Napoleon Hill saves the most mysterious and powerful concept for last. The Sixth Sense is the thirteenth principle in Think and Grow Rich, and Hill is almost reluctant to explain it — not because he doesn't believe in it, but because he says it cannot be fully understood without mastering the first twelve principles. It's the graduate-level chapter of the entire program. And it's the one that explains why some people seem to just "know" things — where to invest, which idea will work, which person to trust — before the evidence is clear to anyone else.
What Hill Means by the Sixth Sense
Hill defines the Sixth Sense as "that portion of the subconscious mind which has been referred to as the Creative Imagination." It's the faculty through which ideas, plans, thoughts, and warnings are received — not from the conscious thinking mind, but from something deeper. He describes it as the door through which Infinite Intelligence communicates with the individual mind.
In more grounded terms: it's high-level intuition. The kind that comes not from random feelings but from a deeply trained, highly focused subconscious mind that has been fed the right information, emotions, and intentions over a long period of time. The sixth sense is the conscious experience of your deeply programmed subconscious doing its best work.
The Invisible Counselors Technique
Hill shares a personal practice that he used for years and that he says helped develop this faculty: he would hold nightly imaginary meetings with the historical figures he most admired — Lincoln, Carnegie, Edison, Darwin, Napoleon Bonaparte, and others. He would ask them questions. He would imagine their responses based on his deep knowledge of their lives, philosophies, and methods.
Over time, these imaginary meetings began producing ideas and insights that felt like they came from outside himself. Whether this is actually a mystical process or simply a very effective technique for accessing deeply stored knowledge through guided imagination — the results he describes are real and replicable. Many modern coaches and peak performance researchers use similar techniques, typically called "inner board of directors" or "mentor visualization" practices.
Why the First 12 Principles Must Come First
Hill is explicit: you cannot access the Sixth Sense without first developing the other twelve principles. A mind clouded by fear, distracted by poverty consciousness, operating without a definite purpose, and lacking the habit of faith — that mind doesn't have the clarity or the receptivity to access genuine intuitive guidance. The first twelve principles are the preparation. The Sixth Sense is what becomes available when you've done the preparation.
The Modern Parallel
What Hill calls the Sixth Sense, modern peak performance researchers call "intuitive expertise" — the ability of a deeply trained mind to pattern-match at speeds that feel instantaneous and bypass conscious reasoning. Chess grandmasters, elite investors, top surgeons, and exceptional leaders all describe making critical decisions based on something that feels like knowing before the logic catches up. Hill's framework says this is the natural result of a mind deeply trained through desire, faith, specialized knowledge, and years of intentional practice. It's not magic. It's what a well-developed mind becomes capable of. And it's available to anyone willing to build toward it.
