Quit Your Day Job Using Napoleon Hill’s 6 Step Formula

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80 years ago, Napoleon Hill published one of the best business books you’ll ever find on financial advice.

This book, Think and Grow Rich, first published in 1937, has sold over 100 million copies as of 2015 and contains the secrets to getting more money, getting out of debt, retiring early or whatever financial goal you happen to desire.

I first read Think and Grow Rich while I was involved in MLM back in 2004. The 6 step secret formula for wealth contained within the book was simple, practical and stuck with me.

I didn’t use it to make millions of dollars or become a network marketing top seller but I did use it to quit my day job while earning a full time income online. I also used it to attain a non-financial goal but that’s another story for another blog.

In this article I’m going to show you how simple it is to quit your day job and earn thousands of dollars online by using Napoleon Hill’s 6-step formula.

The 6-Step Formula from Think and Grow Rich

Here is Napoleon Hill’s secret 6 step formula for wealth taken from Think and Grow Rich.

First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definite- ness which will be described in a subsequent chapter).

Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)

Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.

Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ, SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

To be honest, there is really nothing special about this secret formula.

Just about every book on financial planning will give you the same formula using different words. They may even give it to you as ten steps instead of six. They might include apps to use or even include a specific plan to follow.

So it’s not really a big secret but there are a lot of people who either don’t know about these steps, who know but just don’t follow or commit to following the steps.

I was determined to make it work for me because it was so simple to follow and implement. I didn’t need any special qualifications or knowledge to put it to use so there wasn’t anything to lose. I just had to get started.

This means that you can do this as well and I’ll try to outline below how easy it is. But first, here’s how I used the 6 steps to quit my job in 2009 and go full time with affiliate marketing.

How I Used These Steps To Quit My Job

I started doing affiliate marketing in late 2005. I had read Think and Grow Rich the year before so the concept was still fresh in my head.

I had returned the book, which I had borrowed from my upline, but I had taken note of the 6 step formula with the intention of following it. I didn’t exactly have a plan as yet though.

After getting my first affiliate marketing sale in 2006, I knew that this business model worked so I thought I would base my plan around it.

I consulted my notes and proceeded to implement the 6 steps.

(1) The first step called for me to have an exact amount of money but my goal was to quit my job. Obviously, I needed to have a stable second income and money in the bank to do this. I can’t quite recall but I’m sure I must have set a goal of something like $500,000 in the bank or something like that. I didn’t need all that much just to quit and it didn’t happen that way either.

(2) The second step was for me to decide what I intended to give in return. I decided that I was going to work on this goal for no less than 2 hours every single day until it was achieved. At the time I didn’t have internet at home or even my own computer.

(3) The third step – a definite date – I picked August 21st 2010 because that would have been my 10 year employment anniversary. I was going to quit my job on this day.

I ended up quitting more than a year ahead of time in March 2009.

(4) In step 4, I had to create a definite plan and start immediately. My plan was to learn and master affiliate marketing with Google Adwords since this was how I had made my first sale. I ended up having success using another method but the plan stayed the same basically – to use affiliate marketing.

(5) For step 5, I did something unusual to remind me of what I was doing. I gave my goal a name – 2010 Solutions –  and I got an email address that I used everyday that had the time limit.

(6) Initially, I did step 6 for a while, maybe 3 or 4 weeks then occasionally after that. I think just the passion, desire and determination I had was enough that I didn’t have to do this step every single day.

It worked out that though being involved with affiliate marketing day in and day out, doing something every single day towards my end goal, I would eventually end up at Wealthy Affiliate where I found out what was holding me back from progressing with affiliate marketing.

This was at the beginning of 2007 and by the end of that year, I was already consistently doing more than $1000 per month. My income gradually increased and within 2 years I was ready to quit my day job to do affiliate marketing full time.

How You Can Use This To Quit Your Job

Maybe you’re reading this because you want to know how to quit your job as well. Maybe you just want to supplement your income.

The 6-step formula from Think and Grow Rich can help you do just that.

What you’ll need to do is to think about how much money you’ll need in order to quit your job. How much you’ll need to have saved up and how much you’ll need to be making on a regular basis.

But for the first step of the plan, you’ll need to have a specific number in mind.

Don’t just pick any random number – add up all your expenses (bills, rent, food, clothing, travel, leisure etc) and then multiply that by 6 months (this is just an example idea to guide you.

Next, determine what you’re going to give in return for this money. Usually this is effort put into working the very specific plan you’re going to carry out in step 4. But make it specific as well. Is it 8 hours a day?

Next, pick a specific date. Be realistic. You probably won’t make $100K by end of month so lets go with a longer period. Next 6 months? This time next year?

After you’ve picked a specific date, you’ll need a step by step plan which you would start working on immediately.

This plan depends on how you’re going to make this money.

If you’re going the affiliate marketing route then you’ll need to learn how to do affiliate marketing the right way and have a step by step plan to implement and grow your business.

If you’re going to do eCommerce then you’ll need a plan for that. Trading? Offline business? Something illegal (not recommended)? You’ll need a step by step plan.

You’ll need to also do step 5 and 6 once you’ve started.

Since this blog is about affiliate marketing, I’m going to show you how you can have a step by step affiliate marketing plan from a site that is perfectly set up to help you implement Napoleon Hill’s 6 step formula.

How Wealthy Affiliate Can Help

Again, your plan doesn’t have to involve Wealthy Affiliate even if you choose to go the affiliate marketing route.

If you plan to do something other than affiliate marketing, just find a course, mentor or tutor who will develop a plan for you to follow.

If  you decide to do affiliate marketing though, Wealthy Affiliate, an online marketing training site, is a great place to start. I’ve been a member there and it is the perfect affiliate marketing training site to use if you want to implement the Think and Grow Rich method.

You can read  my full review here if you’re interested and sign up for a free account.

To start with, one of the first tasks Wealthy Affiliate asks you to do is to publicly mention your goals. How much money will you be happy earning? You will then have to also state how much time you’ll be willing to invest to achieve these goals.

This takes care of steps 1 and 2 of the formula where you’re setting your goal amount and determining exactly what you’re willing to give in return for the money.

Some people take this exercise seriously and state precise figures while other just give answers like “as much as possible” or “I’ll be happy with anything at this point”.

Using Wealthy Affiliate, you won’t have to create a definite plan because they courses are laid out in such a way that as you work though them, your business progresses though startup phase until it starts making money consistently. You just have to work on it consistently.

Once you’ve chosen to work on this plan, there is little chance that you will fail. You can read some success stories from other Wealthy Affiliate members who faced obstacles in the beginning but went on to overcome them and win.

In conclusion, the 6-step secret wealth building strategy from Think and Grow Rich works well and anyone can use it to meet their financial goals. I did it and you can do it too.