Reflections from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
I finished reading “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, for my first time.
And the one topic I feel moved to write about in reflection of the book, is the topic of Faith (which nicely relates to The Artist’s Way process I recently launched, I’ll touch on this connection toward the end).
In the book, Desire is the foremost starting point for building or creating anything. Desire gives you something you want.
Faith changes your relationship to the possibility of having it.
Faith, and its parts
Faith as a State of Mind
In the book, Hill repeatedly addresses Faith as a state of mind that can be induced, or created through autosuggestion.
Faith, as it is described by Hill, is not merely hoping something will happen.
It is the development of an internal conviction that changes how you think and behave in relationship to the thing you desire.
Even if the desired outcome does not yet exist materialized in the physical world, the internal relationship to it already begins to change when Faith is activated.
Faith as a Bridge
Faith connects conscious thought with the subconscious mind, and Infinite Intelligence.
Faith allows a desired idea to become deeply impressed upon the subconscious, which then influences behavior and ultimately the means through which the desire is pursued.
Faith connected to Imagination
In the book, Faith is not separate from imagination, but rather they are deeply infused with one another.
The desired future is mentally represented before it exists materially. In fact, thoughts are things, they have a material energetic blueprint form.
And Faith produces momentum towards definite plans and action of that imagined desired, or definite purpose.
From Napoleon Hill to Julia Cameron on Faith
Unexpectedly, I found myself connecting two unrelated sources, through the prism of Faith: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.
Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way emphasizes that Faith is required to pursue creative impulses even when we don’t know where they will lead.
Faith, is essentially the capacity to move toward something before you have evidence that it will work, because you understand in a greater sense there is an Infinite Intelligence at the aid of fulfilling and realizing such desired outcome, and contributing a higher organization its development to fruition.
So both Hill and Cameron address Faith as the driving energy that sustains the desire or a creative impulse.
Faith and Wealth
The conventional perspective on Wealth in our “common culture” is very much in physical terms: money, assets, income, businesses, investments, resources, etc.
But all of these things begin somewhere, and it’s something Napoleon Hill repeats in the book: “Nothing can be created that is not first conceived in thought.”
This means: an idea, a decision, a recognized opportunity, a product or service someone imagines, a piece of knowledge someone decides to develop, etc.
Our capacity to create wealth (or riches) is affected by the level of our thoughts – what we’re willing to perceive as possible, and to pursue and persist. Faith is the energy that makes this possible.
Faith allows us to take the next step without possessing the entire map.
It creates the capacity to act in relationship to possibility before the outcome is guaranteed. And it is almost a requirement to act in Faith in order to succeed in materializing our larger “more unconventional” desires.
Faith Before the Outcome
Faith is ultimately learning to live before the outcome.
Before the evidence.
Before the certainty.
Before the manifestation.
Faith allows us to participate in the possibility of a desired outcome, and to pursue and be persistent in the efforts of it.
Faith is that capacity to hold a possibility active in our consciousness, to give it form, and to act in alliance with the desired outcome.
And perhaps this is where Faith is much more important than even Belief.
The moment we allow ourselves to act on a possibility before we know how it will unfold, we enter into a different relationship with reality.
We stop waiting for proof or evidence that something is possible before we begin. We begin participating in the possibility itself.
And wealth isn’t only about what we accumulate from the world, it is also what we are able to bring into the world… and that implicates a lot of Faith through the process.
That Faith is keeping the mind busy with a Definite Purpose and a Definite Plan, with Clarity and Structure, in momentum towards the unfolding and materialization of greater orchestration by Infinite Intelligence to bring about that which we Deeply Desire to bring about.
I can’t recommend this book enough to everyone!! It’s a must-read!
And, if you have a moment, drop me a note about your experience with Faith!
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