Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, an ordinary man was in a watchtower aboard the battleship Arizona. After the Japanese attack, 1,000 men perished and only 100 crew members survived. This “ordinary man” was one of them.
After the war, he worked in the radio industry in Phoenix and Chicago, and also owned his own insurance business. In 1956 he recorded a message for his insurance sales force. It has since become one of the most famous recordings ever made.
It sold millions of copies and is the only gold record ever achieved within the spoken word industry. It has inspired countless people over the years and has transformed the lives of many. This message is as valuable and relevant today as it has ever been.
For those of you following him, get ready to jump to the top! This “everyman” is called Earl Nightingale and here are parts of the groundbreaking recording of him. “When asked ‘what’s wrong with men today?’ Nobel Prize winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer replied ‘men just don’t think.’
Take 100 men, they all start equally at the age of 25, believing they are going to be successful. At 65, one will be rich, 4 will be financially independent, 5 will continue to work, and 54 will be broke. If you think in negative terms you will get negative results. If you think in positive terms you will get positive results. Only 5% achieve success.
Definition of success:
“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” If you are working towards a certain goal and you know where you are going, you are successful. The progressive realization of a “worthy” ideal
In the book “The man in search of himself”, the author says: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice but conformity.” (People who act like everyone else). At 7 years old we learn to read. At 25 we learn to earn a living and support a family. At 65 we have not learned to be financially independent! We continue to depend on another person for the necessities of life!
Why?
We comply!
People believe that their lives are shaped by circumstances, by external forces, by things that happen to them. In a survey of working men, they were asked “Why do you work?” “Why do you get out of bed in the morning?” Nineteen out of twenty had no idea. They said everyone does it, so they did too. So who is successful? The person who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. The “Key to Success” is: “WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT”. A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it. Success is the school teacher who teaches in school because that is what he wants to do. Success is the woman who is a wife and a mother, and who wants to be, and she is doing well. Success is the man who runs the gas station on the corner because that is his dream and what he wants to do. The secret is to have goals. Take a ship with a captain, a crew, a destination, and a charter, and you’ll almost always get where he wants to go. Then take an empty ship with no captain, no crew, no destination or chart and just start the engines and let it go, it will eventually flood onto a reef or deserted beach for sure. It’s easy to make a living, but it’s hard to beat the tray. Why do people with goals succeed and people without goals fail? The key to success and failure!
A human being can alter his life by altering his mental attitude. Act as if something were real and it will become unfailingly real. If you just care enough about one result, you will almost certainly achieve it. If you want to be rich, you will be rich. If you want to be learned, you will be learned. If you want to be good, you will be good. But desire them exclusively and not many other things with the same force. If you think in negative terms you will get negative results. If you think in positive terms you will get positive results. “BELIEVE AND YOU WILL SUCCEED!”
George Bernard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. Those who advance in this world look for the circumstances they want, and if they don’t find them, they make them.” !” WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK!
WHY?
Compare the human mind to the first fertile land a farmer has. No matter what you plant in it, it’s your choice, the farmer makes the decision! He will give you back what you plant, he doesn’t care what you plant! You can sow success or failure, he will return to you. A concrete worthwhile goal, or confusion. If your mind is full of doubt, anxiety, misunderstanding, fear, worry, and confusion, then your life will be full of the same. Don’t think about anything, you become nothing. What we plant must return to us. It will return anything. Why don’t we use our minds more? Because we are given FREE at birth and whatever is FREE we give little value to. We value the things we pay money for. Nobody wants to be a failure, so remember YOU WILL REAP what you sow!
Everything worthwhile in life is FREE! Our minds, souls, bodies, hopes, dreams, intelligence, love for family, friends and country are priceless. Things that cost money are cheap and can be replaced at any time. You can be completely wiped out and still make another fortune. Even if your house burns down, we can rebuild it, but the things we got for nothing can never be replaced. The human mind is not used because we take it for granted! Familiarity breeds contempt.
He can do any job we want, but we give him small jobs, instead of big, important ones. Universities have shown that most of us operate with 10% or less of our skills. Plant your goal in your mind (a seed) and work towards it, you cannot fail! It is a law of nature. Think about it in a relaxed and positive way. A man 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 admits it or not.
What you think today what you will become tomorrow. You are guided by your mind, it will shape your future.
Picture in your mind that you have already achieved your goal. The law that can give us success can also give us failure. Think of your mind as a huge earth moving vehicle moving hundreds of tons of earth, and you’re perched on top driving it! Do you sit back, cross your arms and let it fall into a ditch, or do you put both hands firmly on the wheel and control/direct this power to a specific worthwhile purpose?
We must control our thinking, use it for good or for bad. Life should be an exciting adventure, never a bore! People are basically good. We come from somewhere and we go somewhere. The architect of the universe did not create a stairway to nowhere. You are the creator of your own life, an artist and sculptor.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That is, we cannot achieve anything without paying the price. The 30-day trial experiment:
1- You will become what you think 2- Let your mind fly (free it) 3- Focus on your goal every day: courage 4- Try to save 10% of your earnings 5- Action
Each of us wants something and each of us is afraid of something. Write whatever you want. Watch it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. You have a right to the natural abundance that surrounds us, it is yours if you ask for it.
The hard part is forming a new habit. Stop thinking about what you fear. Replace it with a positive mental image of your goal. Don’t give up, it’s easy to think negative. Take control of your mind.
Keep a cheerful and positive attitude. Your earnings in life will be in direct proportion to what you give. Once you know where you’re going, it puts you in that top 5% of people who are successful. Don’t worry about how you will achieve your goal. Leave that to a “power” far greater than yourself.
All you have to know is where you’re going. The answers will come to you by themselves at the right time. From “The Sermon on the Mount”: “Seek and you will find” “Ask and it will be given to you” “Knock and it will be opened to you” “To everyone who asks, he will receive” It’s as simple as what!
You just need a purpose and faith! For 30 days do the best you can. Give without receiving in return. Act as if it is impossible to fail. Do your trial for 30 days. If negative thoughts overwhelm you, start over for another 30 days.
Gradually a new habit will form until you find yourself in that wonderful minority for whom practically nothing is impossible. Get yourself a card and on one side write your goal. On the other hand, the quotes from “The Sermon on the Mount”.
Remember, dreams have no deadlines!
Nothing great was ever achieved without inspiration! Nobody wants to be a failure, you reap what you sow! Think positive thoughts! The only people who “earn” money work in a mint. The rest of us EARN money, AFTER you become successful. Success is not the result of making money, making money is the result of success. Don’t sit in front of a stove and say “give me heat and then I’ll add the wood”! We have to put the fuel on before we can expect heat! Similarly, we have to be of service first, before expecting money. Do not worry about the money. Being at the service, building, working, dreaming and creating. Do this and you will see that there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you!
Prosperity is based on a law of mutual exchange. Anyone who contributes to prosperity must prosper in turn. Sometimes it won’t come from those you serve, but it will come from somewhere.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. No man can get rich unless he enriches others! There are NO exceptions to this law. If you want more, you must render more service to those from whom you receive this return. If you want less, you should reduce this service. This is the price you must pay for what you want. If you think that you can enrich your life by deceiving others, you will only deceive yourself thinking that you can avoid it, it is impossible. The prisons are full of those who try to make new laws for themselves. Six steps to help you achieve success: 1. Set a definite goal 2. Stop burning out 3. Stop thinking of reasons to fail and not succeed, think of ways you can succeed 4. Trace attitudes back to your childhood , to when you first told yourself you couldn’t be successful 5. Change your image by writing a description of the person you’d like to be 6. Act like the successful person you’d like to become Pay the price for becoming the person you you want to become. You have nothing to lose, but you have a lifetime to gain!” “THE TRADITION OF LIFE IS NOT THAT IT ENDS TOO SOON, BUT THAT WE WAIT SO LONG TO BEGIN IT.” EARL NIGHTINGALE: AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN.
