Excerpts from
The Essence of Success
163 Life Lessons from the
Dean of Self-Development
by Earl Nightingale
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in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $17.95 (+ printing charge)
Book Description
Take an unprecedented
journey into the world of achievement and personal development with
Nightingale-Conant's co-founder Earl Nightingale. Earl spent nearly his
whole life researching what is known as - "Essence of Success". He is
known as one of the greatest success philosophers and storytellers that
has ever lived. The Essence of
Success is a compendium of his very best work.
This 400 page ebook is divided into 25 chapters that have myriad
benefits. It will teach you how to develop an excellent attitude,
enhance your self-esteem, foster your creative genius, set and achieve
goals, harness your mind's power. This veritable bible of
personal growth deals with critical success factors such as
writing skills, public speaking skills, being a better communicator,
and fostering excellent relationships. This book will teach you in no
uncertain terms how to achieve success and happiness in all areas of
your life.
Foreword
by
W. Clement Stone
I first met Earl Nightingale
more than four decades ago. Napoleon Hill and I had just begun an
association
which was to last ten years and carry us around the globe spreading the
message
that every individual could achieve lasting success by following a set
of
established principles that Hill had first written about in his
all-time best
seller Think and Grow Rich. Nightingale, at the time, had his
own radio
program on WGN in Chicago.
Dr.
Hill and I had been discussing ways to promote his
new book, How to Raise Your Own Salary, when Nightingale paid
us a
visit. “Your book, Think and Grow Rich, completely changed my
life,” he said.
“I believe I knew all the principles before I read the book. But in Think
and Grow Rich, they were in crystallized form. I could see them
clearly. I
decided to employ them: specifically, to double my earnings within a
period of
two weeks. I wrote my definite objective on a piece of paper and my
earnings
doubled in two weeks.
“I felt this might have
been a coincidence. So I again decided to double my earnings and set a
specific
date. When I achieved this objective before the date set, I said to
myself, “This
is no coincidence. Here I have a formula for success.”
He looked at Napoleon Hill
and continued: “I want to show my gratitude to you for Think and
Grow Rich.
I am here to help you all I can in any way.”
Nightingale amazed me with
the offer that followed. He would publicize How to Raise Your Own
Salary
at no cost to us. We decided to try him out to see if he was sincere.
He was,
and he did a magnificent job of publicizing the book. Sales were coming
in
volume.
Before the week was
over, I called Nightingale, complimented him and said, “I don’t want
something
for nothing. We will pay you your regular rate beginning with your
second week
of broadcasting for us.” Through Nightingale’s efforts, we sold more
copies of How
to Raise Your Own Salary than through all other advertising and
promotional
media combined.
Nightingale and I and
Napoleon Hill became great friends and we met often to discuss our
common love
of helping others learn to apply the principles of success in their own
lives.
It was one of the greatest experiences of my life to work with these
outstanding individuals who were dedicated to the achievement of such
noble objectives
and to helping each other reach our own personal goals. It was at one
of those
meetings that I suggested to Nightingale that he reach out to hundreds
of
thousands more people than he was already reaching by multiplying
himself.
Nightingale did
multiply himself with the same intensity that he applied to reaching
every goal
he set for himself. He formed a partnership with Lloyd Conant to
establish
Nightingale-Conant to produce motivational recordings and special
courses for
listeners around the world. Their company literally pioneered the
development,
production, design and marketing of motivation-al programs.
Nightingale-Conant was
itself built upon fundamental principles of success. Their partnership
was what
I call a Master Mind Alliance in which they worked together in a spirit
of
perfect harmony, toward a common purpose. Each had skills that
complimented the
others. Conant was the business and marketing brain, and Nightingale
was the
company’s spokesperson. Conant ran the operation and Nightingale
chaired the
board of directors. Together they made the company highly successful.
They had one goal: to
publish the best recorded self-help material available anywhere. Though
they
have both passed away, the Nightingale-Conant legacy is a company built
upon
principles, values, and ethics so strong that it survives them, and the
organization that bears their names has set the standard for and become
synonymous with quality in motivational recordings.
Earl Nightingale was
in many ways a “river person,” a term he often used to describe other
great
men. River people, he believed, recognize their life’s purpose early
on. “They
are born to spend their lives in great rivers of the most absorbing
interest,
and they throw themselves into those rivers wholly,” he said. He used
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci as examples of river people.
Nightingale’s destiny,
the river that swept him to great heights, was to convey the principles
of
success to millions of listeners in a style that was uniquely his own.
No one
who ever heard his distinctive gravelly voice as he recounted his own
brand of
insightful inspiration or read the wise words that flowed from his pen
will
ever forget Earl Nightingale. His profound thoughts touched and changed
the
lives of millions.
One of my favorite
Earl Nightingale recordings is his account of Carl Sandburg’s story
about the
Kansas farmer (Earl called him a sodbuster) who, as he contemplated the
great
mysteries of life, was asked by a passing stranger in a covered wagon,
“What
kind of people live around here?” To which the farmer replied, “Well,
stranger,
what kind of folks were there in the country you come from?” “Well,
there was a
mostly low-down, lying, thieving, gossiping, backbiting lot of people,”
said
the stranger. And the farmer replied, “Well, stranger, I guess that’s
about the
kind of folks you’ll find around here.”
The first wagon was
hardly out of sight when another newcomer interrupted the farmer’s
reverie with
the same question: “What kind of folks was there in the country you
came from?”
the farmer asked again. “Well,” said the stranger, “there was mostly a
decent,
hardworking, law-abiding, friendly lot of people.” And again the farmer
replied, “Well, I guess stranger, that’s about the kind of folks you’ll
find
around here.”
In Nightingale’s own
inimitable way, he tells us that the reality we experience will be that
of our
own creation. “Our individual worlds,” he said, “will respond to us in
the way
in which we see them. They will become for us that which we expect of
them. We
are the creators of our own surroundings.”
This example is one of
more than a hundred of Nightingale’s original audio scripts that
Nightingale-Conant has made available in The Essence of Success.
It is a
collection of some of his best works. They have been extracted from the
firm’s
archives and gathered from the private collections of many individuals
who have
contributed rare tapes and transcriptions to this tribute to one of the
great
motivational speakers and writers of this century.
Nightingale’s radio
colleague, Stephen D. King, whom Nightingale-Conant selected to narrate
the
audio version of The Essence of Success recalls that
the project
began as a simple, heartfelt memorial to a broadcasting great whose
career
spanned more than four decades. “Earl’s friends and colleagues began
assembling
a cross-section of his 40-year output. They took snippets of his tapes,
found
transcriptions of his early broadcasts and delved into several hours of
never-before-heard tapes of interviews he gave.
“Soon the project took
on a life of its own,” King recalled. “The more they collected, the
more they
wanted to collect. Radio old-timers, hearing about the project,
contributed
rare tapes and transcriptions.” What they assembled has gone on to
become far
more than a memorial. The Essence of Success is a thorough,
effective,
exciting success book that you will want to read again and again.
The book is organized
in an easy-to-use format that offers several lessons on twenty-five
topics,
each with a success message that you can adopt and apply in your own
life. Each
is a combination of the most profound thoughts of some of the world’s
greatest
thinkers, plain old common sense, and unique insight into what
motivates us to
great achievement. It is singularly Earl Nightingale.
Nightingale believed
that we are not all born river people. It takes some of us longer to
find our
river—our own specific, individual purpose in life. We must somehow set
about
discovering what it is within ourselves, Nightingale wrote, “with the
patience
and assiduity of a paleontologist on an important dig.”
The stories included
in this book may hold the key to helping you better understand yourself
as you
attempt to find your own river. You will know you have found it when
your
purpose in life demands fulfillment just as Nightingale’s mission to
carry his
inspirational message of success to others led him to multiply himself
a thousandfold
through writing and recording and through his partnership with Lloyd
Conant.
Your river will become your burning desire in life and it will fill you
with
energy and enthusiasm.
Though Earl Nightingale’s
brief candle flickered and was forever extinguished on March 25, 1989,
it
continues to light the candles of others. His works stand as a beacon
of hope.
His writings and recordings shine as brightly today as they did when
they were
first created. They are yours to read and enjoy, and to help light the
way in
your own life.
—W.
Clement Stone
The Strangest Secret
By
Earl
Nightingale
When we say "nearly five
percent
of men
and women achieve success" then we have to define success. The
following is the best definition we've found: "Success is the
progressive realization of a worthy ideal."
If a person is working
toward a
predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is
successful. If a person does not know which direction they want to go
in life, then that person is a failure.
"Success is the
progressive
realization of a worthy ideal."
Therefore, who succeeds?
The only person who succeeds
is
the
person who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. The person who
says, "I'm going to become this"… and then begins to work toward
becoming it.
Have you ever wondered why
so
many men
and women work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in
particular? Why others do not seem to work hard at all and yet get
everything? We sometimes think it is the magic touch or pure luck. We
often say, "Everything they touch turns to gold." Have you ever noticed
that a person who becomes successful tends to continue this pattern of
success? Or on the other hand, how a person who fails seems to
continually fail?
Well, the answer is simple
--
those who
succeed have established personal goals.
Success is not the result of
making
money; making money is the result of success and success is in direct
proportion to our service.
Here are five steps that
will
help you
realize success:
- Establish a definite goal.
- Stop running yourself down.
- Do not think of all the reasons why you
cannot be
successful --
instead think of all the reasons why you can achieve success.
- Trace your emotions back to childhood --
discover where you
first
got the negative idea you would not be successful -- face your fears.
- Renew your self-image by writing a
description of the
person you
want to become -- Act the part -- You are that person!
George Bernard Shaw said:
"People are always
blaming
their
circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The
people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for
the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."
Well, that is pretty
apparent,
isn't
it? And every person who discovered this believed – for a while – 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.
Conversely, the man who has
no
goal,
who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be
thoughts of confusion and anxiety and fear and worry, becomes what he
thinks about. His life becomes one of frustration and fear and anxiety
and worry.
And if he thinks about
nothing…he
becomes nothing.
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. All you've got to do is plant that seed
in your mind, care for it, and work steadily toward your goal, and it
will become a reality.
How do you begin?
First: It is
understanding
emotionally as well as intellectually that we literally become what we
think about; that we must control our thoughts if we're to control our
lives. It's understanding fully that…"as ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Second: It's cutting
away
all
fetters from the mind and permitting it to soar as it was divinely
designed to do. It's the realization that your limitations are
self-imposed and that the opportunities for you today are enormous
beyond belief. It's rising above narrow-minded pettiness and prejudice.
Third: It's using all
your
courage to force yourself to think positively on your own problems, to
set a definite and clearly defined goal for yourself. To let your
marvelous mind think about your goal from all possible angles; to let
your imagination speculate freely upon many different possible
solutions. To refuse to believe that there are any circumstances
sufficiently strong to defeat you in the accomplishment of your
purpose. To act promptly and decisively when your course is clear. And
to keep constantly aware of the fact that you are, at this moment,
standing in the middle of your own "acres of diamonds."
And fourth: Save at
least
10
percent of every dollar you earn.
It's also remembering that,
no
matter
what your present job, it has enormous possibilities – if, you're
willing to pay the price by keeping these four points in mind:
- You will become what you think about.
- Remember the word "imagination" and let
your mind begin to
soar.
- Courageously concentrate on your goal
every day.
- Save 10 percent of what you earn.
Finally, take action –
ideas are
worthless unless we act on them.
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complete book in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $17.95 (+ printing
charge)
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