"Think And Grow Rich", by Napoleon Hill

This chapter was quite short, straightforward and repetitive, to an extent. With that being said I’ll just be writing some quotes and vocab.

How conscious are you of your subconscious mind?

“The subconscious mind consists of a field of consciousness, in which every impulse of thought that reaches the conscious mind through any of the five senses, is classified and recorded, and from which thoughts may be recalled or withdrawn as letters may be taken from a filing cabinet.”

Some vocab for the day:

• stupendous: extremely impressive.

• imponderable: a fact that is difficult or impossible to estimate or assess.

• susceptible: likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing.

• insure: secure or protect someone against(a possible contingency).

• heed: pay attention to; take notice of.

• constitute: be(a part) of a whole.

• intermediary: a person who acts as a link between people in order to try and bring about an agreement; a mediator.

A couple lines that stood out to me":

• “You cannot entirely control your subconscious mind, but you can voluntarily hand over to it any plan, desire, or purpose which you wish transformed into concrete form.”

• “There is plenty of evidence to support the belief that the subconscious mind is the connecting link between the finite mind of man and Infinite intelligence.”

• “Everything which man creates begins in the form of a thought impulse.”

• “Man can create nothing which he does not first conceive in thought.”

• Through the aid of the imagination, thought impulses may be assembled into plans.”

• “The ‘mixing’ of faith with a plan, or purpose, intended for submission to the subconscious mind, may be done only through the imagination.”

• “The subconscious mind is more susceptible to influence by impulses of thought mixed with “feeling” or emotion, than by those originating solely in the reasoning portion of the mind.”

As stated in the previous chapter, sex, romance and love are extraordinarily powerful emotions. Here, they are a part of a group of the 7 most powerful positive emotions along with: desire, faith, enthusiasm and hope. If applied to thought the subconscious mind will be easily manipulated. Humans are emotional creatures, right? Imagine if these emotions weren’t just used for self-benefit but also for obtaining the upper hand in a situation, business pitch or negotiation? Who would be able to stop you?

Mr.Hill also expounded on the 7 major negative emotions that WE MUST avoid at all times: fear, jealousy, hatred, revenge, greed, superstition and anger.

• “Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. One or the other must dominate. It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind.”

REMEMBER: simply reading and “claiming” you understand what is trying to be conveyed unto you by the author will eventually dissipate into thin air- everything read and understood would have been do so in vain- because nothing taught was placed into your lifestyle, nothing was transmuted into a habit. If you do no not apply what is being taught it doesn’t make sense you attempt to learn anything. KNOWLEDGE IS ONLY POTENTIAL POWER. Knowledge only become powerful when was is known is applied.

There was a reality check section about effective prayer which summed up the chapter:

“If you are an observing person, you must have noticed that most people resort to prayer only after everything else has failed! Or else they pray by a ritual of meaningless words. And, because it is a fact that most people who pray do so only after everything else has failed, they go to prayer with their minds filled with fear and doubt, which are the emotions the subconscious mind acts upon, and passes on to Infinite intelligence. Likewise, that is the emotion which Infinite intelligence receives, and acts upon. If you pray for a thing, but have fear as you pray that you may not receive it, or that your prayer will not be acted upon by Infinite intelligence, your prayer will have been in vain.” Have you ever felt as if you’re using God or attempting to manipulate Him by saying “I’ll stop doing this and I’ll try harder next time” hoping to evoke a response out of Him by Him answering your prayers and eventually going back into your old ways?

“The subconscious mind is the intermediary, which translates one’s prayers into terms which Infinite intelligence can recognize, presents the message, and brings back the answer in the form of a definite plan or idea for procuring the object of the prayer. Understand this principle, and you will know why mere words read from a prayer book cannot and will never serve as an agency of communication between the mind of man and Infinite intelligence.”

Tmr?