STRANGEST SECRET BY EARL NIGHTINGALE! (PART 3 OF 3)
AS YE SOW -- SO SHALL YE REAP
The human mind is much like a farmer's land. The land gives the farmer
a choice. He may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land
doesn't care what is planted. It's up to the farmer to make the
decision. The mind, like the land, will return what you plant, but it
doesn't care what you plant. If the farmer plants too seeds -- one a
seed of corn, the other nightshade, a deadly poison, waters and takes
care of the land, what will happen?
Remember, the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as
wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants -- one
corn, one poison as it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye
reap."
The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious
than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we
plant ... success ... or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal ... or
confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on. But what we
plant it must return to us. The problem is that our mind comes as
standard equipment at birth. It's free. And things that are given to
us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money
for, we value.
The paradox is that exactly the reverse is true. Everything that's
really worthwhile in life came to us free -- our minds, our souls, our
bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our
love of family and children and friends and country. All these
priceless possessions are free.
But the things that cost us money are actually very cheap and can be
replaced at any time. A good man can be completely wiped out and make
another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if our home burns
down, we can rebuild it. But the things we got for nothing, we can
never replace.
Our mind can do any kind of job we assign to it, but generally
speaking, we use it for little jobs instead of big ones. So decide
now. What is it you want? Plant your goal in your mind. It's the most
important decision you'll ever make in your entire life.
Do you want to excel at your particular job? Do you want to go places
in your company ... in your community? Do you want to get rich? All you
have got to do is plant that seed in your mind, care for it, work
steadily toward your goal, and it will become a reality. It not only
will, there's no way that it cannot. You see, that's a law -- like the
laws of Sir Isaac Newton, the laws of gravity. If you get on top of a
building and jump off, you'll always go down -- you'll never go up.
And it's the same with all the other laws of nature. They always work.
They're inflexible. Think about your goal in a relaxed, positive way.
Picture yourself in your mind's eye as having already achieved this
goal. See yourself doing the things you will be doing when you have
reached your goal.
Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts. We are where we
are because that's exactly where we really want or feel we deserve to
be -- whether we'll admit that or not. Each of us must live off the
fruit of our thoughts in the future, because what you think today and
tomorrow -- next month and next year -- will mold your life and
determine your future. You're guided by your mind.
I remember one time I was driving through eastern Arizona and I saw
one of those giant earthmoving machines roaring along the road with
what looked like 30 tons of dirt in it -- a tremendous, incredible
machine -- and there was a little man perched way up on top with the
wheel in his hands, guiding it. As I drove along I was struck by the
similarity of that machine to the human mind. Just suppose you're
sitting at the controls of such a vast source of energy. Are you going
to sit back and fold your arms and let it run itself into a ditch? Or
are you going to keep both hands firmly on the wheel and control and
direct this power to a specific, worthwhile purpose? It's up to you.
You're in the driver's seat.
You see, the very law that gives us success is a double-edged sword.
We must control our thinking. The same rule that can lead people to
lives of success, wealth, happiness, and all the things they ever
dreamed of -- that very same law can lead them into the gutter. It's
all in how they use it ... for good or for bad. That is The Strangest
Secret!
Do what the experts since the dawn of recorded history have told us to
do: pay the price, by becoming the person you want to become. It's not
nearly as difficult as living unsuccessfully. The moment you decide on
a goal to work toward, you're immediately a successful person -- you
are then in that rare group of people who know where they're going.
Out of every hundred people, you belong to the top five. Don't concern
yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal -- leave
that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you have to do
is know where you're going. The answers will come to you of their own
accord, and at the right time. Start today. You have nothing to lose --
but you have your whole life to win.
For the next 30-days follow each of these steps every day until you
have achieved your goal.
1. Write on a card what it is you want more that anything else. It may
be more money. Perhaps you'd like to double your income or make a
specific amount of money. It may be a beautiful home. It may be
success at your job. It may be a particular position in life. It could
be a more harmonious family.
Write down on your card specifically what it is you want. Make sure
it's a single goal and clearly defined. You needn't show it to anyone,
but carry it with you so that you can look at it several times a day.
Think about it in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when
you get up, and immediately you have something to work for -- something
to get out of bed for, something to live for.
Look at it every chance you get during the day and just before going
to bed at night. As you look at it, remember that you must become what
you think about, and since you're thinking about your goal, you
realize that soon it will be yours. In fact, it's really yours the
moment you write it down and begin to think about it.
2. Stop thinking about what it is you fear. Each time a fearful or
negative thought comes into your mind, replace it with a mental
picture of your positive and worthwhile goal. And there will come a
time when you'll feel like giving up. It's easier for a human being to
think negatively than positively. That's why only five percent are
successful! You must begin now to place yourself in that group.
"Act as though it were impossible to fail," as Dorothea Brande said.
No matter what your goal -- if you've kept your goal before you every
day -- you'll wonder and marvel at this new life you've found.
3. Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of
service you render. Most people will tell you that they want to make
money, without understanding this law. The only people who make money
work in a mint.
The rest of us must earn money. This is what causes those who keep
looking for something for nothing, or a free ride, to fail in life.
Success is not the result of making money; earning money is the result
of success -- and success is in direct proportion to our service.
Most people have this law backwards. It's like the man who stands in
front of the stove and says to it: "Give me heat and then I'll add the
wood." How many men and women do you know, or do you suppose there are
today, who take the same attitude toward life? There are millions.
We've got to put the fuel in before we can expect heat. Likewise,
we've got to be of service first before we can expect money. Don't
concern yourself with the money. Be of service ... build ... work ... dream
... create! Do this and you'll find there is no limit to the prosperity
and abundance that will come to you.
Don't start your test until you've made up your mind to stick with it.
If you should fail during your first 30 days -- by that I mean suddenly
find yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts -- simply start over
again from that point and go 30 more days. Gradually, your new habit
will form, until you find yourself one of that wonderful minority to
whom virtually nothing is impossible.
Above all ... don't worry! Worry brings fear, and fear is crippling. The
only thing that can cause you to worry during your test is trying to
do it all yourself. Know that all you have to do is hold your goal
before you; everything else will take care of itself.
Take this 30-day test, then repeat it ... then repeat it again. Each
time it will become more a part of you until you'll wonder how you
could have ever have lived any other way. Live this new way and the
floodgates of abundance will open and pour over you more riches than
you may have dreamed existed. Money? Yes, lots of it. But what's more
important, you'll have peace ... you'll be in that wonderful minority
who lead calm, cheerful, successful lives.
Earl Nightingale
In sincere appreciation,
Hugh Palmer,
Remember, you attract what you think about
whether you like it or not
Posted By: Hugh Palmer
Saturday, October 3rd 2009 at 8:38PM
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