The Strangest Secret is an audio recording by Earl Nightingale produced in 1956. It summarizes some of the same ideas as the famous book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The audio can be found on YouTube among other places. This blog post is my attempt to summarize the information contained there. I think it is still very relevant today, 75 years later. Everyone wants to be successful, yet so few are. Why? That is the story of the Strangest Secret.
Success
Earl says that we live today in a golden age. An era that man has looked forward, dreamed of and worked toward for thousands of years. And those in America are particularly lucky, living in the richest land that has ever existed on the face of the Earth. As I said, this was spoken in 1956. Compare this to how much further progress has been made since then. Now we have advanced technologies like robots and artificial intelligence. Of course technology has its drawbacks, but I think we cannot seriously argue that there are less opportunities in the world today than in 1956.
Why is it then that so few people are successful, given there is such an abundance of opportunities and wealth in the world today? That is the key question that Earl Nightingale asks. Lets take 100 men who start even at the age of 25. All of the them want to be successful and are eager towards life. What will happen by the time they are 65 years old? One will be rich and 4 will be financially independent. Only 5 out of 100 make the grade. Why do so many fail to become successful? And why is there such a large disparity between what these men intended to do, and what they actually accomplished?
When we say only 5 percent become successful, we have to define what is success. Here is the definition:
Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.
If a man is working towards a predetermined goal and knows where he is going, that man is a success. If he is not doing that, he is a failure. Earl says that the main cause of failure in the world today is conformity. That is people just doing what everyone else is doing, instead of thinking independently.
Who succeeds? The man who chooses a goal and then begins to work towards that goal deliberately. A success is the schoolteacher who is teaching children because that is what she wanted to do. The woman who is a wife and a mother because she wanted to become a wife and a mother, and is doing a good job of it. The man who runs the corner gas station, because that is what he wanted to do. The success is the salesman who wants to become the top salesman of his organization. A successful person is anyone who is doing deliberately a predetermined job, because that is what he decided to do, deliberately. But only 1 out of 20 does that.
Secret
Earl asked whether there is a key that would guarantee that a person becomes successful, if he only knows about it and how to use it? Turns out that there is such a key. And this is what he calls the strangest secret. Here is the key to success, and the key to failure:
We become what we think about.
Throughout history the great wise men, teachers and philosophers have disagreed about many things, but on this one thing they all agree.
Marcus Aurelius said:
A man's life is what his thoughts make of it.
Disraeli said:
A human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it. Nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfillment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
A man is what he thinks about all day long.
William James said:
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.
We need only to act as if the thing in question were real, and it will become infallibly real by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real.
If you only care enough for a result, you will almost certainly attain it.
If you wish to be rich, you will become rich. If you wish to become learned, you will become learned. If you wish to become good, you will be good. Only you must really wish these things and wish them exclusively. And not wish at the same time a hundred incompatible things just as strongly.
In the Bible, in Mark 9:23 it reads:
If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Norman Vincent Peale said:
This is one of the greatest laws in the universe. Fervently do I wish I had discovered it as a very young man. It dawned upon me much later in life. The Great Law briefly and simply stated is that if you think in negative terms, you'll get negative results. If you think in positive terms, you will achieve positive results.
Willian Shakespeare said:
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.
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. Therefore it follows that a person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwile goal is going to reach it, because that is what he is thinking about. Conversely, what about the man who has no goal and who doesn't know where he is going? His thoughts are filled with confusion, anxiety, fear and worry. He also becomes what he thinks about. And if he thinks about nothing, he becomes nothing.
If our mind is so powerful, why don't people use it more? Unfortunately humans do not tend to place much value on something that was given to us for free. We value things that we pay money for, such as houses, cars and diamonds. The paradox is that the reverse is true. Everything that is really valuable in life came to us free. Our mind, body and soul. Our hopes, dreams and ambitions. Our health and intelligence. Our love of family and children and friends. The things that cost money are actually very cheap and can be replaced at any time. Even if your house burns down it can be built again. But the things we got for nothing we can never replace. The human mind isn't used merely because we take it for granted. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Decide now what is it that you want. Plant your goal firmly in your mind. It is the most important decision that you will ever make in your entire life. All you have to do is to plant that seed in your mind, care for it, and work steadily towards your goal. It must become a reality as that is a law of nature like the laws of physics. Think about your goal in a relaxed and positive way. Picture yourself as having already achieved this goal. Imagine yourself doing the things you will be doing when you have reached your goal.
Everyone of us is the sum total of his own thoughts. He is where he is, because that is exactly where he really wants to be. Whether he'll admit it or not.
This is the strangest secret in the world. But actually it is not a secret at all, as it was promulgated by the earliest wise men, and it appears many times in the Bible. But very few people have learned it and understand it. That's why it is strange and virtually remains a secret. Earl says that you could walk on the street of your town and ask one man after another what the secret of success is, and you would not run into one man in a month who could tell you.
The greatest teacher of all, the carpenter from the plains of Galilee gave us the secret time and time gain:
As ye believe, so shall it be done, unto you.
30 Day Test
Earl suggest doing a test for 30 days. However, we can achieve nothing without paying the price. The results of the 30 day experiment will be in direct proportion to the effort you put forth. What is the price?
First, it is understanding emotionally and intellectually that we literally become what we think about. We must control our thoughts if we are to control our lives. Understanding fully that as you sow, so shall you reap.
Secondly, it is cutting away all the limitations from the mind and permitting it to soar as it was divinely designed to do. It's the realization that your limitations are self-imposed and that the opportunities for you today are enormous beyond belief. It's rising above narrow-minded pettiness and prejudice.
Thirdly, use all your courage to force yourself to think positively on your own problem. To set a definite and clearly defined goal for yourself. To let your marvelous mind think about your goal from all possible angles. To let your imagination speculate freely upon many different possible solutions. To refuse to believe that 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.
Fourth, save at least 10 percent of what you earn. Also remember that no matter what your present job, it has enormous possibilities if you're willing to pay the price.
Each of us wants something and each of us is afraid of something. Write on a card what it is that you want, more than anything else. It may be more money. It may be a beautiful home. It may be success at your job or a particular position in life. It could be a more harmonious family. Write on your card what you want specifically. Make sure it is a single goal and clearly defined. Carry it with you so that you can look at it several times a day. Think about it in a cheerful, relaxed and positive way each morning when you get up. Look at it during the day and just before going to bed at night. Remember that 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 you write it down and begin to think about it. Look at the abundance all around you as you go about your daily business. You have as much right to this abundance as any other living creature. It's yours for the asking!
Now we come to the difficult part. Difficult because it means the formation of a brand new habit and new habits are not easily formed. Once formed however, it will follow you for the rest of your life. 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. There will come times when you feel like giving up. It's easier for a human being to think negatively than positively. For 30 days you must take control of your mind. Your mind 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 and positive outlook, give of yourself more than you've ever done before. Do this in 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're immediately a successful person. You are then in that rare category of people who know where they are going. Out of 100 people, you belong to the top 5. 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 have to know is where you are going. The answers will come to you of their own accord.
Remember these words from the Sermon on the Mount and keep them constantly before you for this month of your test:
Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
For everyone 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. In fact it's so simple that in our seemingly complicated world it's difficult for an adult to understand that all he needs is a purpose and faith.
For 30 days, do your job like you have never done it before. Not in a hectic fashion, but with a calm, cheerful assurance that time well spent will give you the abundance that you deserve and want. If you have kept your goal before you every day, you'll wonder and marvel at this new life you have found.
Dorothea Brande writes about the secret in her book Wake Up and Live. Her entire philosophy is reduced to the words:
Act as though it were impossible to fail.
If you fail the test during the 30 days, meaning you find yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts, you have to start over again from that point and go 30 more days. Gradually your new habit will form until you find yourself one of that wonderful minority to whom virtually nothing is impossible. Don't forget the card, it's vitally important. On one side of the card write your goal. On the other side, write the words from the Sermon on the Mount.
Nothing great was ever achieved without inspiration. See that during these crucial first 30 days, your own inspiration is kept at a peak. Above all, don't worry. Worry brings fear, and fear is crippling. Know that all you have to do, is hold your goal before you. Everything else will take care of itself. Remember also to keep calm and cheerful. Don't let petty things annoy you and get you off course.
Why do the test? Look at the alternative. No-one wants to be a failure. No-one wants to be a mediocre individual. No-one wants a life filled with worry, fear and frustration. Remember that you must reap what you sow. If you sow negative thoughts, your life will be filled with negative things. If you sow positive thoughts, your life will be cheerful, successful and positive.
Most men say they want to make money. But the only people who make money work at the mint. The rest of us must earn money. This is what causes those to fail who keep looking for something for nothing or a free ride. The only way to earn money is to provide people with services or products which are needed and useful. Our financial return will be in direct proportion to our service.
Success is not the result of making money. Making money is the result of success. And success is in direct proportion to our service. Most people have this law backwards. They believe that they are successful if they earn a lot of money. The truth is that you can only earn money after you are successful.
Prosperity is founded on a law of mutual exchange. Any person who contributes to prosperity, must prosper in turn himself. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. As you go through your 30 day test, remember that your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render. No man can get rich himself, unless he enriches others. This is the price you must pay for what you want. If you believe you can enrich yourself by deluding others, you can only end by deluding yourself. It may take some time, but just as surely as you breathe, you'll get back what you put out.
Psychiatrist David Harold Fink gave these six steps that will help you realize success:
- Set yourself a definite goal
- Quit running yourself down
- Stop thinking all the reasons why you cannot be successful, instead think of all the reasons why you can
- Trace your attitudes back to childhood and discover where you first got the idea that you could not be a success
- Change the image you have of yourself by writing out a description of the person you would like to be
- Act the part of the successful person you have decided to become
Do the test for 30 days. Then repeat it. And repeat it again. Each time it will become more a part of you until you wonder how you could have ever lived any other way. Live this new way and the floodgates of abundance will open and pour over you more riches than you may have dreamed existed. Money, yes, lots of it. But more importantly, peace. You'll be in that wonderful minority who lead calm, cheerful, successful lives. Start today. You have nothing to lose, but you have a life to win.
Personal Comments
Very powerful words from a wise man! If one wants to learn something, it is very helpful to write it down, such as in the form of this blog post. It is also useful to consume information more than once. You will pick up something interesting on the second or third time that you missed initially. That is how the human brain accumulates knowledge and habits, through repetition.
For me personally, I have struggled lately with negative thoughts. I have done well on setting goals and wanting to be successful, but I have been unable to attend the other side, which is peace of mind. Having too much worry and stress has even affected my sleeping negatively. After going over the Strangest Secret again for writing this blog post, I understood how important it is to avoid negative thoughts. I will definitely have to work hard on that part from now on to improve my quality of life!
And yes, if you are curious, I did make a little card and wrote my goal on it as suggested. Lets see what the next 30 days bring!