Principle #2 — Faith
Part 2 of 13 | Think and Grow Rich — Lessons for the Indian Investor
Priya had watched her father lose money in the stock market in 2008. He had put in ₹3 lakhs and pulled out ₹1.2 lakhs two years later, shaking.
That image — her father’s face when he opened that account statement — lived in her head for fifteen years.
So when her colleague Neha mentioned SIPs, Priya smiled politely and changed the subject. Markets were dangerous. Investing was gambling. The only safe thing was a fixed deposit.
She was not wrong to be cautious. But she was letting one memory make every decision for her.
What Napoleon Hill meant by Faith
Hill’s second principle is Faith — but not faith in God or fate. He means something specific: faith in yourself. A deep, practised belief that you are capable of achieving what you have set out to achieve.
He says faith can be developed deliberately. That if you repeat a belief to yourself — with emotion, with consistency — your subconscious mind begins to accept it as true. And once your mind accepts it, your actions start to follow.
This sounds like positive thinking. It is more than that.
Faith, in Hill’s framework, is what gives you the courage to take the first step before you have any proof that it will work.
“Faith is the head chemist of the mind. When faith is blended with thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration.” — Napoleon Hill
The investor version of this
Most people in India do not lack information about investing. They lack faith — in the markets, in themselves, in the process.
They have heard about SIPs. They know about compounding. But somewhere inside, there is a voice that says: ‘What if I lose everything? What if it does not work for me?’
That voice is louder than any fact.
Priya’s fear was not irrational. Her father did lose money. But he had invested without a plan, without a goal, without diversification — in a product he did not understand, at the worst possible time.
A structured SIP in a diversified mutual fund over ten or fifteen years is a very different thing. But fear does not make those distinctions. It just says: no.
How Priya changed her mind
Priya’s shift did not come from a YouTube video. It came from a small experiment.
She started a SIP of ₹2,000 a month — an amount small enough that losing it would not hurt her. She watched it for six months. She saw how it worked. She noticed that her money was still there, and slightly more.
Her fear did not vanish. But it shrank enough for her to take the next step.
Hill says faith without action is just daydreaming. Priya’s small action gave her something her father never had: a calm, evidence-based belief that this could work for her.
You cannot build wealth in an asset you are afraid of. The work of a good financial advisor is not just to recommend funds — it is to help you build enough faith to stay invested.
Want to put these ideas to work in your own financial life? At rahulmoney.com, I help salaried professionals build simple, goal-based mutual fund portfolios. If you would like a free conversation to get started, reach out via the website.
Disclaimer: Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Please read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing. Rahul Bhaskarini | ARN: 351164 | rahulmoney.com