The Strange Secret to Success - Earl Nightingale

foreign [Music] I'd like to tell you about The Strangest  Secret in the world some years ago the late Nobel   prize winning Dr Albert Schweitzer was being  interviewed in London and a reporter asked him   doctor what's wrong with men today and the great  doctor was silent a moment and then he said men   simply don't think it's about this that I want to  talk with you we live today in a golden age this   is an era that man has looked forward to dreamed  of and worked toward for thousands of years but   since it's here we pretty well take it for granted  we in America are particularly fortunate to live   in the richest land that ever existed on the  face of the earth a land of abundant opportunity   for everyone but you know what happens well  let's take a hundred men who start even at   the age of 25. do you have any idea what will  happen to those men by the time they're 65   these 100 men who all start even at the age of 25  believe they're going to be successful if you ask   any one of these men if he wanted to be a success  he'd tell you he did and you'd notice it he was   eager toward life that there was a certain Sparkle  to his eye and erectness to his carriage and life   seemed like a pretty interesting adventure to him  but by the time they're 65 one will be rich four   will be financially independent five will still  be working 54 will be broke now take a moment out   of the 100 only five make the grade now why do  so many fail what has happened to these Sparkle   that was there when they were 25 what's become of  the dreams the hopes the plans and why is there   such a large disparity between what these men  intended to do and what they actually accomplished   when we say about five percent achieve success  we have to define success and here's the best   definition I've ever been able to find assess  is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal   if a man is working toward a predetermined goal  and knows where he's going that man is the success   if he's not doing that he's a failure success  is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal   Rallo May the distinguished psychiatrist wrote  a wonderful book called Man's Search for himself   and in this book he says the opposite of  courage in our society is not cowardice   it is conformity and there you have the  trouble today it's Conformity people   acting like everyone else without knowing why  without knowing where they're going now think   of it in America right now there are over  18 million people 65 years of age and older   and most of them are broke they're dependent on  someone else for life's necessities now we learned   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 succeed now why do these people conform  well they really don't know these people believe   that their lives are shaped by circumstances by  things that happen to them by exterior forces   they're outer directed people a survey was made  one time that covered a lot of men working men   and these men were asked why do you work why do  you get up in the morning 19 out of 20 had no idea   if you ask them they'll say well everyone goes  to work in the morning and that's the reason they   do it because everyone else is doing it now let's  get back to our definition of success who succeeds   the only person who succeeds is the person who  is progressively realizing a worthy ideal is the   person who says I'm going to become this and then  begins to work toward that goal I'll tell you who   the successful people are as success is the school  teacher who's teaching school because that's what   he or she wants to do the success is the woman  who's a wife and mother because she wanted to   become a wife and mother and is doing a good job  of it the success is the man who runs the Corner   Gas Station because that was his dream that's  what he wanted to do the success is the successful   salesman who wants to become a top-notch Salesman  and grow and build with his organization a success   is anyone who is doing deliberately a  predetermined job because that's what   he decided to do deliberately but only one out of  20 does that that's why today there isn't really   any competition unless we make it for ourselves  instead of competing all we have to do is create   you know for 20 years I looked for the key which  would determine what would happen to a human being   was there a key I wanted to know which would make  the future a promise that we could foretell to a   large extent was there a key that would guarantee  a person's becoming successful if you only knew   about it and knew how to use it well there is such  a key and I found it have you ever wondered why so   many men work so hard and honestly without ever  achieving anything in particular and others don't   seem to work hard and yet seem to get everything  they seem to have the Magic Touch you've heard   them say that about someone everything he touches  turns to gold and have you ever noticed that a man   who becomes successful tends to continue to become  successful and on the other hand have you noticed   how a man who's a failure tends to continue to  fail well it's because of goals some of us have   goals some don't people with gold succeed because  they know where they're going it's that simple   think of a ship leaving a harbor and think of it  with a complete Voyage mapped out and planned the   captain and crew know exactly where it's going  and how long it'll take it has a definite goal   now 9999 times out of ten thousand it will get to  where it started out to get now let's take another   ship just like the first only let's not put a  crew on it or a captain at the helm let's give   it no aiming point no goal no destination we just  start the engines and Let It Go I think you'll   agree with me that if it gets out of the harbor at  all it'll either sink or wind up on some deserted   Beach at derelict it can't go anyplace because  it has no destination and no guidance and it's   the same with a human being now let's get back  to The Strangest Secret in the world the story   that I wanted to tell you today why do men with  goals succeed in life and men without them fail   well let me tell you something which if you really  understand it will alter your life immediately if   you understand completely what I'm going to tell  you from this moment on your life will never be   the same again you'll suddenly find it good luck  just seems to be attracted to you the things you   want just seem to fall in line and from now  on you won't have the problems the worries   the annoying lump of anxiety that perhaps you've  experienced before doubt fear well there'll be   things of the past here's the key to success and  the key to failure we become what we think about   now let me say that again we become what we  think about throughout all history the great   wise men and teachers philosophers and Prophets  have disagreed with one another on many different   things it's only on this one point that they are  in complete and unanimous agreement listen to what   Marcus Aurelius the great Roman Emperor said  a man's life is what his thoughts make of it   the Israeli said this everything comes if  a man will only wait I've brought Myself by   long meditation to the conviction that a human  being with a subtle purpose must accomplish it   and that nothing can resist a will that will  stake even existence for its fulfillment   Ralph Waldo Emerson said this 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 and he  also said we need Only In Cold Blood 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 it will  become so knit with habit and emotion that our   interests in it will be those which characterize  belief he also said if you only care enough for   a result you will almost certainly attain it if  you wish to be rich you will be rich if you wish   to be learned you will be learned if you wish to  be good you will be good 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 in the Bible  you read in Mark 9 23 if thou canst believe all   things are possible to him that believeth my old  friend Dr Norman Vincent peel put it this way   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  and I found it to be one of the greatest if not   my greatest discovery outside of my relationship  to God the Great Law briefly and simply stated   is that if you think in negative terms you will  get negative results if you think in positive   terms you will achieve positive results  simple fact he went on to say which is at   the basis of an astonishing law of prosperity  and success in three words believe and succeed   William Shakespeare put it this way our doubts are  traitors and make us lose the good we often 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   well that was pretty apparent isn't it  and every person who discovered this for   a while believed that he was the first one  to work it out we become what we think about   now it stands to reason of a person who's  thinking about a concrete and worthwhile   goal is going to reach it because that's what he's  thinking about and we become what we think about   conversely the man who has no goal who doesn't  know where he's 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 and fear and  anxiety and worry and if he thinks about nothing   there's nothing now how does it work why do we  become what we think about well I'll tell you how   it works as far as we know now to do this I want  to tell you about a situation that parallels the   human mind suppose a farmer has some land  and it's good for it to land now the land   gives the farmer a choice he may plant in that  land whatever he chooses the land doesn't care   it's up to the farmer to make the decision now  remember we're comparing the human mind with the   land 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 now let's say  that the farmer has two seeds in his hand one is   a seed of corn the other is Nightshade a deadly  poison he digs two little holes in the earth   and he plants both seeds one corn the other night  shed he covers up the holes Waters and takes care   of the land and what will happen invariably  the land will return what's planted as it's   written in the Bible as ye sow so shall ye reap  now remember the land doesn't care it'll return   poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will  coin so up come the two plants one corn one poison   now the human mind is far more fertile far  more incredible and mysterious than the land   but it works the same way it doesn't care what  we plant success failure a concrete worthwhile   goal or confusion misunderstanding fear anxiety  and so on but what we plant it must return to us   the human mind is the last great unexplored  continent on Earth it contains riches beyond   our wildest dreams it will return anything we  want to plant now you might say well if that's   true why don't people use their minds more well I  think they figured out an answer to that one too   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 was really worthwhile  in life came goes 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 all these Priceless  possessions are free but the things that cost us   money are actually very cheap and can be replaced  at any time a good man can be completely wiped out   and make another Fortune he can do that several  times even if a home burns down we can rebuild   it but the things we got for nothing we can never  replace the human mind isn't used because we take   it for granted familiarity breeds contempt it can  do any kind of job we assign to it but generally   speaking we use it for little jobs instead of big  important ones universities have prove that most   of us are operating on about 10 percent or less  of our abilities so decide now what is it you want   plant your goal in your mind it's the most  important decision you ever make in your   entire life what is it you want you want to be  an outstanding salesman a better worker at your   particular job do you want to go places in your  company in your community do you want to get rich   all you've got to do is plant that seed in  your mind care for it work steadily toward   your goal and it will become a reality it  not only will there's no way that it cannot   you see that's a law like the laws of Sir Isaac  Newton the laws of gravity if you get on top of a   building and jump off you'll always go down you'll  never go up and it's the same with all the other   laws of nature they always work they're inflexible  think about your goal in a relaxed positive way   picture yourself and your mind's eyes having  already achieved this goal see yourself doing   the things you will be doing when you've reached  your goal ours has been called the phenobarbital   age the age of ulcers and nervous breakdowns and  tranquilizers at a time when medical research has   raised us to a new plateau of Good Health and  Longevity far too many of us worry ourselves   into an early grave trying to cope with things in  our own little personal ways without learning a   few great laws that will take care of everything  for us these things we bring on ourselves through   our habitual way of thinking every one of  us is the sum total of his own thoughts   he is where he is because that's exactly where he  really wants to be whether he'll admit that or not   each of us must live off the fruit of his  thoughts in the future because what you think   today and tomorrow next month the next year  will mold your life and determine your future   you're Guided by your mind I remember one time  I was driving through Eastern Arizona and I saw   one of those giant earth-moving machines roaring  along the road at about 35 miles an hour with what   looked like 30 tons of dirt in it a tremendous  incredible machine and there was a little man   perched way up on top with the wheel in his  hands guiding it and as I drove along I was   struck by the similarity of that machine to  the human mind just suppose you're sitting at   the controls of such a vast source of energy are  you going to sit back and fold your arms and let   it run itself into a ditch or are you going to  keep both hands firmly on the wheel and control   and direct this power to a specific worthwhile  purpose it's up to you you're in the driver's seat   you see the very law that gives us success  as a two-edged sword we must control our   thinking the same rule that can lead a man to  a life of success wealth happiness and all the   things he ever dreamed of for himself and his  family at very same walk and lead him into the   gutter salt and how he uses it for good or for  bad this is The Strangest Secret in the world foreign [Music]

Channel: After Skool

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Id: Vifg2LgF_ic

Length: 16min 34sec (994 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2023