Fear is one of the major causes of poverty and other aspects in life. The entire depth of fear is explored to aid you make a U-turn in practice not to be a prey of its circumstances.

This enemy of fear involves three sub enemies – indecision, doubt and fear. Indecision is the seedling of fear -  remember this as you read. Indecision crystallizes into doubt, and the two blends become fear.

The blending process is often slow. This is one reason why these three enemies are so dangerous .They germinate and grow without their presence being observed.

This analysis of the fear condition has reduced huge numbers of people to poverty, and it states a truth which must be understood by all who accumulate riches, whether measured in terms of money or state of mind of far greater value than money.

Before we can master an enemy, we must know its name, its habits and its place of abode. As you read, analyse yourself carefully, and determine which, if any, of the six common fears have attached themselves to you.
 
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 don’t 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 old age, the fear of death and the fear of loss of love.

All other fears are of minor importance, and they can be grouped under these six. Fears are nothing more than a state of the 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.

Here is 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.

If it is true that all thought has a tendency to clothe itself in its physical equivalent, it is equally true that thought impulses of fear and poverty cannot be translated into terms of courage and financial gain. Let’s look at some of the fears that impact almost in similar ways.

The fear of poverty

There can be no compromise between poverty and riches. The two roads that lead to poverty and riches travel in opposite directions. If you want riches, you must refuse to accept any circumstances that lead toward poverty.

(The word "riches” is used here in its broadest sense meaning financial, spiritual, mental, social, health and material.

The starting point of the path that leads to riches is desire.
Fear of poverty is a state of mind, nothing else. But it is sufficient to destroy one’s chances of achievement in any understanding.

This fear paralyzes the faculty of reasoning, destroys the faculty of imagination, kills off self reliance, undermines enthusiasm, discourages initiative and encourages procrastination.

Some symptoms of fear of poverty

Indecision: The habit of permitting others to do one’s thinking. Staying "on the fence.”

Doubt: This is expressed through alibis and excuses designed to cover up, explain away or apologize for one’s failures, sometimes expressed in the form of envy of those who are successful, or by criticizing them.

Over-caution: The habit of looking for the negative side of every circumstance; thinking and talking of possible failure instead of concentrating upon the means of succeeding, knowing all the roads to disaster, but never searching for plans to avoid failure.

The fear of Criticism

Just how man originally came by this fear, no one can state definitely, but one thing is certain - he has it in a highly developed form.

A description of people’s behaviour under the influence of fear of criticism as applied to small and petty things of life:

Take for example practically any person who has reached the age of mental maturity (from 35 to 40 years as a general average) and if you could read the secret thoughts of his mind, you would find a very decided disbelief in most of the fables taught by the majority of dogmatic masters a few decades ago.

The fear of criticism robs man of his initiative, destroys his power of imagination, limits his individuality, takes away his self reliance and does him damage in a hundred other ways.

Parents often do their children irreparable injury by criticizing them. Criticism will plant fear in the human heart or resentment but it will not build love or affection.

Some symptoms of the fear of criticism:

Lack of poise: Expressed through lack of voice control, nervousness in the presence of others ,poor posture of body, poor memory.

Inferiority complex: The habit of expressing self approval by word of mouth and by actions as a means of covering up a feeling of inferiority.

Using "big words” to impress others (often without knowing the real meaning of words), imitating others in dress, speech and manners. Boasting of imaginary achievements .This sometimes gives a surface appearance of a feeling of superiority.

Extravagance: The habit of trying to "keep up with the Joneses,” - spending beyond one’s income.

The fear of ill health

This fear may be traced to both physical and social heredity. It is closely associated as to its origin with the causes of fear of old age and the fear of death, because it leads one closely to the border of "terrible  worlds” of which man knows not, but concerning which he has been taught some discomforting stories.

In the main, man fears ill health because of the terrible pictures which have been planted in his mind of what may happen if death should overtake him. He also fears it because of the economic toll which it may claim.

A reputable physician estimates that 75% of all people who visit physicians for professional service are suffering from hypochondria (imaginary illness).

It has been shown most convincingly that the fear of disease, even where there is not the slightest cause for fear, often produces the physical symptoms of the disease feared.

Symptoms of fear of ill health:

The symptoms of this almost universal fear are:

Intemperance: The habit of using alcohol or narcotics to destroy pains such as headaches, neuralgia etc. instead of eliminating the cause.

Self coddling: The habit of making a bid for sympathy, using imaginary illness as the lure. (People often resort to this trick to avoid work). The habit of feeling illness to cover plain laziness or to serve as an alibi from lack of ambition.

Exercise: Fear of ill health often interferes with proper physical exercise, and results in overweight, by causing  one to avoid outdoor life.

Practical case studies

In our society it is realised that people portray effects of fear unknowingly.

For example:

- As a result of fearing poverty, ladies resort to thinking through prostitution, contrary to the mindset.

- To the politicians, greed and fear does the thinking through corruption instead of thinking to develop the financial intelligence to enable them acquire wealth sustainably.

- To the business community, the thinking is done through fraud so as to accumulate wealth overnight.

- To the students, fear of failing does the thinking through a student cheating in exams or bribing the lecturer.

Remedy

Men who accumulate great riches always protect themselves against poor thought. Recognizing that negative influences often work on you through your subconscious mind, they are therefore difficult to detect and keep your mind closed against all people who depress or discourage you in anyway.

Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act for yourself. Don’t expect troubles as they have a tendency not to disappoint.

Without doubt, the most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people.

This weakness is all the more damaging, because most people don’t recognize that they are cursed by it, and many who acknowledge it neglect or refuse to correct the evil until it becomes an uncontrollable part of their daily habits.

Ends