1-Line Summary: The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles discusses how anybody can attract wealth by changing his poor mindset and thinking in a certain way.
The Science Of Getting Rich Summary [PDF]
Want to get rich quickly?
What do you think is stopping most people from getting rich?
Everybody wants to get wealthy.
But only a few people do, right?
In this book summary, I’ve discussed the best lessons I’ve learned about getting rich.
So without further interruption, let’s start!
Lesson #1: You are not obligated to be poor.
Most people, for some reason, think that there is some greatness in being poor.
They think that rich people become rich by tricking people.
Or they must be having some kind of scammy business.
But that’s not true.
I do not deny the lousy marketing practices used by many businesses worldwide.
But the point here is:
You don’t deserve to be poor.
You should at least have enough money so that you can spend it on things that could help you grow.
Nobody has ever become great just by being poor.
So if you feel guilty if money comes to you by any means, you must get rid of those beliefs immediately.
They are stopping you from getting rich.
The author says that God doesn’t want anyone to be poor.
And that’s true.
You don’t need to agree to the superstitions that see money as evil.
Money is not evil.
It’s just a tool.
Usually, evil people use this beautiful tool to achieve their shady goals.
But the money itself is not evil.
God only punishes evil people.
In fact, if a person is evil, God doesn’t even need to bother. That’s because the bad person will naturally attract unfortunate events to his or her life.
If you want to get rich, you will have to get rid of this “Stay hungry, Stay poor.” mindset.
You are not going to get anything by staying poor. There is no reward.
Yes, there is only one thing that you get by being poor…
And that is Misery.
If you think you are a good person, you should try to get rich.
Bad guys are already becoming powerful by attaining more power. (Money is power)
So if you are a good person, why should you stay hungry or poor?
You deserve more than bad guys.
Don’t you?
Now, I don’t mean to say that you should become entitled.
Entitlement is bad.
It nourished your ego.
Get rich enough to become resourceful enough to overcome your ego.
Keep in mind that nobody is born poor.
It’s our mindset that keeps us poor.
The situations may vary, but we can always try our best to get out of that poor and miserable state of mind.
Lesson #2: Anybody can become rich.
The author says:
If anybody else in your town can get rich, so can you; and if anybody else in your state can get rich, so can you.
Allow me to explain what it means.
The truth is:
People are becoming rich.
But a majority of people, around 80%, remain poor.
So 20% of people enjoy the richness, while 80% choose to stay poor.
Note the word “choose” here.
Yes, most people choose to remain poor.
I know that no person has the same set of situations.
But in the book, the author argues that anyone can become rich if he follows a certain way.
Now, what’s this “certain way”?
Let’s discuss.
We all make decisions every single day. And we are always doing some action.
Even when you are not doing any action, it’s your deliberate choice not to do anything.
So, ACTION is always there.
Every action is a part of an event.
Life is a series of events.
The roads you take in life, and your choices determine which way you are going.
It’s hard to fathom the countless tracks your life can take.
The key here is to find out the strategy rich people are using.
And how we can learn from that.
Rich people are doing things in a certain way.
You don’t have to copy them at every step.
But you will find some common signs that can help you become rich.
Remember the above lesson?
You don’t have to be poor.
Learn what strategies rich people are using and try to learn from them.
If you see a person succeeding, try to identify what steps helped him become successful.
Is success guaranteed? No.
But every success leaves some clues.
Trust me. Those are hidden gems.
You have to find them out through your observation.
Lesson #3: There are enough opportunities for everyone.
Some might say:
“I don’t have enough opportunities.”
“The market is crashing.”
“Every good idea has been implemented. There is no way I can become rich.”
“There is a lot of competition in every market. How will I compete with the big giants.”
Well, that’s the sad reality; the situations might not always be conducive to you.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t enough opportunities.
Sure, there aren’t as many as they used to be 20 years ago.
But there are plenty.
Plenty for everyone.
Yes, they are hard to find.
But some people still manage to find good opportunities, while others fail.
What makes the difference is that most people give up too quickly as if they had already lost before they even started.
While a few people let go of their limiting beliefs and keep looking for golden opportunities.
They don’t give excuses.
They understand, they observe, and they act.
For example:
You can’t compete with Amazon if you’ve just started as an entrepreneur.
Unless you have billion-dollar fund investments, you will fall behind.
That’s because Amazon has scaled globally. It’s almost everywhere in the world.
Does this mean you can’t run an e-commerce business?
No.
You can find a niche market and try your luck there.
Of course, you will have to research before you even start.
Maybe you won’t become as big as Amazon, but you can always find other ways to get rich.
I’m no God. Who knows, maybe you create something even better and scale it exponentially.
So get rid of this scarcity mindset that keeps you poor.
To get rich in the outside world, you will have to first get rich within.
Lesson #4: Have the right picture.
Here is what happens with most people:
They want to get rich.
But when they try to find ways to become rich, they always have this picture of being poor in their minds.
So from the outside, it seems that they are trying to get rich badly.
But deep within, they are pushing away the money.
They have self-doubts.
They don’t believe that they deserve enough money.
This incongruency between their mental images and actions eventually leads them to dissatisfactory results.
The first thing to do is:
Set your mental image right.
Don’t imagine your business crashing down.
Don’t imagine your efforts going to waste.
Have faith that your efforts will reap the reward.
Imagine yourself becoming rich over time with consistent efforts.
It’s also crucial that you align your actions with those mental images.
Even the Law Of Attraction will fail if you don’t act as per your thoughts.
No matter what law you believe in, it won’t work without action on your side.
Lesson #5: The secret is to help other people advance in their lives.
The author says that if you help others advance in their lives, they will get attracted to you.
The secret is:
Add value to others’ lives.
If you do that, you will be rewarded.
Make sure that you give at least a ’10x’ value before expecting the ‘x’ amount.
It’s natural law…
If you give only the ‘x’ value and expect ’10x,’ it won’t work.
In short:
The value provided by you must be more than the value you expect in return.
Often people miss this critical point.
It’s also moral and ethical to do so.
It’s also a fair business model.
Isn’t it?
Don’t have an “I’ll keep it all. And give nothing to others.” mindset.
Keep in mind that wealthy people use their money for further development.
You are not reaping the real benefit of money if you don’t know how you will use it to grow yourself and others.
Anyway, what’s the point of keeping loads of cash which has no use.
Money is like petrol.
You have to use it to reach a specific destination.
If not used wisely, it may light a fire in the wrong places.
It may even burn your bridges to the riches.
So try to give as much value as you can afford to others.
And the wealth will come as a by-product.
It’s not just about ethics and morals.
If you have this mindset in your business, then chances are, you will grow exponentially compared to others who lack this mindset. (In the long-term)
Lesson #6: Heredity has no role in deciding if you will become rich or not.
Often people believe that if they aren’t born into so and so family with a set of certain traditions or cultures, they can’t achieve a particular goal.
Let me explain with an example.
Let’s say if you are in a family where nobody cares about starting their own business, then you may be afraid of starting your own business.
On the flip side, if your dad is a doctor, you may feel more comfortable choosing medical as your profession.
But the author rejects this idea.
He says that heredity doesn’t play much of a role in deciding your career or making big decisions in life.
You may have certain tendencies, but ultimately, it is you who decides what you want to become.
Not your hereditary genes.
Don’t let your genes decide if you will get rich or stay poor.
Take ownership of your life.
If you are born in a financially low-income family, don’t take it as your destiny.
You have the power to change your life.
Sure, it will be a challenging journey, but it is possible.
You have immense potential waiting to be unlocked.
Unless you secretly despise money, you have the potential to get rich.
On the flip side, if you are born into a financially wealthy family, you may have an advantage.
But still, you can define your destiny with your will and actions.
Does this mean that genes don’t play any role?
Not really.
Genes do play a role in determining certain traits.
But those traits aren’t made of concrete.
If you have read a bit about neuroplasticity, you will realize that our brains can change over time.
And so do our traits.
Yes, they can change with time.
One should not, thus, use this as an excuse.
You may be born poor, but it’s up to you if you want to die poor or not.
Lesson #7: Your goal must be to become Great. Not just getting rich.
Okay.
So we have talked enough about getting rich already.
But what is this richness for?
Why do you want to get rich?
Getting rich is incredible.
But this must not be your end goal.
Your end goal must be to be Great.
Again, greatness doesn’t require you to get rich.
Greatness needs no fame or money.
But the truth is:
Once you become great, you attract more wealth.
So what is this greatness?
How does a person become great?
First, you need to understand that greatness is not some distant goal.
It’s a quality that you need to develop.
And the best part is:
It doesn’t require any money.
Most people think that once they get rich, they will become great by doing charity.
It’s okay. But it’s not necessary.
Just try to be the best version of yourself in your daily life.
That’s it. It’s that simple.
And even when you get rich, try to be even better.
Your growth happens through your mindset first.
So keep reading books on mindset.
Another thing is:
You don’t have to fuel your ego in the name of greatness.
Great people should be humble.
Greatness is about giving up your ego and doing helpful things to all.
You don’t have to seek recognition from other people.
You don’t need hundreds or thousands of people to call you “GREAT.”
It’s a lifelong process that gives you authentic joy and happiness throughout your life.
It’s got nothing to do with money or fame.
Remember that your ego must be dissolved into nothingness if you genuinely want to become a great person.
Even if he is rich, an egoist person is far from being great.
Money doesn’t make you great, but your pure intentions to do something beyond your little egoistic self do.
Let’s Recap
Let’s quickly summarize the key ideas we discussed in this summary:
- You are not obligated to be poor.
- Anybody can become rich.
- There are enough opportunities for everyone.
- Have the right picture.
- The secret is to help other people advance in their lives.
- Heredity has no role in deciding if you will become rich or not.
- Your goal must be to become Great. Not just getting rich.
The Science Of Getting Rich Quotes
Here are some most notable quotes by the author of this book:
You will never do great things in the external world until you think great things in the internal world.
You can serve God and humankind in no more effective way than by getting rich.
Give people more in use value than you take from them in cash value; then you are adding to the life of the world by every business transaction.
The Science Of Getting Rich Review
So as you might have already noticed:
There is no framework here that you can follow step-by-step and become rich.
The book entirely focuses on your mindset.
The author tries to shift your mindset from poor to rich.
The idea is:
If you become rich inside, you become rich outside eventually.
But there are a lot of things that I have mixed feelings about.
For example:
In the 4th chapter, the author asks you not to ask questions and trust blindly.
What’s weird is that the book’s title is The Science Of Getting Rich.
It has the word “science.”
And science doesn’t ask you to trust anything blindly.
Any science is based on fundamental laws. It allows you to ask lots of questions.
Science is not about trusting things. It’s about investigating and getting different perspectives.
Also, no proofs and stories show that what the author has taught works.
I’m not saying that it won’t work.
But put simply, most things in this book are generic.
You don’t get to know the specifics of how a particular law or tip will help you.
Also, some chapters took a few elements from Spirituality.
Based on my experience, the author needs to learn more.
Again, the book says a few things that don’t align with the word “science.”
Overall, it’s a decent book.
You get a few lessons about money and Spirituality.
I’m disappointed with some parts of this book, though.
A beginner won’t find the ideas actionable.
Do I recommend this book? Not really.
There are much better books out there.
But if you want to read it, you can try it once.
Book Rating: 5.5/10.
What next after reading the summary?
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