"The Strangest Secret..."

A survey was done of convicted pedophiles and sexual predators starting the with question: "What happened - how did you get here?" The common answer amongst the majority who would cooperate with the survey team would shock you!

The common theme was as follows: "One day I just thought about it, just a thought ...at first I was ashamed... soon the thought came back and I did not fight it ...then it became all I thought about..."

What is most disturbing about the mind of a deviant, is that it is not at all different from the mind of someone who is not. In fact, the part of the answer about, "it became all I thought about..." is exactly the same response given in a similar survey of Olympic Gold Medal Winners!

It is ture! Ultimately, WE ALL give into the things we think about. This is as true for things which are Beautiful and good as it is for the most dark and sinister acts in the world. And it is true of the hectic, unfocused mind that ultimately achieves nothing notable in life.

In his landmark motivational tape in 1956, Earl Nightingale described the secret to human motivation in a speech called, "The Strangest Secret". Because Nightingale was heading out of town on a trip, he paid to have his speech recorded on an LP record so it could be played to a small audience of insurance salesmen that he was responsible for training. This record became so popular amongst business people that it went on to win a GOLD RECORD, unheard of for recordings of a speech. It is the basis for all modern day motivational programs, and yet today so few people have ever heard of either Earl Nightingale, or his speech.

A few years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Earl's Widow. She shared with me that Earl Nightingale was born in Los Angeles, California in 1921 at the start of the Great Depression. By 1933, his father had left him, his mother and two brothers at a time when millions were unemployed and starving. Earl’s mother worked in a sewing factory to provide for her three sons, living in Tent City on the waterfront in Long Beach, California.

Diana went on to say that while being poor didn’t seem to bother most of the other kids, it bothered Earl, and he wanted to know why they were so poor, while others, he observed, appeared to be so rich. Why some people were so miserable, while others, so happy. Simply, "What made people turn out the way they do". Knowing the answer to this question was Earl's "Passion", and once he found the answer, it then became his life's work to share it for all who would listen and choose to act on the answer.

Earl's work can be summed up in once sentence: "We Become What We Think About!"

The mind does not have the ability to separate what we are from what we focus on.

Knowing this is both liberating and fear inspiring, for if we think focus on succeeding in a certain area of life, we will become successful at it. But the mind does not care if success is in areas that benefit ourselves and our families and the greater good, or if what we focus in is based in lust and addiction. THE MIND DOES NOT CARE. It moves towards what we tell it is important, and it knows what is important from what we put into it on a regular and consistent basis.

THEREFORE, if we truly want to be successful in anything, we must feed our mind information and inspiration on the tasks we seek to accomplish.

So, now let me ask a very revealing (if not painfully so) question: What is in your car stereo?? What is in your iPOD?? What is playing on your television?? What Will you be glancing at just before you go to bed tonight??

If it has nothing to do with real estate investing, then don't be surprised if six months from now, you are in the same place you said you "hated!" Anything, and everything in life have a price. Some you pay the price up front in a large sum, and some you pay for over time, and some (unfortunately) you do not even realize you are buying, until the bill shows up. Such as spending your every waking moment working for someone else, and doing nothing to move past that situation on "your time", then getting the pink slip, or worse, retiring and having to move in with your children and then wondering "where the time went" when you could still make a difference in the world and in your bank account. Now I realize that making a difference in the world and having money in the bank are not necessarily the same thing. But then again, please show me where the honor is in having to move in with your kids because you never planned for retirement and ran out of money? Bottom line: in the country and society we live in, it takes money to survive, it takes money to provide, and once you have it, if you decide to give it all away - that's your business!

More important than money is the time G-D gives you. You can spend it watching re-runs of "I Love Lucy", Gilligan's Island or Bernie Mac, or at the bar, or reading magazines that wont put a dime in your bank account. Or you can reorient your thinking and reorder your steps now knowing that what you feed your mind has a greater impact on what you achieve in life then who your mom and dad are.

If it is true, that "We Become What We Think About", then it is time we took control by changing our thinking. The best way to do this is to make the decision to put things into our head that will help us "GET AHEAD". We can do this by listening to information that will help us succeed rather than the "Oldies 101" stuff. As my mom use to say: "Smokey Robinson has his money, you have yours to get!"

Turn off the re-runs on TV and turn on the "Step-by-Step" DVD's.

Turn off the radio and put on the "21 Day's to..." CD's

Put away the novel and pull out the "How To..." books.

The reality is that you do not need an extra 24 hours in the week to become a successful investor, you simply need to take better advantage of the 24 given every day by making the decision to feed your mind good stuff instead of mental "junk food".

Sherman Ragland - Thank you for Reading...

p.s. If you would like to get a copy of Earl Nightingale's "Strangest Secret", drop me an email.

p.s.s. If you have not already signed-up, nearly all of the BUS TOUR seats are SOLD-OUT for this year's National Real Estate Investor's Conference Featuring: Donald Trump's Mentor of 30+ Years, Mr. George H. Ross. http://www.TrumpStrategiesBaltimore.com