In his classic work Think and Grow Rich,

Napoleon Hill describes 13 steps Towards Riches.

Step 2 Faith

Of all our emotions, faith is probably the strongest. It is a state of mind that most effects the subconscious. This is important when it comes to putting your thoughts into action in everyday life. If you set yourself a task but are lacking the faith in yourself to complete it then subconsciously you are accepting defeat as inevitable.
However, if you are able to convince yourself subconsciously that you can achieve what you set out to do then your efforts will be boosted and the results will reaffirm your self belief and strengthen your faith. You will not be able to fail, you will have let go of playing the victim!
Faith is related to the spiritual side of ourselves and is a very powerful emotion. Along with love, this can be one of the strongest emotions in people that affect the subconscious mind. Faith is a state of mind which is affected by repeated affirmations or instructions the subconscious receives in an idea known as auto-suggestion.
As an example, think of the reasons for which you are reading this article. Your objective ideally, is to gain the power to use your thought impulses of desire and convert them into the ability to make money or achieve some other goal you have set yourself. By being able to convince the subconscious mind that you believe you can achieve this, your subconscious then acknowledges this by reaffirming your belief in the form of faith. This is done through a process called auto suggestion which will be explained in more detail later.
It is difficult for people to strengthen faith if they are lacking it or don’t have any to start with! However, it is achievable and it is done by a process which involves encouraging positive thoughts and emotions in the subconscious mind rather than negative ones. This can be more clearly understood if you take a moment to think about how people fall into negative habits such as alcoholism. When a drinker remembers their first ever drink they will more than likely say they did not enjoy it. After becoming accustomed to drinking regularly and enduring the bad side effects they eventually start to embrace alcohol and ultimately begin to rely on it. This example suggests that if thought impulses of any kind are repeated and encouraged then that person will seek to express those thoughts through their actions. If the thoughts are positive and result in constructive actions then faith may be strengthened.
Many of the most creative scientists in history have realized the true importance of the subconscious mind. Edison, Marconi, Einstein, and many others have used the subconscious mind to give them the insight and the “know-how” to bring about their great achievements. The ability to bring into action the power of the subconscious mind is one of the most important factors in determining the success of great scientific and research workers.
If thoughts are backed by strong emotions such as faith and love then they have more chance of being expressed through actions. Therefore your actions can be affected by any strong emotion whether it is positive and productive or negative and destructive. If you are to become successful in whatever goals you have set yourself in life then you need to avoid negative emotions and encourage positive ones. As a consequence you will acquire a subconscious mind that will start to act upon all the positive emotions including faith.
One of the most common causes of a lack of faith is low self confidence. This can be overcome through a similar process to the one just mentioned. If you take the time to write down all your positive experiences and attributes and then read these to yourself daily, you will find that the repeated positive affirmations will reassure you of your accomplishments subconsciously and restore faith. Please follow these instructions right now and you can achieve future success
The following few principles outline methods to help with faith and self confidence.
First; you need to realise that you have the ability to meet your main objectives in life. This means you need to be persistent at all times in chasing your aims even when there are signs of initial failure.
Second; you must spend some time in the day just thinking positively about yourself and where you want to go in life. A mind dominated by positive thoughts will eventually express desirable physical actions. You can also turn your ‘positive thoughts’ into ‘Power Thoughts.’ With positive thinking, we believe that our thoughts are true. Power thinking recognises that nothing has meaning except for the meaning we give it. Since we are making up the story anyway, we might as well make up one that supports us.
Third; you should have your ultimate dream goal written down and you must promise yourself that you will never give up trying to achieve that goal even if you are not, at that time, confident enough; you will be eventually.
Fourth; you should take advantage of others to achieve your goals. You will be able to succeed by putting the hard work in yourself which will make the rewards all the sweeter. A negative attitude to people will not bring success. However, by making others believe in your ability you will reaffirm your self belief.
Repeat these principles and you will find that you are able to increasingly influence your subconscious mind. This process of positive thinking has been called auto-suggestion and is a key to the success of many. In short if you think that you will fail then it is likely that you will, but if you convince yourself that you will succeed then you have more chance of doing so. The people that win in today’s world are the ones that know they can.
Whether you think You Can or whether you think You Cannot; You will always be right! You can achieve your dreams but only if you really, really want to.

Every single successful person I have met has used this technique and believe me they are really living their dreams.

In his classic work, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill describes 13 steps Towards Riches. Step 1 Desire During the recent Olympic Games, I don’t think any Gold Medals were won by people who turned up hoping for the best. The people who won the Gold Medals were different; they had a dominating dream of their life, to be the best! They had a Dream of Winning; a Desire to be the champion. They knew exactly what they wanted in life; that’s what makes people who are highly successful different from the rest. In Lewis Carrol’s classic story, Alice arrived at a crossroads and was unsure which road to take. She asked the Cheshire Cat which route she should follow and he said, “That will depend on where you are going!” Alice replied that she did not know where she was going, so the cat replied, “Then it doesn’t really matter which road you take.” This story shows that without a desire or goal, you are just going to wander aimlessly. However, the achievers in our world, the Pop Stars; the Top Sports Stars and all self made millionaires, they all got to where they are because they knew exactly what they wanted to achieve in their lives, they have a burning DESIRE. The first step to success is knowing what you desire so that you can recognise the success when you reach it. Napoleon Hill, spelled it out perfectly when he said, “What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve, regardless of how many times you have failed in the past and how fanciful your ideas may be.” Whatever desire a person has, it will only be fulfilled if some of the following actions are taken. Firstly a person must realise what it is they need to make them content with their lives and give themselves step by step aims. Then they need to consider how much work they need to put in if they are ever to begin achieving those aims. Next they should set a deadline for reaching their final goal and then create a plan with a timeline highlighting how and when they will go about their tasks. To achieve their goal and satisfy their desire, this knowledge must be updated and read out regularly. All of the great achievers throughout history have one thing in common. They have all been dreamers or desirers. If anyone is to achieve their goals in life then the first thing they need to do is establish what their desires are. That’s what makes people who are highly successful different from the rest – they know exactly what they want in life. Simply wishing for success is insufficient. If anyone is to make any steps towards their definite objectives then they need to have a determined attitude, bordering on obsession, to fulfil that desire. It does not matter what your desire is. It may be a desire to excel in business, it could be a desire to learn a new skill, or it could involve a desire to change aspects of your personal life. All who achieve great things adopt a similar philosophy when setting themselves goals. The best writers, artists, sportsmen, inventors, musicians and scientists, along with many other pioneers of modern professions, all follow the process of putting their thoughts into action successfully when backed by a burning desire. Everyone, no matter what their chosen path in life may be, will start in the same situation with nothing but their thoughts and desires to spur them on. Many people lack self confidence and are unwilling to set their aims higher through fear of failing. This sometimes develops due to people close to them discouraging them because they feel they are unrealistic with their goals and life choices. It may be that friends and family do not approve and so use ridicule to prevent their loved one from making what they feel is a mistake. However, these people need to realise that we live in a world that continually throws us new and unique opportunities. The world only became modernised with the efforts of the creative and productive generations before us. Without the burning desire that these people had we might never have discovered the power to travel abroad by plane, communicate with the other side of the world by phone and order something from overseas by the net. With the development of technology and the industrialisation of the world, we now have more job opportunity and diversity than we have ever had. Even in the current economic climate of doom and gloom, there has never been a better time in the whole of history for everyone to realise their dreams. We must continue to follow the same methods of pioneers before us by taking the courage to act upon our thoughts with conviction and fulfil our burning desires. All negative influences must be avoided, this is important. There is no excuse for procrastination, and laziness. It is easy for people to say they want to achieve but in reality they will only start to realise their goals once they take those first steps in which they make a plan outlining the route to success. Everyone has to start somewhere and not everything will go to plan. The achievers of this world are not discouraged by initial failure, this is fundamental to their success. There is no shame in failing before you finally succeed as all successful people will testify. With every failure comes the chance to learn something new for another opportunity. All achievements no matter how significant they are to others begin with a burning desire to get the result intended. In the human mind there is a power that is hard to explain. It is the ability to focus positive thoughts on achieving the thing that is wanted most. Success is sometimes a thing that at first seems impossible. The word ‘impossible’ has no significance to someone who possesses a burning desire.