I believe that over the last year I’ve figured out the central principle that will lead to true prosperity in life—the “Secret” as some people have called it. Seeing as how I’ve been on my annual vacation with my family, this is all sort of stream-of-consciousness, but I thought it important enough to share even before my ideas are fully developed. Obviously, there will be a lot more to discuss as it relates to this, but here are some basic thoughts on this success principle.

I’ve been reading one of the most influential books of my life: Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. This 1937 classic contains the principles that led people like Andrew Carnegie, Charles M. Schwab, Thomas Edison, and many others, to great wealth and success. As a young man, Napoleon Hill met the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who instilled in him his most important business teachings. Over the course of twenty years, Hill interviewed about five hundred of the most successful businessmen and leaders in the U.S. and the world, to understand more about the common beliefs that helped lead to their great success.

What these 500 individuals had in common is also what forms the foundation for the newer book and now movie, The Secret. While they give a decent introduction to a very powerful idea, I feel that the practitioners in that film greatly oversimplify this principle which many of the world’s rich and powerful share.

After talking at length with my sister about the concepts in Hill’s Think and Grow Rich—what some call mind over matter, visualization, the “Law of Attraction”—we decided that the most effective way to describe the “Carnegie secret” succinctly is this:

You become that which you think about most.

You also attract the things and accomplish the goals that you think about most. But the first step to great success is to know specifically what you want out of life: financially, personally, socially, etc. In other words, what you occupy your mind with most prominently will eventually, in one way or another shape your reality. I find that most people I talk to, even though I love many of them dearly, don’t really know what they want to achieve in life. But if you think about it critically, the principle fits with most of what we know about life. People who concentrate solely on achieving some sort of success may fail ten times before they become a great success seemingly “overnight,” but those who don’t fill their heads with grand aspirations rarely see great success, and those who stop concentrating on their highest goals and start believing that they can’t achieve their aspirations eventually give up.

So we can see how this works both positively and negatively. Once you start telling yourself that you can’t do something, you’re right! So be careful that you don’t concentrate your thoughts on what you don’t want out of life, because eventually you will attract those things to you. This even explains hypochondriacs and placebo effects. The mind works hard to align belief with reality. Instead phrase all of your goals positively, believe sincerely that you can achieve what you want in life, and fill your mind with vivid visualizations of what it will be like when you’ve actually attained your goals.

Hill says that definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. You may eke by with a decent living without any definite major purpose for your life, but you will never excel without concrete, specific goals. Hill says that financial goals in particular should be specific, measurable, and timely. Set specific goals for how much money you want to earn, specifically by what date, for example. But the example holds true for any sort of wealth, not just monetary. And most importantly, be clear and realistic about what what you will give in exchange for that wealth, what value you intend to share with the world in exchange for your success.

Figure out what your purpose is. Decide specifically what you want in life and what you are willing to give in return for it. Visualize your success and repeat to yourself often what you intend to achieve. Then back it up with massive action, and you’re certain to reach the heights of success, wealth, and influence.

Otherwise you’ll have to settle for what falls in your lap. Sometimes that’s decent, but you can’t say you never got a chance if you don’t know specifically what you want out of life: what you want to BE, DO and HAVE. When you know what you want, you will be prepared to recognize and take advantage of the opportunities that life presents to you.

(Oh P.S. the title is a silly geek reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!)