Now, what's the difference between adventure and experience? You. Make sure to always appreciate and fully embrace circumstances. Allow the extent and the perfection of a given manifestation to make you happy.

    Make every action you perform an adventure. Isn't it exciting to see and experience what you alone are able to create and manifest?

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  • Subjective Reality: You Are Biased

    by Alexander Becker

    This essay is part of The Subjective Reality Series.

    You are biased. How many times are you confronted with the statement? How many times do you argue about your bias and how it doesn't affect your results?

    Your bias skews your observation of reality. Your bias makes an objective evaluation of anecdotal evidence practically worthless. Your observation is not neutral, try to just state the facts and refrain from interpreting them... Your bias is nothing more than a cognitive distortion, your cognitive distortion, of reality.

    Let's pause a moment for the definition: Bias is a prejudice in a general or specific sense, usually in the sense for having a preference to one particular point of view or ideological perspective. However, one is generally only said to be biased if one's powers of judgement are influenced by the biases one holds, to the extent that one's views could not be taken as being neutral or objective, but instead as subjective.

    In all simplicity: Of course, you are biased. You are absolutely biased. By definition. Even more, you are not only biased -- you are bias yourself. Bias is what defines you. Your bias makes you tick. In fact, you are nothing more than bias.

    To be more specific, we are talking about cognitive bias. Distortion in the way humans perceive reality. Here is a sample of five, more or less randomly, selected forms of bias.

    Primacy effect
    The tendency to weigh initial events more than subsequent events.
    Belief bias
    The tendency to base assessments on personal beliefs.
    Conjunction fallacy
    The tendency to assume that specific conditions are more probable than general ones.
    Omission bias
    The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse, or less moral than equally harmful omissions (inactions).
    Selective perception
    The tendency for expectations to affect perception.

    The most interesting observation about all those tendencies is that they are all so -- common. Now, please choose your favorite distortion of your perception of reality and try to neutralize it. Get rid of that distortion. Eliminate all distortions, everything that skews reality.

    More to the point: Eliminate all distortions that skew your reality? How would you do that? With what predictable result?

    Your distortions of reality are what differentiates you from any other human being. Eliminate your perceptive distortions and, congratulations, you make yourself obsolete. You are just not there anymore. I cannot see you because there is nothing that separates you from the background. You are invisible, not only to the eyes but to all other senses either.

    Thus, your selective perception enables me to perceive you.

    Naturally, through my selective perception. Is that an instance of the observer effect? You tell me.

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  • Subjective Reality: How Desire Always Overrides Methods

    by Alexander Becker

    This essay is part of The Subjective Reality Series.

    After experiencing subjective reality for more than thirty years and experimenting with the law of attraction for a while now, it is getting more and more exciting, especially in terms of accuracy of results and turnaround times of intentions. With the proper determination and mindset, it should be possible to short-circuit the process of attraction and tap directly into the source. The question is this: Do smart people need placebos?

    Here are the definitions as experienced by Steve Pavlina:

    The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest.

    Subjective reality is a belief system in which (1) there is only one consciousness, (2) you are that singular consciousness, and (3) everything and everyone in your reality is a projection of your thoughts.

    From real life application of the theory derives one main observation about the law of attraction that, the specific method you use to make a change, any change, is only a catalyst -- the method precipitates the outcome of the plan, without itself being involved in the actual change of circumstances.

    The tricky task is to tackle the plan directly and try to circumvent the catalyst rituals that take more time and effort than probably necessary. Consider the following example: Everything I eat in excess will positively contribute to my body composition and will build new muscles instead of being deposited as fat.

    Another example: Eating vegan, I can eat as many calories as I want, I can eat thousands of calories just in nuts and I still lose weight. Why is that? Because eating vegan, and in particular, eating food carefully sampled from every food group -- sans meat and dairy of course, is per se healthy. In short, I believe it is good and healthy and so be it.

    This is subjectivity and subjective reality at its best. Ask any doctor. And while contradicting so called common sense and medical recommendations, these examples are taken from real life and they work, because you get exactly what you desire.

    Forget everything you know about diet, about training routines, about techniques and tactics to succeed. Detrain your mind from analyzing. Analyzing, by carefully exploring the pros and the cons, equally carefully levels any chance of change since it is a process of balancing one against the other. What you need for attraction to take place is the imbalance towards the positive.

    All it ever takes is an indomitable will, the attitude, the desire, and the intention to win, achieve, and excel, no matter what. Train your mind to let go of everything that might be even remotely contradictory to any positive outcome you envision.

    You definitely have to work in order to accomplish anything, and you have to work hard, as hard as you can, don't get me wrong. The point is, as long as you believe and desire with all your heart, it just doesn't matter what kind of specific program you're on.

    Take a look at the people who already made it -- the people who are crazy enough... -- and observe them closely, you can see it in children who are determined to make it, no matter what. Absolute faith, call it chutzpah, a border-crossing desire and no unnecessary thought about why something could possibly go wrong, are the minimum ingredients that are required to skip the catalyzing function and move on, directly towards the goal.

    Make sure that the desire is strong enough, it has to burn and the how to achieve and the specific methods of accomplishing become irrelevant. Success is inevitable when failure is not an option is a nice saying but once you really know that failure is not only not an option but that success is the only option you have -- you will be free to succeed, because -- well, it's the only option after all. Let me repeat it, to make the point crystal clear: Failure is not an option.

    If you genuinely desire, whatever it is, it will be given to you.

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