I recently started reading a book called “Think and Grow Rich”, by Napoleon Hill. Besides the point that I found myself identifying with the principles he shares, it also got my mind spinning on a whole different avenue of thoughts.

The fundamental concept it conveys is what most self-improvement books continue to reiterate. Just maintain the key ideas, change a few words and you have a new best seller on hand – as long as you continue to inspire your readers after personalizing the message.

The problem with self-improvement books isn’t about reading it. It’s the “doing” part that comes next after reading the book.

I don’t know about you, but most often this is what happens to me:

Something or a string of events takes place in my life that triggers me to arrive at the decision that it is time to make a change. I hop to the bookstore to find a book that will help me to make the change I desire and I buy it. Most often, the desire to change fizzles out before I have had the chance to finish reading the book or worse still – before I’ve even opened the book.

It isn’t that I don’t have the necessary skills or knowledge to make the changes I desire. I’ve been through enough experiences and read through enough self-help books to know that I have everything I need to make the difference inside that thing of mine called a brain. It is just a matter of finding the right stimulus to spark it into action.

Let’s back track a little and review the order of events I just mentioned. Firstly, though, I feel I need to add a little disclaimer that if any of my concepts sound familiar, I freely admit that I’ve stolen them from the books I’ve read in the past.

We begin with a series of events that were so painful that something had to change to stop the pain. The problem occurs when the pain stops. That’s when we decide that it’s okay to leave things the way they are until it starts to hurt again.

I think this ought to be step one for any self-improvement book – devising a method of remembering the pain so you continue to stay focused on the path of self-improvement. This is your reason driving the need for change. If there is no reason, there is no need and therefore no change.

Next part is the book or information that helps us bring about the change. A self-improvement book is no more than a book that tells you what you already know in a manner that the author relates to. If you and the author are in agreement of minds, you will most likely find the book interesting enough to read through and are probably more likely to put it into action. So you’ve got to find the “method” that works best for you.

I related well to “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill. Looking back at my past, I have noticed that all my successful attempts to make changes in my life have followed the methods described by Napoleon Hill. So this book shall be the foundation upon which my formula for change is built upon.

The concept shared by Napoleon is the need to make the new reality (that which you desire to be after the change) as real as possible. Therefore, if you are a caterpillar desiring to be a butterfly, you have to live and breathe as though you already are the butterfly. However you may wish to do that depends on the medium that appears most convincing to you.

I have existed through the words that I write – whether I am merely the observer or the creator. Yet it has always intrigued me that I have created a reality from the dreams I have captured. Napoleon Hill captures that statement in his book – you can make any dream a reality if you truly desire it with a single-minded obsession.

Therefore, no longer the observer, but I will become the weaver of dreams. Hence forth the quill on this page will the point where dreams are crystalised for the flight into reality.

Personal Experience