TAGR #5: Imagination

"The imagination is literally the workshop wherein are fashioned all plans created by man."--Napoleon Hill.

"Man's only limitation...lies in his development and use of his imagination."--Napoleon Hill

"Transformation of the intangible impulse, of DESIRE, in to the tangible reality, of MONEY, calls for th euse of a plan, or plans. These plans must be formed with the aid of the imagination, and mainly, with the synthetic faculty."--Napoleon Hill

Specifically, what Hill refers to here is the "synthetic" imagination, by which one re-arranges old concepts, ideas, or plans into new combinations. This is distinct from "creative" imagination, which he posits to allow connection with extranormal sources of information.

And the most important use of this capacity is the formation of plans of action, and a clear goal. To put it in the words of friend and mentor Tim Piering, "The most important quality needed for success is clear goals and plans for their accomplishment expressed in continuous action."

In my own life, I've had four major goals in life, three explicit and one implicit.

1) Body. Health and fitness, and skill expressed in martial arts performance. I could certainly visualize myself wearing a black belt, or sparring with a high level of expertise. The plan of action included regular practice under a master teacher, and pushing my body to the highest level of fitness it could produce.

2) Mind--career. I visualized publication, awards, fans, and television and film production. The pathway was writing a story a week, or two stories a month. Reading ten times what I wrote, and sending the stories out to be published. I promised that I would do this for at least 100 stories before quitting.

3) Emotions--family. I wanted someone to love, and a family to care for. The road for this was to develop myself until the female equivalent of my own personal expression would be someone I was attracted to. This demanded the development of power in the arenas women I respected and desired considered attractive. Most of the "how to pick up girls" type stuff I've seen basically involves imitating the body language, relaxed confidence and focus of men who are healthy, successful, and self-loving. Why fake it?

4) Finances. This was always implicit. As a child, I never thought directly about money, and rarely did as an adult. But indirectly, it was always there: success in my art meant financial security. But because I thought of this only in a childlike fashion, I made plenty of money but never held onto it, and was unable to coach others with money trouble. Bizarrely, my "inner child" meditations didn't help. That little creative brat just didn't want to talk money!

Then...sufficient thought, imagination and investigation revealed a possible avenue. While I never thought about money as a child, my mother obsessively played a wonderful audio version of THINK AND GROW RICH (and a few other self-help books) to me when I was seven or eight. On and on. Over and over throughout my youth.

I hated it. But...it sank in. And that means that this book connects to my childhood love for the wonderful woman who gave everything to raise me. That little boy will listen to that book because...well...

Because it feels like love.

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