THE SIX BASIC FEARS There are six basic fears, with some combination of which every human suffers at one time or another. Most people are fortunate if they do not suffer from the entire six. Named in the order of their most common appearance, they 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 OLD AGE
The fear of DEATH
All other fears are of minor importance; they can be grouped under these six headings.
Fears are nothing more than states of mind. One’s state of mind is subject to control and direction.
Man can create nothing which he does not first conceive in the form of an impulse of thought. Following this statement comes another of still greater importance, namely, man’s thought impulses begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent, whether those thoughts are voluntary or involuntary. Thought impulses which are picked up by mere chance (thoughts which have been released by other minds) may determine one’s financial, business, professional, or social destiny just as surely as do the thought impulses which one creates by intent and design.
We are here laying the foundation for the presentation of a fact of great importance to the person who does not understand why some people appear to be “lucky” while others of equal or greater ability, training, experience, and brain capacity, seem destined to ride with misfortune. This fact may be explained by the statement that every human being has the ability to completely control his own mind, and with this control obviously, every person may open his mind to the tramp thought impulses which are being released by other brains, or close the doors tightly and admit only thought impulses of his own choice.
Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and that is thought. This fact, coupled with the additional fact that everything which man creates begins in the form of a thought, leads one very near to the principle by which fear may be mastered.
If it is true that all thought has a tendency to clothe itself in its physical equivalent (and this is true, beyond any reasonable room for doubt), it is equally true that thought impulses of fear and poverty cannot be translated into terms of courage and financial gain.
Source: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.