Why I'll never read Think & Grow Rich again 😬

So this piece has been years in the making. Starting thinking about it in 2019, jotting down ideas and seeing references all over the place - but felt kind of weird about writing it. 

After all, Think and Grow Rich is a much loved book. Millions of copies sold and counting. It's revered in the entrepreneurial space and seen as the holy grail of personal development books.

But it's never felt like a book that sits well with me, and I never knew why.

It came into my mind again yesterday as it was Labor Day in the United States, and as a Brit living in the US I didn't actually know why we celebrate Labor Day. Turns out it was a pretty ugly time in the late 19th century on the back of the Industrial Age where workers were working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for a pitiful wage in terrible conditions. They had no rights. Children as young as 5 or 6 would be working, and for a fraction of what their adult counterparts would get paid. So the workers formed unions, and revolted. There were violent riots and boycotts. Over a decade after all this, a holiday dedicated to the 'working man' was voted in... and so we celebrate with BBQs and beers whilst checking our office email (jk). It's a fact that in moments of history, during huge growth and shifts, we sometimes forget the cogs in the wheel that keep it all moving. In the sole pursuit of profits, the regular working-man will oft be neglected or mistreated.

The first time I heard the word ruthless and my ears really pricked up, was in 2020. Roddy and I had this amazing spiritual moment. I guess a "prophetic word" being spoken over us? (I put in a question mark because we were sitting there kind of weirded out, the guy was saying 'is anything landing here?' as we were looking at each other like WT..is happening in this room LOL) We were in a bit of a mess in many ways, and this man said some things that I still ponder over to this day. One of the things he said was (and I can write this verbatim as I recorded this moment) "Roddy, I see where the Lord is giving you shrewdness but not ruthlessness and that's on purpose because the people God is going to connect you with ... they don't mind shrewd but they don't like ruthless."

After this encounter, I kept hearing the word ruthless everywhere. Over Christmas that year, we watched a docuseries called The Men Who Built America. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. It chronicles the so-called Gilded Age of Henry Ford, John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt etc and the incredible growth of that age, and the enormous wealth they acquired. No doubt these men had extraordinary vision and took huge risks - to see their dreams succeed everything was on the line. Literally, everything. What struck me, was the undeniably cutthroat and ruthless way these titans built their industry. They crushed anyone standing in their way, and did everything at their disposal to ensure they stayed on top. Relationships were secondary, disposable. It seemed like there was never enough. More, more, more.

Of course, these men are very much highlighted throughout Think & Grow Rich. Their example is paraded as the epitome of success.

That's not to say I don't admire what was achieved by these titans of industry. Is there something to learn? Yes. But please, let's look at the whole. I can't admire the architectural feat of The Great Wall of China without also acknowledging that over 400,000 men died constructing that wall. We can shake our head and marvel at what the Rockerfellers et al, built and still acknowledge the cost of that... and I wonder, would I even want to go into business with these guys?

Many years ago, I was trying to research a secondary angle for a book study, and came across numerous articles about the provenance of the book. So the general premise of the book is, let's talk to all these giants in wealth and success and ask them what they did. Use examples of the time to back up said theory. Nothing untoward there. The thing is, there is no documented record of these meetings with Carnegie etc ever happening (and the interviews were claimed after Carnegie's death). Historians believe perhaps Napoleon Hill never even met with any of them. Other sources claimed that Hill's 2nd wife (he had 3, or maybe 5) Rosa Lee Beeland was responsible for authoring much of the book. He's been referred to as "the most famous conman you've probably never heard of" with much fraudulent activity reported over the course of his lifetime. Even the amount of books sold is questioned per Wikipedia "Hill's biographers would later say this book sold 20 million copies over 50 years, although as Richard Lingeman remarks in his brief biography, "Alice Payne Hackett's '70 Years of Best Sellers' suggests the amount was considerably less." Hill claimed to have visited with President Woodrow Wilson, the White House has no such record. He claims to have been an attorney, that appears to be untrue.

And don't even get me started on the very very problematic ideas of 'sex transmutation' and the '6 ghosts of fear' (that Hill says these beings visited him is just too out there for me, sorry). His other books are head-scratchingly bizarre in many ways. Outwitting the devil (where he's conversing with him)... honestly? I think a lot of it is kind of over the top, and a bit creepy tbh

I mean, it's a rabbit hole once you start going down it. There's almost too much there, you know? The fact is Napoleon Hill died penniless, didn't manage to apply these teachings (wherever they came from) and seems to have embellished much of his work and accomplishments (and that's me being kind) seems at best a little...odd. At worst, deceptive and manipulative.

I guess to me, working in this personal development industry, this element just makes me sad. This period of time, when "new age" and "new thought" voices were emerging, many took advantage of people's eagerness to better themselves with scams and schemes to part with their money. The idea of a "secret to success" still lives on, and kids the regular consumer of a magic bullet that will solve all problems. We see this with Rhonda Byrne's The Secret and The Law of Attraction (I don't even want to capitalize that but I will). Absolutely, phenomenally popular ideas... but missing the mark for me.

Another example from the book that doesn't sit right is that of Edward VIII who abdicated the throne to be with his lady love, Wallis Simpson. History has not been kind to him - found him to be a rather small man, selfish and spoiled. And as for the reported dalliances with Hitler and flirtations with the Nazi's? It beggars belief. Is this another example of success and unquenchable desire we want to emulate?

Would I take their success, but also behave in the way they did - callously? ruthlessly? selfishly?

There's so much to be learned from failure, from suffering, from poverty. The most successful people I know, and most importantly I want to be like, have great character, and are generous, loving and spiritually minded. I have no desire to be around those that ruthlessly sell without giving a thought to service. I have no desire to work with leaders who put profit over people. I don't want to earn so much money I forget who I am, and whose I am.

And let's be clear, this isn't a stumbling block or a limiting belief - this is me deciding what I am made of.

So, do I think people should read the book?

I think, probably yes. Much in the way everyone should watch Titanic or Star Wars. It's popular for a reason. Might as well take a peek. Tons of successful people recommend it, people that have had the kind of success I have not. I'd hazard a guess that they might not have had some of my less impressive, more expansive successes.

Do I think it's worthy of a lifetime study? 

I don't think so.

There are so many incredible, genuine, successful leaders that have a character worth admiring, love their families and do business the right way. I'd rather channel my exuberance towards them.

And I would hazard a guess, if the book was not in the public domain and available to republish freely it wouldn't have *quite* the same appeal. (I said what I said) It's a headline grabbing, cookies on the bottom shelf, crowd pleasing subject - everyone wants to be rich... so let's just stay on the gravy train shall we?

Yeah, not for me.

SG 💜

PS. Whenever I write, there's almost always an element of "I shouldn't say this", or "I'm totally alone in this" ...but then when I hit publish, I'm bowled over by how many people say "me too". I'm not trying to convince lovers of the book to move to the dark side with me, just I know I can't be the only skeptic about this.

[POST PUBLISHING FOLLOW UP] Following the many comments on Facebook, it seems I'm not the only one AND I'm also really not saying you can't read the book. You do you boo! My husband says he still right on with 'about 80%' of it. It's one very small opinion in a multitude. I still love you whatever you like to read (well, within reason hahaha)