Book Review: The Science of Getting Rich

The Science of Getting Rich
by Wallace Delois Wattles

Reading the book in just one night is quite an experience because every chapter tends to connect seemlessly with the others. I want to thank Tim Bennett for letting me borrow a PDF version which you find you can find on his website www.millionaireanonymous.com for a very minimal fee.

There are no tangible instructions here like get into the stock market, save money, do entrepreneurial stuff and the like. All that you can find here is the whole concept of ‘getting rich’ in its simplest and basic form, like the fundamental mathematical processes (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) which, in combination, will create the most complex equations. However, the book stresses on ‘moving onto the creative plane’ rather than competition which eliminates the idea of scarcity. If everybody has the power to create, then the whole world would be so much abundant!

The following are short descriptions and/or reactions on each chapter:

Chapter 1
IT concentrates in convincing you that wanting to be rich is a natural state of mind and in fact a necessity in order to enjoy life to the fullest. Without these things in mind, you cannot understand its concept and accept the information that will be presented. I think this chapter will change how you think about money.

Chapter 2
THIS chapter logically explains how it is possible to get rich regardless of your state or business. It compares the idea of getting rich to all the other sciences like math and physics which has laws. And these laws, if mastered (which is referred to as ‘doing things in a Certain Way’), will guarantee riches!

Chapter 3
IF you are thinking that being rich is only for rich people, you must read this chapter and rethink your premise. This chapter shows how the universe is so full of resources that it can actually make us all rich and still leave room for more.

Chapter 4
THIS chapter explains that all things come from one ‘formless substance’ which takes shape through thought which man imposes on it. Faith that you can create riches using these ‘formless substance’ and that the state of poverty, diseases and alike are all forms which man has taken shape using their thoughts.

Chapter 5
THIS chapter will teach you to forget about scarcity and limited resources. Life is continually expanding and increasing and so as the resources. If you will be able to take your mind off the competition and on to creating things, you may acquire anything that you need and even provide more for the others to enjoy.

Chapter 6
THERE are three points here to be pondered upon: that you must give more in value what you take in cash; that value is very relative to the person who defines it; and that you have to hold the image in your mind in order to get it. This is the first chapter that tells you what to do.

Chapter 7
BE grateful about everything good and concentrate on it. Do not talk about the bad, diseases and the like because thoughts on it will take form in your lives as you think about it. Better be thankful of the good things you have and more of it will come. Other than the thoughts about, this chapter has nothing else to offer.

Chapter 8
THIS chapter’s concept is simple but very heavy in my opinion (maybe that’s why i’m not rich yet). It discusses that you have to hold a picture in your head with a faith so strong that it realizes itself through your actions. Your thoughts about it must be 24/7 in order for it to be realized. Over the other chapters, this one should give you a boost of energy and start thinking about your direction in creating wealth.

Chapter 9
HOW to use your Will Power is such a revelation for me. It is quite the opposite of what I think. The chapter suggests that Will Power should not be imposed on anybody else but yourself. I thought Will Power was suppose to control people and results, it is not! And you will learn more about it by reading this chapter.

Chapter 10
DO not think about anything else but being rich in a creative way. This chapter discusses nothing more but this idea.

Chapter 11
ACT now! The core of this chapter lies on the idea that thought without action is merely a wish that will not transform itself to something tangible. Thought must be combined with action so that it will manifest itself. Thought brings you closer to the thing that you want, but it’s your action that grabs it.

Chapter 12
EFFICIENCY of your actions makes your vision realized. Do everything you can do for the day and do it as efficiently as you can. Your vision will start to take actual form when it is mixed with efficient action.

Chapter 13
THIS chapter teaches you how to get into the business that you have to be in. It discusses that you are best-fitted to the business that you have talent for, however, if for some reason you don’t want that business, you can work your way achieving what you want by using the business you are in right now. But if what you do right now is not the business you have talent for or not the kind of business that you want, you are very much in the wrong place. You can only engage yourself in a business that you do not want if it will be used to get to where you want to be.

Chapter 14
THE impression of increase must be in every transactions that you make, to every word that you use. You must give impression of increase with everyone around and everybody will gravitate to your business. I could personally attest to this, people love to speak with you and hear your opinions and ideas when you talk like abundant people do, alive and enthusiastic. Also, the chapter tries to warn the reader against the lust for power over other people. Being rich is about abundance and creation, not competition. So when you stand on this perspective, you naturally won’t think that people will get ahead of you, instead, they are there to help you further your own cause.

Chapter 15
YOU must improve your status every time. And when your position becomes too small for you to fit in, you must try another position bigger than your space. This chapter brings us to the idea of continuous improvement whether you are employed or an employer. It worth to note that rich people are the people that grows continuously, trying to fill-in the current position and move on bigger ones when opportunities present itself.

Chapter 16
SOMEWHAT a reitiration of the previous chapters. You can actually read this one and have all the necessary instructions to get rich. However, action without basis or proof is quite useless, so I still recommend reading previous chapters. But towards the ending, tries to justify that failures exists in order to lead us to something better, that failures are actually success turned up side down.

Chapter 17
SUMMARY of the whole book including its instructions. In its very simplified form, several short paragraphs only, it’s quite hard to understand its concepts. But as it is, it is a good reminder of the whole book!

Overall, the book serves its purpose very well. It’s like reading ‘Think & Grow Rich’ stripped with all the unnecessary clutter which might cloud your concept of ‘getting rich’. The concept is so much simplified that you can actually rename the title to ‘The Science of Success’ and it won’t make much of a difference. The whole idea is given each chapter and the way you will execute it is really up to you.