Think and Grow Rich
This Book Is for You If…
✔ You want a clear, proven path to create success.
✔ You desire encouragement to stay faithful to your vision, even when results feel far away.
✔ You want to trade self-doubt for clarity, gratitude, and confidence.
This book reminds us that every dream begins as a thought—and that faith, focus, and persistence turn thoughts into reality.
Thoughts Become Things: The Mindset Behind True Success
Book Review & Reflection by Lindsay Smith, LCSW
Think and Grow Rich
By Napoleon Hill
Mood of the Book:
Empowering, Grounded, and Hopeful
5 Gems to Fuel Growth…
What we believe shapes what is possible.
The shift I needed: Faith makes the impossible inevitable when we keep showing up with trust and dedication.
Everything we receive in life begins with what we believe is possible. Faith isn’t blind optimism—it’s the quiet conviction that the right things will arrive at the right time, even when we can’t yet see how.
Years ago, I knew I wanted to live within walking distance of my three young nephews and have a backyard big enough for a pool. The search stretched over four years, filled with near misses and disappointment. Still, I kept believing that the perfect home would appear at the perfect time. When it finally did, it was better than I could have dreamed—just three doors down from my nephews, with space to design the pool I’d envisioned.
What I’ve learned is that belief doesn’t make things easy—it makes them inevitable. Faith opens doors that fear keeps closed. When you stay open and trust in divine timing, life has a way of delivering something even better than what you pictured.
To change your life, change your focus.
The shift I needed: When you give your attention to what you want instead of what you fear, your path starts to clear.
Our lives expand in the direction of our focus. Every thought is a seed, and the mind doesn’t distinguish between what we do want and what we don’t—it simply grows whatever we plant.
When I was preparing to sell my counseling centers, I let my worries take the lead. I replayed every “what if” until anxiety became the loudest voice in the room. Looking back, I see how that mindset not only drained my peace but shaped the outcome itself.
I later made a conscious decision to shift my attention back toward what I did want—joy, peace, abundance and gratitude for the present. Even when everything felt uncertain, I chose to look for what was going right. What we focus on magnifies, and this time, life responded with greater ease, flow, and trust.
Now, when negativity starts to pull at me, I pause, breathe, and gently redirect my thoughts. The power isn’t in the circumstances; it’s in the focus we choose.
Gratitude and fear can’t live in the same breath.
The shift I needed: Our focus is the filter through which we experience life.
Every emotion we feed becomes stronger. Our minds can’t hold gratitude and worry at the same time—one will crowd out the other. Each moment, we get to choose which one we’ll water. When we dwell on frustration, fear, or what’s going wrong, life mirrors that energy right back to us. But when we choose appreciation, curiosity, or trust, we open the door for more of what we actually want.
I practice this daily—and sometimes it’s a moment-by-moment choice. Just yesterday, while setting up my recording equipment, everything seemed to go wrong at once. I could feel frustration rising, but I caught it. I took a breath, stepped away, and shifted my focus to what was working: a kind neighbor who’d given me moving boxes, a great cup of coffee, a peaceful walk with my dog. Almost instantly, my mood lightened.
The truth is simple: your emotional focus shapes your experience. Gratitude simply doesn’t leave room for worry.
Opportunity rarely knocks the way we expect.
The shift I needed: When we stay open, especially through disappointment, we create space for what we truly desire to find us.
Opportunity rarely arrives with the clarity or timing we expect. Sometimes it comes disguised as delay, disappointment, or even loss.
When a house came up just three streets over from my nephews, I thought it was perfect—the one I’d been waiting for. When the seller chose another buyer, I was crushed. But instead of closing off in frustration, I reminded myself that rejection is simply redirection. I chose to stay open, trusting that something better was unfolding.
A few months later, that “something better” appeared—a home three doors down from my nephews, closer than I’d dared to imagine. Looking back, I can see how every “no” was guiding me toward the truer yes.
It’s easy to think opportunity only comes when things go smoothly, but more often, it slips in through the side door, disguised as change. When we meet life with openness instead of resistance, we make room for miracles that logic could never plan.
Every thought you allow is shaping who you are.
The shift I needed: Who we become is determined by the thoughts we choose to nurture each day.
Every day, we choose which thoughts to entertain and which to release. Our minds are always active—if we don’t choose what to plant, something else will grow. I used to believe that my circumstances were shaping my mood. But over time, I learned that the real power lies in what I allow to stay in my mind.
Even on hard days, when loss, illness, or unexpected challenges appear, I remind myself that I can’t always control what happens, but I can control the thoughts I hold onto. Feeling my emotions fully doesn’t mean letting them take over. Once I’ve honored what’s real, I shift my attention toward what I can be grateful for in the moment and what I want to create next.
Every thought we allow quietly builds who we become. The more we return to gratitude, peace, and possibility, the stronger those pathways get. We become the person our thoughts rehearse each day. And that is the truest kind of power—one that can never be taken from us.
My 3 Core Ratings (1-5)
This book radiates optimism. It’s encouraging, easy to read, and filled with timeless truths that make success feel attainable and aligned. Each story shows that joy and achievement grow from the same mindset.
Much of what Hill teaches has been part of my personal practice for years, yet reading it brought certain truths into sharper focus. It reignited my awareness that every new level of growth begins in the mind—long before it shows up in reality.
The concepts are simple, but applying them requires clarity and commitment. The real work is knowing exactly what you want—and keeping your thoughts aligned with that vision, especially when challenges appear. When your focus stays firm and your faith steady, persistence turns these ideas from principles into reality.
Mic Drop Moment:
“Riches begin in the form of thought. The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind
the thought is put into motion. Faith removes limitation.”
– Napoleon Hill
Notes, Nudges & Nuggets:
✔ Know exactly what you want. Vague desires create vague results; clarity magnetizes opportunity.
✔ Write your goal in clear, specific language, and read it aloud daily with belief. You’re training your subconscious to recognize its path.
✔ Don’t expect troubles; they rarely disappoint. Expect what you desire instead.
✔ Defeat isn’t final until you decide it is. Every setback carries the seed of your next success.
✔ Surround yourself with people whose faith and focus lift your own. Harmony multiplies power.
✔ Success isn’t luck; it’s alignment—desire, faith, persistence, and purpose working together until results appear.
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Final Reflection:
The life we build begins long before we can see it—born from the thoughts we repeat,
the trust we hold, and the courage to keep going when results aren’t visible yet.
_________________________
Which thoughts will you repeat today—and are they building the life you truly want?
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