Think and Grow Rich test: Do you suffer from any of the six basic fears?

October 17, 2009 by JD · 3 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 23. Do you suffer from any of the six basic fears?

I guess the first place to start answering this question is to list the six basic fears according to Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.

Fear of Poverty
Fear of Old Age
Fear of Criticism
Fear of Loss of Love of Someone
Fear of Ill Health
Fear of Death

Now, you might think there are other basic fears or may want to discount these, but that’s not the point. These are the fears that Napoleon Hill identified and are part of this self-assessment test.

He spends some time talking about each of them and relating stories of how they sabotage our success, both in Law of Success and in Think and Grow Rich.

Let’s take them one at a time, briefly.

I’ll talk about how they affect me, but not go into the big discussion of what they mean and how Mr. Hill described them. If you want to know more, read the book.

Fear of Poverty

I have mixed feelings about this.

I’ve lived close to, or below, the poverty line for much of my life. Sometimes I was doing well and had all the money I wanted and other times I ate when I found money in the parking lot or one of my friends gave me food.

I’m not really afraid of poverty. I know how to deal with it.

But, on the other hand, I am definitely not a friend of poverty. Poverty and debt have destroyed the dreams and aspirations of millions of people and continues to do so, today.

I learned how to escape debt hell and that made a huge difference in my life.

I learned that stuff was much less important than freedom.

As Robert Kiyosaki advised in one of his Rich Dad, Poor Dad books, “First, learn to live within your means, and then increase your means.”

That’s awesome advice.

I can deal with poverty, but I don’t like it, and I’m working to leave it in the dust behind me.

Now that I have a new chief aim in life and a plan for achieving it, it’s just a matter of time, effort, and work to get there.

My parents had different views of poverty, and both of them lived through the Great Depression. Dad lived on a farm and knew they didn’t have any money, but they had all the food they needed and more work than they could handle. Mom lived in town and it was harder on them.

As a result, Mom became a packrat and never threw anything away that may one day be useful. Unfortunately, I’ve inherited that tendency and I’m working hard to overcome it.

There’s no reason to hang on to stuff “just in case” unless you are afraid that poverty is your lot in life. If a world of abundance, you’ll be able to get what you need in the future, so it’s much easier to declutter your life and not be weighed down by unnecessary and unwanted stuff.

So, do I suffer from the Fear of Poverty? Yes, I do, to some extent, but I’m getting better.

Fear of Old Age

In the past, just a generation or two ago, old age, for many people meant poverty, ill health, and imminent death.

Things are better for many of us and Social Security and Medicare have made a huge difference for many people who otherwise would have had a much different last few years of their lives.

I never feared old age, because I never expected to live past 30. Yet, here I am 27 years past that point and still putting one foot in front of the other, although much slower than I used to.

I’ve watched old age wear down strong and vital people and it is not a pretty sight. People lose their dignity and their zest for living when they are no longer able to do what they once did.

I don’t fear getting old, but I do fear being incapacitated and having to depend upon someone else to care for me. I really don’t want that to happen.

So, even if I don’t really fear old age, I’ve seen first-hand that there are real reasons to fear it. Some of our social nets have improved the situation as compared to 100 years ago, but they’re not perfect solutions for many old people.

Fear of Criticism

I don’t fear criticism. Sometimes, in fact, I thrive on it.

I don’t see the world as other people do and I question both authority and reality.

I don’t wish for criticism, but it mostly rolls off my back without much impact.

Fear of the Loss of Love of Someone

This can be a very painful experience, as you may already know. I’ve lost the love of both of the loves of my life, but, after moving through the pain, life goes on.

I haven’t seen one of them for over 25 years and don’t even know if she’s still alive. I see the other one at least a couple of times per month and we remain great friends.

But, I never feared the loss of their love. I’ve never been jealous and don’t understand it.

I’ve seen it have a powerful and debilitating effect on some of the people I know, however.

Fear of Ill Health

For most of my life, I was a strong and vital man, a small giant.

A few years ago, I was sick for a couple of weeks and I’ve never fully recovered. It has changed my life. Earlier this year, I was really sick, but I’m slowly recovering from that.

When I was younger, bending steel was a fun thing to do. These days, opening a can of home-canned soup can be a challenge.

I love blacksmithing, but I’m no longer strong enough to do it. Maybe one day, but not now.

Yet, even on my worst days, I can sit here in front of the computer, deal with email, and maybe even write something of value.

On better days, I can build sites, connect with friends around the world, and work to support myself.

I would not be able to do those things if I had to have a full-time job, pave roads, pour concrete, or smite metal, to use examples from the past of how I supported myself.

So, learning how to build a business on the Internet has given me the freedom to deal with ill health and survive – perhaps to prosper again, one day.

I don’t really fear ill health, but I do understand both the problems and the fears that are associated with it.

That’s one of the reasons I just don’t understand all the debates and vitriol surrounding the attempts to improve health care in the United States.

I have no health insurance and I just don’t go to a doctor, even when I’m sick. I either survive and get better, or I’ll die.

That wasn’t true in the past. For much of my life I had excellent health insurance. Oddly enough, it was when I was strong and healthy and didn’t really need it.

Life throws curves at you. Get used to it.

Maybe I’ll live long enough to take advantage of Medicare. Maybe I won’t.

Either way, I’m not going to succumb to the fear of ill health. I’m going to do everything I can on the days I feel strong enough to work.

Fear of Death

No, I’m not afraid of death or whatever may come afterwards.

I’ve studied various religions and philosophies over the decades and I’ve come to the conclusion that nobody knows what happens to us after we die.

Some people believe that one thing or another will happen, but they don’t know and they can’t offer demonstrative proof.

So, just like trying to understand UFOs, understanding what happens after death is largely wasted time and effort.

Now, I’m sure that you may have a very different view on this, and that’s great. Just don’t try to impose your views on me.

I don’t fear death and I don’t look forward to or fear what may come afterward. That’s an adventure that I’ll leave until later.

As someone I respect once said, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

In Summary

So, of all these basic fears, the only ones that really affect me are the fear of poverty, old age, and ill health, and I’m doing all I can to eliminate or at least reduce their effects on how I live my life.

There are other things I fear, but I try to keep them under control, too.

What about you?

Do you suffer from any of the six basic fears?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Do you have an aim in life and a plan for achieving it?

October 17, 2009 by JD · 3 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 22. Do you have an aim in life and a plan for achieving it?

One of the things I keep noticing in a variety of places is that there seems to be a 5% success vs. 95% failure rate for lots of people and situations.

It is interesting to note that Napoleon Hill analyzed thousands of people during his life and found that about 5% had a definite chief aim or goal and the other 95% didn’t.

What does that say about success?

I’ve had many aims in life over the years, and I’ve achieved most of them.

A few years ago, before Mom got sick, I spent a week thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and decided I wanted to build Castle Freedom, the first castle in the history of the world built by average people and dedicated to peace and freedom.

Not long after that, Mom got sick, and my aim in life switched to caring for her. I did that as well as I could. Not as well as I wanted, however.

This year, following her death, I realized that I’m just not interested in building the castle. I like the idea, but I realized I wasn’t taking steps every day to accomplish it and that’s a sure sign that it isn’t really a chief aim in life.

So, I reconsidered what I wanted to do with the next stage of my life.

I’ve gone through big changes this year and so have lots of other people.

I knew I wanted to do something to help other people I care about and I wanted to earn enough money to continue to live in Murphy, NC, a place I’ve grown to love over the last quarter-century.

So, I pulled out a fresh notebook and started writing. A couple of weeks later, I had a new chief aim for my life and I started making plans to bring it together.

My new aim in life is to build the best marketing system for locally owned small businesses in Murphy, NC.

Lots of traditional marketing doesn’t work as well as it used to, but I’ve become convinced that there is a good mix of offline traditional advertising and marketing that can be combined with 21st century marketing tools that include websites, social networking, email marketing, blogs, and forums.

So, in January, I started brainstorming about what would be needed and started planning how to make it happen.

I created and manage a social networking site for people interested in Murphy, NC at MurphyConnections.com. It’s been slowly growing for the last few months and now has nearly 100 members, some of whom are more active than others, but it’s getting a large readership from people finding us via the search engines.

So, now that we have a place where we can get to know each other as real people, it was time to find a way to pay for all the time and effort, and to promote those local business owners who want to cooperate and co-market each other.

Now, I’m working to build the Murphy Gold Marketing Alliance at MurphyGold.com.

Slowly, but surely, I’m attracting like-minded small business owners in Murphy who want to cooperate and promote themselves, their businesses, and the best things about living in and near Murphy, NC.

I opened Murphy Gold in July, but lost much of August and September due to illness. Now that October has rolled around and my allergies are going away, I’m feeling much better and I’m enjoying working on developing the sites and telling more people about them.

That’s just the start.

I met Audrey and Tom, owners of The Green Sheets, about a month ago and now we’re working together. I’m helping them build an online presence and they’re helping to promote Murphy Gold in their offline direct mail paper that is mailed to about 10,000 mailboxes in the Murphy 28906 ZIP Code.

I have other ideas for offline promotions, but they’re going to have to wait until my cash flow improves.

I went from not knowing what I would be doing in January to coming up with a plan by June, and started implementing it in July.

Now, I know what I’m going to be working on every day, at least part of the day, and interest is starting to grow.

It’s going to take some time to build the best marketing system in Murphy, but now I know my goal and many of the things I need to do to get there.

Will this be the ultimate goal for the rest of my life? I don’t know. It is likely. I love living here and I love marketing, so I think Murphy Gold and Murphy Connections are a great fit.

It’s great to be back on track and working on something I love doing.

What about you?

Do you have an aim in life and a plan for achieving it?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Does anyone nag you?

October 16, 2009 by JD · 5 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 21. Does anyone nag you?

One of the things I just can’t stand is nagging. I shudder when I think about it.

Nobody nags me.

Now, that’s not entirely true. Some people have nagged me in the past, but no longer. I’m certified nag free.

Mom was a nagger, and she got worse as her health declined and she needed more help. I learned to tolerate it.

My ex-wife nagged me. I’m no longer married.

I’ve had bosses who nagged me, but I don’t work for them any longer.

I live in a nag-free zone and love it.

Sometimes, it’s a fine line between reminding someone and nagging them. If it’s habitual, it’s nagging. Nagging is bad.

That’s what I think.

What about you?

Does anyone nag you?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Do you resort to drugs to calm you down?

October 16, 2009 by JD · 1 Comment
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 20. Do you resort to liquor, drugs, or cigarettes to calm you down?

You’ll notice that I shortened the title of this post, but that was not to be misleading. I just wanted to make sure it fit in the 140 characters that Twitter allows.

So, the question is whether I resort to liquor, drugs, or cigarettes to calm myself down.

No, I don’t.

I stopped smoking about 30 years ago.

I’ve never done drugs. Even now, about the only medications I take are aspirin and NyQuil, but I take them rarely. Never any illegal drugs.

Well, now, my drug of choice is caffeine. I drink coffee all during the day, but that’s not to calm me down, it’s to help me get going!

(I never tried any form of speed because I knew I’d like it. Too much.)

I rarely drink. I love fine wines and several types of liquor, but don’t keep any at home. I’m basically a coffee, milk, and orange juice kind of guy – but I drink my milk from a dirty glass!

(Do you remember that joke?)

So, now that I’ve told you more than you probably wanted to know, the simple answer is no.

I really don’t need any outside influences to calm myself. I learned how to use self-hypnosis for that a long time ago. I used to meditate regularly, but don’t do that much these days.

What about you?

Do you resort to liquor, drugs, or cigarettes to calm you down?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Are you annoyed by petty disturbances?

October 10, 2009 by JD · 2 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 19. Are you annoyed by petty disturbances?

In general, I am not.

In the past, when I lived in an apartment, I would have had to answer differently. I would become annoyed at all kinds of noises I could hear from the surrounding rooms.

Now that I’m living back in the country, about the only thing that annoys me is dogs barking when I’m trying to sleep.

I’ve consciously moved away from other things that used to annoy me. It’s made a big difference.

What about you?

Are you annoyed by petty disturbances?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Do you let others think for you?

October 10, 2009 by JD · 1 Comment
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 18. Do you let other people do your thinking for you?

No, I don’t.

I’m tempted to leave it at that.

I don’t let anyone dictate how I think, what my opinions are, or anything similar.

I welcome feedback, opinions, new ideas, and so forth, but I always run them through my own opinions, biases, beliefs, and filters. Then, I make my own decisions, come to my own conclusions, and move on.

Right or wrong, through hard and easy times, I think for myself.

What about you?

Do you let other people do your thinking for you?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Do you avoid your troubles by being busy?

October 10, 2009 by JD · 1 Comment
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 17. Do you avoid your troubles by being busy?

This is another question I can answer easily and definitively.

No, I don’t.

On the other hand, sometimes I avoid my troubles by not thinking about them, but that doesn’t equate to avoiding them by being busy.

Perhaps denial comes in many forms.

To get a little closer to what I think the question means, however, I avoid my troubles in several other ways. I’m sure we all do.

Even though I put them off for awhile, at some point they just have to be addressed, put on the to-do list, and eventually checked off as done. I don’t really know any other way to deal with them.

What about you?

Do you avoid your troubles by being busy?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Are you careless about your appearance?

October 7, 2009 by JD · 6 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 16. Are you careless about your personal appearance?

Anyone who looks at me knows the answer to this question.

Yes, I am.

I prefer to dress very casually and don’t spend much time getting haircuts and trimming my beard.

I don’t enjoy dressing up and I haven’t owned a suit for decades.

This has caused me problems in the past, but what isn’t obvious is that I do this for a purpose.

Part of it is based on my personal comfort and part is a reaction formation based on people I knew when I was younger and just getting started with computer consulting.

It was about that time that Dress for Success was published and I never liked that book or the attitude behind it.

I also met lots of other people who presented themselves as experts and dressed the part. The problem arose when I realized that well over half of them made a good first impression, but weren’t able to deliver the goods they promised when it got down to the technical issues and the skills they said they had.

At the time, when consulting, I normally wore a suit and I was driving a silver Lincoln Continental. Eventually, I traded in the suit and tie for jeans and sweatshirts and sold the Lincoln and went back to driving a pick up.

While I don’t present as good a first impression, I know that I have a lot of depth in several areas and I can deliver what I promise. My approach, these days, weeds out the people who are oriented to appearance and surface impressions.

People with more depth are able to see past the initial impression and these are the people I enjoy working with.

I’m sure most people will disagree with me on this, and that’s okay with me.

Here’s your chance…

What about you?

Are you careless about your personal appearance?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Do you put up with negative influences?

October 7, 2009 by JD · 2 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 15. Do you put up with negative influences?

This is another question that is easy to answer.

No, I don’t put up with negative influences.

When I was younger, I was more tolerant to these things, but I have practically no tolerance these days.

Along the way, I learned to avoid “psychic blackholes” and “psychic vampires” and I’m better off, as a result.

That isn’t even metaphysical. It just means that I’ve learned to avoid situations and people who drain me with negativity.

It’s much easier to keep a positive attitude when you surround yourself with positive people. Even though we all go through the down times, it’s much easier to improve when people are urging you upwards instead of dragging your downwards.

How about you?

Do you put up with negative influences?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich test: Who is the most inspiring person you know?

October 5, 2009 by JD · 1 Comment
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Site Build It, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Question Number 14. Who is the most inspiring person you know?

This is an interesting question, and I had to stop and think about it a few minutes before answering.

To answer this, I have to preface it by saying that I don’t personally know any of the people I’ve considered, but I do know them from their writings and some limited correspondence with a couple of them.

I thought hard about whether any of the people I know in “real life” would qualify for this, but, sadly, the answer is no.

So, I started thinking about authors who have influenced my life.

Certainly Napoleon Hill would count and he’d be in the top two or three.

I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from Zig Ziglar and Og Mandino.

I’ve read a variety of other books by authors who are very inspiring, but the more I think about it, the more one name rises to the top of the list.

For the last few years, the most inspiring person I know has to be Ken Evoy, founder of Sitesell.

(Full disclosure: The links to Sitesell are affiliate links and I can earn a commission if you purchase from them. That’s how I earn my living. However, that’s not enough reason to choose Ken Evoy over the others I’ve considered. He just naturally rose to the top of the list the more I thought about the question.)

Ken has inspired me on numerous occasions and I look forward to his newsletters and his postings on the members-only forum that Sitesell hosts.

Ken was largely responsible for teaching me about affiliate marketing and that made a huge difference in my life over the last decade.

I’ve also watched him inspire many others along the way.

Ken is no Pollyanna, however. He won’t tell you everything is going to be great if he disagrees with your approach.

One of the main things I’ve learned from him and which I try to keep at the top of my mind, especially when I’m looking at new strategies for getting visitors to my websites, is his mantra of “Keep it real.”

That is a very grounding influence and has helped me avoid some things that look good at first glance, but don’t have the required reality when you look beyond the surface.

I recently wrote about a couple of Ken’s ebooks on my affiliate marketing blog: Getting back to the basics of affiliate marketing

I’m not the only person Ken has inspired.

Many thousands of websites have been built and hosted using Ken’s Site Build It service. Most of them were built by individuals and owners of very small businesses. They are learning how to be successful on the web by following the advice and the system that Ken founded. This is having a real, direct influence on their lives – for the better.

Did everyone who used Site Build It! succeed? Obviously, the answer is no. However, I believe they had a better chance at building an online business by following the SBI approach.

A good number of them are active on the Sitesell forums and I’ve watched Ken, over the years, offer helpful advice and inspirational support to a great number of them.

I have thought about other business, political, and religious leaders and I just don’t find them as inspiring as Ken Evoy has been to me personally.

I would have to include President Obama in the short list of inspiring people, but he hasn’t had as direct an influence on my life as some of the others.

Even after thinking about this for awhile, I’m sure I’ll kick myself when I remember others who have been inspirational after I publish this answer.

I’m sure you’ll have other choices and I look forward to hearing who they are.

What about you?

Who is the most inspiring person you know?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

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