I get asked these questions a lot… “What books do you recommend I read about trading and my financial future?” “What books can I read to get into the game?”
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I am not a big fan of recommending stock trading books because most are like Chinese. I like the idea of being shown how it works… For example, I have a brand new stock trading webinar “Stock Market Secrets” that you can register for here: www.FreeStockTradingVideo.com, which breaks down how to read stock charts and how the market works. I also have an Option Trading video all about how to trade options: www.FreeOptionTradingVideo.com, where I show how to grow a small trading account and how to use leverage with options on how to control stocks versus owning them. 
But let’s talk about the book that I think everyone should read: “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.
Why You Should Read It
When you start to think about becoming rich in an industry, for me it’s the stock market, it always begins with your state of mind. I did a podcast and blog post about the things that you have to master if you are going to be successful in the stock market, click here to view, but it really broke down how you need to master fear, greed, etc from an emotional standpoint that will affect whether you will be successful in the trading industry or not.
Some people think they can come in and do the tasks of opening a stock account, placing trades, and making money but when you start to put money to work and have the risk of losing it, you find out a lot about who you are. This book discusses the mentality you need to have, too.
Page 1
“Thoughts are things”
That is a powerful way to open up the book because in life, most people think that they can become rich. If you think you can’t become rich, then you stop looking for ways to become rich. Same thing with becoming successful in the stock market. But if you believe you can become wealthy, you look for vehicles to create wealth. You have to start thinking how to make these things happen – and then you will be led to the answers.
Page 3
“One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat”
I thought about this quote and it is so true, people are so ready to quit when they fail. I remember when I started to get into the market and took my $500 to try and make $50 every week, I bought Sprint stock for $5 a share. I just knew it was going to $5.50, but it actually dropped to $4.50. Can you imagine if I had quit that first time? It dropped again! So when it got back to $5, I got out. When it went down again to about $4, that’s when I got in again and it went back to $5. So I actually made $100 instead of my goal of $50. But what if I had quit after the first or second time it did not work out? I would not be here today sharing my information with you about how the market works.. I would probably be working behind a corporate desk somewhere. So you can see that this book already is very powerful for your mindset. Because now it has you thinking… “Where are the areas in my life where I have quit too soon?”
Page 9
“One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average man’s familiarity with the word ‘impossible’. He knows all the rules which will not work. He knows all the things which cannot be done.”
That fires me up! Because that is most of our friends and family – they always know why it won’t work. In the book it goes over Henry Ford, and when he sent his engineers out to build a V8 engine. And they tried to build it, and told him that it is not possible. Henry Ford looked at his engineer and said, “Build it anyway”. And because of his bravado, his family and kids’ kids’ kids never have to worry about money again.
Ask yourself, “Am I the average man or woman? Who only knows why something won’t work?”
The book goes on to say…
“Success comes tho those who become success conscious. Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious”
When you try to get involved in the stock market and come into the game thinking “This isn’t going to work, everything’s a scam, etc” then you will find it doesn’t work and you will find the scammers out there. But on the other hand, you can come into the game thinking, “These people must know something, everyone can’t be wrong”. For example, when I first got started I took a $4,500 course on trading. And my mindset was, “They can’t be wrong if they are charging this much for the course, and if they are, I will know what a $4,500 scam looks like”. You must move forward anyway. You have made up in your mind, that either way you will win. In this example, my view was that no matter what I would learn something.
Page 20
“Every failure brings with it a seed of an equivalent success”
In life we can look at things as failure. For example, I once lost about $75,000 in one trade. I just thought that was the end of the world… I lost someone’s entire year salary in one trade. I was mentally devastated. But who would have thought that years later, losing 75K in my 20’s would bring me to the point where now I am making trades with $100,00+ and it doesn’t faze me, plus in the past I lost that much so I know what mistakes to avoid. I am so glad that I learned those lessons with that account because I would be devastated if I traded now with those same mistakes. So every failure brings a seed of an equivalent success.
Page 22
“Remember no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty”
When people think about learning the stock market, a lot think “Oh I have to learn math, I have to read charts, I have to study it from time to time, that sounds like a lot of work”. But when you think about it, a lot of people wake up to go to a job that they hate, their boss asks them to bring sales figures, to learn new stuff whether you like it or not, etc. That’s the same thing! You get up, do things maybe you like it maybe you don’t, going to places you don’t want to go to, all this stuff… and I am not knocking it, we got to do what we got to do, but it is the same effort. You do that effort to make what you’re making and do what you have to do. But when you can make an unlimited amount of money over here… and then say “it’s too much work”. I am not saying your job is poverty and misery, not at all, I appreciated the jobs I have had. But it did get to a point where I was miserable, and I had “poverty” in that I did have the things I wanted. It is subjective.
Page 37
“I will engage in no transaction, which does not benefit all of whom it affects”
This is challenging your mind – it is saying I will not take part in something that is illegal or scam somebody. I think about this when I teach the stock market and sell courses, I am not engaged in a transaction that just benefits me. I have the mentality that I am about to change this person’s life if they show a small financial commitment and take the leap, and I will over deliver with the information that will make them more money than I ever could charge. Are you engaging in work that benefits everybody?
“I will cause others to believe in me, because I will first believe in them”
If I had two kids here and I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, one might say “I want to be the president” and one said “I want to be a stock trader”, every grown up would say “Yes, you can do it! You can be whatever you want”. It hurts my heart that it changes as we get older. If I brought grownups here, and they had the same answers, we would be like “Yeah, right. You can’t do this”. When someone tells me that have a “crazy” dream – like a 70-year old coming to me asking is he can become a stock trader – I respond with absolutely it will work! There is no sexism, racism, agism in the stock market. Who I am I to stand in people’s way? I believe in you, and in turn, most people end up believing in me.
Page 39
“But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can”
I remember when I used to work at Best Buy at the Sprint kiosk, and I told someone I was going to go and get a book about financial goals, and he responded with “Why, you wanna be rich or something?” I remember saying, “Yeah, I do want to be rich”. Success and riches or wealth or even losing weight you name it – sooner or later, it depends on the man or woman who thinks they can.
Page 49
“Remember there is no such possibility as something for nothing. You cannot cheat, even if you desire to do so”
People come flooding to the market to get rich for doing nothing. It excites people to buy a lottery ticket. They think they can cheat the system – no! You need to learn when the best time to buy and sell is, etc. Without hard work, you would not know how to control what you gained. Everybody has to pay their dues.
Page 50
“You cannot develop the desired ability for a lower price. You, and you alone, must decide whether or not the reward for which you are striving is worth the price you must pay for it in effort”
The price has to be paid. You and you alone can determine if the effort price (learning the stock market for example) is worth the financial freedom.
Page 51
“Do not trust your ‘reason’ when creating your plan for accumulating money or wealth. You’re reasoning may be lazy and if you depend entirely upon it to serve you, it may disappoint you.”
At some point, when we decide on a goal, you’re reasoning may be lazy. You have been on this earth thinking it wasn’t possible or it wasn’t on your radar. You can’t trust you’re reasoning because you haven’t been exercising the “I can do this” muscles.
“Most of the professors have but little money. They specialize on teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization or the use of knowledge”
I know so many teachers who teach on business or finances, yet they have never invested or run a business! Does that make them bad people? No! They specialize in teaching. A teacher can teach, but you want to see people who are actually doing this. I find it more valuable partnering people who are actually doing it versus if they have the credentials. You’re not going to ask Bill Gates for his degree. You can just look at his billion-dollar company. Big difference from teaching and application.
Page 58
“You can get all of the knowledge you need… Perhaps you may need much more specialized knowledge than you have the ability or the inclination to acquire and if this should be true, you may bridge your weakness through the aid of your ‘Master Mind’ group”
If you need specialized training in the trading market, in the options trading market, how it works and how to make it work for you, you can get the knowledge by being around others who are doing it, the “Master Mind” group, or what we call “Group Coaching” in Power Trades University. There is so much knowledge there! There’s hundreds of us, and sometimes the members find trades that I don’t even find. We all rise and lift each other up because we bring our specialized training to the table.
Page 63
“It pays to know how to purchase the knowledge”
A few people have told me “I could find out how to trade online for free”… but you would have to sift through all of the garbage and you wouldn’t have access to any instructors or communities. There are intangible things that you can’t put a price tag on that you miss out on trying to get stuff for free.
Page 81
“Temporary defeat should only mean one thing: That with certainty there is something wrong with your plan”
When people say that they tried to learn the stock market and couldn’t, there is only one thing that is certain: there was something wrong with your plan, not something wrong with the stock market.
“Your achievement can be no greater than your plans are sound”
You can’t just have grandiose ideas without a plan: you can’t say you want to build a huge bridge without any plans to do it.
Page 102
“Most of us are good starters but poor finishers… Men who succeed reach decisions promptly and change them, if at all, very slowly, men who fail reach decisions, if at all, slowly and change them frequently and quickly”
Most of us start stuff but never finish it. The moment the going gets tough, we are ready to quit. When I bought that first course, I made that decision, and moved forward. Unsuccessful people take a long time to make a decision and still researching it, and then finally when they make it, they are ready to change their mind.
“Indecision and procrastination are twin brothers”
Some people won’t make a decision, they will just procrastinate. “I’ll make the decision tomorrow”, “I’m waiting for the new year”, etc. They either do not make it or procrastinate making it.
This book is so powerful. I do not recommend many books, but this is one you should read if you are looking in getting into the stock market. Because if you are, there is a good chance that you are looking to be wealthy and do big things that are foreign to you right now. You must deal with the “battle of the mind” and deal with mental road blocks. This is the book that that has challenged my thinking and I know it will do the same for you. You can grab your copy of the book by clicking here.