Chapter 4 - Autosuggestion

This chapter is one of the shortest in Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. But, that does not mean it is less important. On the contrary, I believe it could be one of the most important, if not the most important chapter in the book.

In this chapter, we see the corner stone of the theories in Think and Grow Rich. This is where Napoleon Hill tells us how to get started on our road to success.

As you read through this chapter, it seems too easy. You may say, "Is that it". The answer is yes. I have experienced some of what Mr. Hill talks about already. When we go back to Chapter 2 and do what the Six Steps to Turn Desire into Gold tell us to do, we will not only work ourselves into a white hot desire for success, we will open a door in our mind. This door leads to the room where our plans for success are.

This is the point where I have been for the past few weeks. I have a though that comes to me in the form of a soft warm feeling of confidence, and I act on it. I don't stop to reason the plan out. Mr. Hill said, "Do not trust your 'reason' when creating your plan for accumulating money through the transmutation of desire. Your reasoning faculty may be lazy, and, if you depend entirely upon it to serve you, it may disappoint you."

This is certainly the case for me. I have used reason to keep out of trouble and to keep anything from happening to me. But, to paraphrase a line in Disney's Finding Nemo, "If you never let anything happen to you, nothing will ever happen to you."

I believe my desire is beginning to transmute itself although my plan is still not yet clear. This goes along with something else Mr. Hill Wrote.

"Do not wait for a definite plan, through which you intend to exchange services or merchandise in return for the money you are visualizing, but begin at once to see yourself in possession of the money, demanding and expecting meanwhile, that your subconscious mind will hand over the plan, or plans you need. Be on the alert for these plans, and when they appear, put them into action immediately. When the plans appear, they will probably 'flash' into your mind through the sixth sense, in the form of an 'inspiration.' Treat it with respect, and act upon it as soon as you receive it."

I am acting on plans as they come to me. At the moment they seem very disorganized and abstract, but as more pieces appear, the more sense it makes.

What is happening is, I am getting more and more in touch with my subconscious mind. In my subconscious is the plan which was made up of little bitts of information which I was a witness to or things I have done throughout my entire life. My subconscious mind is slowly putting those things together and feeding the pieces to me as they become available.

This chapter is closely related to the second chapter,(Chapter 2 Part 1 and Part 2) because Autosuggestion is the tool which is used to turn desire into success. If a desire is strong enough, you may not need to use autosuggestion ... at first. But, if you're anything like me, the longer you don't use autosuggestion to reinforce your desire, the longer your reasoning faculties have to blow holes in your theories and make up stories, giving you reasons to rethink your dreams.

This chapter is also very closely related to the chapter on Faith (Part 1 and Part 2). Without faith, true passionate and emotional faith, autosuggestion is worthless. Mr. Hill suggests to begin using autosuggestion weather you have faith in it or not. He tells us not to worry if we don't feel a strong passion toward what we want at first. He clamed that will come with time.

I am starting to use this autosuggestion with strong faith in it already. The fact that I already had a strong desire is also a big help. The reason I have a strong faith in it, is because, as I mentioned before, I used it already. In the beginning of the year, I used it to help me with my new year's resolution to get in shape by the end of 2007. I'm at about the halfway point and still going strong. Besides that, I am expecting a big few months and to reach my desired goals on time.