The Strangest Secret
Print View
by: sas_hkalchemy
Total views: 11
Word Count: 1349
We live in a golden age, an age people have dreamed about throughout history. We have warmth and light at the touch of a button, we can travel around the globe in a matter of hours, we can speak to anyone on earth as if they were in the same room. There is abundant opportunity for everyone. And yet, despite all this abundance, 100 people, all starting at age 25, all wanting to succeed, will mostly be broke or still working at the age of 65. Only 5 will be financially independent; of them, only one will be rich. Most people over the age of 65 haven’t worked out how to be financially independent in the richest land in the history of the world.
And yet, a few people stand out. A tiny minority does achieve greatness: wealth, fame, joy. What’s the key? Why do some people work hard and achieve nothing yet others have the Midas touch? Success begets success and failure begets failure. But why is it like this?
People generally lack purpose. They follow the crowd like sheep and do as others do for no other reason than it is easy to conform. Ask twenty people why they get out of bed each morning and go to work, and nineteen will say they don’t really know. Conformity, says Earl, is the opposite of courage. People are not used to thinking for themselves; if anything is wrong with our education system, it is this – we do not teach children how to think; instead, we teach them how to conform. People believe their lives are shaped by circumstances and chance.
The strangest secret
Earl defines success as the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. Successful people are doing deliberately a predetermined job because that’s what he decided to do deliberately.
If a ship has a captain, a crew and a plan for the trip – that is, a definite goal for its journey – it will usually get to its destination. But a ship without a captain or a plan will just drift along aimlessly until it sinks or get beached on some distant, uninhabited shore. Like the ship, people with goals generally succeed. Those without goals generally fail in life.
The secret, the key to success is that we become what we think about. When you understand this and truly apply it, everything works, life comes together. The key, then, is to set goals and to think about them with belief and passion.
All the great thinkers agree. Marcus Aureleus said ‘A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.’ Disraeli said ‘A human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it’ and, according to Ralph Waldo Emmerson, ‘A man is what he thinks about all day long.’ And William James said, ‘If you care enough for a result, you will almost certainly attain it. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich. Only you much really wish these things and not wish incompatible things.’ You are not controlled by circumstances. You are like a ship, and you can chart a course and sail with purpose, or you can drift along. ‘I don’t believe in circumstances,’ said George Bernard Shaw
Believe and succeed
As ye believe so shall it be done onto you
Why do we become what we think about? A farmer can plant anything in his land. The land, like your mind, doesn’t care what is planted. The farmer can plant corn or deadly nightshade. The land will then return wholesome corn or poisonous nightshade. You can plant success, failure, fear, or anything else in your mind. It will return what you sow. We are the sum total of our thoughts. We are where we are because that’s where we want to be, whether we admit it or not. We are the result of the way we have been thinking over the last weeks, months and years. And what we’re thinking NOW determines our future, so the good news is that your future can be changed.
This isn’t a secret, but so few people have learned it or understand it. Ask people what the secret of success is and they won’t be able to tell you. They have failed to grasp that the future is theirs and that they are not at the mercy of fate or circumstance. A person should be glad to get out of bed and do a job he loves. A person should live with passion, and free from fear and worry. Life should be an exciting adventure.
The price you pay
Your opportunities are enormous, but nothing is free. We can achieve nothing without paying a price, so what you gain in life is in proportion to the effort made. This does not mean ‘work’ in the usual sense of the word. Prosperity is based on mutual exchange. If you give value, you must and will receive value in return. This is the way of things. Money is a yardstick for measuring the value you give. You cannot get rich unless you enrich others, and the success you become is a measure of the value you have imparted.
No one makes money – we have to earn money. If you want a free ride you’ll fail. You have to provide value and our financial return is in proportion to this value. You cannot enrich yourself by deluding others. You’ll only end up deluding yourself.
Practical steps you can take
There are five steps towards living a successful life.
First, you must understand that you can and must control your thoughts. You must understand that ‘the key’ is that we become what we think about.
Secondly, remember the word ‘imagination.’ Permit your mind to soar, rising above narrow-minded pettiness and focusing on a grander vision.
Third, have courage. Concentrate on your idea. Think positively about your problems, using imagination to look at things in lots of ways and refusing to believe that you can be defeated, and then to act decisively when necessary. Remember that you are standing in your own ‘acres of diamonds,’ as Earl tells us.
Fourth, save 10% of what you earn
Finally, act – ideas are worthless without action. This doesn’t mean you have to work all day long at a job you hate. Far from it. It means passionately engaging in what you love doing.
The thirty-day test
Earl suggests doing the following for thirty days in order to establish the habit of positive, powerful thinking.
* We all want something, and we are all afraid of something. Write on a card specifically what you want. Define it clearly. Earl suggests that on the reverse side of the card you write ‘Ask and it shall be given. Seek and you will find. Knock, and it shall be opened onto you,’ from the Sermon on the Mount, but you can use any inspiring quotation.
* Look at the card every morning, throughout the day and before going to bed. Remember you must become what you think about it. In fact, it’s already yours. Abundance is all around – it can be yours. Why not?
* Stop thinking about what you fear – replace fearful thoughts with thoughts about your goal. Stop thinking of the reasons why you can’t be successful and focus on the reasons you can. Quit running yourself down.
* Give of yourself more than ever before. Give the best you can without thinking of anything in return.
* Don’t worry about how you will achieve your goal – the answers will come to you at the right time. All you have to do is hold your goal before you
Don’t let yourself get bothered by petty things. Relax and be happy and positive. Don’t let your fears overwhelm you. If you become overwhelmed with negative thoughts, you have to start the thirty days again. Eventually, you will form a new habit of positive thinking.
Finally, remember that you make money after you’re successful, not the other way around! Put the fuel in and then the heat comes. Provide value first and then the money comes.
Article Source: http://articles-collections.com
About the Author
Please visit the Effortless Abundance blog for more articles and resourcesClick here to read more regarding Goal Setting.
Search more with google:
Rating: Not yet rated
Comments
No comments posted.Add Comment
You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.More articles in this Category
1: What's Holding You Back From Moving Forward?2: Mind Movies, Is It Real?
3: How to Make a Goal Book for Maximum Goal Achievment
4: Create Effective Change With A Success Journal
5: 3 Steps to Change Impossible to Probable