In his book “Think and Get Rich”, Napoleon Hill talks about the 6 ghosts of fear and how we can outwit them. But before we run off scaring the ghosts, let’s look at it in a little more detail.
The first step in this process is to prepare your mind. It is not difficult and begins with study and analysis. You must understand the three enemies that must be eliminated: indecision, doubt, and fear. These enemies are closely related. Usually where one is lurking, the others are not far behind. Indecision crystallizes into doubt. When these two mix, they turn into fear. This is one of the reasons these three enemies are so dangerous. They germinate and grow without you knowing.
Hill looks at a condition that has reduced large numbers of people to poverty. It speaks of a truth that must be understood by all who accumulate wealth, whether it is measured in terms of money or in a state of mind that is worth much greater than money.
Hill focuses attention on the cause and cure of the six basic fears:
- poverty
- review
- bad health
- loss of someone’s love
- old age
- death
We all suffer from some combination of these fears at some point. In fact, most of us are lucky if we don’t suffer all six. Before you can take one of these enemies and dominate them, you must recognize them, know their name, their habits, and their place of residence. You must analyze yourself carefully and determine which of the six common fears you have been attributed, if any. Often times, these fears are hidden in the subconscious mind, where they are difficult to locate and even more difficult to eliminate.
Fear is a state of mind. The good news for us is that we can control our state of mind. As Hill reminds us, man cannot create anything that he does not first conceive in the form of a thought impulse. Our thoughts become our reality, whether we know it or not. The thoughts could have been pre-programmed into our subconscious by others, and we may not even be aware of them. Because we can essentially control our own destiny through our thoughts, actions, and non-actions, this explains why some people seem lucky, although sometimes people with greater ability, training, and experience seem destined for misfortune.
If you are aware that you can control your mind, which in turn will determine your outcome, you are close to being able to master your fear. If you take this concept one step further, you will also find that the thought impulses of fear and poverty cannot be translated into terms of value and financial gain.
