The Strangest Secret (Earl Nightingale)

Earl Nightingale starts The Strangest Secret with a quote from Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Dr. Schweitzer was asked, “What’s wrong with men today?” his response? “Men simply don’t think.” Say what? But I thought the mind never stops thinking, even when you’re sleeping? What does he mean by “Men simply don’t think”?

According to Earl Nightingale, he means that men’s habit of thought leads them astray, it leads them to failure instead of victory. Earl says that only 5% of men succeed in life. Why? Because the rest of us simply don’t think, or rather, we don’t think effectively.

We all claim we want to succeed in one form or another, but there is always a disparity between the results we achieve and the intentions we set.  Before we accuse people of being unable or unwilling to attain success , let us define it. What is success? Earl Nightingale says success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.

Earl believes people don’t succeed because they believe their life is shaped by outer circumstances, by things that happen to them. If you’ve read Jack Canfield’s Success Principles book you’ll know that this is not true. According to Jack, success is the outcome of your reaction to events, not the events themselves. He shares a world famous formula known as E+R=O (Events + Responses = Outcomes). Events happen to us all, but the thing that differentiates winners from losers is our reaction to these events. Jim Collins shares a similar principle in his best –selling book, Great By Choice, in the chapter about luck.

Collins’ research revealed that luck events happen to all kinds of companies, good luck events as well as bad luck events. What made the difference between companies that succeed and companies that failed is that 10X companies got a better return on their luck, both good and bad luck, compared to their less successful counterparts. What is return on luck? It’s whether you can elicit an advantage for yourself from a luck event. When things are going well, can you capitalize and profit? When things are falling apart, can you turn them around and get some benefit even from the terrible situation?

According to The Strangest Secret, the man who decides what he wants to do with his life, and works steadily towards accomplishing his goal is the man who succeeds. Earl believes people with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. People without goals are like a ship without a captain. They will crash and burn shortly after leaving the harbor because they have no direction, no control and no guidance.

As it turns out, The Strangest Secret is no secret at all. If you want to be successful, you need to have a definite goal. You need to decide how high you want to aim. This is the same sentiment shared by Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich. They were friends, it’s hard to know who influenced whom as it relates to this belief.

Speaking about Think and Grow Rich,  Earl believes that the key to success and the key to failure is that we become what we think  about. To support this belief he quotes Marcus Aurelius who said, “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.” He also quotes William James who said, “Human Beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind.”

He even quotes the Bible in Mark 9:25, which says, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” To bring it all together, he says, “If you think in negative terms, you will get negative results.  If you think in positive terms, you will get positive results. And this is the law of success.”

It’s just nature. Nature made it easier for humans to think negatively than positively. However, don’t let your doubts steal your success and happiness from you. It’s not impossible to alter your habits of thought from negative to positive. It’s not impossible for you to develop a success mindset. Believe that you can do it, and then go out and do it.

Don’t let circumstances dictate your destiny. Be resourceful. Find a way to overcome the challenges standing in your way. Esther Hicks says we attract – we take actions towards - what we think about most, whether we want it or not. If you think positively about your goals, you’re more likely to take actions that help you achieve them. If you think negatively, you’re more likely to move in the opposite direction of what you desire.

Earl compares our mind to a rich, fertile garden. If you plant negative thoughts in this garden, you will get negative results. If you plant positive thoughts, you will get positive results. Because we become what we think about, if you plant failure and misery in your mind, you will reap failure and misery. If you plant wealth, health, and happiness, you’re more likely become happy, healthy and wealthy. He continues, “Decide now what you want. Plant your goal in your mind, and work steadily toward your goal. Picture yourself as having already achieved this goal. See yourself doing the things you will be doing when you’ve reached your goal.”

What you think about and how you think about it will determine your future. Direct you mind towards the goals you want to achieve. Develop your purpose. Strengthen your faith. Bear in mind that your limitations are self-imposed. Guide your thoughts towards nourishing your desires, not your fears.

Earl gives us 5 steps to success that we can follow to truly solidify the findings of The Strangest Secret:

Remember that all that positive thinking, all those goals, all those ideas are worthless unless you take action. And to help you with this, Earl offers a 30-day Challenge designed to get you to take action. He reminds us that the results of this experiment will be in direct proportion to the effort you put forth. So I encourage you to play all out here. I want you to be healthy, happy and wealthy. I want you to forward this article to your friends and encourage them to join the Dollar Success Club where the real, hands-on transformation takes place. Before you invite your friends, download the workbook containing the 30-day Challenge so you can start to see tremendous shifts in your own life.

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