The SECRET to Doubling Your Impact in Just 30 DAYS

Chemistry professors are said to have figured out that a man's worth, even in a somewhat inflated market, is about $32.44. This is what he's worth physically and chemically speaking. Assuming this to be true, the net profit earned by the world on this rather inexpensive creature is so great that it can't even be comprehended. But it's a fact that the living worth of men varies widely. and the purpose is to help you figure out just what you are worth as a human being right now, and what you intend to be worth in, say, 1 to 5 years from now. We've pointed out that in the last analysis, every man is in reality working for himself, in that he's building his own life regardless of who happens to write his paycheck. So for the purpose of this particular message, I want you to think of yourself as a business, as let's say a corporation. You hold the office of president of this corporation in that you're responsible for its success or failure. You and the members of your family are stockholders in your corporation, and it's your responsibility to see that the value of the stock increases in the years ahead. Your family has evidenced faith in you, and it's your responsibility to prove this faith is justified. This is the job of a human being. Now, while the operations of a corporation are multitudinous and complex, they can be reduced to 4 things. 1, production. 2, sales. 3, research. And 4, finance. Without proper financing, there'd be no production. Without production, the company would have nothing to sell. Without sales, it would have to completely stop production. And without research, it could not hope to keep abreast or ahead of our rapidly changing times. To slight any one of these 4 vital functions results in a deformed, a crippled company. And if slighted long enough, could result in corporate suicide. Let's concentrate on research, production, and sales. They're the head, hands, and feet of a company. We could say that the head handles research, the hands take care of production, and the legs handle sales. Cut off any one of these parts and you're left with a shocked, staggering organization. How many once-large companies and trade names can you think of which became, in effect, giants and then disappeared entirely from the economic scene. Names which once were world leaders in their field and are now only memories. They failed to keep in balance in all departments: research, production, sales. Let's take them in order. First, what is research? Research can be said to exist in two areas: present and future. That is, the research of a company should be devoted to ways and means of improving its present products present production and present sales. Future research is concerned with ways and means of developing new products, new methods of production, and new methods of marketing. But while this research is going on, present production must continue at as high a level as sales warrant. In short, a company— each of us— has two factors to consider: the present and the future. How successful we are in meeting these challenges will determine our present profits and our future growth. Now, why are all companies concerned with growth even when they seem to be doing well today? It's because of a law which operates with companies just as it does with human beings. Nothing in the world stands still. Nothing in the entire universe stands still. A law of physics goes: a body in motion tends to remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force. A company which is growing has a tendency to continue to grow. Conversely, a company which is going backwards or shrinking has a tendency to continue to go backwards or shrink until acted upon by an outside force. Now, all responsible company officers know that unless a company is growing, it is developing the first signs of death. Now, you are the head of your personal corporation, and you should realize that this same law applies to you as well. Now, before we get into specifics on these parts of your corporate body, Let's take a look at the next 10 years. Before we do, keep this in mind: if anyone had predicted just 10 years ago that we'd be living in the kind of world we have today, he would have been ridiculed and hooted out of the room. This includes everything from our gross national product to the luxuries and new products we now take for granted, along with our present average income. We're reaching a point in the compression of human knowledge where our advancement is more than dynamic, it's more like an implosion. Any prediction for the next 10 years is very likely to be far on the ultra-conservative side. But let's take a look at what the experts say. According to many research projects conducted during the past year, the next 10 years are going to offer business and the individual the greatest rewards in this nation's history. It is intelligently estimated that in the next 7, 8, or 9 years, the population of this country will grow by 30 to 40 million persons. Add this to the present population and you have a picture of a really dynamic market. And this doesn't even consider the growing world market. In the next 8 to 10 years, the bulk of spending in this country will be for things, products, and services over and above the necessities, which are food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and medical care. Imagine, most of the spending will actually be for things above and beyond the necessities. This will be the first time this has happened in the entire history of the human race. It is estimated that the consumer market will expand 50% and more in the next 8 to 10 years, an astounding increase soaring into the hundreds of billions of dollars. And what about research and development, which is the future of our industry? Even today, more money is being spent for research and development in a single year than was spent during the first 150 years of the nation's history. Think a moment. What does all of this mean to you and your own individual company, the one you're president of? It means your future is unlimited if you'll see yourself in relation to the present and the future. Never before throughout all the centuries of man has an individual faced as bright a future as yours. Now let's talk about how all of this affects you. Do you realize that companies which today are growing at about 10% a year will be twice as large in about 8 years? Would you say that you are increasing your effectiveness 10% a year? And our population isn't just exploding, it's getting a lot smarter. Educational advances during the past 10 years have been remarkable. During the next 10, they'll be amazing. The customer is getting smarter every day, and if we're going to continue to meet his demands and sell him our products, we'd better get smarter every day too, because if we don't, he's not going to buy from us. During the next 10 years, our population will add the equivalent of a city the size of Phoenix, Arizona every month. Every day there are approximately 12,000 new babies. In 10 years, there'll be more than 5 million brand new customers born every year. Well, that's just a glance at a few of the things that are going on around us and what our country will be like in 8 to 10 years. Now, each one of us, as manager of his own corporation, can decide what to do about it. We can either grow with it or go backwards. We can't stand still, even if we'd like to. This then gives each of us a wonderful opportunity to stand back and look at ourselves and our future objectively, as an intelligent stranger might. Ask yourself, how much am I worth right now, today, as a corporation? What is my value today to myself, my family, and my company? How do I stack up as an individual? If I were an outside investor, a stranger, would I invest in this corporation? Now think a moment. A company growing at the rate of 10% a year, as we mentioned, will double in value and size in less than 8 years. Can you grow and improve as an individual at least 10% a year? Of course you can. In fact, if we go along with the experts' estimates, an individual can increase his effectiveness anywhere from 50% to 100% and more within 30 days. Men in sales who found they could, through the proper management of their abilities, minds, and time, sell as much of their company's products in a single month as they had previously sold in an entire year. Think what this means. It means being 12 times as effective as a human being. And getting back to the law of cause and effect, it means putting out 12 times as much service, which must and will guarantee our receiving eventually 12 times the reward we formerly knew. 12 times the reward. Now remember, please, if we do twice as much, we have to receive twice as much, and nothing on earth can keep it from us. And the same thing applies if we triple our effectiveness. Now you and I know this. Everyone should know this. But remember that fully 95% of the people do not know this. Think of the advantage this gives to us. It isn't that we want to take advantage of anyone, and we're not. but it dramatically demonstrates the truth of the saying, knowledge is power. Now look, tomorrow is a brand new day, the great equalizer. No more or less time than anyone else on Earth can have to work with. Right now, begin to think of ways in which you can greatly increase your effectiveness, knowing that by so doing, you are automatically presetting your rewards. Each day that comes to you, beginning with today or tomorrow, offers you a clean, brand-new page on which to write the story of your life. Forget the past, it's gone. Don't concern yourself with the opportunities you may have missed in the past. This is true of everyone. But reach out and take each new day as it comes and ask yourself, how can I best use this day? You know, we're going to run out of them eventually. If we waste an hour of productive time every day, it adds up to about 250 hours a year that our corporation, our plant, is shut down. We can earn nothing with the doors closed. What is your time worth an hour? Multiply this by 250 and you can see what you're throwing away. Now, whether your employer pays for this wasted hour or not is unimportant. Life will not pay for it. 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, savored. A human life is really nothing more than a collection of minutes, hours, and days. These are the building material, and it's left strictly up to us as individuals to determine the kind and size structure we build. You see, an individual has a tremendous advantage over even the largest corporation. Think of any large corporation. Can it double its production in a single day? No. Can it double its sales in a single day? No. It would like to, But its growth must be a gradual, steady thing because of the interconnecting complexities of operating so large an organization. Yet an individual can double, triple, quadruple his effectiveness in a month or less. It's like comparing the movement of an army to the movement of a single scout. So now again, ask yourself how you've been handling the 3 vital functions of your business that we're discussing here: research, production, sales. How much time and effort are you giving to research, to the study of your work, your career? Can this be improved? And what about production? Is there a way in which you can vastly improve the way in which you conduct your work? And sales— how can they be improved? Sales is more than selling a product or service. It's the way in which we sell ourselves to everyone with whom we come in contact. It's the way we get along with our associates, our wives and children, our neighbors. And if our business happens to be selling, how can we see more people every day and improve the effectiveness of every part of our contact? One extra call a day comes to 250 calls a year. How many additional sales could we make with 250 additional contacts in 5 years? That comes to 1,250 calls we would not have otherwise made. It's the difference between being average or above average. Good, or great. And this applies to anything we happen to be doing. It brings peace to our minds, absolute security to our future, great new stature as a human being. In this way, and in this way only, can we reach our full maturity. With this attitude toward life, we need never for a moment concern ourselves with its outcome. It will begin to become successful tomorrow, and it will continue to pour abundance upon us for the rest of our years. To watch the official version of Earl Nightingale's The Strangest Secret, check the video right there next to me. I think you'll love it. Continue to believe, and I'll see you there. I'd like to tell you about the strangest secret in the world. Not long ago, Albert Schweitzer, the great doctor and Nobel Prize winner, was being interviewed in London, and a reporter asked him, Doctor, what's wrong with men today?