The Strangest Secret

The Strangest Secret is a profound audio recording from Earl Nightingale in 1956. You can read about Earl Nightingale on his official website by following this link here. On this page you can find the following quote;

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”. He realized that he had been reading the same truth over and over again, from the New Testament, in the sayings of Buddha, in the writings of Lao Tse, to the works of Emerson. “We become what we think about.” “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” “As the horse goes, so follows the cart.”

He is yet another person whose life changed after reading Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich.

This audio track is an explanation of the quote listed above. It’s very well recorded and Earl speaks in a strong, booming voice. I find it inspirational. Everything he says seems to make sense.

The funniest thing is that “the strangest secret” isn’t really strange and it isn’t a secret, it’s just that we seem to be conditioned to easily forget about it and to need regular reminding.

If you listen to it, I’d love to hear what you make of it. Please share your thoughts – either positive or negative – in the comments below. 

My Extended Notes – The Strangest Secret

Most of these are approximate quotes from the recording.

• of 100 similar men at age 25,  then at age 60, 1 will be rich, 4 will be financially independent and 54 will be broke – even though they all believed they will be a success and wanted to be a success
• “success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal”
• the trouble today is not cowardice but conformity
• “instead of competing, all we have to do is create”
• people with goals succeed because they know where they are going
• story of ship that always gets to its destination, but without a crew and a plan, it will run aground
• it’s the same with the human being (our mind is like a powerful ship, but we have to guide it)
• “we become what we think about”
• throughout history, great and wise men have agreed unanimously on this point
• thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear and worry lead to a life full of these things
• story of the mind being like fertile land – it will grow whatever is planted – it doesn’t care if it’s a noxious weed or a useful crop
• the human mind doesn’t care if we plant success or failure – it will return what we plant
• we take our minds for granted
• the human mind can achieve anything we care to assign it but usually we assign it only little jobs instead of big important ones
• picture yourself in your mind’s eye have already achieved the goal you want
• each one of us is the sum total of his thoughts
• story of the man perched up high on a huge earth moving machine – the mind is like that machine – do we want to try and control it or just let it run into a ditch?
• our limitations are self-imposed
• imagination – let you mind soar
• concentrate on your goal every day
• act decisively and quickly when you course is clear
• don’t need to worry about how you will get to your goal, we just need to have a goal, the answers will come to us of their own accord
• act as though it were impossible to fail
• persistence is just another word for faith – if you didn’t have faith, you wouldn’t persist
• nothing great was ever accomplished without inspiration
• above all, don’t worry – worry brings fear and fear is crippling
• all you have to do is hold your goal before you – everything else will take care of itself
• keep calm and cheerful
• “success is not the result of making money, making money is the result of success, and success is in direct proportion to our service”
• we have to put the fuel in a stove before we can get heat
• don’t be concerned with money – focus on service