The Strangest Secret

by Earl Nightingale

Lets take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25. Do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they are 65? These 100 people, who all stat even at the age of 25, all believe they're going to be successful. If you ask any one of them if they want to be a success they would tell you they did. You would notice that they are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage. Life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them. But by the time they are 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, 41 will still be working, and 54 will be broke - depending on others for life's necessities.

"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal."

If someone is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where they are going, that person is a success.

Conformity ... people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or without knowing where they are going.

A success is anyone who is pursuing deliberately a predetermined goal, because that's what he or she decided to do ... deliberately.

Have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful? On the other hand, have you noticed how someone who is a failure tends to continue to fail? The difference is goals. Some of us have goals, some don't. People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.

The entire economy is slowed down to protect its weakest link, just as the convoy has to go at the speed that will permit its slowest vessel to remain in formation.

"We become what we think about".

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."

only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them exclusively, and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly."

George Bernard Shaw said: "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them.

"We become what we think about."

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where they are going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear, and worry becomes what they think about. Their life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety, and worry.

Everything that's really worthwhile in life came to us free: our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country.

A good man can be completely wiped out and make another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if our home burns down, we can rebuild it. But the things we got for nothing, we can never replace.

Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts.

We are where we are because that is exactly where we really want or feel we deserve to be - whether we'll admit that or not.

The same rule that can lead people to lives of success, wealth, happiness, and all the things they ever dreamed of for themselves and their family That very same law can lead them into the gutter. It's all in how it is used: for success ... or for failure. This is The Strangest Secret in the world.

First, it is understanding emotionally as well as intellectually that we literally become what we think about, that we must control our thoughts if we are to control our lives. It is understanding fully that: "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Second, it is cutting away all fetters from the mind and permitting it to soar as it was divinely designed to do. It is the realization that your limitations are self imposed, and the opportunities for you today are enormous beyond belief. It is rising above narrow minded pettyness and prejudice.

And third, it is using all your courage to force yourself to think positive...

And fourth, save at least ten cents of every dollar you earn.

New habits are not easily formed. Once formed however, they will follow you for the rest of your life.

Each time a fearful or negative thought comes into your conscious mind, replace it with a mental picture of your positive and worthwhile goal. And there will come times when you'll feel like giving up. It's easier for a human being to think negatively than positively. That's why only five percent are successful!

For 30 days you must take control of your mind. It will think about only what you permit it to think about.

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 toward, you immediately are a successful person.

Don't concern yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal. Leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. The answers will come to you of their own accord and at the right time. All you have to know is where you are going.

"Act as though it were impossible to fail"

If you should fail within your first 30 days, by that I mean finding yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts - you have to start over again from that point and go 30 more days.

Nothing great was ever accomplished without inspiration.

Worry brings fear, and fear is crippling. The only 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.

Earning money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to our service.

If you believe you can enrich yourself by deluding others, you can end only by deluding yourself. It may take some time, but as surely as you breathe, you will get back what you put out.

An outstanding medical doctor recently pointed out six steps that will help you realize success. 1. Set yourself a definite goal. 2. Quit running yourself down. 3. Stop thinking of all the reasons why you cannot be successful and instead think of all the reasons why you can. 4. Trace your attitudes back through your childhood and discover where you first got the idea that you could not be successful if that is the way you've been thinking. 5. Change the image you have of yourself by writing out a description of the person you would like to be. 6. Act the part of the successful person you have decided to become.