Number one of the Twelve Great Riches is a Positive Mental Attitude. All riches, of whatsoever nature, begin as a state of mind; and let us remember that your state of mind is the one and only thing over which you have complete, absolute and unchallengeable control. You can best judge the value of this right to control and direct your own mind by remembering that it is a gift of the Creator by which man was provided with the means by which he may control his earthly destiny and make of it whatever he pleases.
Man’s power to control and direct his own mind to ends of his own choice is his greatest asset, and if he embraces this power and directs it, through a positive mental attitude, he will attract all of the other eleven factors which make one rich. A positive mental attitude is important because it attracts to one the things and circumstances one desires, whereas a negative mental attitude attracts the things and circumstances one does not desire. I have mentioned this fact in prior broadcasts, but it is so important it bears repeating.
A positive mental attitude attracts the riches of true friendship. And the riches one finds in the hope of future achievement. And the riches to be found in a labor of one’s own choice, where one may give expression to the highest plane of one’s soul. And the riches of one’s home, business and occupational relationships. And the riches of freedom from fear and worry. And the riches of song and laughter. And the riches of enduring faith in Infinite Intelligence which places one in harmony with the laws of the universe. Yes, these and all other riches begin with a positive mental attitude. Is it any wonder, therefore, that a positive mental attitude takes first place in the list of the Twelve Great Riches?
Number two is Sound Physical Health. Sound health begins with a sound health consciousness, and this is produced by a mind that is positive; a mind that thinks in terms of sound health and not in terms of illness. The hypochondriac—that is, one who suffers with imaginary illness—makes himself ill by the expression of a negative mental attitude.
“As a man thinketh in his own heart so is he.” And this applies to health and all other factors which affect one’s life. Believe you will have sound health and you will follow sensible habits that will lead to sound health. Believe you will be successful and you will do the things which will make you successful. You see, when an all wise Creator gave us complete control over but one thing, our own mind, he knew that with this power of the mind we could create or attract to us everything we might desire or need.
Number three is Harmony in Human Relationships. Harmony with others begins with harmony with one’s self. For it is true that there are profound benefits available to those who comply with Shakespeare’s admonition: “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” After one develops the habit of harmony within himself he will then find it easy to relate himself harmoniously to his Creator, the members of his family, his associates in his occupation, his neighbors, and the strangers with whom he meets. Harmony within one’s self attracts the circumstances and things and people one desires. Disharmony drives these away and attracts the things one does not desire.
Number four is Freedom from Fear. No person who fears anything is a free and independent person such as the Creator intended that all of us should be. Fear is the tool of the evil forces of the world, and you may be sure that wherever this carrion crow hovers there is something dead that should be buried. The seven most common fears which curse mankind are the fear of Poverty, the fear of Criticism, the fear of Ill Health, the fear of Loss of Love of Someone, the fear of Loss of Liberty, the fear of Old Age, and the fear of Death. And all of these are man-made fears which can be mastered with a positive mental attitude.
Number five is the Hope of Future Achievement. The greatest of all forms of happiness comes from the hope of some as yet unattained desirable aim or purpose. It is this hope which has been responsible for all human progress, and it is the means by which one may keep on keeping on, with good spirits, when the going is hard and success looks far distant. Poor indeed is the person who cannot and does not look to the future with hope that he will become the person he would like to be or attain the purposes he most desires, and with the belief that he will attain those purposes.
Without hope, expressed by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, there would be no free America today. Without hope there would have been no vaccine for the mastery of polio. Without hope on the part of the faithful there would be no civilization, and we would still be living in the dark ages of cruelty and fear. Truly, hope is the salvation of the individual, the promise of a greater future for all of us.
Number six is the Capacity for Faith. Faith is the connecting link between the mind of man and the great universal reservoir of Infinite Intelligence. It is the fertile soil of the garden of the human mind wherein one may plant the seeds of one’s desires with full assurance that they will germinate and grow until they produce all of the riches one desires. Faith is the eternal elixir which gives creative power and action to the impulses of human thought. It is the basis of all miracles, and many of the mysteries which cannot be explained by ordinary logic or past experience. Faith is the power which transmutes the ordinary energies of thought into their spiritual equivalents. And it is the only means by which the Cosmic Forces of Infinite Intelligence may be appropriated to the uses of man.
Source: Adversity to Advantage by Napoleon Hill