How To Outwit The Six Ghosts Of Fear

In this last chapter, Hill explains that it is difficult to achieve your goal if you fail to analyse three enemies, namely, indecision, doubt, and fear. You will have to study, analyse and understand these enemies thoroughly before being able to clear them out. If any of these enemies are there in your mind, your sixth sense will not work. This unwanted trio is very closely related. Where you will find one, the other two will gradually appear.

Indecision is the root cause of fear. When indecision and doubt blend together they create more fear. This process of blending is very slow which is why they are considered to be very dangerous enemies. They don't make their presence felt. 

Humans fear six things the most. All the other fears can be classified into any of these six fears.

1.Fear of poverty,
2.Fear of criticism,
3.Fear of ill health,
4.Fear of loss of the love of someone,
5.Fear of old age,
6.Fear of death.

1.The fear of poverty: 

The road to poverty and riches travel in two different directions. Riches here can be in any form, spiritual, mental, financial or even material. If one wants to attain riches, he must refuse to accept any situation that can lead to poverty. The fear of poverty will not let him move towards riches. 

This fear is the most destructive of all the six fears. It destroys a person's imagination, reasoning ability, enthusiasm, willpower, self-reliability and leads them to uncertainty. 

Man fears poverty because it brings humility and suffering. The symptoms that indicate fear of poverty are Indifference, Indecision, Doubt, Worry, Over-caution, Procrastination, and Expecting poverty instead of demanding riches.

2.The fear of criticism: 

It is a well-known fact that a thief criticises the man from whom he steals. The fear of criticism makes a man criticise his team’s work only to justify his own actions. 

Men and women are all so conscious that they do not find the courage to openly state their belief on a subject because criticism carries punishments (in many countries). Criticism will plant fear in a person's heart which does not let build love and affection. 

The major symptoms of fear of criticism are: 

Self-consciousness, Lack of poise, Personality, Inferiority Complex, Extravagance, Lack of initiative, and Lack of ambition. 

3.The Fear of Ill Health: 

Man fears ill health because his mind has been implanted with terrible thoughts. Thoughts like what may happen if death overtakes him. Also, about the payment factor which ill-health claims. 

Many experiments prove that people can be made ill by mere suggestion. These suggestions are as good as placing a spell on them because it starts in the form of a negative thought impulse. 

The symptoms of the fear of ill health are: 

A.Auto-suggestion - The habit of trying to find symptoms of all kinds of diseases and enjoying imaginary illnesses.

B.Hypochondria - A habit of talking about the disease to an extent until a nervous breakdown occurs. 

C.Exercise - The fear of ill health leads to a habit of exercising and many times results in being overweight because it causes one to avoid outdoor life.

D.Susceptibility - Constantly worrying and preparing for a disease or paying doctor and hospital bills.

E.Self coddling - The habit of using illness as an excuse to cover up laziness or to gain sympathy.

F.Intemperance- The habit of using alcohol and narcotics to eliminate all kinds of pain. 

4.The Fear of Loss Of Love:

This fear has obviously grown because of man's habit of stealing his friend’s wife and taking liberty with her whenever possible. However, now instead of getting her forcefully, he tries to persuade her with material things as bait. Symptoms of fear of loss of love are: Jealousy, Fault finding, and gambling.  

5. The Fear Of Old Age: 

The basic fear of old age is because of the possibility of ill health. Loss of freedom and independence also contribute to it because old age may bring loss of physical and economic freedom. 

The most common symptom of this fear is the habit of a man falsely believing that he has grown too old to imagine and take initiative. 

The habit of being apologetic for turning forty or fifty. Also, the habit to try to dress and present himself as younger than his age makes him a subject of ridicule.

6. The Fear of Death: 

No man has ever known what hell or heaven looks like, also if these places actually exist. However, the thought of not being able to get into heaven and being descended to hell, makes death look so terrible that it tends to instill fear in people’s minds. 

Death is inevitable and the sooner man accepts the fact, the better placed he is. The entire world is made up of energy and matter. Neither of these can be created or destroyed. Similarly, life is energy and it cannot be destroyed by death. It has to go through many processes of transitions, with death being one of them. 

The symptom of this fear is more prevalent amongst the aged. The most common symptoms of fear of death are ill health, poverty, lack of appropriate occupation, disappointment over love, insanity, and religious bindings.

Hill writes that you can overcome fear because it is a state of mind. Hence if you use your willpower you can banish all the negative thoughts from your mind (like worries, doubts, and fears). 

In addition to these six fears, there is one more evil factor that is even more dangerous and destructive, sensitivity to negative influences. 

If a man does not take immediate action to analyse whether he is under the negative influence, it will grow very strong and will become difficult to eliminate. 

If people are not aware of it, they will very easily get influenced by the negativity around them and will ruin their future. So once a person knows this, he has to create protective boundaries to prevent themselves from any negativity. 

So if you know that you can easily get swayed by negative people, you can create a block for them or stay away from them. 

On the other hand, you should create your own mastermind group which can help you pursue your dreams and encourage you. Get along with people who uplift you, inspire you, and bring a positive influence in your personality and mindset. 

Hill believed that a person can surely achieve what he wants if he keeps his fears aside and makes good use of his mind and willpower.