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Prompted by legendary businessman Andrew Carnegie, who turned a few nickels and dimes into a fortune, journalist Napoleon Hill researched more than 500 self-made millionaires over 20 years before releasing his 1937 best-seller “Think and Grow Rich.”

In addition to boiling down the “secret” to building wealth in 13 principles, he revealed 30 “major causes of failure” that hold many of us back from getting rich.

Here are 17 that are still relevant today.

SEE ALSO: 11 short books to read if you want to get rich

Not having a well-defined purpose.

“There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal, at which to aim,” Hill writes.

If you’re looking to build wealth, start with visualizing a savings goal with a specific price tag. Then form a financial plan and determine exactly where you want your money to go.

Lack of ambition.

You have to want to aim above mediocrity, Hill says: “We offer no hope for the person who is so indifferent as not to want to get ahead in life, and who is not willing to pay the price.”

Wealth doesn’t simply appear. You have to work toward it with patience and persistence. A good starting point is to invest your money (the earlier the better), and let the power of compound interest build your wealth. It doesn’t take much time or effort, but it does require action on your part.

Not properly applying your education.

A college degree won’t cut it. Knowledge is only potential power, and it will not become useful or lead to great wealth unless it is organized and applied to life, Hill emphasizes:

“Education consists not so much of knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently applied. Men are paid not merely for what they know, but more particularly for what they do with that which they know.”

Don’t settle with your degree. Make it a priority to constantly learn new things and challenge your mind. There’s a reason that many of today’s successful and wealthy people are voracious readers.

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