Nelson Nash heard Earl Nightingale's 1956 recording "You become what you think about all day long" in early 1957 and it changed how he saw success. He paid $35 for the tape, equivalent to $150 today, and credits focused thought with everything from learning to fly to building his career. A FedEx pilot flew for 20 years without noticing the arrow hidden in the company logo, illustrating how most people miss what they don't actively look for.
Questions this video answers
January 1957 (Lions Club meeting, Smithfield, North Carolina).
Late 1956.
$35 (stated as about $150 in today's dollars).
About seven years old.
About ten years old.
Chapters
I had the good fortune back there in 1957. That was one of the best years of my life. I learned about Earl Nightingale. I learned about foundation for Economic Education. And I started my first business that year. That's a good year. All right, Anybody familiar with Earl Nightingale? All right.
I'll never forget the first time I heard that recording. The Strangest Secret. It came out in late 1956. I heard it January 57, Lions Club meeting, Smithfield, North Carolina. The program chairman had that recording. I could not wait till I got my copy of it.
I paid $35 for that thing back then. That's about $150 today.
Great investment. I memorized it. Curtis. The Strangest Secret. Y' all know what it is? You become what you think about all day long. You become what you think about all day long. Now, Wayne, some folks say that can't be true. If that were true, old men would become women.
Wayne, you can take the absolute truth and somebody will find a way to pervert the meaning every time. But it's true. Second, third, fourth grade. Athens, Georgia. I'm growing up. I'm living across the road from the airport. I'm a kid, actually. I'm watching airplanes, love.
I knew I had to become an aviator one day. Six years later, I soloed on that field.
Now, when you say airplanes, you're talking money. Steven. We're not from money.
My family is not from money. I never knew what electricity was at a home until I was seven years old. I didn't know what indoor plumbing was until I was 10 years old.
But if you have a desire for something, first comes desire. You gotta want them. It will happen. Be careful what you think about. It's gonna happen.
But find good goals and go to them. Because we are goal achieving beings. So by what means are you trying to achieve your goals? What do you really believe? Basic beliefs. Anybody ever seen this logo?
How many of you see the arrow in the logo? It's the only thing I see. Did you always see? No.
Now, one of the fun things that Mary and I went Bernier, Texas, a little town not too far from San Antonio about three years ago. There was a pilot there that flew with FedEx for 20 years. He had never seen the arrow. Everybody got a big charge out of that.
By the way. Bob? Yes? I'm sorry, I don't see the arrow. Oh.
Now, I probably always see it. That's all you'll ever see, though. Which is why we said yes.
