Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill) - Chapter 03:

Hill claims that faith, love and sex are 3 of the most powerful emotions. If used properly, they can connect with the subconscious mind in a way that nothing else can. He says faith can be created in the mind through the principle of auto-suggestion (affirmations). The object of affirmations is to "convince your mind that you believe you will receive that which you ask for. The subconscious will act on this belief and pass it back to you in the form of faith, followed by definite plans for procuring that which you desire." He affirms that this book, Think and Grow Rich, will equip you so you can develop faith at will, provided you apply what you learn in this book.

Even if you lack belief in your present state, you will eventually develop it if you keep in contact with it. He quotes a criminologist who said this about crime, "When men first come into contact with crime, they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to it and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long enough, they finally embrace it and become influenced by it." 

That's why your environment matters. That's why you need to keep watch of your thoughts. Failure and mediocrity sneak in gradually, until they take over completely. 

He goes on to say, "any impulse of thought which is repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind is finally accepted and acted upon by the subconscious mind."

Said differently, "All thoughts which have been emotionalized and mixed with faith begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent."

Now, you need to be careful with this. The subconscious mind doesn't differentiate between negative thoughts and emotions or positive thoughts and emotions. It acts upon negative thoughts just as quickly and precisely as it will act on a positive thought and emotion. 

Hill says people create their own bad luck by believing they are doomed to poverty, or cursed, or unlucky, or any such nonsense. Their subconscious mind picks up these negative beliefs and translates them into reality. 

Expectation or belief is the key that unlocks the subconscious. If you think negative thoughts and expect negative outcomes, your subconscious will serve these outcomes to you on a silver platter. If you think positively and expect positively, your subconscious will deliver positive results.  

To make this belief more realistic, Napoleon Hill suggests you act as if you already possess the things you're asking for. Like any skill, this practice can only be mastered through repetition. Faith, he says, is the starting point of all accumulation of riches. Faith, he says, is the only known antidote for failure. 

Now, remember this, "every man is what he is because of the dominating thoughts which he allows to occupy his mind." 

Every action, movement or deed is preceded by a thought. Occupy your mind with negative thoughts, you will likely take negative actions and achieve negative results. Occupy your mind with positive thoughts, you will likely take positive actions and achieve positive results. 

Hill compares thoughts in the mind to a seed planted in the ground, which grows, multiplies and produces a thousand more similar seeds. 

The mind is capable of thinking thoughts of fear, poverty, disease, failure, misery, as well as thoughts of prosperity, health, success and happiness. And it is constantly attracting similar thoughts to those that are dominant in the person's mind. 

Before any thought becomes a dominant thought in any person's mind, it is planted by repetition of thought. That's why we affirm the same thing repeatedly. 

Hill shares with us his 5 step Confidence Formula. He reaffirms that men create their own prosperity or failure through their thinking patterns. 

Negative self-talk leads to failure. Positive self-talk leads to success. 

The subconscious works with the material we feed it, whether constructive or destructive. The man who wins is the man who thinks he can. 

Napoleon believes Jesus was only able to perform the miracles through faith. He says there are no miracles - only faith. With faith, anything is possible. Without faith, nothing happens. 

Hill walks us through the six steps of creation with a practical example depicting how Charles Schwab created the United States Steel Corporation: 

1. He formed an idea through his imagination. 

2. He mixed faith with his idea.

3. He formulated a plan for the translation of his idea into physical and financial reality. 

4. He put his plan into action. 

5. He carried out his plan with persistence until it was fully realized. 

6. He prepared the way for success by a burning desire for success. 

Riches begin in the mind. Decide in your mind how much you're worth, and then follow the six steps above to make it happen. Use auto-suggestion to plant the belief / seeds of faith in your mind.  

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