Concept
The Six Basic Fears
The six basic fears are Napoleon Hill's list of the fears he said hold people back (poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age and death); the list is not scientific, but naming a fear specifically, rather than feeling a vague dread, is a practical first step to acting despite it.
Near the end of Think and Grow Rich, Hill lists six fears and describes the symptoms of each: indecision and doubt for the fear of poverty, conformity and lack of initiative for the fear of criticism, and so on. He presents fear as a state of mind that can be mastered. The list itself is Hill's own arrangement, not a finding; psychologists classify fears differently, and some of his descriptions are moralising. Still, the habit behind it is useful. Research on affect labelling, including brain-imaging work by Matthew Lieberman and colleagues, suggests that putting a feeling into words can reduce its intensity. In money decisions, a named fear can be checked against facts: fear of criticism may explain why someone never raises prices, and fear of poverty why they never invest a cushion they will not need for years. The aim is not to remove fear but to stop letting an unnamed fear make the decision.
A real-life example
Elif, a freelance translator in Trabzon, has not raised her rate in four years. When she writes down what she is afraid of, the answer is not losing clients but being judged as greedy. Seeing the word 'criticism' on paper, she checks the market rate, sends a polite note about a modest increase to two clients first, and both accept.
How to use it
- 1When you avoid a money decision, write which fear is behind it in one word.
- 2Next to it, write the evidence for and against the outcome you fear.
- 3Take one small action that tests the fear, and record what actually happened.