Earl Nightingale's Top 10 Rules for Success

Earl Nightingale is one of the most influential personal development teachers of the 20th century and the voice behind the legendary recording The Strangest Secret, which became the first spoken word message to earn a gold record. He went from growing up in poverty, serving as a U.S. Marine, and surviving the attack on Pearl Harbor to becoming known worldwide as the Dean of Personal Development, inspiring millions to transform their lives through clarity of thought, goal setting, and personal responsibility. Need motivation? Watch a top 10 with Believe Nation. If you've been here before, drop a hashtag #believe in the comments below so I can feature you here in a future video. And if you're new, welcome to Believe Nation, the only channel that helps you believe in yourself daily, one video at a time. Okay, let's kick it off with rule number 1: Have worthy ideals.

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. If a man is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where he's going, that man is a success. If he's not doing that, he's a failure. Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. 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're going. Now think of it. In America right now, there are over 14 million people 65 years of age and over, and about 13 million of these 14 million are broke. They're dependent on someone else for life's necessities. Now we learn to read by the time we're 7. 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 don't know, really. These people believe that 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 this question: 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 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 man who succeeds is the man who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. He's the man who says, I'm going to become this, and then begins to work toward that goal. I'll tell you who the successful people are. A success is the schoolteacher who's teaching school because that's what she wanted to do. The success is the woman who's a wife and mother because she wanted to become a wife and mother and is doing a good job of it. The success is the man who runs the corner gas station because that's what he wanted to do. The success is the successful salesman who wants to become a top-notch salesman and 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 1 out of 20 does that. Rule number 2 is form good habits.

Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit. People form habits and habits form futures. If you don't deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you form bad ones. You're the kind of person you are because you formed the habit of being that kind of person, and the only way you can change is through changing habits. The success habit for any area of achievement can be divided into 4 main groups: 1, contacting habits; 2, calling habits; 3, persuading habits; 4, Working habits. Now let's discuss these habit groups in their order. Any successful person will tell you that it's easier to persuade someone to a particular course of action than to find someone who already wants to do it. But if you have not deliberately formed the habit of contacting those who need what you're offering, regardless of their wants, then unconsciously you form the habit of limiting your contacts to those people who already want what you have to offer. And therein lies the one and only real reason for a lack of interested contacts. As to calling habits, unless you've deliberately formed the habit of calling on people who are able to do what you want them to do, but who may be unwilling to listen, then unconsciously you've formed the habit of calling on people who are willing to listen, but unable to do what you want them to do. As to persuasion habits, unless you have deliberately formed the habit of calling on people determined to help them see why it is in their interest to take a particular course of action, then unconsciously you form the habit of calling on people while you're in a state of mind in which you are willing to let them make you see their reasons for not going along with you. As to working habits, if you'll take care of the other 3 groups, the working habits will generally take care of themselves, because under working habits are included study and preparation, organization of time and effort, records, analyses, and so forth. And certainly you're not going to take the trouble to learn the best approach to your presentation unless you're going to use it. You're not going to plan your day's activities when you know in your heart that you're not going to carry out your plans. And you're certainly not going to keep an honest record of things you haven't done or of results you haven't achieved. So let's not worry so much about the fourth group of success habits, because if you're taking care of the first three groups, most of the working habits will take care of themselves. But before you decide to adopt these success habits, let me warn you of the importance of habit to your decision. I've attended many meetings and rallies during the past years and have often wondered why, in spite of the fact that there's so much good in them, so many men and women seem to get so little lasting good out of them. Perhaps you've attended such meetings in the past and have left these meetings determined to do the things that would make you successful or more successful. Only to find your decision or determination waning at just the time when it should be put into effect or practice? Well, here's the answer. Any resolution or decision you make is simply a promise to yourself which isn't worth a tinker's damn until you form the habit of making it and keeping it. And you won't form the habit of making it and keeping it unless right at the start you link it with a definite purpose that can be accomplished by keeping it. In other words, any resolution or decision you make today has to be made again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on. And it not only has to be made each day, but it has to be kept each day. For if you miss one day in the making or keeping of it, you've got to go back and begin all over again. But if you continue the process of making it each morning and keeping it each day, you will finally wake up some morning a different person in a different world, and you'll wonder what has happened to you and the world you used to live in. Well, here's what's happened. Your resolution or decision has become a habit, and you don't have to make it on this particular morning. And the reason for your seeming like a different man or woman living in a different world lies in the fact that for the first time in your life, you've become master of yourself and master of your likes and dislikes by surrendering to your purpose in life. That's why behind every success there must be a purpose, and that's what makes purpose so important to your future.

Rule number 3 is set clear 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 and yet seem to get everything? They have the magic touch. You've heard them say that about someone. Everything he touches turns to gold. And have you ever noticed that a man who becomes successful tends to continue to become successful? And on the other hand, have you noticed how a man who is a failure tends to continue to fail? It's because of goals. Some of us have them, some don't. People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. Now think of a ship leaving a harbor and think of it with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew know exactly where it's going and how long it will take. It has a definite goal. 9,999 times out of 10,000, it will get to where it started out to get. 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, no destination. We just start the engines and let it go. I think you'll agree with me 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. 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 is 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. 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 would 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 for.

Rule number 4 is value your customers.

I want to talk about your boss and your relationship with him. How you handle this relationship will determine your success or failure. It will determine how much money you make or do not make, and it will determine whether you're a happy person or an unhappy person. So let's talk about you and your boss. Who is your boss? You have only one, and every working person from the president of the largest corporation to the shoeshine boy has the same boss. He is simply the customer. There never has been, there is not now, and there never will be any boss but the customer. He's the one boss you must please. Everything you own, he's paid for. He buys your home, your cars, your clothes. He pays for your vacations and puts your kids through school. He pays your doctor bills and writes every paycheck you will ever receive. He'll give you every promotion you will ever obtain during your lifetime, and he will discharge you if you displease him. Now sometimes, particularly in these days of, oh, seemingly complex economics and big business, we lose sight of just what business is. It all started back during the most primitive times. A man, in order to fend for himself and his family, had to provide his own food and his own shelter. He had to do his own fighting and fashion his own rough clothes. Crude weapons for hunting and materials for fishing. Later, he had to manufacture his own farming implements. In short, each man had to personally take care of every department of life. Now naturally, it came about that men and women with certain talents appeared. One was particularly adept at fashioning spears, another at fishing, another at hunting, another at making garments, and so on. And it was only natural that soon these individuals found that they could best spend most of their time in the pursuit of that which they were most talented at and trade their production for the production of others. As a result, the man who made spears found that others would give him a share of their food, clothing, and so on if he'd provide them with spears. Thus trade and commerce began. Now it's far more complex today, but still based on the same principle. A person's money is the result of his production, and he trades it for things he needs and wants. And it's here that logical discrimination comes into the picture. Now, since his money is the result of his work, it's left to his discretion where he spends it. And it's here that he assumes the role of boss. He will spend his money only with those whom he feels have earned it. And this is as it should be. You and I are exactly the same way. If someone treats you badly in any way, Well, you instinctively feel that he hasn't earned your business, and you will withhold it from him. And our prosperity as individuals hinges directly on our attitude toward what we do for a living. The man who works on an automobile assembly line might not think much about the car at the point of sale, or about the family which will eventually buy and travel in that car, but that family pays his salary, and they will withhold the purchase of the car on which he works if it has not earned their respect and admiration. If you doubt this even for a moment, think of the cars which once were popular and which can no longer be seen on the road. This applies to all products. Having earned a successful place in the economy should never be confused with keeping it. It must be earned every day, year in, year out. There's not a company that could not go out of business. Everything depends on how the boss is treated. The boss being the customer. And yet the customer is eminently fair, just as you are. He can be won back, and if he's treated with the importance he deserves, he can in a few years bring a lot of other people into your place of business.

Also, if you want to take real action out of this video, I made a free worksheet just for you. It covers the top lessons from today, gives you space to write your biggest takeaways, and helps you build a simple action plan. It's 100% free. Just click the link in the description below to go grab it. I'll see you there. Rule number 5 is be outstanding at what you do.

Every business, every organization, from the smallest to the very largest, needs a leader. They have their committees, their echelons of command, and perhaps a widely dispersed group of semi-autonomous divisions. But the overall company and each of its divisions must have strong and able leadership. Contrary to popular belief, you do not raise morale in an organization. It filters down from the top. The attitudes of the people working in any organization will always reflect the attitude of the leader. And finally, this leader will always be found to be just one person. I'm sure you're aware that even the largest and oldest companies with many thousands of employees and hundreds of management people will, when they find themselves in trouble or not doing as well as they should, seek out one man and place him in the position of final authority. The whole company, the board of directors, and perhaps thousands of stockholders all look to this one person for leadership and success. Wherever you find a successful going concern, whether it's a government, a business, a club, or a well-organized home, you find behind its success an outstanding leader. This is the most valuable person in society. In industry, he makes the wheels turn, the entire economy work. This is the man who's been responsible for the growth of nations and their position in the world. He's the employer of millions. He's the dreamer, the planner, and a clock to him is something that other people watch. You'll find him working early and late, and when he's not working, he's usually planning. Back during the Depression of the '30s, the phrase most often heard by employers was, "I'll do anything." Millions were unemployed, thousands of business firms had closed their doors, and outside employment offices, long lines of people stood waiting for any kind of work. It was during this time in Long Beach, California, crowded to overflowing with thousands who had migrated there looking for work— I know because I was a kid there— that a man I knew made an interesting discovery. He found that he could go to work almost anywhere he chose. Now, amazing as this may sound, it's true. It dawned upon him one day that the business establishments of various kinds were just as anxious to succeed as were the people looking for work. The owners and managers of these businesses were worried and concerned over the hard times which had descended upon the country, and a great many of them were looking for someone to come to their aid, the person who would somehow show up and solve their business problems. But all they heard was people asking for work and saying, "I'll do anything." These people were asking for a paycheck from a man who was very likely teetering on the brink of financial ruin himself, And so signs appeared in windows all over the land reading, no help wanted. This was a negative form of advertising, and while it kept the plenty of hordes away from the door, it also hurt business. Well, this friend of mine decided to become a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem, and his method was simple and it worked like a charm. He selected the kind of business he felt he would like to work in and in which he could build his career. He then devoted a month to finding out all he could about that particular business. He talked to other people in the same line. He heard their problems and what they felt was wrong. He talked for hours asking questions about what they felt was needed and so on. He went to the public library and read everything he could find on that industry. And then he began to think of ways and means by which this business might be improved. When he was ready and finally made his call on the company for which he decided to work, instead of asking for a job, he said something like this: I believe I know of several ways in which your business can be greatly increased, and I'd like to talk to you about them. Well, here he was selling the one thing on earth in which his prospect was most interested. The fact that he now knew a good deal about the man's problems permitted him to talk intelligently, and he took a positive attitude, expressed a willingness to pitch in and help the man put his business on a sound and profitable footing. And that's right, he got the job. Now, what had he done? Well, first he had specialized. He had selected one line of work and decided that was where his future would be. Now he had to prove himself, and he did. The best way for you to develop the security that lasts a lifetime is to become outstanding at one particular line of work. Look at it this way: regardless of economic ups and downs, the industry of which that line of work is a part will continue to operate. It won't shut down completely. As long as you're in the top 5% of the people in that industry, you know you'll always be in demand. You'll be wanted and needed, not just where that industry is concerned, but where you and your family are concerned also. The man or woman who who becomes truly outstanding at what he or she does, has the world on a string. Here's the person of confidence and peace of mind. Here's the person who's quietly aware of his ability and intimate knowledge of his job in his particular industry. Ask yourself this question: am I now such a person? Down deep inside, you know the answer. If your answer is yes, you're among the most fortunate people and in one of the smallest and most elite groups on Earth? If your answer was no, it can be turned into a yes in a surprisingly short time.

Rule number 6 is plant the right seed in your mind.

Let me tell you something which, if you really understand it, will alter your life immediately. If you understand completely what I'm going to tell you, from this moment on, your life will never be the same again. You'll 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. Now let me say that again. We become what we think about. Throughout all history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement. Listen to what Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor, said. He said, a man's life is what his thoughts make of it. Disraeli said this: everything comes if a man will only wait. I have 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. Ralph Waldo Emerson said this: A man is what he thinks about all day long. William James said, 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 cold blood act as if the thing in question were 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 interest in it will be those which characterize belief." He also said this: "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 100 other incompatible things just as strongly. In the Bible, you read in Mark 9:23, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said this: This is one of the greatest laws in the universe. Fervently do I wish I had discovered it as a very young man. It dawned upon me much later in life, and I found it to be one of the greatest, if not my greatest discovery, outside of my relationship to God. And the great law, briefly and simply stated, is that if you think in negative terms, you'll get negative results. If you think in positive terms, you will achieve positive results. That is the simple fact which is at the basis of an astonishing law of prosperity and success. In 3 words: believe and succeed. William Shakespeare put it this way: our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. 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, 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's 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, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing, he becomes nothing. Now, how does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works as far as we know. Now, to do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind. Suppose a farmer has some land and it's good fertile land. Now, the land gives the farmer a choice. He may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision. Now remember, we're comparing the human mind with the land, because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant. Now let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand. One is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds, one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters, and takes care of the land. And what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what is planted. As it's written in the Bible, as ye sow, so shall ye reap. 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. Now, the human mind is far more fertile, far more more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant—success, failure, a concrete worthwhile goal, or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on. But what we plant, it will return to us. You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on the earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant. Now you might say, well, if that's true, why don't people use their minds more? Well, I think they've figured out an answer to that too. 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, on our mind, our soul, our body, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends. 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. The human mind isn't used merely because we take it for granted. Familiarity breeds contempt. It can do any kind of job we assign to it, but generally speaking, we use it for little jobs instead of big important ones. Universities have proved that most of us are operating on about 10% of our abilities. 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 be an outstanding salesman, a better worker at your particular job? Do you want to go places in your company, in your community? All you've 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 is a law, like the laws of Sir Isaac Newton, the laws of gravity. If you get on top of a building and jump 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've reached your goal. Ours has been called the phenobarbital age, the age of ulcers and nervous breakdowns. At a time when medical research has raised us to an a new plateau of good health and longevity, far too many of us worry ourselves into an early grave trying to cope with things in our own little personal ways without learning a few great laws that will take care of everything for us. These things we bring on ourselves through our habitual way of thinking. Every one of us is the sum total of his own thoughts. He is where he is because that is exactly where he really wants to be. Whether he'll admit that or not. Each of us must live off the fruit of his 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.

Rule number 7 is have a strong purpose.

Successful people are influenced by the desire for pleasing results. Failures are influenced by the desire for pleasing methods and are inclined to be satisfied with such results as can be obtained by doing things they like to do. Why are successful people able to do the things they don't like to do while failures are not? Because successful people have a strong purpose, strong enough to make them form the habit of doing things they don't like to do in order to accomplish the purpose they want to accomplish. Sometimes even the best producers get into a slump. When a person gets into a slump, it simply means that he's reached a point at which, for the time being, the things he doesn't like to do have become more important than his reasons for doing them. Many people with whom I've discussed this common denominator of success have said at this point, but I have a family to support and I have to make a living for my family and myself. Isn't that enough of a purpose? No, it isn't. It isn't a sufficiently strong purpose to make you form the habit of doing the things you we don't like to do, for the very simple reason that it is easier to adjust ourselves to the hardships of a poor living than it is to adjust ourselves to the hardships of making a better one. If you doubt me, just think of all the things you're willing to go without in order to avoid doing the things you don't like to do. All of which seems to prove that the strength which holds you to your purpose is not your own strength, but the strength of the purpose itself.

Rule number 8 is exercise your mind.

Now, so you can see the amazing results in your life, I want to recommend that you take just 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, and devote this hour to exercising your mind. Pick 1 hour a day on which you can fairly regularly count, and during this hour every day, take a completely blank sheet of paper. At the top of the page, write your present primary goal. Clearly, simply. Then, since our future depends upon the way in which we handle our work, write down as many ideas as you can for improving that which you now do. Try to think of 20 possible ways in which the activity that fills your day can be improved. You won't always get 20, but even one idea is good. Now remember two important points with regard to this. One, this is not particularly easy, and two, most of your ideas won't be any good. Now, when I say it's not easy, I mean it's like starting any new habit. At first, you'll find your mind a little reluctant to be hauled up and out of the old familiar rut. But as you think about your work and ways in which it might be improved, write down every idea that pops into your mind, no matter how absurd it might seem. Let me tell you what will happen. Some of your ideas will be good and worth testing. The most important thing this extra hour accomplishes, however, is that it deeply embeds your goal into your subconscious mind, starts the whole vital machinery working. And 20 ideas a day, if you can come up with that many, total 100 a week, even if you don't think on weekends. An hour a day, 5 days a week, totals 260 hours a year and still leaves you 3,740 hours of free leisure time. Now, this means you'll be thinking about your goal and ways of improving your performance, increasing your service, 6.5 full extra working weeks a year. 6.5 40-hour weeks devoted to thinking and planning. Can you see how easy it is to rise above the so-called competition? And we'll still leave you with 15 hours a day to spend as you please. Starting each day thinking, you'll find that your mind will continue to work all day long. You'll find that at odd moments, when you least expect it, really great ideas will begin to pop into your mind. And when they do, write them down as soon as you can. Just one great idea can completely revolutionize your work, and as a result, your life. If you wanna develop the muscles of your body, you take daily exercise of some sort. Well, the mind is developed the same way, except that the returns are out of all conceivable proportion to the time and energy spent. I've used this system for years and it's given me some of the most gratifying and rewarding experiences of my life. And it costs only 5 hours a week, 5 hours out of 168. Is it worth it? It's like spending 5 hours a week digging in a solid vein of pure gold because your mind is all of that and much more.

Number 9 is focus on service.

Each morning and during the day, ask yourself this question: how can I increase my service today knowing that my rewards in life must be in exact proportion to my service? I do this every day, and you will have started to form one of life's most valuable habits. Horace Mann wrote, if any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he'll find both. You see, you can cut away all the confusion and complications and nagging worries and vague, half-formed fears by returning to the great truths, the great laws, the great verities on which all success, all accomplishment, the whole world is built. If you're worried about your income or your future, you're concentrating on the wrong end of the scale. Look at the other end. Concern yourself only with increasing your service, with becoming great where you are, and your income and your future will take care of themselves. In William James' essay on vital reserves, he wrote, compared with what we ought to be, we're only half awake. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We're making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources. Stating the thing broadly, he went on, the human individual thus lives usually far within his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and he behaves below his optimum. All right, how can we correct the situation? William James gave us the answer. He wrote, either some unusual stimulus fills them with emotional excitement, or some unusual idea of necessity induces them to make an extra effort of will. Excitement, ideas, and efforts, in a word, are what carry us over the dam. All right, let your goal represent the excitement. Your ideas and efforts will weigh down the service end of the scale. And the rewards must and will follow. They'll be yours. They are yours. The moment you realize this truth.

And number 10, the last one before a very special bonus clip, is learn to recognize opportunities.

You see, the average man believes some businesses are better than others instead of realizing the truth that there are no bad businesses. There are just those people who don't know enough to see the opportunities in the work they're in. No matter what our work happens to be, it's our business. We're the manager. If there seems to be no future or opportunity in it, it isn't always because it's not there, but perhaps only because we can't see it. A farmer once poked a tiny pumpkin into an empty jug. The pumpkin grew until it completely filled the jug and could grow no more. When the farmer broke the glass, he had a pumpkin exactly the size and shape of the jug. If we're not careful, each of us can do a similar thing. We can mistakenly poke ourselves into jugs that limit our growth, but it is we who do the poking, not the job, not the company, nor the territory, nor the economy, nor the times. We do it. People who become outstanding at their work are those who see their work as an opportunity for growth and development and who prepare themselves for the opportunities which surround them every day. Preparation is the key. This means becoming so good, so competent at what we're now doing, we will actually force the opportunities we seek to come our way. It takes imagination, creative imagination, to know that diamonds don't look like diamonds in their rough state, nor does a pile of iron ore look like iron or steel. Great opportunities lurk constantly in every aspect of the work in which we now find ourselves. In order to begin prospecting your acres of diamonds, start to develop a faculty called intelligent objectivity. The ability to stand off and look at your job as a stranger might. A stranger who considers your pasture greener than his own. To do this, start at the beginning. Within the framework of what industry or profession does your job fall? You know all you can know about your industry. How did it begin? Why did it begin? Who started it and when. What's your industry's annual dollar volume? How fast has it grown during the past 20 years? What's its projected growth during the next 10 years? In short, start now to become a student of your industry. You'll be amazed at the results. In 5 years or less, you can become a national expert in your field, and it's the experts who write their own tickets in life. Robert Seashore, when chairman of the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University, pointed out that successful people are not people without problems. They're simply people who've learned to solve their problems. And there you have it. Living successfully, getting the things we want from life, is a matter of solving the problems which stand between where we now are and the point we wish to reach. No one is without problems. They're a part of living. But let me show you how much time we waste in worrying about the wrong problems. Here's a reliable estimate of the things people worry about: things that never happen, 40%. Things over and past that can't be changed by all the worry in the world, 30%. Needless worries about our health, 12%. Petty miscellaneous worries, 10%. Real legitimate worries, 8%. In short, 92% of the average person's worries take up valuable time, cause painful stress, even mental anguish, and are absolutely unnecessary. And of the real legitimate worries, there are two kinds. There are the problems we can solve, and there are the problems beyond our ability to personally solve. But most of our real problems usually fall into the first group, the ones we can solve if we learn how.

And congratulations, you're one video closer to who you're meant to be. To learn the habit Earl Nightingale says to follow for 30 days, check the video right there next to me. I think you'll love it.

Continue to believe, and I'll see you there. Every day, a new and dramatic story appears somewhere. The old story of obstacles overcome and outstanding success achieved— well, they're just too numerous to mention. But how and why are these things done?