The Strangest Secret

by Earl Nightingale

Now we learn to read by the time we’re seven. We learn to make a living by the time we’re 25. Usually by that time, we’re not only making a living, we’re supporting a family. And yet, by the time we’re 65, we haven’t learned how to become financially independent in the richest land that has ever been known. Why? We conform.

And the trouble is that we’re acting like the wrong percentage group -- the

95% who don’t ...

People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.

Conversely, the man who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he is going and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion and anxiety and fear and worry, becomes what he thinks about. His life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry and if he thinks about nothing, he becomes nothing.

Because the mind, like the land, doesn’t care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant.

we can achieve nothing without paying the price.

So many people want success without the work. They see the success but don't know what it took to get there, or don't want to pay the price.

To be successful in selling -- and remember that each of us succeeds to the extent of his ability to sale -- selling our families on our ideas, selling education in schools, selling our children on the advantages of living the good and honest life, selling our associates and employees on the importance of being exceptional people, to, of course, to the profession of selling itself. But to be successful in selling our way to the good life, we must be willing to pay the price. Now what is that price? Well, it’s many things. First, it’s understanding emotionally, as well as intelligently, that we literally become what we think about -- that we must control our thoughts if we are to control our lives. It’s understanding fully that as you sow, so shall you reap.

the opportunities for you today are enormous beyond belief.

to set a definite and clearly defined goal for yourself, to let your marvelous mind think about your goals from all possible angles, to let your imagination speculate freely upon many different possible solutions,

to refuse to believe there are any circumstances sufficiently strong to defeat you in the accomplishment of your purpose, to act promptly and decisively when your course is clear and to keep constantly aware of the fact that you are, at this moment, standing in the middle of your own acre of diamonds, as Russell Cromwell used to point out.

save at least 10 percent of wh...

Now let’s just go over the important points in the price teach of us must pay to achieve the wonderful that can be ours. It is, of course, worth any price. One, you will become what you think about. Two, remember the word imagination. Let your mind soar. Three, courage -- concentrate on your goal everyday. Four, save 10 percent of what you earn, and ACTION! Ideas are worthless unless we act on them.

what it is that you want. Make sure it is a single goal and clearly defined.

look at it several times a day.

Think about it in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when you get up and immediately you have something to work for, something to get out of bed for, something to live for. Look at it every chance you get during the day and just bef...

remember you must become what you think about and since you’re thinking about your goal, you realize that soon it will be yours. In fact, it’s yours, really, the moment ...

Stop thinking about what it is you fear.

Each time a fearful or negative thought comes into your consciousness, replace it with a mental picture of your positive and worthwhile goal.

For 30 days you must take control of your mind. It will think only about what you permit it to think. Each day, for this 30 day test, do more than you have to do. In addition to maintaining a cheerful positive outlook, give of yourself more than you’ve ever done before. Do this knowing that your returns in life must be in direct proportion to what you give. The moment you decide on a goal to work towards you are immediately a

successful person. You are then in that rare and successful category of people who know where they’re going. Out of every 100 people, you belong to the top five.

Don’t concern yourself too much with how you’re going to achieve your goal. Leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you...

Keep them constantly before you this month of your test. “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” It’s as marvelous and simple as that.

“act as though it were impossible to fail.”

by being persistent you’re demonstrating faith.

In your spare time during your test period read books that will help you. Inspirational books like the Bible, Dorothea Brande’s Wake up and Live, The Magic of Believing by Claud Bristol, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and other books that instruct and inspire. Nothing great was ever accomplished without inspiration.

Above all, don’t worry.

thing that can cause you to worry during your test is trying to do it all yourself. Know that all you have to do is hold your goal before you. Everything else will take care of itself.

keep calm and ...

calm and cheerful. Don’t let petty things annoy you and g...

Now gradually, you have a tendency to forget what you’ve read in this book. Read it often. Keep reminding yourself of what you must do to form this new habit. Gather your whole family about and talk about what has been written here at regular intervals.

most men will tell you that they want to make money without understanding the law.

The only way to earn money is by providing people with services or products which are needed and useful. We exchange our product or services for the other man’s money. Therefore, the law is that our financial return will be in direct proposition to our service.

Don’t concern yourself with the money. Be of service. Build. Work. Dream. Create. Do this and you’ll find that there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you.

Sometimes the return will not come from those you serve, but it must come to you from someplace, for that is the law.

No man can get rich himself unless he enriches others.

We may avoid the laws of man, but there are greater laws that cannot be broken.

These are idea killers. And, I’m sure you’ve heard them and many, many more. They stifle creativity. Sometimes, too often really, we use them on others. But even worse, we use them on ourselves. We actually kill our own ideas before they’re given a chance to prove themselves one way or the other.

One: Ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Ideas, like babies, don’t pick their parents. So, be a sponge for ideas. Two: Ideas, particularly in their early stages of development, demand care and attention. They can be crushed all too easily. And three, ideas need encouragement or rather people need to be encouraged to think up ideas and communicate them to us. Try never to be guilty of uttering idea killers. You can never tell when or where you’ll find a good idea.