I started 2024 by revisiting many of the classic treatises from the New Thought movement, such as:
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (1902)
The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles (1910)
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (1937)
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (1952)
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale (1956)
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude by W. Clement Stone (1960)
Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale (1987)
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (2006)
These examples barely brush the surface of what’s available on the subject. There is a massive volume of literature on the personal development subject of success through positive thinking.
For all intensive porpoises, I believe we can summarize the entire New Thought movement from the 1880s onward via a chain of relevant quotes:
"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve." -Napoleon Hill
This then evolves into:
"You become what you think about." -Earl Nightingale
This has been popularized in more modern times by The Secret as The Law of Attraction. Copying and pasting directly from Wikipedia:
The law of attraction is the New Thought spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life.
There’s a pretty deep rabbit of woo-woo to go down on this topic. But just because it’s woo-woo doesn’t mean it’s hooey. Let me explain.
Several years ago, when I was presenting continuing education seminars to accountants and lawyers, I would sometimes discuss the Law of Attraction, but I would apply practical context to it (because that’s what I do). So I’m going to paraphrase myself, and frame it as a quote for eternity on the Interwebs:
"The secret to The Secret is that if something is on your mind long enough, eventually you'll take action on it, and that action is what yields results." -Jassen Bowman, circa 2016-2018
Let’s illustrate by way of example. Let’s see you’re really into drums. The musical instrument, not the thing that mobsters cram corpses into. If you’re really into drums, and perhaps dream about playing the drums, then you’re going to think about drums. A lot.
You’ll think about drums all day, every day. You’ll listen to drum riffs on music tracks. You’ll watch YouTube videos highlighting drum solos. Then YouTube will show you videos with drum lessons, and you’ll watch those, too (thanks, algorithm!). Before you know it, you’ll wander into a music store or clicky-clicky on Amazon and buy yourself a drum set. Soon you’ll be learning to read those squiggly marks on sheet music and translating them into stick strokes on drumheads. Then comes your own rock band, a global tour, and fame, fortune, and rehab.
Again, the more you think about a thing, the more likely you are to eventually take action on it. Let me give you an example from my own career.
I used to think about real estate quite a bit. I read real estate books, attended real estate investor group meetings, and listened to real estate investing courses. Eventually I even got a real estate license, went bankrupt, and dreamed about real estate while living in a van, down by the river.
After starting other businesses, I still thought about real estate. So when I was able, I started buying real estate (using the Nomad strategy). Then renting out that real estate. Rinse, repeat. Now I’m slowly selling off that real estate, and profiting handsomely from doing so.
By thinking about real estate, I eventually became a real estate investor in the real world. Voila, Law of Attraction in action.
Key Takeaways
What do you think about most?
What action can you take today to start making that thing happen?