In Earl Nightingale’s Gold Record status audio program – The Strangest Secret, he pointed out a few glaring facts of the American society at that time.
•Of a 100 individuals who started at the age of 25 believing that they’re going to be successful,
•Only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke and dependent on others for life’s necessities by the time they reach 65.
•Only five out of 100 make the grade to be successful!
Goals are the key difference between someone who is successful, continues to be successful and have the “magical touch” versus the 95 percentile of people who fail.
In Nightingale’s transcription, he went on that throughout history, the great wise men, teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. The only thing that they are in complete and unanimous agreement about the key to success and failure is this: we become what we think about. To him, this is The Strangest Secret! Why does he say it’s strange, and why does he call it a secret?
The strange thing is that it isn’t a secret at all. Throughout history, this phrase “we become what we think about” was constantly discussed, shared and broadcast by some of the earliest wise men. But very few people have learnt it or understood it. That’s why it’s strange, and why for the same strange reason it still remains a secret.
The human mind is much like a farmer’s land. The land gives the farmer a choice. He may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care what is planted. It’s up to the farmer to make the decision. The mind, like the land, will return whatever you plant. If the farmer plants two seeds: one a seed of corn and the other nightshade, a deadly poison, he waters and takes care of the land, the land will return the same poison and corn. Similarly, we become what we think about. A person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that’s what he’s thinking about. Conversely, the person who has no goals, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear, and worry will thereby create a life of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing… he becomes nothing.
However, why are human beings only utilizing 10% of our mind’s power? The problem is that our mind comes as standard equipment at birth. It’s free. And things that are given to us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money for, we value.
The paradox is that exactly the reverse is true. Everything that’s really worthwhile in life actually comes to us free: our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love for our family, children, friends and country are usually irreplaceable. However, the things that cost us money can be replaced at any time. A wealthy man can be completely wiped out of his fortune but can make another fortune if he puts his mind to it. In fact, he can do that several times. Even if our home burns down, we can rebuild it. On the other hand, there are many things that we got for nothing but we can never replace, such as our family, our health, our minds, and etc.
Nightingale suggested that it is important to follow the following 4 steps to be successful:
1.Since we become what we think about, it is important to control our thoughts.
2.Do not put limitations on ourselves and our abilities, we should believe and soar to our maximum potential.
3.We should have courage, think positively and have a set of clear and defined goals.
4.We should save at least 10% of our earnings.
5.It is important to take action as ideas are worthless if not acted upon.
As discussed in the success stories of my previous chapter “Believe…and Succeed! Your Personality can affect your Mode of Action”, whatever it is you believe will happen, IT WILL HAPPEN! Since to most people there is no such thing as the perfect job, career or the perfect relationship and we may not be able to solve everything, our notion of happiness should not be the attainment of such. Instead, we should be positive, set goals to improve our current status and take actions to achieve these goals. To be successful and happy, before the setting of goals and taking of decisive action to reach the set goals, it is fundamental to understand yourself and your intrinsic talents and skills, believing that change for the better is possible. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. Think of a ship with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew will know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take to reach its destination as it has a definite goal. Similarly, whenever you get into a car, you will have to first identify a destination and map out the route in order to reach your targeted end point.
If you would like to know your unique personality profile based on the time-tested Bazi – Asian personality profiling system, you can get the following personalized reports online:
- Your Career Suitability Report – https://happyandsuccess.com/product/career-suitability-report
- Your Personalized Good Directions for Success – http://bazicalculator.janetyung.com/
Janet Yung (amazon.com/author/janetyung)
Feng Shui and Bazi Consultant. Author. Harmony Adviser.
References:
Earl Nightingale
(March 12, 1921 – March 28, 1989)
Earl Nightingale was an American Radio personality, Writer, respected Speaker and Author, dealing mostly on the subjects of Human Character Development, Motivation, Excellence and Meaningful Existence; so named as the “Dean of Personal Development.“[1] Quoting from the Earl Nightingale official website: “When he was 29, Earl’s enlightenment had come to him as a bolt out of the blue while reading, Think and Grow Rich. It came when he realized that the six words he read were the answer to the question he had been looking for! That, ‘we become what we think about’. In 1956 he produced a spoken word record, The Strangest Secret[2], which sold over a million copies, making it the first spoken-word recording to achieve Gold Record status[3, 4].
[1]The Nassau Guardian – Meteorological Myths – Editorial Colume – 30 June – 2003.
[2]Nightingale, E. The Strangest Secret. Retrieved on 2 September, 2015 from http://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangestsecret/ #sthash.ZsGZCeXI.dpuf
[3]Mark Victor Hansen: Listen to Earle Nightingale and The Strangest Secret
[4]Kugel, A. (2007) Bob Proctor from The Secret shares His Insights on Learning, Creating Prosperity & The Law of Attraction. Retrieved on 2 September, 2015 from http://www.pr.com/article/1064
