Your Mind Power

I recently came across a video of Napoleon Hill talking about Andrew Carnegie’s influence on him as a young man. It was a timely reminder of the importance of keeping a positive mental outlook in the face of life’s challenges. Indeed, our outlook is the only power that is in our complete control. All success begins with a clear picture in your mind of precisely what you want from life.

Before you decide this is mumbo-jumbo, give it a try for one or two weeks. I have been experimenting with this and, when I remember to do it, it’s very empowering and effective. Roadblocks dissolve, people come into my life unexpectedly, problems get solved effortlessly. There is a feeling of expansiveness and possibility that is positively juicy. Conversely, when I slip back into worry, frustration and doubt, my mind becomes a tangled mess and I feel small and ineffective.

In the words of Napoleon Hill, you have a power that is greater than poverty, lack of education, and all of your fears and superstitions combined. You have the power to take possession of your own mind and direct it to any ends that you may desire. This profound power is the gift of the Creator, and it must have been considered the greatest gift of all, because it is the only thing over which one has the complete and unchallengeable right of control and direction. When you give in to your fears and focus instead on challenges like lack of money or connections or education, you are simply directing your mind power to attract these undesirable circumstances. Whatever your mind feeds upon, your mind attracts to you.

This great universal truth was described by Andrew Carnegie: Everyone comes to the Earth plane blessed with the privilege of controlling his mind power and directing it to whatever ends he may choose. But, everyone brings at birth the equivalent of two sealed envelopes. One is clearly labeled, The Riches You May Enjoy" – if you take possession of your own mind and direct it to the ends of your own choice. And the other is labeled, "The Penalties You Must Face" – if you neglect to take possession of your mind and direct it.

The Riches envelope has this list of blessings:
1. Sound health
2. Peace of mind
3. A labor of love of your own choice
4. Freedom from fear and worry
5. A positive mental attitude
6. Material riches of your own choice and quantity

The Penalties envelope has this list of the prices one must pay for neglecting to take possession of her own mind:
1. Ill health
2. Fear and worry
3. Indecision and doubt
4. Frustration and discouragement throughout life
5. Poverty and want
6. A whole flock of evils consisting of envy, greed, jealousy, hatred, anger, and superstition

To open up and use the contents of the sealed envelope labeled Riches, follow Hill’s simple instructions:

1. Write down a clear description of your major desire in life. It can be any circumstance, position, or thing that you are willing to accept as your idea of success. Your only limitations are those which you set up in your own mind — or permit others to set up for you.
2. Write a clear statement of precisely what you intend to give in return for that which you desire in life. Immediately begin giving it.
3. Memorize these two statements and repeat them at least a dozen times daily. What you desire and what you intend to give for it. And ALWAYS end your statements with this expression of gratitude for the blessings with which you were gifted at birth. You can word it to fit you, as long as you say it with sincerity and humility.

O Divine Providence, I ask not for more riches, but for more wisdom with which to accept and use wisely the riches I received at birth in the form of the power to control and direct my own mind to whatever ends I desire.

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