The Fastest Way to Get Rich (From Any Starting Point) | Earl Nightingale

right off the bat let's get rid of the

old myth once and for all that money is

not important it is important vitally

important it's just as important as the

food it buys the shelter it affords the

education it provides and the doctor's

bills it pays money is important to any

person living in civilized society the

amount of money we receive will always

be in direct ratio to the need for what

we do our ability to do it and the

difficulty of replacing us you'd be

amazed at the number of people who want

more money but don't want to take the

time and trouble to qualify for it and

until they qualify for it there's no way

on Earth for them to earn it the

greatest discovery of my generation is

that human beings can alter their lives

by altering their attitudes of Mind life

is interesting only to interesting

people or life is successful only to

successful people now what I'm trying to

say is that you must first become

mentally from an attitude stand point

that which you wish to achieve start now

to become a student of your industry

you'll be amazed at the results in 5

years or less you can become a national

expert in your field and remember it's

the experts who write their own tickets

in life just think of this for a moment

if you can see no limit to the growth of

your industry doesn't it make sense to

realize that there is no limit as to how

far you can progress within its

framework I want to tell you about a

plan you can follow which takes only 1

hour a day 5 days a week and which

brings results out of all proportion to

the time spent hey it's EV Carmichael I

here with Diana Nightingale and what

you're about to watch is the official

version of lead the field so if you want

to support the Nightingale family this

is the version to watch and share Dan

you have anything M I do I'm just really

excited to make it available uh so that

the this generation Next Generation and

generations could to come can get the

same great results with their lives that

so many millions of people all around

the world already have

enjoy hello this is Earl Nightingale

before we start I'd like you to know

that I'm not going to try to tell you

how to live your life that's none of my

business nor is it anybody else's

business that's your business nor is

this program a collection of

pleasantries platitudes or poana it is a

summation of more than 20 years of

research on one subject and that is why

do some people do so well in life while

so many more do not and the first thing

let's talk about is the magic word the

experts call it the most important word

as far as the results we get from Life

are concerned in this or any other

language and that word is attitude it is

our attitude toward life which will

determine life's attitude toward us

let's face the fact honestly that we

shape our own lives and the shapes of

them will be determined by our attitudes

a person with a poor attitude toward

learning for example isn't going to

learn much Ally changes his attitude if

we take the attitude that we cannot do

something we generally will not do it an

attitude of failure and we're whipped

before we start so we know then that

what we receive from Life what we

accomplish or fail to accomplish is due

in large measure to our overall attitude

William James of Harvard University put

it this way the greatest discovery of my

generation is that human beings can

alter their lives by altering their

attitudes of mind

and isn't it wonderful that we have this

measure of control before we start

talking about our attitude toward the

world let's talk about our attitude

toward ourselves since it is the

attitude we take toward ourselves which

determines our attitude toward the world

now right here we come to a rather

strange fact we're so familiar with

ourselves we tend to take ourselves for

granted we tend to minimize the things

we can accomplish the goals we can reach

and for some equally strange reason

believe others can accomplish things in

our field which we cannot there are

literally millions of human beings

living narrow darkened frustrated lives

living defensively simply because they

take a defensive doubtful attitude

toward themselves and as a result toward

life in general many people are

suspicious of and oppose change yet

change is the one thing in life on which

we can absolutely count people who stay

young all the years of their lives not

only welcome change but see it for what

it really is new opportunity new chances

for further

fulfillment attitude is a reflection a

result of a person's will it is

incalculably powerful it can bring about

marvelous results for us but we need to

train it patiently day by day now let's

talk about the attitudes of people who

are successful the top 5% of the people

who go sailing through life from one

success to another and who even when

they fail at something shrug it off and

head right out again no matter matter

who the person is or what he does men

and women in sales business Executives

people in all the professions wives and

mothers students top people in the armed

forces public servants men and women in

the service of religion working men and

women in all fields of endeavor wherever

you find a person doing an outstanding

job and getting outstanding results you

will find a person with the right kind

of attitude these people take the

attitude toward themselves that they can

accomplish what they set out to

accomplish that there's no good reason

on Earth why they can't be competent

successful they have a healthy attitude

toward themselves and as a result toward

life and the things they want to

accomplish and because of this they

achieve some remarkable things and they

come to be called successful outstanding

brilliant lucky and a lot of other

things they're quite frequently no more

brilliant or outstanding than the

majority of the People by whom they're

surrounded but they did develop the

right attitude and they found their

accomplishments not too difficult and

and many times surprisingly easy simply

because it seems that so few are really

trying really believe in themselves

successful people come in all shapes and

sizes and in widely varying degrees of

intelligence background and so on but

they all have one thing in common they

expect more good out of life than bad

they expect to succeed more than they

fail if you want something worthwhile

take the attitude that there are a lot

more reasons why you can have it than

there are that you cannot and set out to

earn it go after it work at it ask for

it and nine times out of 10 you'll get

it our environment is really a mirror of

our mental attitude if we don't like our

environment we have to change our

attitude first now the world plays no

favorites it's impersonal it doesn't

care whether we change or not adopting a

good healthy attitude toward life

doesn't affect the world and the people

in it nearly as much as it affects us it

would be impossible to even estimate the

number of jobs which have been lost the

number of promotions missed the number

of sales not made the number of

marriages ruined by poor attitudes but

you can number in the millions the jobs

which are held but hated the marriages

which are tolerated but unhappy all

because of people who are waiting for

the world and others to change toward

them instead of being big enough and

wise enough to at least make a test

which will prove Beyond any shadow of a

doubt where most or at least a big part

of the trouble lies study made to the

lives of literally thousands of

successful people have shown that they

radiate confidence Assurance they expect

success and they get success you can

spot these people by the way they walk

by the way they look and act you can

feel it about them when they enter a

room they may be short and fat or tall

and thin or any combination in between

but they have about them the attitude of

success right now I want you to realize

if you don't already that in 5 years or

less you can get right to the top of the

work you're now doing I know this but

the important question here is do you

know this the minute you do know it

you'll have this right attitude I'm

talking about the easiest and most

effective means of forming a good

attitude habit is to begin to act as

though you have a good positive

expectant attitude toward life that's

right begin right now to walk act and

look as though you belong to this group

if you're already in the top 5% you'll

know what I mean if you've never tried

it you'll be amazed at what happens

actions trigger feelings just as

feelings trigger actions now let me tell

you of a little test you can make which

will prove Beyond any shadow of a doubt

that a good attitude can change a

person's life as dramatically as walking

from a darkened room into the bright

clear light of day not long ago I read a

line which went life is dull only to

dull people this is true but it also

could have read life is interesting only

to interesting people or life is

successful only to successful people now

what I'm trying to say is that you must

first become mentally from an attitude

standpoint that which you wish to

achieve a famous restauranteur was being

interviewed by a reporter who asked when

did you become successful he replied I

was successful when I was sleeping on

park benches because I knew what I

wanted to do and that I would do it in

short his attitude had been one of

success of expecting success long before

for the material the tangible rewards of

success had been earned a person must

act look and because of these things

feel successful before the success he

seeks can come chances are you know

people who seem to be what others call

Lucky all kinds of good and wonderful

things seem to happen to them and they

give the impression of Happily sailing

through life having a wonderful time and

getting more accomplished in a year than

most people do in five this has been

figured out fairly scientifically and if

anyone will conscientiously go about the

test I'm going to recommend and stay

with it every day for the next 30 days

without fail that person can join this

small happy and extremely productive

group of people he'll find himself

becoming lucky as they say and most of

his problems will pretty well take care

of themselves of this you can be sure

the results will be nothing short of

amazing now it makes no difference how

good a person's attitude has been in the

past anything can be improved upon and

it's the small refinements upon

something already good that makes it

great so here's the the test for the

next 30 days act toward the world

everything and everyone with whom you

come in contact with the attitude which

represents the kind of results you want

to achieve that is if the result you

want is more success in what you're

doing act as though you are already in

possession of the success you seek if

you want others to treat you with

admiration and respect treat others with

admiration and respect first have you

ever stopped to think of this every

human being on Earth is the most

important human being on Earth as far as

he or she is concerned you may never get

anyone to admit it but it's a fact so

for the next 30 days treat every person

with whom you come in contact as the

most important person on Earth

remembering as you do so that as far as

that person is concerned he is now the

reason I say treat everyone in this

fashion is mainly because this is the

way human beings ought to treat each

other and because it will help you form

a habit that will bring you amazing and

delightful results for the rest of your

life have you ever noticed that the

higher you go in any organization of

value the nicer the people seem to

become you see the bigger the person the

easier it is to talk to him to get along

with him to do business with him do you

know why it's because he's got a good

attitude and people with the best

attitudes just naturally gravitate

toward the top so for 30 days act toward

others in the World At Large in exactly

the same manner you want the world and

others to act toward you you treat your

wife or husband as the person he or she

really is the most important person in

your life the same with the children

carry out into the world each morning

for 30 days the kind of attitude you

would have if you were the most

successful human being on Earth and

notice how it quickly develops into an

habitual attitude when a person does

this he should realize he has already

placed himself on the road to what he

seeks he is right now in the top 5% of

the people in this or any other country

he has prepared the ground found and

planted the seed he has made of himself

a magnet an embodiment of that which he

seeks before metal can be cast into a

desired shape the mold the expectant

receptacle must first be fashioned

before a building can be erected the

excavation must be made and the

foundation laid and before a person can

achieve the kind of life he wants he

must become that kind of individual he

must think act talk walk and conduct

himself in all of his Affairs as would

the person he wishes to become he is

then actually that person and the things

that person would have and do will

naturally come to

him almost immediately A Change will be

noticed irritations that used to

frustrate and annoy disappear when some

less informed individual gives you a bad

time stay on the track when someone cuts

in front of you with his car or acts in

any other manner that shows his

ignorance and lack of courtesy don't

permit yourself to drop to his level

pity him for that's what he really

deserves that's the very group a person

doesn't want to belong to and if he acts

like them well let's face it he belongs

with them there's nothing in the world

that men women and children want and

need more than the feeling that they're

important that they're needed and

respected they will give their love

their affection their respect and their

business to the person who fills this

need so the magic word is attitude and

in summing up a few points to keep in

mind one it is our attitude at the

beginning of a task which more than

anything else will affect its successful

outcome two it is our attitude toward

life which determines life's attitude

toward us three we are interdependent it

is impossible to succeed without others

and it is our attitude toward others

which will determine their attitude

toward us four before a person can

achieve the kind of life he wants he

must become that kind of individual he

must think Act talk walk and conduct

himself in all of his Affairs as would

the person he wishes to become five the

higher you go in any organization of

value the better will be the attitudes

you'll find six your mind can hold only

one thought at a time and since there's

nothing at all to be gained by being

negative be positive seven the deepest

craving of human beings is to be needed

to feel important to be appreciated give

it to them and they'll return it to you

eight look for the best in new ideas is

as someone said I've never met a person

I couldn't learn something from nine

don't waste valuable time broadcasting

personal problems it probably won't help

you it cannot help others 10 don't talk

about your health unless it's good 11

radiate the attitude of well-being of

confidence of a person who knows where

he's going this will inspire those

around you and you'll find good things

will begin happening to you and 12

lastly for the next 30 days treat

everyone with whom you come in contact

as the most important person on Earth if

you'll do this for 30 days you'll do it

for the rest of your life now in closing

remember the words of Walter Dale Scott

of Northwestern University success or

failure in any undertaking is caused

more by the mental attitude even than by

mental

capacities back in the year 1843 a man

was born who during his lifetime was to

have a pro profound effect on literally

millions of people his name was Russell

Herman Conwell he became a lawyer then a

newspaper editor and finally a clergyman

in

1881 it was during this latter period

that an incident occurred which was to

change his life and the lives of

countless others one day a group of boys

came to Dr Conwell at his church and

asked him if he would be willing to

instruct them in college courses they

wanted a college education but lacked

the money to attend he told them he'd do

all he could and as the boys left a

thought an idea began forming in Dr

conwell's mind he asked himself why

couldn't there be a fine college for

poor but deserving young man here was a

great idea and he went to work on it at

once almost single-handedly Dr Conwell

raised between six and8 million with

which he founded the now well-known

Temple University of Philadelphia it was

how he raised this money that I want to

tell you about he raised the money by

giving lectures all over the country

more than 6,000 of them and in each he

told a story called Acres of

diamonds this was a true story which had

affected him very deeply just as it

affected his audiences it was the story

of a farmer who had settled in Africa

this farmer had heard the exciting

stories of other African settlers who

had made Millions by discovering diamond

mines realizing the African continent

was rich in diamonds the farmer could

hardly wait to sell his farm and search

for diamonds himself he spent the rest

of his life wandering the vast African

continent searching for the gleaming

gems which brought such high prices on

the markets of the world but without

success finally in a sudden fit of

despondency broke and desperate as I

remember the story he threw himself into

a river and

drowned during this time the man who had

bought his farm one day found a large

and unusual stone in the Stream which

cut through the property it turned out

to be a great Diamond of enormous value

and then he discovered that his farm was

covered with them it was to become

become one of the world's richest

diamond mines now the first farmer had

owned literally Acres of diamonds but

had sold them for practically nothing in

order to look for them elsewhere if he

had only taken the time and study to

know what diamonds looked like in their

rough State and at first thoroughly

explored the land he had owned he would

have had the millions he sought right on

the land he had been living

upon what so profoundly affected Dr

Conwell and subsequently thousands of

others was the obvious fact that each of

us is at this moment standing in the

middle of his own Acres of diamonds if

we will only have the wisdom and

patience to intelligently and

effectively explore the work in which we

are now engaged we will usually find

that it contains the riches we seek

whether they be Financial or intangible

or both before we go running off to what

we think are greener pastures let's make

sure that our own is not just as green

or perhaps even Greener while we're

looking at other pastures other people

people are looking at ours there's

nothing more pitiful to my mind than the

person who wastes his life running from

one thing to another like the First

Farmer forever looking for the pot of

gold at the end of the rainbow and never

staying with one thing long enough to

find it for no matter what your goal may

be the road to it can be found somewhere

in the work in which you now find

yourself it wasn't until he was

completely paralized for example and was

forced to reach into the resources of

his mind that a Wisconsin Farmer got the

idea of producing exceptionally good

meat products on his farm and one of the

country's largest meat packing companies

was born his farm contained Acres of

diamonds too he had just never seen them

before a paper salesman found a dirty

drinking glass in his hotel room and

gave his company the idea of

manufacturing paper cups an idea that

solved his financial problems for Life

an insurance man got the idea of going

back to all the people in his files and

really working with them serving them

the way they should be served that year

he wrote an additional

$700,000 of insurance made the million

dooll Roundtable and found he no longer

had to approach Cole prospects that by

working with the people he had already

sold and on their referrals he had Acres

of diamonds right in his filing cabinet

a Man Out West a mast of Fortune with a

single small gas station in the

beginning when things were tough he

would ask himself each morning what can

I do to increase my service to my

customers he still asks that question of

himself each morning when he gets up and

while he could have retired years ago a

wealthy man he continues to dominate the

business in his area by thinking of new

and better ways to be of service do you

know what the so-called average man

would have done in this last case he

would have been worried about how bad

business was because in the beginning my

friend had a hard time just feeding his

family when one day a man would have

driven in the station in a big shiny car

this average man seeing the wealthy

customer would have said to himself I

ought to be in his business instead of

mine you see the average man believes

some businesses are better than others

instead of realizing the truth that

there are no bad businesses there are

just those people who do not know enough

to see the opportunities in the work

therein jobs don't have Futures people

do no matter what our work happens to be

it's our business we're its manager if

we can see no future or opportunity in

it it isn't because it's not there but

only because we can't see it one time

another farmer poked a tiny pumpkin into

an empty 1gallon jug the pumpkin grew

until it completely filled The Jug and

could grow no more when it was ripe the

farmer broke the glass jug and had a

pumpkin which had assumed the Jug's

exact shape in life each of us does a

similar thing we poke ourselves into

jugs of our own deciding and we can grow

no larger but let's be mature enough to

realize that it is we who do the poking

not the job nor the company nor the

territory nor the economy nor the times

we do it we should dispense with

limitations and realize there is

virtually no limit to our growth and

development on the land on which we now

find ourselves With Our Roots deep in

the soil of a working philosophy of life

and our minds and bodies in a climate of

Freedom people who become outstanding at

their work are those who have seen their

work as an opportunity for growth and

development and who have prepared

themselves for the opportunities which

surround us every day it was Matthews

who wrote unless a man has trained

himself for his chance the chance will

only make him ridiculous a great

occasion is worth to a man exactly what

his preparation enables him to make of

it preparation is the key it is becoming

so good so competent at what we're now

doing we'll actually Force the

opportunities we seek to come our way as

come our way they will now let's see how

we can fully explore and evaluate the

place in which we now find ourselves

let's take a closer look at our Acres of

diamonds imagination creative

imagination comes from realizing that

that diamonds don't look like diamonds

in their rough State nor does a pile of

iron ore look like iron or steel great

opportunities lurk constantly in every

aspect of the work in which we now find

ourselves in order to begin prospecting

your Acres of diamonds begin to develop

a faculty called intelligent objectivity

that is we often have to stand off and

look at what we're doing as a stranger

might a stranger who considers our

pasture greener than his own so to do

this start at the beginning

within the framework of what industry or

profession does our job fall do we know

all we can know about our own industry

how did it begin why did it begin who

started it and when what is our

industry's annual dollar volume how fast

has it grown during the past 20 years

what is its projected growth during the

next 10 years do you know that many

Industries will double in size during

the next 10 years this is almost a 10%

gain per year in short start now to

become a a student of your industry

you'll be amazed at the results in 5

years or less you can become a national

expert in your field and remember it's

the experts who write their own tickets

in life just think of this for a moment

if you can see no limit to the growth of

your industry doesn't it make sense to

realize that there is no limit as to how

far you can progress within its

framework surveys indicate that the

great majority of people seem to look at

their jobs as being as far as they'll go

why we should realize are really

desperately in expanding and dynamic

industry needs and seeks the uncommon

man to share in its growth it will

richly reward this person of vision who

prepares himself to move up as his

industry grows larger so ask yourself

this question do I know as much about my

job in my industry as a good doctor or

attorney knows about his job within the

framework of his profession you should

you know this is the attitude of the

person who wants to become a

professional at what he does for a

living it's far more fun many times more

rewarding and interesting and in this

this way a person can ride out the

occasional dips in the economic seas in

a safe boat built of research and

preparation in order to become a pro in

what seems to be rapidly becoming a

world of amateurs we have three

important subjects to study one our

company and the industry in which it

operates two our job and perhaps the

next step on that job three the study of

people since successfully serving and

getting along with people will determine

our success or failure here are three

sub s on which you can gradually build a

fine Home Library frequently all we need

in order to make an enormous Improvement

is simply the reminding of things we've

known but have forgotten perhaps this

study and research on your job your

industry and ways of increasing your

service to others sounds like a big job

well it is but in the long run it pays

tremendous dividends builds complete

Security and it can be accomplished in

an hour or so a day devoted to reading

and making notes in a permanent notebook

one book or article at a time an hour a

day will find you becoming an expert at

your particular job in industry in 5

years or less the hours add up one at a

time like the great stones of a pyramid

building a strong and permanent

foundation which raises you a layer at a

time toward the goal you

seek each morning as you get ready for

work ask yourself this question how can

I increase my service today then during

the hour a day you set aside for study

and research make notes and think about

your industry about about your job and

Company and about people you will

gradually begin to get better and better

ideas for improving your service

remember these words no man can become

rich without enriching others anyone who

adds to Prosperity must prosper in turn

think of ways and means by which you can

increase your contribution to your

company industry and to those you serve

you'll begin to notice a wonderful

change in your world for as you sow so

shall you reap the minute you adopt this

attitude you've joined the top 5% of the

people of the world you virtually

removed all competition you are creating

rather than competing you are becoming a

contributor instead of a feeder by

taking this attitude toward your work

your company and Industry you're

automatically taking care of two vital

parts of successful living one you'll

find yourself becoming interested and

enthusiastic about your work and its

future and this interest and enthusiasm

is contagious and two You're Building

Financial Security which will last a

lifetime above all keep this thought in

mind as often as you can on and off the

job somewhere within the work you are

now doing there lurks an opportunity

which will bring you everything you

could possibly want for yourself and

your family it will not be labeled

opportunity it'll be hidden in common

everyday garments just as was the hair

pin with which a man fashioned the first

paper clip or the dirty drinking glass

which triggered the paper cup industry

or the commonplace set of names of old

customers which became the fortune of a

Salesman now in closing here are 12

points to remember one if we will

develop the wisdom and patience to

intelligently and effectively explore

the work in which we're now engaged we

will find it contains the riches

tangible and intangible we seek two

before we go running off to what we

think are greener pastures let's realize

our own pasture is

unlimited three that there are no bad

jobs but that it's the way in which we

go about our work which makes it good or

bad four that we poke ourselves into

jugs Beyond which we cannot grow let's

remove the limitations we've set upon

ourselves five that only preparation can

ensure our taking advantage of the

opportunities which will present

themselves in the future opportunities

which are around us now six put your

imagination to work on the many ways and

means of improving what you're now doing

seven learn all you can about your job

your company and your industry eight

since there's no limit to the growth of

your industry it must follow there is

similarly no limit on your growth

potential within that industry nine our

Dynamic and growing economy needs and

will well reward the uncommon man who

seeks a place in this growth 10 begin to

build your library of reference material

pertaining to your company industry job

and on how to better serve and get along

with people 11 set aside an hour a day

for this study and research and 12

remember the story of the Acres of

diamonds it is almost impossible to pick

up a daily pi paper without reading

about an individual who has achieved an

unusual accomplishment and almost

invariably these stories include the

overcoming of what it one time appeared

to be virtually insurmountable handicaps

the boy whose legs were terribly burned

and who seemed destined to a life as a

becomes one of the world's

outstanding Runners the poor boy who

amasses a fortune the boy with a serious

speech impediment becomes one of the

nation's top news commentators every day

a new and dramatic story appears

somewhere the old story story of

obstacles overcome and outstanding

success achieved well they're just too

numerous to mention but how and why are

these things done to me this is a very

interesting subject these individuals do

far more than the average person in

order to overcome their handicaps and

achieve the success they seek but it's

more than that you have to go back to

the beginning and ask why and the answer

to that question if fully understood

will bring you or me anything we want

the answer is is simply they had a goal

that is they had fixed in their minds a

point they had to reach something that

was more important far more important

than the effort and time that had to be

expended a dream seen only in the mind

and felt only in the heart that was too

big to be denied a dream which rose

before their eyes when they awakened in

the morning and which was the last thing

they thought about as they dropped off

to sleep at night this great dream this

surging Dynamic thing which was

invisible to all the world except the

person who held it is responsible for

every great advance of man it is behind

and the cause of everything we see in

the world around us everything in the

world is a dream come true it is a goal

reached Napoleon Hill put it this way he

said what the mind of man can conceive

and believe it can achieve it is the

skyscraper the bridge spanning the bay a

rocket ship to outer space and it's the

little corner business establishment

it's the lovely home in the suburbs it's

youngster getting a diploma and the new

baby in its mother's arms it's a golf

handicap and a business position reached

what the mind of man can conceive and

believe it can achieve do you know what

this means to you and me well let me try

to explain and I might add it took me 17

years to find this out for myself once

understood however life becomes easier

more fun far more exciting and

incalculably more rewarding to begin to

fully understand this subject we have to

to realize that it's at the basis of any

success it is in fact the very

definition of success the best

definition of success I've ever been

able to find is success is the

progressive realization of a worthy

ideal if you'll think about it a moment

you'll realize just how perfect that

definition is success is the progressive

realization of a worthy ideal what does

this mean it means that any person

engaged in achieving something which he

considers a Worthy ideal is successful

at the same time it also means that any

individual not so engaged must be

defined as the opposite of success a

failure any person with a dream in his

mind and heart which he has established

as a worthy goal is successful it has

nothing to do with money necessarily

unless that happens to be the goal and

each of us must decide for himself what

his goal is with such a simple and

Obvious definition of success a person

might think that everyone is successful

every everyone should be but it's

estimated that only 5% are of all the

people you pass on the street no matter

how large or busy the city only five out

of 100 can tell you what they're working

toward the rest are just drifting along

hoping something good will happen to

them or at least that nothing bad will

letting circumstances and economic winds

blow them this way and that these are

the people who have not learn the rules

of life I like to compare human beings

with ships it's estimated that about 9

5% can be compared to ships without

rudders subject to every shift of wind

and Tide they're helplessly a drift and

while they finally hope that they will

one day drift into a rich and successful

Port you and I know that for every

narrow Harbor entrance there's a

thousand miles of Rocky Coastline their

chances of just drifting into Port are a

thousand to one against them but the 5%

who have taken the time and discipline

to decide on a destination and to chart

a course sail straight and far across

the Deep oceans of the the world

reaching one port after another and

accomplishing more in just a few years

than the rest will accomplish in a

lifetime if you should visit a ship in

Port climb to the navigation bridge and

ask the captain his next Port of Call he

will answer you in one sentence every

person should be able to do the same

thing unless you can say in one concise

well- defined sentence what your goal

happens to be the chances are good that

you have never really clearly defined

your goal the captain of a ship cannot

see his destination for fully 99% of his

journey but he knows what it is where it

is and that he'll reach it if he keeps

doing certain things a certain way every

day when you ask most people what it is

they seek they'll answer in vague

unrealistic terms they'll say uh

happiness or good health or enough money

to support my family and so on these are

not goals they are simply conditions

desired by everyone when we talk of

goals we mean what is is it that you

want you as an individual what is it

that you would like very much to have or

to be but which you may have felt was

for one reason or another beyond your

reach you see if you can tell me what

you want I can tell you how to get it as

long as it's worthy of you and within

the realm of human accomplishment

progressing successfully through a

lifetime should be a matter of

progressively setting and achieving

goals one after another each a little

better than the former just as a Ship

Sails to only one port at a time set

your first Port of call when you've

reached it and reach it you will you can

then set a new goal and then another by

following this meaningful and Common

Sense approach to life you will be

successful and will accomplish more in 5

years than the great majority of people

do in a lifetime now I'll tell you of a

way to clarify your thinking and

establish the first goal if you don't

already have one realizing that without

a goal we are unsuccessful and realizing

too that with a goal we will have

Direction and purpose purpose and that

our goal will be reached we begin to

realize that the establishing of a

clearly defined goal is just about the

most important step we can possibly take

it's good to remember too that in 99

times out of 100 our goal can be

accomplished in the work in which we are

now engaged if you don't know what it is

you want more than anything else in

other words if you're not one of the

fortunate individuals who knows exactly

what it is he seeks get off by yourself

someplace and spend an hour or so

writing down the things you would like

like to have this could include a

beautiful home a car a certain amount of

money a specific income a particular

position with your company and so on a

sales quota any one of a hundred things

write down as many as you can think of

when you've written down all the things

you want choose one only one that you

want more than the others write this on

a separate sheet or draw a circle around

it now put the sheet away and forget

about all of your ideas except the one

you've decided to accomplish first like

a ship a person can only reach one port

at a time most of the confusion and

indecision found with the majority of

people is because they want so many

things they don't decide on which to

accomplish first and as a result they

often accomplish nothing at all remember

you can only achieve one goal at a time

once you've decided upon the one thing

you intend to accomplish first write it

on a card to carry with you think about

it the first thing in the morning and

the last thing at night think about it

as often during the day as you can by

doing this you will be forcing your goal

into your subconscious mind from which

will come the answers you need as you

need them for its accomplishment this is

the process used by the most successful

men and women in the world this is the

same system used by the mathematician

and philosopher Bertrand Russell think

about it as often as you can get a

mental image of your goal already having

been accomplished But be sure to be

absolutely specific don't generalize if

your goal is a certain amount of money

write down down the exact amount and the

time limit for earning it if your goal

is a beautiful home get a picture of the

exact home even if you have to pay an

architect to draw the plans and

elevation for you you might as well for

believe me you will accomplish it be

very careful about what you set your

mind and heart upon for if you want it

strongly enough you'll get it I

mentioned that I spent 17 years looking

for this answer I did I wanted to know

what separates the haves from the have

knots not just in a financial sense

although that's certainly an important

part of living but rather in every sense

I started looking for the answer in 1933

during the Depression and I didn't find

it until New Year's Day

1950 the answer I was looking for was

the secret to achievement The Secret of

success all of a sudden I realized that

in the hundreds of lives ID studied in

the countless books I'd read a plain and

simple fact had been staring me in the

face all along it is simply that we

become what we think about out you see

you are at this moment nothing more than

the sum total of your thoughts to this

point similarly you will be next year 5

years from now and so on what you think

about from this point onward that's why

the establishing of a goal is so vital

to success unless we're thinking about

the thing we wish to accomplish our

thinking is erratic confused jumping

first from one thing to another with the

result that we accomplish nothing arrive

nowhere by thinking every morning

morning every night and as many times

during the day as we can about the

single goal we've established for

ourselves we actually begin moving

toward it by concentrating our thinking

it's like taking a river that's twisting

and turning and Meandering all over the

countryside and putting it into a

straight smooth Channel now it has power

Direction speed it's the same with our

minds once we know where we're going we

know why we get out of bed in the

morning we know why we're working and

why it's important to do the very best

work of which we're were capable we know

why it's vital that we cut ourselves

away from the big sluggish River of

people who are drifting without purpose

and cut the channels straight and clear

to the dream in our heart some evening

stand at a busy street corner and

examine the faces of the crowds that

pass look at how they walk look at their

expressions do they seem interested

happy purposeful interesting or do they

seem for the most part dull uninterested

even bored if you keep watching long

enough you'll see a person with a quick

and purposeful step a good carriage and

posture with interesting intelligent

eyes who walks as though he knows where

he's going and who's going to insist on

getting there close to a billion human

beings on Earth would give anything they

have for the freedom and personal

Liberty you and I take for granted the

right to choose their work and their

goals to live in our Bountiful standard

of living to know the peace and privacy

of our homes and to have laws which

protect the citizen rather than

persecute him we have it all and yet in

the midst of our plenty Millions lead

unhappy lives living from day to day

month to month in a prison of their own

building these are the ones who have

never made the decision that could set

them free they have not decided what to

do with their lives even in a climate of

Freedom as Carlile said The Man Without

a purpose is like a ship without a

Rudder A Wai a nothing a no man have a

purpose in life and having it throw such

strength of mind and muscle into your

work as God has given you he also wrote

a man with a half volition goes

backwards and forwards and makes no way

on the smoothest Road a man with a whole

volition advances on the roughest and

will reach his purpose if even there be

a little wisdom in it and Munga wrote

there is no road to success but through

a clear strong purpose nothing can take

its place a purpose underlies character

culture position attainment of every

sort decide on your goal insist upon it

and for the next 30 days look at your

card with your goal written on it every

morning every night and as many times

during the day as you can force your

goal into your subconscious mind see

yourself as already having attained it

do this without fail every day for 30

days and it will become a habit a habit

that will lead you from one success to

another all the days of your life for

this is the secret of success the door

to everything you willever never have or

be you are now and you will become what

you think

about I want to tell you about a plan

you can follow which takes only 1 hour a

day 5 days a week and which brings

results out of all proportion to the

time spent we talked about the vital

necessity of a goal to give you a

clearer picture of the potential

represented by the proper use of your

mind for a moment consider the things

your mind has brought you everything you

you have your job the money you earn

everything you own has come to you as a

result of using your mind now consider

the estimate made by the experts in this

field which is that you have probably

been operating on only about 10% of your

mental

capacity the way most people use their

minds can be compared to the time back

in the early 19th century when just the

eastern coast of the North American

continent was settled just a strip along

the coast to the West there stretched

the raw undeveloped great bulk of what

was later to become the incredibly Rich

90% of the economy and standard of

living we enjoy today if everything you

have is the result of using just 10% of

your mind consider for a moment what it

will mean to you and your family if you

increase this

percentage this message will show you

how to use infinitely more of your

mental Powers how to develop some of

that 90% Virgin

Territory none of us as a rule has the

slightest notion of the the capabilities

of his mind but believe me when I say

that your mind represents what can be

compared to an Undiscovered gold mine

and it makes no difference if you're 17

or 70 look at it this way your goal is

in the future your problem is to bridge

the gap which exists between where you

are now and the goal you intend to reach

this is the problem to solve so now

remember this it was written by Robert

seore chairman of the Department of

psychology of Northwestern University he

said successful people are not people

without problems they are simply people

who have learned to solve their problems

and there you have it living

successfully getting the things we want

from life is a matter of solving the

problems which stand between where we

now are and the point we wish to reach

no one is without problems they're a

part of living but let me show you how

much time we waste in worrying about the

wrong problems here's a reliable

estimate of the things people worry

about things that never happen 40% %

things over in past that can't be

changed by all the worry in the world

30% needless worries about our health

12% Petty miscellaneous worries 10% and

real legitimate worries

8% in short 92% of the things the

average person worries about take up

valuable time and unnecessary worry and

of the real legitimate worries there are

two kinds there are the problems we can

solve and there are the problems beyond

our ability to personally solve but

about 95% of our real problems can

usually be said to fall into the first

group the ones we can solve if we'll

learn how there must be millions of

people today who feel they're being

barred from the life they want because

they look upon problems not as

challenges to be solved but as

bottomless chasms beyond their ability

to bridge a little research proves that

successful people have the same kind of

problems so the whole thing boils down

to a matter not of problems which are

common to us all but of our ability to

solve them now I'm going to assume

you've decided upon your goal your

problem is how do I achieve it your goal

may be a promotion a greater income a

beautiful home it makes little

difference what your goal happens to be

for a youngster it could be better

grades in school for a secretary a trip

around the world but you have your goal

and you know that you will become what

you think about that is if you stay with

it you will reach your goal but how it's

right here that your mind comes into

play now what is your mind I think the

best way to describe it is to quote

something written by the great Pulitzer

prizewinning playwright archal mcle he

wrote the only thing about a man that is

a man is his mind everything else you

can find in a pig or a

horse this is absolutely true the human

mind is the one thing that separates us

from from the rest of the creatures on

Earth everything that means anything to

us comes to us through our minds our

love of our families our religion all of

our knowledge talents abilities

everything is reflected through our

minds anything that comes to us in the

future will come to us as a result of

the extent to which we use our minds and

yet and I know you'll agree with me here

it is the last place on Earth to which

the average human being will turn for

help our work has hidden within it

Untold opportunities

the same is true of our minds but only

if we will use them in order to reflect

just a moment on the human mind consider

what it has accomplished as you do

realize that we are developing so

rapidly that we have come farther in the

realm of progress in the past 50 years

than in all the preceding centuries of

human civilization of all the scientists

who ever lived it is estimated that 90%

of them are alive today we have reached

in the area of ideas and human

advancement a plateau so high it was

undreamed of by even the most optimistic

forecasters as recently as 10 years ago

but every new idea triggers additional

ideas so that now we're in an era of

compounding advancement on every front

and in every area that almost staggers

the imagination from the Rockets which

probe the Deep outer reaches of the

universe to the great Bridges which span

our Rivers everything man-made you see

and touch Spawn from the most powerful

agency in the world the human mind and

you own

one now let me tell you of a way to more

fully explore the miracle of your mind

in telling you of this plan which can

easily double or triple the use to which

you may now be putting your mind let me

remind you of something the 40-hour week

has become fairly standard and is an

imminent likelihood of being even

further shortened this means that the

average working person has at his

disposal a really enormous amount of

free time in fact in fact if you'll

total the hours he works and sleeps

counting weekends and holidays and

vacations and subtract them from the

total waking hours of a year you'll be

amazed to find that of the

5,840 waking hours if he sleeps 8 hours

every night he spends only

1,912 on the job this leaves him with

3,928 almost 4,000 hours a year when he

is neither working nor sleeping these

could be called discretionary hour hours

with which he can do as he pleases now

so that you can see the amazing results

in your own life I want to recommend

that you take just one hour a day 5 days

a week and devote this hour to

exercising your mind and remember what

archal mcle said about it it's your most

valuable possession it deserves some

attention pick one hour a day upon which

you can count the best time is an hour

before the family is up in the morning

at least it is for me the mind is clear

the house is quiet and if you like with

a fresh cup of coffee this is the time

to start the mind going and here's how

you do it during this hour every day

take a completely blank sheet of paper

at the top of the page write your goal

clearly simply then since our future

depends upon the way in which we handle

our work write down 20 ideas for

improving that which you now do for a

living 20 possible ways in which the

work which fills your working day can be

improved now I remember two important

points with regard to this one this is

not particularly easy and two most of

your ideas won't be any good now when I

say it's not easy I mean it's like

starting any new habit at first you'll

find your mind a little reluctant to be

hauled up and out of the old familiar

rut but as you think about your work and

ways in which it might be improved write

down every idea that pops into your mind

no matter how absurd it might seem now

I'll tell you what'll happen some of

your ideas will be good and worth

testing on on the job the most important

thing this extra hour accomplishes

however is that it deeply embeds your

goal into your subconscious mind starts

the whole vital Machinery working the

first thing every morning and 20 ideas a

day total 100 a week even if you don't

think on weekends in doing this you'll

find that your mind will continue to

work all day long you'll find that at

odd moments when you least expect it

really great ideas will begin to pop

into your mind when they do write them

down as soon as you can remember just

one great idea can completely

revolutionize your work if you wanted to

develop the muscles of your body you'd

take daily exercise of some sort the

mind is developed in the same way except

that the returns as I said in the

beginning are out of all conceivable

proportion to the time and energy spent

the mind of man can lift anything his

muscles even the best developed are puny

alongside those of some of the dumbest

animals on Earth

if man had depended on his muscles for

survival he probably would have

disappeared as did the dinosaurs which

incidentally were the most physically

powerful creatures that ever lived I've

used this system for years and it has

given me some of the most gratifying and

rewarding experiences of my life and it

costs only 5 hours a week five out of

168 is it worth it it's like spending

five hours a week digging in a solid

vein of pure gold because your mind is

all of that and so much more each time

you write your goal at the top of the

sheet of paper don't worry or become

concerned about it think of it as only

waiting to be reached a problem only

waiting to be solved face it with faith

and bend all the great powers of your

mind toward solving it and believe me

solve it you will this puts each of us

in the driver's seat we're no longer

passengers aboard a train Guided by some

vague and nameless fate or circumstance

but rather where Engineers on a

predetermined trip of our own choosing

to the destination of our own selection

now let's briefly recap one for the next

month spend one hour a day getting as

many ideas as you can try at least 20 a

day on ways to improve What You Now do

for a living realizing that the

achievement of your goal depends upon it

as does your whole future if you do I

think you'll want to continue the

practice two if everything you now have

is the result of using say 10% of your

mental ability you can imagine what life

will be like if you can increase this

figure to 15 or 20% or more three

successful people are not people without

problems they are simply people who have

learned to solve their problems four

don't waste time and energy worrying

about needless things 40% of them will

never happen 30% have already happened

and can't be changed 12% are needless

worries about our health 10% are Petty

miscellaneous worries and only 8% of

them are real try to separate the real

from the unnecessary and solve those

which are within your ability to solve

five the human race has advanced farther

during the past 50 years than in all the

preceding centuries of human

civilization we're now living right in

the middle of the Golden Age man has

been dreaming of and praying for for

centuries and it's going to get better

last of all the only thing in the world

that can take you to your goal in life

is your mind its effective use and

following through on the good ideas it

Supply you each of us has a tendency to

underestimate our own abilities we

should realize that we have deep within

ourselves a reservoir of Genius that can

be tapped if we'll just dig deep enough

it's the miracle of your

mind I'm sure you find it as amazing as

the rest of us do that the great

majority of people have to learn things

the hard way generation after generation

it's natural to think that if a great

discovery was made in a particular

Generation all the succeeding

Generations would know about it and

utilize it for their own good but to a

large extent such is not the case it's

true with inventions and discoveries

which obviously affect our lives but it

frequently is not true when it comes to

the great invisible laws which determine

the direction of our destiny here on

Earth some time back a group of workers

were imported to work on a Texas Farm

these people had come from a small

Mexican Village where Motor Vehicles

were still largely unknown well one day

they were riding in the back of a

speeding truck when they came to the

place where they thought they were

supposed to get off without giving it a

thought apparently they simply stepped

off the back of the speeding truck

fortunately it was a soft Dirt Farm Road

not a paved highway but even then the

results of their unconventional method

of disembarking were to say the least

amazing they went bounding spinning

sliding and cartwheeling along the dusty

road for quite a while before gravity

and friction working together finally

brought them to an astounded halt now

none was seriously injured in fact by

the time the terrified driver got back

to them they were laughing uproariously

about the whole thing the truck driver

and explaining the incident later put

the blame on their never having ridden

in trucks before well that's the obvious

answer but not the right one the amazing

circus tumbling act on a Texas Farm Road

had been caused by ignorance of a law a

law that operates the same whether a

truck a boat or an airplane is involved

Sir Isaac Newton gave us the law and it

goes like this a body in motion ends to

remain in motion until acted upon by an

outside force when the workers stepped

off the back of the truck they were

going the same speed as the truck itself

the outside force was gravity which

pulled them down to the road still

traveling at the same speed and well you

get the idea they had been hurt confused

frightened and turned upside down

because of their ignorance of a law of

physics they might have been killed all

over the world there are millions of

human beings who are being hurt confused

frightened and whose lives are turned

upside down down because they don't

understand the number one law which is

the basis for all human success this law

has been written thousands of times by

the greatest Minds the world has

produced and as a result has appeared in

many forms for our purpose it might best

be put this way our rewards in life will

always match our service it's another

way of saying as ye sow so shall ye reap

and it's been written in many ways in

every language on Earth Sir Isaac Newton

in promulgating his laws of physics put

this one in this way for every action

there is an equal and opposite

reaction in saying our rewards in life

will always match our service you'll

almost always get General agreement

people will nod their heads and say yes

that's certainly true then they'll go

their way and never realize for the most

part how close they came to truth so

great and all- enveloping that their

every thought and action is affected by

it I like to think of this law in the

form of a giant Apothecary scale the

kind with a cross arm from which hang

two bowls on chains one of the bowls is

marked rewards the other is labeled

service whatever we put into the bow

marked service the world will match in

the bmark

rewards how we think talk act and

conduct ourselves is what we have to put

into the bmark service and to the extent

and nature of our service will be

determined our Rewards if any person

alive is discontented with his rewards

he should examine his service Action

Reaction as you so so shall you reap

what you put out is what you must get

back in return so simple so basic so

true and yet so

misunderstood if a business is not

expanding to the quick and exciting

tempo of the times it must examine its

contribution its service if a person is

unhappy with his income he must examine

and re-evaluate his service service now

whom do we serve we serve humanity and

Humanity to Any Given individual is the

people with whom he comes in contact

it's the family friends co-workers

customers prospects everyone everyone

with whom we have contact is to us

humanity and to the extent that we serve

these people will our rewards be

determined never before in the history

of the world have human beings been so

interdependent it's as impossible to

live without serving others as it would

be to live if others were not constantly

serving us and this is good the more

closely knit this interdependence

becomes the greater will become human

achievement we need each other and we

literally cannot live without one

another every time we strike a match

drink a glass of water turn on the

lights pick up the phone Drive our car

put on our clothes take a bath mow the

lawn or go fishing we're being served by

other human beings every time you look

at your watch you're being served by a

great industry and by the efforts of

hundreds of human beings we all seek

rewards and we should understand that

rewards come in two forms tangible and

psychic that is rewards include the

money we earn the home we buy the car we

drive the clothes we wear and they also

include the way we feel our enjoyment

our Peace of Mind our inner satisfaction

but remember this whatever it is you

seek in the form of rewards you must

first earn in the form of service to

others all attempts to abrogate to

sidestep this law will end in Failure

frustration and even ultimate

demoralization we can see this

frustration on every side we can see it

in the tense strained and nervous faces

in the mountains of tranquilizers which

are consumed every day and we can also

see it in the slack Bine like faces of

those who have found the whole game too

complicated and have simply given up

surrendered to the push and pull of

circumstances how much of this do you

suppose is due to the misunderstanding

or to the ignorance of this simple and

wonderful law of nature it's my belief

that a great deal can be traced to this

cause now do you understand this law

fully understand it intellectually and

emotionally if you do you can chart a

wonderful course through life now let's

get specific just as the field worker

stepped off a speeding truck just as a

child will put its fingers in the way of

a closing door just as a speeding driver

discovers he's not going to make the

curve how many times have you been

confounded because you acted contrary to

the rules not only the rules of man but

the rules of nature how many times have

you been in the position of the man who

sat in front of the cold stove and said

give me heat and then I'll give you some

wood people in life are like that and

you can say that people are divided into

those who understand that the wood must

be added before they can expect warmth

and those who feel they should get

warmth whether they do anything about it

or not or who feel they should get

maximum heat from a small Supply of wood

we've said that a man's discontent can

be said to be represented by the

distance between what he has and what he

wants once he has achieved that which he

wants the odds are good that he'll want

still more for that's the way of people

and that's good constructive discontent

is what gives us our continuing upward

spiral of

Civilization now what you should do is

determine what it is you want look

objectively at the place in which you

now find yourself and determine ways of

in increasing your service so that you

will earn the rewards you seek this puts

thinking and creative activity into

living it also assures us that our goals

can be achieved by individual effort a

person's world can be compared to a plot

of ground it exists it's there it has

inherent within itself an amazing

potential and it's prepared to react to

the man's every action in fact it must

whatever your job happens to be think of

it for a moment as this plot of ground

in the beginning there's nothing there

but Earth if the man just sits and

watches it nothing will happen if he

tosses a few seeds on it the rain in the

soil's natural fertility will probably

combine to reward him with a few results

for his efforts Action Reaction it all

depends upon just what he wants from

this plot of Earth it's what he wants

that he must first decide upon let's say

he wants a beautiful lawn bordered by

flower gardens with a big tree in the

shade of which he can one day sit and

admire his work so he marks off the

areas for the garden cultivates Smooths

and cleans the soil of stones and trash

plants his lawn and his tree and his

flowers from this point on anyone

observing this plot of land can evaluate

in a second the amount of service the

contribution this man is giving to his

project how can he tell he can tell by

seeing what the land is giving back to

the man planting the plot is only the

first step we're given the plot and

that's all we should be given it's what

we do with it that will determine its

degree of greatness and success it's

like the well-known story of the

preacher who was driving by a beautiful

Farm the fields were beautifully

cultivated and abundant with well cared

for crops the fences house and barns

were clean and painted a row of fine

trees LED from the road to the house

where there was a shaded lawn and flower

beds it was a great sight to behold so

when the farmer working in the field got

to the end of a row near the road the

preacher called out to him and said God

has blessed you with a beautiful farm

and the farmer stopped and thought a

moment and replied yes he has and I'm

grateful but you should have seen it

when he had it all to

himself you see the farmer understood

that he had been blessed with a fine

Farm but he was also aware that it was

his own love and labor working with God

which had brought it to its present

State each of us is given a plot to work

a lifetime and the work we've chosen

like the farmer we'll be grateful if we

have the vision imagination and

intelligence to build well and

successfully upon the seemingly

unimpressive land of our beginning or we

can let it fall into a halfhazard

condition with no real continuity or

purpose behind it with unpainted

ramshackle buildings surrounded by weeds

and debris it's the same land it's what

we do with it that makes the difference

the miracle is there if only we're wise

enough to see it and realize that our

fullfillment as individuals depends upon

our reaction to what we've been given

now in thinking of ways of increasing

your service read books on your line of

work read what other men in your same

line of business have found to work well

for them but at the same time think of

original and creative ways of increasing

your service ways that are unique with

you and the way you are going at it

strong for a week or a month and then

falling back into Old Habits is just

like working for a week or a month on

that plot of ground and then leaving it

to its own devices before long it'll be

no better than before each morning and

during the day ask yourself this

question how can I increase my service

today knowing that my rewards in life

must be in exact proportion to my

service do this every day for 30 full

days and you will have formed one of the

most valuable habits in the world Horus

man wrote If any man seeks for greatness

let him forget greatness and ask for

truth and he will find both you see you

can cut away all the confusion and

complications and nagging worries vague

half-formed fears by returning to the

great truths the great laws the great

varities on which all success all

accomplishment is built if you're

worried about your income or your future

you're concentrating on the wrong end of

the scale look at the other end concern

yourself only with increasing your

service with becoming great where you

are and your income and your future will

take care of themselves don't sit in

front of the cold stove and ask for heat

for you could sit there until you freeze

to to death Pile in the wood serve first

and the heat will come as a result next

time you're off by yourself in a quiet

place contemplate your plot of ground

and begin now to sew the seeds which

will yield you a Rich Harvest in William

James essay on vital reserves he wrote

compared with what we ought to be we're

only half awake our fires are damped our

drafts are checked we're making use of

only a small part of our possible mental

and physical resources stating the thing

broadly he went on the human individual

thus lives usually far within his limits

he possesses powers of various sorts

which he habitually fails to use he

energizes below his maximum and he

behaves below his Optimum all right how

can we correct the situation well

William James gives us the answer he

wrote either some unusual stimulus fills

them with emotional excitement or some

unusual idea of necessity induces them

to make an extra effort of will

excitements ideas and efforts in a word

are what carry us over the dam all right

let your goal represent the excitements

your ideas and efforts will weigh down

the service end of the scale and the

rewards must and will follow they will

be yours they are yours the moment you

realize this

truth I'm going to give you a principle

which will substantially help you attain

your personal and business goals and

perhaps even more important will result

in your achieving a peace of mind you

may never have experienced before and

since it's the kind of principle it is

it would be well to get the whole family

together for this one particularly the

children again it seems that at least

95% of the people maybe more don't know

about this at least not fully so the

person who does know has an enormous

Advantage the seed for achievement is

truth not necessarily the kind of Truth

we hear so much about although that's

important but the kind of truth you

don't hear much about particularly the

these days truth means honesty and the

way in which I want to describe this

kind of Truth was perhaps best put by

Shakespeare when in Hamlet he has ponus

say and this above all to thine own self

be true and it must follow as the night

the day thou CST not then be false to

any man the kind of truth I want to talk

to you about is inner truth truth to

yourself you know we hear a lot these

days about the conquest of outer space s

that's fine but as a radio listener

wrote to me one day there is little we

cannot accomplish as individuals if we

can manage the conquest of Inner Space

being truthful with ourselves means the

responsibility of making the best use of

what we have and what do we have we have

our minds our abilities our unique and

individual talents and time these are

our possessions this is really an

enormous amount of wealth that each of

us has has and it's the investment of

our wealth which will determine our rate

of return and as with the ownership of

wealth of any kind it's left to us as

individuals to decide what use we will

make of it we can squander it until it's

all gone we can spend it in a Helter

Skelter Hit or Miss fashion without much

purpose or meaning or we can invest it

with intelligence and purpose and

receive an abundant return a return

which will more than provide for

ourselves and our loved

all the years of Our Lives the choice is

ours and it's here that personal honesty

and integrity come into the picture now

for a moment let's remind ourselves

again of the Great Law behind everything

in the universe the law of cause and

effect for every cause there will be an

equal effect if we make good use of our

minds abilities and talents this will

become apparent in our outer lives if we

make the best use of our time this too

will give us a greater Advantage because

certainly we know that scarcely five

perhaps only one or two people in a

hundred really put their time to

anywhere near its potential good

use this is being true to ourselves

because in the last analysis we're the

only ones from whom we can steal time

talent and ability it's taking the time

we've been given and putting it to our

own good use it's taking whatever

abilities and talents we possess as

separate and Unique Individuals and

putting them to their best use in short

making the best use of what we have in

the time we're given to use it sounds

simple truth is always simple and

uncomplicated and here again we're

placing ourselves above competition by

doing what the majority do not do we're

understanding something the great

majority of people do not know this is

using truth so that it will put more

money in our pockets better clothes on

the children a nice nier home in which

to live and with it all gaining a new

and Lasting peace of mind it's knowing

where to put our investment to obtain

the largest and most satisfactory return

here's the foundation upon which every

great career has been built truth and

honesty are the words for Success let's

look at some facts success has nothing

to do with the size of the brain the

largest brain on record is the brain of

an idiot the smallest the brain of

anatol France who won the Nobel Prize

for literature in 1921 some of the

world's greatest people in every field

are or were short bald and fat some tall

and skinny most are or were of quite

average appearance many suffered from

physical handicaps some were brilliant

and well educated some had little or no

formal schooling so the person destined

for greatness cannot always be spotted

on the street nor does he always get the

vote of his high school graduating class

as the one most likely to succeed but

they all have one thing in common they

all understand consciously or

unconsciously the law of cause and

effect they wisely work with it instead

of trying to work against it trying to

operate contrary to this law this great

truth is like trying to knock down the

Empire State building with a feather or

climb Mount Everest on a unicycle or

empty the Pacific Ocean with a teaspoon

it just can't be done and that's that

now although most people will give lip

service to honesty they're really not at

all sure about it with a great majority

it's a matter of expediency if it's

expedient to be honest fine they're

honest if it's more expedient to realize

a quick profit in some way by shading it

a bit well they'll shade it a bit but

why because they live on a shortterm

basis they don't see living as a

long-term Arrangement they forget or

don't know about the

boomerang every time a person does

something dishonest whether it's small

or large whether it's stealing a pair of

pliers from the plant or embezzling

$10,000 whether it's selling himself

short by not making full use of his time

talents and abilities he is throwing the

boomerang how far it will travel no one

knows how great or slow a circle it will

Traverse only time will tell but it will

eventually it must finally come around

behind him Swift and unseen to deliver

its never failing and painful blow yes

honesty is good business in fact mirabo

wrote if honesty did not exist we ought

to invent it as the best means of

getting rich it is the only way on Earth

to real and Lasting success of any kind

either we're convinced of this with

every fiber of our being totally

completely or we aren't if we don't know

by the time we're adults we deserve

every knock we get in fact if we didn't

deserve them we wouldn't get them all we

have to do under every circumstance is

ask our eles is this true is this honest

and then go ahead with the happy

realization that we've taken care of the

cause and that the effect will take care

of itself now let me tell you of a way

to avoid stealing from yourself your

greatest opportunity you and I know that

living successfully is a matter of

forming the right habits one of the most

important of which is this business of

honesty and everything we do and yet do

you know that each year in this country

losses due to employee thefts actual

Criminal stealing reported to the FBI

and other police agencies comes to $500

million it's estimated that another $500

million is stolen from employers which

is undetected or not reported for many

reasons this is a grand total of a

billion dollars a year actually stolen

by ungrateful ignorant dishonest

employees these people are difficult to

help in that they're marginal neurotic

and in many cases almost subhuman

individuals who live darkened narrow

little lives like more mes they've never

seen the light that could free them from

their Burrows however this enormous

monetary theft loss is nothing compared

with the loss of productive energy

through waste of time now here again

just as in the case of the criminal

stealing it at first appears that only

the employer suffers but this is not

really true the individual himself is

hurt most he is stealing production from

his company yes and while this is

serious the company will not fail

because of him more important is the

fact that the employee is stealing

opportunity from himself thereby holding

himself back limiting himself and as a

result he grows smaller he fails unless

and until he wakes up our only hope of

success of winning the economic war of

saving the free enterprise system is in

raising the productivity of our people

if the people are complacent and content

to give less than their best they're

actually working for the wrong side the

side which is dedicated to the

destruction of our way of of life our

very Freedom itself is at stake these

misguided individuals are crippling the

very thing which has given them the

highest standard of living in the most

enlightened Society on Earth they're

killing the goose that lays the golden

egg the average person in our society is

paid for about 40 hours of productive

time a week although I have personally

never heard of anyone gaining

outstanding success on a 40-hour week

this leaves him with 128 hours a week to

do with as he pleases never before in

the history of man have we had so much

free time by giving everything he has as

much of his mind talents and abilities

to at least these 40 hours a person can

make a really worthwhile and substantial

contribution to his company and as a

result to himself his family and to the

nation and the Free World he will be

building the security which lasts a

lifetime and he will reap a rich and

abundant reward he'll know a wonderful

feeling of worth of value and the peace

of mind is inevit brings this is the way

to really live our greatest enemy has

never changed and his name is ignorance

and the greatest ignorance of all is the

mistaken belief that we can ever receive

more than we're earning sooner or later

there will be an accounting we're

throwing the boomerang the wonderful

thing about this law cause and effect

the boomerang is that it's just as

unfailing when we operate on the right

side of it just as it can never fail to

punish us when we're dishonest with

others or with our elves it will Heap

upon us the abundance we seek the good

life if we'll play fair with it there's

no time limit on this it's almost never

too late for just as the punishment

always seems to be greater than the

crime the rewards always seem to be out

of all proportion to our proper act so

let's summarize what do we mean by

putting truth to work for us it means

the willingness to perform at our best

during the time we should be performing

at our best this gives comfort and a

feeling of well-being to our Leisure

Time our rest has been earned we know

we'll move ahead in our company and

Industry because we'll simply be too

remarkable to unusual and outstanding as

individuals to go unnoticed for very

long this is as it should be for there

has never been a time when the

outstanding individual was more sorely

needed it means the willingness to keep

an open mind to look for truth all the

days of our lives and be ready to toss

our most cherished beliefs into the ash

can if we can be shown something that

comes closer to the truth it's knowing

that is always a better way and a better

way than that and so on and to look for

these better ways of conducting our

Affairs both on and off the job it's the

willingness to learn everything we can

about our work our company our industry

it's realizing that a man who does not

read is no better than one who cannot

and that a man who does not continue to

learn and grow as a person is no better

than one who cannot and it's

understanding that truth must walk with

us every day of Our Lives if we're to

reap the the Abundant Harvest as we said

before the greatest joy a human being

can know is the joy of accomplishment

think how really great This Joy becomes

when we're making full use of our minds

our talents and our abilities think

again of your life as a plot of ground

to be seated it can only return to you

what you first give to it and what do

you have to give you have more than

enough you have a human mind the

greatest single agency ever to appear on

Earth you have far more abilities than

you've ever used and far more Talent

than you probably imagine and you have

time the one thing which is completely

beyond the control of man time which

cannot be saved stopped nor held back

for even an instant make use of these

riches to the fullest while you have

them why wait to say I wish I could do

it all over again why not do it right

the first time for there may be no

Second Chance using truth as the guide

your plot of ground will return to you

and yours an abundance that will amaze

and Delight you there may be bad days

days when you feel uneasy easy worried

or depressed they're a part of life

should they come let me suggest that you

remember a quotation which has helped me

it's by Dean Briggs and it goes like

this do your work not just your work and

no more but a little more for the

lavishing sake that little more which is

worth all the rest and if you suffer as

you must and if you doubt as you must do

your work put your heart into it and the

sky will clear and then out of your very

doubt and suffering will be found the

Supreme Joy of

life all kinds of Studies have been made

regarding motivation what motivates

people to do the things they do live the

way they live achieve the things they

achieve and while there's certainly no

Pat answer to so large and complicated a

question I believe the overriding force

which motivates us as individuals is a

thing I call choice of environment some

people make this Choice consciously but

I'm certain the great majority of people

make the choice unconsciously as a

result of environmental conditioning now

when I've finished here I'd like you to

answer this question for yourself have I

chosen my present environment as a

matter of deliberate decision or am I in

my present environment as a result of

not having thought much about it as an

example let me repeat the statistics

regarding the financial condition of men

reaching age 65 we're often astonished

when our insurance man tells us that of

100 young men who all start even at age

25 by the time they would reach 65 40

years later only one is well to do

financially four are financially

independent for the rest of their lives

five are working 36 have died and 54 are

flat

broke if a working man saved only a dime

out of each dollar he earned and if he

never made more than $6,000 a year he

would save

$24,000 by the time he reached age 65 at

going interest rates it could have ount

to over

$58,000 why do only five men out of 100

Achieve Financial Independence during

their lifetimes why are only five

motivated to Achieve Financial

Independence something which almost

everyone will tell you he wants to

achieve now it's right here that we

begin to see motivational forces at work

motivation to my mind is closely linked

to environment our reaction to

environment can be said to be the

tendency to act think and talk like the

People by whom we're surrounded since

only 5% Achieve Financial Independence

during their lifetimes the odds are 95

to5 that in any given case an individual

is surrounded by those who do not stress

the importance of financial

Independence people are not broke at 65

because they've been denied the

opportunity to achieve Financial

Independence but rather because they've

conformed to a group which does not

stress its importance they have

conformed to their environment and I'm

only using Financial Independence as one

rule of thumb these people can be said

to be the individuals who do not choose

their environment but simply go along

with the environment in which they find

themselves now this would be fine if the

statistics were reversed if 95% of the

people could be said to be successful

the odds would be excellent if we just

went along with the crowd in that event

selecting an environment might not be

too important but this is not the case

and never has been if an individual does

not choose of his own volition the

environment in which he would like to

live and raise his children the chances

are about 95 to5 that neither he nor his

children will live in an environmental

climate offering the maximum of success

and enjoyment of life let's take a

hypothetical case and call him an

average man in the Free World although

there's no such thing as an average man

the trouble seems to be that we act as

though we're average in the case of this

so-called average man from the time he's

born until about age 25 most of his life

is spent in doing what others have told

him to do as a child it's his parents

and they mold him much as a Potter molds

clay he talks as his mother and father

talk he thinks the way they think if

they think something's bad he thinks

it's bad he grows up in their religious

faith and very probably ultimately in

their political party if they have Dee

rooted prejudices he will naturally

adopt them as his own when he reaches

school age he'll begin to emulate the

other children he laughs at what they

think's funny and conducts himself as

they conduct themselves to a youngster

in school the most important thing on

earth is to be liked the craving for

esteem in the eyes of our contemporaries

is the deepest craving of the human

being and he'll do what the others do

he'll dress as they dress drag his feet

as he walks if they drag their feet he

wants to belong to be liked do you

remember what Willie lman said in Death

of a Salesman he said said the important

thing is to be liked Willie lman had

never grown up of course it's important

to be liked but this is only one part of

life to Willie it was everything and his

ignorance of life and of the world

brought him frustration and despair but

to a boy in school on the average being

liked and doing what the other boys do

is the most important thing in the world

and this Vice likee pressure of

Conformity lasts from 12 to 16 years out

of school our young man goes into

military service here again he's gripped

by a vice of Conformity far greater than

he'd ever known in school he still acts

like the other fellas and talks and

thinks like them but now he even looks

exactly like them same shoes clothes

actions everything he becomes a unit in

a Thing Called National Defense and

while this is the way things have to be

the effect of standardization is of

course enormous now let's say our young

man is 25 out of school out of service

he goes back to his hometown unless he's

married in which case he usually goes to

live in his wife's Hometown let's say is

still single for the first time in 25

years he finds himself on his own he

must make a decision as to what to do

and it's a little frightening one day

he's standing on a corner not knowing

just what to do when he's met by an old

friend from his school days and the

friend asks what are you doing nothing

well why don't you come down and go to

work where I work it's a good job the

pays regular 40 Hour Week fringe

benefits the whole thing so he does and

that's often the end of him by taking

the job suggested by his friend he's

still going along with the gang but he's

also giving less attention to the

selection of a career than he would give

to selecting a necktie on the job what's

the most natural thing in the world for

him to do it's to continue to go along

with the gang he's been doing it for 25

years why should he change now so on the

job he looks around to see how the other

fellas are doing their work and he

begins doing his the same way you see no

one's told him that he's living in the

golden age that mankind has been

dreaming of and building toward for

thousands of years no one has told him

that from now on out out what happens to

him will be in his hands not his parents

not his teachers not the military not

his associates but it's all up to him

from here on out he has before him

perhaps a half century or more in the

greatest age the world has ever known

now what's he going to do with his

Golden Years the first thing our young

man does on his new job is to watch how

the other men are working and he works

the same way he doesn't want to stand

out to be different and now with a

steady job he can marry his girl which

he does he then often goes out to a

large Suburban development and buys a

house that looks like every other house

on the street for as far as the eye can

see this makes him feel comfortable he

belongs what he actually does is

disappear again as he did in the

classroom and in the service now here's

the American dream we're always hearing

about a steady job a wife a little house

in the suburbs a new car the biggest

paycheck and the highest standard of

living the world has ever known a

wonderful start in life now again what

does he do with his life well he works

40 hours a week this leaves him 72 hours

a week when he's neither working nor

sleeping 72 free hours a week almost

twice the time he spends on the job

earning a living for his wife and

subsequent children what does he do with

his free 72 hours a week as a rule he'll

do the same thing the other fellas are

doing with their free 72 hours a week he

doesn't do much of anything with them on

a typical afternoon he quits work right

on the dot and drives his little car to

his little house he goes into his little

kitchen kisses his little wife and says

I'm tired in many cas he says this

because he used to hear his father and

grandfather say it in the days when men

actually worked hard enough to get tired

the wonderful technological and social

advances which have given him freedom

from backbreaking toil and grinding

poverty permit him to keep just that

much more energy and good health after

dinner as likely as not he'll devote the

rest of the evening to watching

television in this way he's able to lose

himself in Worlds he must believe to be

more interesting than his own what he's

actually doing is watching other people

earn excellent incomes in the pursuit of

their careers while he doesn't make a

nickel and while his most valuable

possession time is slipping silently

away all too frequently our young man

does not see his television set as one

of the wonderful near Miracles of our

age and as a tool for further enriching

his life instead he uses it as a safic

means of escape from a world he's come

to think of as dull and average all too

frequently he doesn't know how fortunate

he is he doesn't realize that for the

first time in all the difficult

centuries of man he no longer needs to

work from early in the morning until

late at night 6 days a week just to earn

barely enough to keep his family alive

he has free time lots of it and he takes

for granted a great many luxuries which

are the Wonder and envy of 94% of all

the human beings on Earth furthermore he

can actually decide for himself what he

wants to do with his life he knows how

to read and write and all the books in

the English language are available to

him at his public library free of charge

in short he often takes takes for

granted all the Wonders that have been

given him and with all of this he lives

a minimal existence doing no more than

he has to in order to get by without too

much discredit hoping that times remain

good so that he can keep his job he

thinks it's only natural that his

company his town and his Nation should

continue to improve expand and advance

but somehow it isn't necessary for him

to do likewise why does he live this way

because it seems to be the way the rest

of the fellas are living if they're

living that way it must be all right

here's a case of mass motivation of

playing Follow the Leader without

knowing where the leader is going we

know that our young man has tremendous

abilities and potentialities

intrinsically his own there is no other

human being on Earth exactly like him we

know there are within his job wide

fields of Interest which if he knew

about them would change his life to one

of excitement and make him a real

contributor in the economy instead of a

feeder he he walks down a narrow road

riding his own job and stretching clear

to the Horizon are the rich sunlet

fields of opportunity but between him

and these fields there's a tall hedge

which Shields them from his view this

hedge is called Conformity and until he

breaks through cuts his way through that

thorny barrier he will never see nor

know the joys of living fully extended

but how can we do this well first we

must begin to think we must look at

ourselves objectively for what we really

are distinct individuals with unlimited

opportunity for development in the Free

World second we must ask ourselves some

questions do I want to be like the

people I'm emulating are these the

people I want my children to be like I

know they're good people but do they

know where they're going are they

successful are they as successful in

living as I want to be if I continue to

go along as I have in the past where

will I be 5 years from now am I

operating at or near Peak efficiency am

I really a pro or have I been doing just

enough to get by am I devoting a part of

my Leisure Time Each Day to thinking of

ways and means by which I can increase

my contribution realizing as I do that

my rewards in life will always be in

exact proportion to my service am I

following an intelligent course for

improving my mind and increasing my

knowledge or do I think I already know

enough now I expect my company and my

country to improve with the passing of

each year but what am I doing personally

to keep Pace with this Improvement have

I thought much and told my children

about how lucky we are to live in a free

society in which we can go where we

please without having to ask for passes

work where we please and at the job of

our choice vote and worship as we please

and say what we please am I aware of the

responsibilities that go with freedom

the responsibility to produce as much as

I can so that my freedom may be

maintained the responsibility to become

so effective as an individual that even

if time should be become bad for a while

I could go right on providing for my

family through the crisis third when I

get up in the morning do I know exactly

what it is I'm working toward have my

life and my work a clear Direction and a

worthwhile purpose or am I simply

marking time and going along with the

crowd am I motivated by what I really

want out of life or am I Mass motivated

Harry Emerson Fosdick once wrote no

horse gets anywhere until he's harnessed

no steam or gas ever drives anything

until it's confined no Niagara has ever

turned into light and power until it's

tunned no life ever grows great until

it's focused dedicated disciplin you see

it is actually easier to win all we have

to do is know some of the rules and then

follow them PG Hammerton wrote a strong

life is like a ship of War which has its

own place in the fleet and can share in

its strength and discipline but can also

go forth alone to the Solitude of the

infinite sea we ought to belong to

society and have our place in it but be

capable of an individual existence

outside of it and it's never too late

for with a purpose a goal a man will

frequently do more and travel farther in

a year than he might otherwise in a

lifetime without

one chemistry professors are said to

have figured out that a man's worth even

in a somewhat inflated Market is about

$32 44 this is what he's worth

physically and chemically speaking

assuming this to be true the net profit

earned by the world on this rather

inexpensive creature is so great that it

can't even be comprehended but it's a

fact that the living worth of men varies

widely and the purpose is to help you

figure out just what you are worth as a

human being right now and what you

intend to be worth in say one to five

years from now we've pointed out that in

the last analysis every man is in

reality working for himself in that he's

building his own life regardless of who

happens to write his paycheck so for the

purpose purp of this particular message

I want you to think of yourself as a

business as let's say a corporation you

hold the office of President of this

Corporation in that you're responsible

for its success or failure you and the

members of your family are stockholders

in your corporation and it's your

responsibility to see that the value of

the stock increases in the years ahead

your family has evidenced faith in you

and it's your responsibility to prove

this faith is Justified this is the job

of a human being now while the

operations of a corporation are

multitudinous and complex they can be

reduced to four things one production

two sales three research and four

finance without proper financing there'd

be no production without production the

company would have nothing to sell

without sales it would have to

completely stop production and without

research it could not hope to keep a

breast or ahead of our rapidly Changing

Times to slight any one of these four

vital functions result in a deformed a

crippled company and if slighted long

enough could result in corporate suicide

let's concentrate on Research production

and sales they're the head hands and

feet of a company we could say that the

head handles research the hands take

care of production and the legs handle

sales cut off any one of these parts and

you're left with a shocked staggering

organization how many once large

companies and trade names can you think

of which became in effect Giants and

then disappeared entirely from the

economic scene names which once were

world leaders in their field and are now

only memories they failed to keep in

balance in all departments research

production sales let's take them in

order first what is research research

can be said to exist in two areas

present and future that is the research

of a company should be devoted to Ways

and Means of improving its present

products present production and present

sales future research is concerned with

Ways and Means of developing new

products new methods of production and

new methods of marketing but while this

research is going on present production

must continue at as high a level as

sales warrant in short a company each of

us has two factors to consider the

present and the future how successful we

are in meeting these challenges will

determine our present profits and our

future growth now why are all companies

concerned with growth even when they

seem to be doing well today it's because

of a law which operates with companies

just as it does with human beings

nothing in the world stands still

nothing in the entire universe stands

still a law of physics goes a body in

motion tends to remain in motion until

acted upon by an outside force a company

which is growing has a tendency to

continue to grow conversely a company

which is going backwards or shrinking

has a tendency to continue to go

backwards or Shrink until acted upon by

an outside side Force now all

responsible company officers know that

unless a company is growing it is

developing the first signs of death now

you're the head of your personal

Corporation and you should realize that

this same law applies to you as well now

before we get into specifics on these

parts of your corporate body let's take

a look at the next 10 years before we do

keep this in mind if anyone had

predicted just 10 years ago that we'd be

living in the kind of world we have

today he would have been ridiculed and

hooted out of the room

this includes everything from our gross

national product to the luxuries and new

products we now take for granted along

with our present average income we're

reaching a point in the compression of

human knowledge where our advancement is

more than Dynamic it's more like an

implosion any prediction for the next 10

years is very likely to be far on the

ultra conservative side but let's take a

look at what the experts say according

to many research projects conducted

during the past year the next 10 years

are going to offer business and the

individual ual the greatest rewards in

this nation's history it is

intelligently estimated that in the next

S 8 or 9 years the population of this

country will grow by 30 to 40 million

persons add this to the present

population and you have a picture of a

really Dynamic market and this doesn't

even consider the growing World Market

in the next 8 to 10 years the bulk of

spending in this country will be for

things products and services over and

above the Necessities which are food

clothing shelter transportation and

Medical Care

imagine most of the spending will

actually be for things above and beyond

the Necessities this will be the first

time this has happened in the entire

history of the human race it is

estimated that the consumer Market will

expand 50% and more in the next 8 to 10

years an astounding increase soaring

into the hundreds of billions of dollars

and what about research and development

which is the future of our industry even

today more money is being spent for

research and development in a single

year than was spent during the first

150 years of the nation's history think

a moment what does all of this mean to

you and your own individual company the

one you're president of it means your

future is unlimited if you'll see

yourself in relation to the present and

the future never before throughout all

the centuries of man has an individual

faced as bright a future as yours now