Janvi was elated to receive a congratulatory mail from HR. She was promoted to the managerial position and she was stoked about her new gig. She was all set to take charge contemplating how to be her best as a new manager. While she was excited about it, she was also pretty terrified of the responsibilities that came along.
She was well aware that power and authority walk hand-in-hand with challenges. Since the day she realized that it won’t work with the skill sets she already had and that she had to upskill herself for the new game, she took a deep descent to understand what it takes to be a successful manager for her team. Her seniors were observing her hard work and the transformation her research was bringing in her. While she was knee-deep in research for the requisites of becoming a first-time manager, her values, locus of control, and setting goals and achieving them, her superior asked her to listen to an audio that would boost her knowledge on the topic.
Her superior shared a transcription of a video by Earl Nightingale, which is about sharing his belief about the secret to personal and professional success.
Let’s assume 100 people begin their professional careers at the age of 25. Even though they all thought they’d be successful, by the time they’re 65, one of them is rich, four are financially independent, 41 are still working, and 54 are broke, relying on others for basic necessities.
How does this happen when everyone starts at the same age? Why do some people succeed while others fail?
Earl Nightingale draws our attention to some facts.
1. People confirm
So, what exactly is success? Earl Nightingale defined success as “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” In other words, what is your objective? What are you aiming for? What qualities do you seek in a worthy ideal?
They also inquired as to why people get up in the morning and go to work. Nine out of ten people will have no idea why they are getting out of bed in the morning. If you press them further, they will respond, “Well, everybody gets up in the morning to go to work.”
Challenge: What does success mean to you? If success is defined as “the progressive realization of a worthy ideal,” what is that worthy ideal for you?
2. Define your goals
He defines success as “anyone pursuing a predetermined goal because that’s what he or she deliberately decided to do.” He also states that only one out of every twenty people follows through on their goals. The rest of the people are floating like driftwood.
“Having a goal inspires us to get up in the morning, be at our best, perform, collaborate, and do whatever we need to do to accomplish that goal.”
Challenge: Identify your current goals. What do you hope to accomplish in the next twelve months? Then, how much progress do you want to make each day toward achieving those goals?
3. The role your thoughts play
Earl uses the example of two farmers who own lands. They have the option of planting whatever they want. In this analogy, your mind represents the land. Their harvest is a reflection of what they grew. You become what you think about because whatever you focus on or direct your thoughts toward, whether successful or unsuccessfully, is what you plant and create in your life.
Challenge: To become more aware of the thoughts you are planting in your mind. Take note of what they are and how they eventually become your reality.
4. The role of your actions
When it comes to taking action, here’s what Earl Nightingale suggests in terms of a 30-day action plan and ideas you can put into action. This path is based on the idea that we create negative things when we think negative thoughts. Positive thinking, on the other hand, leads to more emotionally empowering behavior.
Before revealing this secret, Earl establishes the groundwork for his principles: Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Physics states that there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action. To create something in your reality, you must first dedicate and sacrifice some kind of action in order to obtain a result.
A. Understand, both emotionally and intellectually, that we are what we think about. We must evaluate our thoughts if we are to thrive in life.
B. Clear your mind of all impediments. Allow your imagination to soar as it is guided by God. Recognize that your limitations are self-imposed and that the opportunities available to you today are enormous. Raise your head above narrow-mindedness and prejudice.
C. Think positively about your problems with all your strength. Set a specific goal for yourself. Consider your objectives from every possible angle. Refuse to believe that there are circumstances powerful enough to prevent you from achieving your goal.
D. For every dollar that you earn, set aside at least ten cents. This approach will transform all aspects of your life and keep you from frittering away your hard-earned money.
E. Do something. Actions give meaning to ideas. This approach is about inspired action toward your “worthy ideals,” not humming or positive woo-woo thinking.
These ideas may appear trifling, and you may have heard them before. There is, however, a distinction between knowing something and actually doing it.
“Choose to focus on what is meaningful and what can be controlled.”
For instance, focus on your loved ones and instill the values you hold dear, as well as your financial, emotional, and physical well-being. All of this is within your grasp, and you can take proactive action in those areas.
Challenge: Write down what is important to you and what you have control over. What are you promising to do starting today to achieve those goals?
5. Make your goal cards
How interested would you be in knowing the tactics to apply the concepts Earl outlines in The Strangest Secret? It’s about creating goal cards by writing down what you want to accomplish in the coming twelve months.
“Your twelve-month Goal Cards become the predominant series of thoughts. These thoughts guide your actions.”
Challenge: Take an index card and write down your twelve-month goals. Remember to be specific.
Pretend it’s a year from now to get your creative juices flowing. You’re sitting down, and you’re looking back and telling someone about everything you’ve accomplished in the last year. What exactly is it? What achievements make you feel fantastic? Then, as if you’ve already accomplished them, write them down. You can also include career objectives. For instance, “I work with prospects and customers who are getting massive results in their careers, more joy, flow, and more money.”
For the second part of the challenge, once you’ve written down your goals for the next twelve months…
“Put positive thoughts in your mind about what it would look like to have already achieved those goals.”
This part requires you to believe that you are not alone. It can be intimidating when we believe we are the only ones working here. We can start worrying and worry breeds fear. Fear halts us in our tracks.
Make sure you understand the “Why” behind each goal because it must have meaning in your life. Then begin to move your feet with faith. The “How” will continue to reveal itself to you on a daily basis; be curious, adaptable, and open to how it happens.
“The more intentional you are about your career and life, the more power you have to make the changes you want.”
Maintain a positive attitude. Consider your desires in-depth, and then take proactive action. Consider yourself already having achieved your objectives.
Consider yourself in command of such a massive source of energy. Will you sit back, fold your arms, and let it run itself into a ditch? Or are you going to keep both hands on the steering wheel and control and direct this power to a specific, worthwhile goal? It is entirely up to you. You are the one in command.
The law that gives us success, you see, is a two-edged sword. We must exercise mental control. The same rule that can lead a man to a life of success, wealth, happiness, and everything else he has ever desired for himself and his family can also lead him to the gutter. It all depends on how we use it: for good or for ill.
This is The World’s Strangest Secret.
Now Jahnvi was wondering why it is called The Strangest Secret. This is what she found – It’s not really a secret at all. It was first taught by some of the earliest wise men and appears repeatedly throughout the Bible. However, very few people have learned or comprehended it. That’s why it’s strange, and why, for some equally strange reason, it’s largely unknown.
While Jahnvi was intrigued by discovering The Strangest Secret, she couldn’t resist sharing the treasure she found in her journey.
We become what we think about. Throughout history, prophets, great wise men, philosophers, and teachers have disagreed on a wide range of issues. Only on this one point do they agree completely and unanimously.
“A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Everything comes if a man will only wait. I’ve brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfillment.”
– Benjamin Disraeli
“A man is what he thinks about all day long.”
– Ralph Waldo
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” And he also said, “We need only in the cold blood act as if the thing in the question was real, and it will become infallibly real by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real. It will become so knit with habit and emotion that our interests in it will be those which characterize belief.”
“If you only care enough for a result, you will almost certainly attain it. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich. If you wish to be learned, you will be learned. If you wish to be good, you will be good. Only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them exclusively, and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.”
– William James
Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? And every person who discovered this, for a while, believed that he was the first one to work it out. “We become what we think about.”
Now it stands to reason that a person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it because that’s what he’s thinking about. And we become what we think about.
This made Jahnvi contemplate that she can start right where she is at the moment. She understood that if she did what all the experts since the dawn of recorded history have told her to do, she would become the person she always wanted to be. It’s not nearly as difficult as living an unanchored life.
Takeaway
On her journey to subjugate the tactics of goal setting and achieving them, Jahnvi understood that she has to ultimately gain control of her mind and the direction of her thoughts. She has to create a strong habit of being more positive – to refrain from thinking about her fears and shift her mindset to being optimistic with an image of her desired future state. To get a clear picture of her understanding of The Strangest Secret, she summarized the learnings in seven steps.
If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be? Be specific and be greedy.
- You have the power to achieve anything you wish, so remember to order from the menu of the universe.
- Start the journey towards an amazing life – think of all the reasons why you can be successful.
- Change the description of yourself by writing the description of the person you would like to become.
- Trace and reflect on your attitude and discover what is preventing you from being successful and living an exceptional life.
- Start acting as if you are the successful person you decided to become.
- Act promptly and decisively.
- Think. Strive. Become. Be audacious to access who you could be.
Ponder upon all the seven steps and consolidate your way forward. Look for small wins, give yourself a definite goal for the next 30 days, and just work towards it. You have nothing to lose, however, ample to gain. Welcome yourself to a new life… a life of your dreams.
Jahnvi felt like she found a treasure and felt so empowered with the principles of The Strangest Secret, that she made it her purpose to make everyone aware of this secret to help bring out the best in everyone. She had a very positive feeling about living this new way and opening the floodgates of abundance to fulfill all her dreams.
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https://www.craftworkhbg.com/blog/2018/1/23/the-strangest-secret-challenge
https://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/225
https://goalscape.com/en/blog/earl-nightingale-key-to-success/
https://www.executivebound.com/post/what-is-the-strangest-secret-in-the-world
https://www.craftworkhbg.com/blog/2018/1/23/the-strangest-secret-challenge
https://cdn.lifehack.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/how-to-achieve-everything-you-want-in-life.jpeg
https://lucemiconsulting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/benefits-of-goal-setting.jpg
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https://www.shortform.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/goals-typewriter-typing-decide.jpg
Written By: Jimmy Jain
Edited By: Afreen Fatima
Society of Design Thinking Professionals
