

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What is the premise of the Think and Grow Rich sexual transmutation theory? How can sex energy be transformed into creative imagination?
The Think and Grow Rich sexual transmutation theory describes the desire for sex as being a form of energy that can be redirected and channeled to fuel creative thinking. You will need immense willpower to transform your sex energy into the creativity you need to achieve your goals.
Read on to fully understand the Think and Grow Rich sexual transmutation theory.
Understanding the Think and Grow Rich Sexual Transmutation Theory
According to Think and Grow Rich sexual transmutation theory, the desire for sex is the most powerful of human desires. Some people risk their life and reputation to get it. This energy can be harnessed to help you achieve your goals.
Hill refers to sex as being both energy and as an emotion (a state of mind). The emotion of sex has three benefits: the perpetuation of the human race, maintenance of health (it has therapeutic value), and transforming average ability into genius via “transmutation.”
Sex energy transmutation means harnessing the power of sex energy to make you wealthy by redirecting your thoughts from the physical expression of sex to creative efforts. When redirected, the powerful motivating force of sex energy can be a creative force for art, literature, music, invention, or achieving riches. Redirected sex energy is the creative energy of all geniuses.
As suggestive evidence, take the sex organs out of an animal, and you remove all the fight and energy from the animal. A castrated bull becomes as calm as a cow.
The emotion of sex needs an outlet; it shouldn’t be repressed but instead given an outlet that enriches the body, mind, and spirit. Applying the Think and Grow Rich sexual transmutation theory to transform sexual energy into creativity requires willpower.
Creative imagination is unleashed when a stimulant — sex energy being the most powerful one — acts on the mind to increase brain activity or vibrations. The other stimuli are love, burning desire for money or power, music, friendship, a MasterMind alliance, mutual suffering through persecution, autosuggestion, fear, and drugs or alcohol. But these are far less powerful than the stimulation from the desire for sexual expression.

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