Book of the Week: The Strangest Secret

Published by Smart Office


Author(s): Earl Nightingale
Publisher: Dey Street Books, Originally Published 1956
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A half-century before Rhonda Byrne wrote The Secret, Earl Nightingale’s timeless masterpiece The Strangest Secret shared the profound truth behind success and fulfillment. Nightingale argues that individuals become what they think about most of the time, emphasizing the importance of directing one’s thoughts towards clear, defined goals.

Originally delivered as a spoken-word recording, this compact book presents Nightingale’s message: that the key to achieving one’s dreams lies in the power of thought. This is the fundamental difference between those who achieve their goals and those who merely drift through life.

What sets The Strangest Secret apart is its clarity and directness. By following its advice, readers can embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth that leads to lasting success and happiness. Whether you’re striving for career success, financial abundance, or personal happiness, this book offers a roadmap to achieving your dreams through the power of thought.

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightingale

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” – Earl Nightingale

“Men credited with all kinds of ability, talent, brains and know how, including the ability to see into the future, frequently have nothing more than the courage to keep everlastingly at what they set out to do. They have that one great quality that is worth more than all the rest put together.” – Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret is much more than a wealth-building tool; it is a manifesto for self-actualization and purpose-driven work. In Nightingale’s own words: “The only man who succeeds is the man who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal.”

In this book, Nightingale distills his lifetime of research on human motivation into a simple success formula—the very same one that propelled his own achievement. The Strangest Secret is a practical guide for accelerated prosperity so that you can quickly rise to the top, becoming one of the top 5 percent who succeed in your field. Challenge yourself with Nightingale’s thirty-day test for putting this secret success formula into action in your life, and chart your own path to productivity, financial independence, and personal fulfillment.

Having grown up during the Great Depression, Earl Nightingale was fascinated by the difference between those who attain high levels of personal, professional, and financial success and those who do not. He devoted his life to searching out a recipe for achievement—a means of predicting success in any area of life. While reading the line in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich that “we become what we think about,” Nightingale experienced a watershed moment of self-discovery that resulted in his becoming financially independent by the young age of thirty-five.