Napoleon Hill | Six Basic Fears

These are the six basic fears that man, to be successful, has to overcome. By becoming a master over these fears, ones potential is unleashed. I got this from listening to the audiobook, The Laws of Success, by Napoleon Hill.

The six basic fears of mankind. Under these basic fears belong the other lesser fears.

The fear of poverty. This fear is said to have grown out of man's inherent tendency to prey upon his fellow men economically. Without men preying upon each other economically, if only we could trust our fellow men to help us in times of need, then we wouldn't have to fear poverty.
6 Symptoms:
Indifference, lack of ambition, laziness, etc.
Indecision.
Doubt expressed through alibis and excuses.
Worry expressed through fault finding.
Overcaution expressed through general negativity.
Procrastination.

The fear of old age. The source of this is, first, the thought that old age will bring poverty., and second, it means the approach of another and possibly more horrible than this one, which is already bad enough.

The fear of criticism. This is said to rob men of his initiative, destroys his power of imagination, limits his individuality, takes away his self reliance, and damages him in a hundred more ways. Parents often do their children irreparable injury by criticizing them. It is a crime to do unnecessary criticism that will lead to inferiority complex in the child. Employers do not get the best out of their employees by criticism, but by constructive suggestion.

The fear of loss of love of someone. It grew out of man's nature to steal another man's mate. It is one of the most painful, if not the most painful, out of the six basic fears.

The fear of ill health. Closely associated with poverty and old age. Comes from the lack of trust that other people will help, because many people prey on his fellow men economically.


The fear of death. Man preys upon this fear to control others. Trickery, deceit, and fraud. Self-appointed leaders say statements about where we come from and where we are headed next, but in truth, no person knows.

Understanding the fear. The first step of mastering these fears is to first understand their source. According to Hill, indecision is the seedling of fear. Indecision crystalizes into doubt, and the two become fear. Fear then becomes a symptom of the action that we are trying to reform.

Degrees, Education, and Financial Education

I decided to write my thoughts, when I saw a status message from one of my friends that made me reflect. It said, "Are you an educated person?". I decided to answer it for myself here on this post.

Honest to say, I'm not a graduate of college. This is because I stopped my studies when I was in my 4th year, with two more years to go to meet all the requirements. I valued education. But there were more pressing matters that needed attention. I guess it was one of the times that I have to stop, take a step back, and rethink on my ideals and my goals.

I wanted to graduate, but that was not my ultimate goal.

Can you honestly consider me as an academically well-educated man? I myself have second thoughts about that. I don't have so great grades in school. True, I come from one of the best colleges in the country, and one of the best high schools in the country. Yet I wasn't too diligent a student. Still, I consider myself as an educated person.

I guess it's a matter of looking at things. Education, for me, is not necessarily the formal academic stuff you learn in school. While at school, I would spend my time thinking about ways to earn money. Ways to multiply my time through other people. At other times, I would spend my time writing essays, composing songs, bringing words to life. I would spend my time thinking of fun things to do with Flash animations. Of creating a Flash game. I would spend time imagining the worlds that I would write about. All these I did in the classroom, while the teacher was talking in front.

Well, you can guess how my grades usually went.

I would study my school subjects when it was really needed. But on most of my free time, I would read books that really interested me. I would read epic novels, fiction, non-fiction, but among them would be financial books such as those written by Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad), motivational books such as those by Dale Carnegie, management books such as the one written by Stephen Robbins and those "One-Minute" books that really dig straight to the point, social interaction and communication books (Leil Lowndes), and all sorts of books on related topics that I could get my hands on.

I was a Computer Science student, and yet my interest was totally elsewhere. Or rather, my interests are everywhere and anywhere! I had that hunger for knowledge. But I didn't have the patience to sit in classrooms and just depend on the teacher to learn. So I would study on my own, grow on my own. I wouldn't get any trophies, or medals, or certificates. And yet, I knew I was following my own path.

Right now, I see myself as a man not so academically educated, but someone who is doing his best to be financially educated. Financial education, or the education of money, is a totally different thing and it isn't taught in school. I agree with Robert Kiyosaki when he said that it's one of the reasons that people who are poor remain poor, and people who are rich only get richer. It's because financial education is never taught in most formal education systems. Despite their best intentions, poor people teach their kids what they know of financial education, so their kids will tend to have the mindset that will limit them to be poor. Rich people teach what they know of financial education, so the their children will become rich.

People are trapped in the rat race. Go to sleep, get up, go to work. Go to sleep, get up, go to work. But to what avail? What will happen when those people will get sick, get old, and will be unable to work anymore? I've experienced this one, where I had to skip work for two weeks because I came with an illness that got me staying home for two weeks. My income dropped to zero. My budget plans were totally ruined. I was sick, and worse, I was thinking of work. and the deadlines I had to meet And it's not good to be worrying about work when you should be relaxing so you can recover.

This was what made me decide. I suddenly understood how difficult the situation for my parents were. They both have heart problems, and yet they are the pillars of support for my family. If they get sick, they still have to worry how we can survive. This is not only true for our family, but for countless others as well.

That is why I strive hard to get out from the rat race and become financially educated. I take all opportunities that come to earn money, as long as it does not involve cheating and hurting other people. I try my best to multiply my options, because that, according to Kiyosaki, is what determines how rich or poor you are. It's not money, it's not whether or not you have your degrees, it's not how young or old you are, nor is it whether you're male or female that will make you rich. It's in how many ways you can think of to earn money. It's how many times you can multiply your time through your ideas. It's your mindset and the way you think.

Despite all this, I am not against academic education. I am pro with adding good financial education to supplement the formal education that is currently being used. Simple lessons such as "Buy assets, not liabilities", "Multiply your time through other people", and even discussing the Laws of Attraction taken in the financial and business sense can really help to positively shape a person to become financially stable. Aside from technical skills, personal skills are also very important.

The thing is, people can really affect change in their lives. But to how great an extent, that is all determined by ones mindset. As Rhonda Byrne said in his book, the Secret, which summarized the teachings of many great men, the mind is very powerful. Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you are right.

It's the power of belief in yourself and in what you can do. Even Jesus said to his disciples, that if only you believe in yourself, you can move mountains. For me, he was showing the power. Our own power. The power that was already within us. His words reflected how powerful our thoughts can be.

Be Fast on Your Feet

Today, I just lost a client who wanted an accounting system done because I was too slow and was too busy on other things. I wasn't able to take the necessary actions to address what the client really wanted.

How do I feel? I feel that it was a waste of opportunity. The opportunity to increase my income was there, and yet I was too slow... Yes, I'm gonna be honest. I was too slow, and always making excuses for it.

From Brian Tracy, "Be fast on your feet!". This is an effective way to deal with business. Respond to business issues immediately and smartly. You can't take things for granted. Move fast, action is necessary. Avoid being paralyzed by over analyzing things. Decide to do the best thing that you can think of as of the moment. Whatever happens, deal with it.

Business Quotes: Infallible Judgment vs. Experimentation

Business success does not rest upon infallible judgment. It rests rather upon the courage to experiment and the ability to learn from mistakes... Experimentation, even taking into account the experiments that do not succeed, is, in the long run, safer than too great caution. The moment a business man ceases to be an experimenter and comes to regard himself as an expert in business theory and practice, he may be sure that dry rot has set in.

-Edward A. Filene
from Corporation on a Tightrope
Balancing Leadership, Governance, and Technology
in an Age of Complexity

This quote reminds me to never ever be too confident in my abilities. It tells me that I should always be on my feet, on my guard, and ready to push forward in opportunities, and ready to fall back whenever necessary. It reminds me to keep learning, keep growing, to continue searching for new ways and ideas on how to deal with problems. Business is like war, where we are the generals. "Be fast on your feet", as Brian Tracy once said in one of his seminars. It's how you win the war.

The Importance of a Company Handbook in Business

In business, there is no magic silver bullet that will fix all your problems. There is no quick fix.

Edward A. Filene, a successful businessman who had overcome many obstacles during the Great Depression, said the following:

Business success does not rest upon infallible judgment. It rests rather upon the courage to experiment and the ability to learn from mistakes... Experimentation, even taking into account the experiments that do not succeed, is, in the long run, safer than too great caution. The moment a business man ceases to be an experimenter and comes to regard himself as an expert in business theory and practice, he may be sure that dry rot has set in.

Especially in an e-business or e-organization, you have to be quick to respond to changes. New challenges always come up, challenges that have not yet been faced before and that have no concrete, proven solutions yet.

Of course, "experimentation" does not always solve the problem. However, the phrase even taking into account the experiments that do not succeed, is, in the long run, safer than too great caution rings true.

Having excessive caution can become dangerous. Another way of saying it is in the phrase paralysis by analysis. Being unable to move because of overanalyzing. In business, action is required. Plan for the events that you can plan for, but overplanning may result in a waste of your time.

That is not to say that you should not plan at all. Instead, be prepared for scenarios that you could possible face. This includes not only you, but also your employees. A good way would be to prepare a company handbook that would describe the standard processes covering employment, compensation and benefits, employee relations, rules and regulations, code of ethics, code of discipline, security measures in case of emergency, safety measures to prevent untoward incidents, the process of employment exit, as well as ammendments to the handbook and policies.

Creating a company handbook may be very time consuming. It's gonna be a lot more effort if you start from scratch. A good way to start would be to look at existing company handbooks in your field or niche, then use that as a guide. From there, you can add or remove as you find necessary.

A business is not required to produce a company handbook, however you as the employer must give a written statement to your employees that will summarize the details of their employment.

Business and Entrepreneurship Ideas!

Welcome to Business Entrepreneur Ideas!

I'm opening this blog to share my experiences in going into business. Honest to say, this is the first time that I will be handling my own business, but the idea of business itself is something that has been the subject of my focus many years before now.

Despite being a Computer Science student and a freelance writer, I've always been interested in ideas, philosophies, and 'formulas' from prominent businessmen, salespeople, and motivational speakers worldwide. Sitting in class while the teacher was talking about Calculus, or automata, or codes, my thoughts would wander off in search of answers to the questions: how can I increase my income potential; how can i remove the ceiling that seems to cap the earnings of employees; how can I better work with people?

That is why I love listening to seminars, reading books, browsing magazines, and watching videos related to selling, business, and social interaction with people. I am frequently amazed to find that while many of these very successful people do not have much affinity for their academic life, they possess great intuition and a deeper understanding of how money and people work. I am amazed at how simple their formulas for success are, and yet how true they apply to real life. I love listening to them because they are practical and street smart.

Thus, I would like to share in this blog my journey to become successful myself.

Welcome again, and enjoy your visit in this blog for learning and becoming richer.