A timeless 6-step guide to getting rich, according to a 79-year-old personal finance classic

Nearly a century ago, journalist Napoleon Hill set out to uncover the key to wealth. He studied more than 500 self-made millionaires over a span of 20 years, and his research culminated in what would become a timeless personal finance classic: "Think and Grow Rich."

He boiled down 13 steps anyone can take to get rich, the first, most important step being desire. As Hill wrote, "All achievement, no matter what may be its nature or its purpose, must begin with an intense, burning desire for something definite."

In one passage, he sums up six "definite, practical steps" to turning a desire for wealth into "its financial equivalent."

Lucky for you, "The steps call for no 'hard labor,'" Hill emphasizes. "But the successful application of these six steps does call for sufficient imagination to enable one to see and to understand that the accumulation of money cannot be left to chance, good fortune, and luck."

Here is Hill's 6-step guide, in his words and ours: