“A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it”
Marcus Aurelius
What is The Strangest Secret In The World?
The Strangest Secret is an essay by Earl Nightingale that is regarded as one of the most powerful and most influential messages of the past century. It was originally a spoken word record and this information has now been circulated for 65 years, and yet is not known by the general public.
The Strangest Secret shares one simple concept.
How to be incredibly successful.
This book contains the knowledge and a roadmap to let you achieve the life that you want to live and become the best version of yourself.
It doesn’t matter if you want to be a millionaire or a successful teacher. This ultimate law, as expressed by Nightingale, will enable you to achieve whatever it is you deem is successful.
How do you define success?
Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal
Earl Nightingale
Put simply:
You will never be succesful unless you know where you want to get in life.
By knowing what it is you want in life – you can get it.
The inverse, therefore, is also true…
If you don’t have clear goals, and ideas that you wish to achieve in life then you shall be ‘unsuccessful’. This doesn’t mean that you might not live a good life, but compared to people who excel in life, you’ll only just be coasting along.
How to become successful – according to The Strangest Secret
The book starts by stating that most people don’t think nowadays, so out of 100 people, only 1 will be rich and 4 financially independent when they’re 65.
The vast majority of people act like the 95% of people who aren’t financially successful, so they end up the same.
The only person to succeed is the one who says ‘I’m going to become this’ and works towards their goals.
“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice – it is conformity”
Earl Nightingale
People with clear goals (vision boards, lists, schedules and action plans) have a far greater chance of being successful then others who don’t have this. This is simply because they know where they’re going in life!
It’s that simple…
“We become what we think about”
If you want to be successful understand this:
Successful people have goals. They say that they’re going to achieve their goals and begin and continue to work to that goal. Success isn’t the outcome…
You have to be successful to make money, you don’t become successful by making money.
The key is having goals!
An Example of The Strangest Secret
People with goals succeed because they know what they want, so they can work on how to get there!
Think of it like this…
If you want to go to Germany and you live in France, you have a much higher chance of getting there if you work out which direction it is and what transport could take you there. Just stumbling around and surviving day to day won’t get you there!
The example used given by Earl Nightingale is that if you equip a ship with a captain, a crew and a destination 99.99% of the time it’ll get where it desires. Whereas, if you send a ship going without a captain, crew, or idea for destination if it even gets out of the harbour it’ll end up a shipwreck.
Think Positively, Not Negatively
In The Strangest Secret, there is also an emphasis on thinking in positive terms.
If you think positively, you’ll get positive results.
If you think negatively, you’ll get negative results.
When you’re thinking about what it is you want in life:
- Picture already having achieved the goal
- See yourself doing the things you will be doing when you have what you want
Most people don’t apply these simple principles of having a goal and seeing yourself having achieved it – thats why most people fail.
Having a goal gets you further than 95% of people!
But…
It’s not enough to just know this. You have to take action… Know what you want and work towards it and trust that you’ll be guided to success – you must think positively about your problem
A 5-Step Action Plan to Success
One:
Think – You become what you think about every day
Two:
Imagine – Allow your mind to wander and want whatever it wants. Impose no limitations on yourself. When you set yourself free you can do a lot more than it seems
Three:
Courage – Concentrate on your goals every day and work towards your goals every day also
Four:
Save – Save 10% of all money you make. This way you’ll slowly build up a safety net and move onto investing for your future
Five:
Action – You must take action! Ideas are worthless unless we act upon them. Work every day
Need help keeping on top of your goals? Read my post on Why You Need a Weekly To-Do List
A tip for keeping focused on your goals
Write what you want on a card and keep it with you all the day. Follow the steps above and see your success!
“Think about your goals in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when you get up, and immediately you have something to work for – something to get out of bed for, something to live for.”
Earl Nightingale
Read More:
These books are similar to The Strangest Secret that explain this ultimate law is other ways. They go at this ultimate law and call it positive thinking, or manifestation, or the law of attraction and even God / The Architect of the Universe. It really doesn’t matter what you call it, it works the same for everyone – whether you’re aware of it or not.
The Secret:
The Secret is a book by Rhonda Byrne and talks about The Law of Attraction and how you can use it to shape your life. It is incredibly similar to The Strangest Secret and covers a lot of the same content. Personally, I prefer Earl Nightingales version. I think it’s more actionable and realistic although there are people who swear by what Byrne discovered and published.
You can also watch The Secret as a documentary and it has a movie based after it! (I do actually really like the movie – I can’t lie)
Buy Now: The Secret – Amazon
It Works! The Little Red Book
I love this book. I say books, it’s basically a pamphlet it’s that short! It is the thing that has most resonated with me out of everything else!
I’ve reviewed It Works! on Learned Men already and I’ve read this tiny pamphlet nearly a dozen of times!
Buy Now: It Works! – Amazon
The Power of Positive Thinking:
The Power of Positive Thinking was first introduced to me by watching Steve Harvey’s videos on YouTube. If you don’t want to listen to me, at least listen to Steve Harvey – he’s turned his life around from where he started in life and knows very well how to become a millionaire.
This book was published a few years before The Strangest Secret and in all honesty was probably an influence. It’s author Norman Vincent Peale knew well that to change your life, you have to change your thinking. And not just once in a while, but you need to be in control of your brain and your thoughts on a daily basis.
Buy Now: The Power of Positive Thinking – Amazon
A Recap of The Strangest Secret:
You can have everything you desire in life.
If you let yourself.
Think about what you want positively, visualise it and take daily action on your goals. What do you have to lose?
Buy now: The Strangest Secret – Amazon
If you enjoyed this book summary and found it useful comment below. Also, let us know if you’ve read The Strangest Secret
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