In Part 2, we talked how the attainment of riches starts with the mind. Having a burning desire, coupled with faith and autosuggestion, will help turn our thoughts into reality. Sounds easy, right?
However, not everyone progress from desire into the attainment of riches. If success and riches starts in the mind, then failure and poverty can start in the mind as well. Hill even listed the 31 major causes of failure in Chapter 7.
Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.
Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
The Disaster of Negative Thinking
Hill observed that when we feed our subconscious minds with negative thoughts, it will eventually translate into its physical equivalent like misery and failure. To accumulate riches, it is important to stay away from negative thinking.
How? It starts by identifying what these negative thoughts are and its sources. Since these negative thoughts occur in the mind, it is the mind that will eradicate them.
In Chapter 15, Hill listed the Six Ghosts of Fear. You can’t Think and Grow Rich while these fears remain in your mind. All other fears can be grouped into these six basic fears.
The Six Basic Fears
Fear of Poverty. Being poor can cause so much suffering. This is why many people fear poverty. The fear of poverty is the most destructive. It paralyses reason, imagination, and enthusiasm. As a result, there are people who are eager to possess wealth through any manner and method possible.
Fear of Criticism. According to Hill, the effects of this fear to personal achievement is fatal. The fear of criticism “destroys initiative, and discourages the use of imagination.” The sad thing about criticism is that they would even come from people close to us like our parents, friends and relatives. They say things that hurts us even though they might not be aware of it.
Fear of Ill Health. This fear is closely related to the fear of old age and the fear of death. Old age and death are considered to be an “unknown world”. Anything that is unknown to man will be feared at.
Fear of Loss of Love. This is the most painful of all fears. Jealousy and other forms of neurosis grow out of man’s fear of losing someone he loves.
Fear of Old Age. This fear is brought about by the possibility that we will become poor and ill when we grow old. Old age also brings the possibility of losing our physical and economic freedom.
Fear of Death. Hill traces the source of the fear of death to the different religious teachings on death and the eternal punishment that may come in the afterlife.
No one ever is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality
Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
Worry Not
Once fear takes over us, we worry a lot. And when we worry a lot, we loss our capability to reason, to decide and to take initiative. We can’t think properly. If we can’t think, our desires will never progress to riches.
Hill reminds us that “worry is a form of sustained fear caused by indecision; therefore it is a state of mind that can be controlled.”
Hill provides these remedies to our fears.
“Relieve yourself, forever of the fear of death, by reaching a decision to accept death as an inescapable event.
“Whip the fear of poverty by reaching a decision to get along with whatever wealth you can accumulate without worry.
“Put your foot upon the neck of the fear of criticism by reaching a decision not to worry about what other people think, do or say.
“Eliminate the fear of old age by reaching a decision to accept it, not as a handicap, but as a great blessing which carries with it wisdom, self-control, and understanding not known to youth.
“Acquit yourself of the fear of ill health by the decision to forget symptoms.
“Master the fear of loss of love be reaching a decision to get along without love, if that is necessary.”
So subtle and deeply seated is the emotion of fear that one may go through life burdened with it, never recognizing its presence.
Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
We have seen how negative thoughts can hinder our attainment of riches. In Part 4, Hill advises us how to surround ourselves with positive thoughts.
Think and Grow Rich Book Summary
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
