"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal."

The Strangest Secret

By: John calssico..

Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter,

"Doctor, what's wrong with men today?" The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he

said, "Men simply don't think!"

It's about this that I want to talk with you. We live today in a golden age. This is an era that man

has looked forward to, dreamed of, and worked toward for thousands of years. But since it’s

here we pretty well take it for granted. We in America are particularly fortunate to live in the

richest land that ever existed on the face of the earth, a land of abundant opportunity for

everyone.

However, if you take 100 men who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will

happen to those men by the time they're 65? These 100 men who all start even at the age of 25

believe they're going to be successful. If you ask any one of these men if he wanted to be a

success he’d tell you he did! And you’d notice he’s eager toward life, that there is a certain

sparkle in his eye, erectness to his carriage, and life seemed like a pretty interesting adventure

to him.

But by the time they're 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will

still be working, and 54 will be broke.

Now think a moment – out of 100 only five make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has

happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams,

the hopes, the plans, and why is there such a large disparity between what these men intended

to do and what they actually accomplished?

THE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

When we say about five percent achieve success, we have to define success. And here is the

best definition I've ever been able to find:

"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal."

If a man is working towards a predetermined goal and knows where his is going – that man is a

success. And if he is not doing that – he’s a failure. Success is the progressive realization of a

worthy ideal.

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Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a wonderful book called

Man's Search for

Himself

, and in this book he says: "The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice. It is

conformity."

And there you have the trouble today – it’s conformity! People acting like everyone else,

without knowing why, without knowing where they are going.

Now think of it, in America right now there are over 18,000,000 people 65 years of age or

older. And most of them are broke. They’re dependant on someone else for life’s necessities.

Now we learn to read by the time we're seven. We learn to make a living by the time we're 25.

Usually by that time we're not only making a living, we're supporting a family. And yet by the

time we're 65, we haven't learned how to become financially independent in the richest land

that has ever been known.

Why? We conform! And the trouble is that we’re acting like the wrong percentage group — the

95 who don't succeed.

Now why do these people conform? Well they really don’t know. These people believe their

lives are shaped by circumstances, by things that happen to them, by exterior forces. They’re

outer directed people.

A survey was made one time that covered a lot of men – working men – and these men were

asked – why do you work? Why do you get up in the morning? 19 out of 20 had no idea! If you

ask them they’ll say, well everyone goes to work in the morning. And that’s the reason they do

it, because everyone else is doing it.

Now let’s get back to our definition of success. Who succeeds? The only person, who

succeeds, is the person who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. It’s the person who says –

I’m going to become this, and then begins to work towards that goal.

I’ll tell you who the successful people are – a success is the school teacher who is teaching

school because that's what he or she wants to do. A success is the woman who’s a wife and

mother because she wanted to become a wife or mother, and is doing a good job of it. A

success is the man who runs the corner gas station because that was his dream, that’s what he

wanted to do. A success is the successful salesman who wants to become a top notch salesman

and wants to grow and build with his organization.

A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a predetermined job because that’s what he

decided to do – deliberately.

But only one out of 20 does that!

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That’s why today there isn’t really any competition unless we make if for ourselves. Instead of

competing, all we have to do is create.

You know for 20 years I looked for the key which would determine what would happen to a

human being. Was there a key I wanted to know which would make the future a promise that

we could foretell to a large extent – was there a key that could guarantee a person’s becoming

successful if he only knew about it and knew how to use it. Well there is such a key. And I’ve

found it.

GOALS

Have you ever wondered why so many men work so hard and honestly without ever achieving

anything in particular? And others don't seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They

seem to have the "magic touch." You've heard them say that about someone, "Everything he

touches turns to gold." And have you ever noticed a man that becomes successful tends to

continue to become successful? And on the other hand, have you noticed how a man who’s a

failure tends to continue to fail?

Well – it’s because of goals.

Some of us have goals, some don’t. People with goals succeed because they know where

they're going. It's that simple.

Think of a ship leaving a harbor – and think of it with a complete voyage mapped out and

planned. The captain and crew know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take

— it has a definite goal. Now 9,999 times out of 10,000, it will get there.

Now let's take another ship — just like the first — only let's not put a crew on it, or a captain at

the helm. Let's give it no aiming point, no goal, and no destination, we just start the engines

and let it go. I think you'll agree that if it gets out of the harbor at all, it will either sink or wind

up on some deserted beach — a derelict. It can't go anyplace because it has no destination and

no guidance – and it’s the same with a human being.

Take the salesman for example. There is no other person in the world today with the future of

a good salesman. Selling is the world’s highest paid profession – if we’re good at it and if we

know where we’re going. Every company needs top notch salesmen. And they reward those

men – the sky’s the limit for them. But how many can you find?

Someone once said the human race is fixed, not to prevent the strong from winning, but to

prevent the weak from losing.

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The American economy today can be likened to a convoy in time of war. The entire economy is

slowed down to protect its weakest link, just as the convoy had to go at the speed that will

permit its slowest vessel to remain in formation.

That's why it's so easy to make a living today. It takes no particular brains or talent to make a

living and support a family today. So we have a plateau of so-called "security," if that’s what a

person’s looking for.

But we do have to decide how high

above this plateau we want to aim.

Now let’s get back to the strangest secret in the world – the story that I wanted to tell you

today.

Why do men with goals succeed in life and those without them fail?

Well let me tell you something – which if you really understand it, will alter your life

immediately. If you understand completely what I’m about to tell you from this moment on

your life will never be the same again. You will suddenly find that good luck just seems to be

attracted to you. The things you want just seem to fall in line, and from now on you won’t have

the problems, the worries, the gnawing lump of anxiety that perhaps you’ve experienced

before. Doubt, fear – well, they’ll be things of the past.

Here's the key to success – and – the key to failure: WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT.
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