The Story
Earl Nightingale is one of the most respected motivational speakers in history and is well known as the dean of personal development. Earl's "The Strangest Secret", a recording that he created in 1957, became the best-selling audio program in history which sold over one million copies back then. He is often referred to as "The Father of Personal Development." What many people don't know about Earl Nightingale's legacy is his inspiration to find the answer to creating real and lasting success.
When was Earl Nightingale born? March 12th, 1921.
When did Earl Nightingale die? March 25th, 1989.
Early Years
Earl Nightingale was born in Tent City, Long Beach, California on March 12th, 1921. By 1933, the worldwide great depression was in full swing, and his father abandoned his mother, who had to rear the three boys alone. Earl's mother, despite her low socioeconomic status, liked to read and recognized the importance of knowledge. She instilled those ideas in herd children by reading to them frequently and telling them that "knowledge is the most important thing in life; and everything you need to know has been documented by someone, somewhere" so he grew up with these values.
When Earl was 12 years old, millions of people were unemployed, yet his mom was fortunate enough to be employed at a WPA sewing factory where she made clothing for the needy. Earl started to be concerned with the disparity between rich and poor as a youngster. This experience at an early age pushed him to develop an interest in psychology and philosophy by reading books from the Long Beach Public Library in California and by observing interactions between himself and others. He was looking for a way to start without any prior advantage and how to leave a position of insignificance and become valuable in the community.
Earl Nightingale's Greatest Discovery caused him to become one of the world's experts on personal success in the personal development industry by helping people live a meaningful existence.
Earl Nightingale Early Career
Earl Nightingale's early career was as a marine in the military. He served in the United States Marine Corps and was stationed for a time in Hawaii in 1941. He was onboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked by the Japanese. Earl was one of the only twelve survivors of the USS Arizona at the time - 1,177 officers and crewmen lost their lives in this attack.
He was given the chance to do some volunteer work with a local radio station as an announcer while serving in the Marine Corps. Here's where his desire to return to radio arose, and then when he left the Marines, he and his wife relocated to Phoenix before moving on to Chicago to pursue a new profession. Earl Nightingale broadcast began by hosting his own daily commentary program within the WGN radio which then turn into a radio adventure series and quickly became an American radio personality.
USS Arizona Pearl Harbor
USS Arizona Japanese Attack
His early passion for reading led him to find and read the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. The book reveals that 'we become what we think about.' These six words helped Earl Nightingale connect many ideas from the likes of the New Testament to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson which then became one of the reasons for Earl's success.
Earl Nightingale's radio career was very successful. Earl started to be known for his new ideas on early morning broadcasting, so he helped develop the concept of long-form talk radio which proved that it is possible to have a program with commercial breaks every ten minutes and still maintain an audience. Earl Nightingale then began working in the Sky King radio and television series where he co-starred with the Sky King character.
Earl Nightingale authored more than 7,000 radio and television commentaries, as well as numerous audio and video programs and two best-selling books. For his many achievements as an entrepreneur, writer, public speaker, recording artist, and radio and television commentator, he won a number of awards, including a gold record for The Strangest Secret, for sales exceeding a million copies; the Golden Gavel Award; the Napoleon Hill Foundation Gold Medal Award; and he was admited into the International Speakers Hall of Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame. All of this was the result of broadcasting his radio programs for more than three decades and hard work.
Earl Nightingale started getting requests for his motivational speaking engagements all around America and realized that there is more demand than what WGN could meet so he started to create more radio programs to be distributed in additional radio stations. After a very fruitful career, Earl became financially independent at the age of 35 when he decided to retire.
Meanwhile, Earl had purchased an insurance firm and spent many hours inspiring his sales staff to greater heights. His sales manager begged him to put his inspirational words on tape. The result was The Strangest Secret, the first spoken-word message to achieve a Gold Record after selling over a million copies. In The Strangest Secret, Earl discovered an answer to his childhood question and, as a result, created an opportunity for future generations to appreciate him.
The Strangest Secret inspired many people, especially Lloyd Conant who was the owner of a Chicago printing and direct response company. Lloyd reached out to Earl Nightingale, and the two men were immediately drawn to their common beliefs. They established the Nightingale Conant Corporation in 1960.
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
The successful audio book "The Strangest Secret" became Earl's first recording, which received a Gold Record Award. The success of Earl Nightingale's audio record led him to produce other best-selling audio programs like "Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude" and "Lead the Field".
In this audio book, Nightingale compiles his lifelong study of human motivation into a simple success formula—the very same one that enabled his own success. The Strangest Secret is a down-to-earth roadmap to ensure success, enabling you to reach the top of your profession and become one of the top 5 percent who succeeds. The lessons are focused on nonconformity and self-improvement, around the idea that "we become what we think about all."
What is success according to Earl Nightingale?
I get asked this question very often. In Earl Nightingale's own words, "success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal". "Worthy ideal" means goals that are worth fighting for and "progressive realization" means working on your goal every day until it is accomplished. So the moment you start working toward your goal you are already successful.
Lead The Field by Earl Nightingale
Because so many prominent executives have incorporated Earl's ideas and counsel into their management views, Lead The Field has been labeled the "Program of Presidents." It contains 12 ideas that have brought order and success into the lives of millions of people. Regardless of what you decide as the core purpose of your life, these ideas will help you shine. They are excellent concepts that have evolved over time, and they make up a constellation of wisdom by which we may all navigate securely and successfully.
In Lead the Field, Earl Nightingale will teach you the use of “intelligent objectivity” and the benefit of being “constructively discontented.” You’ll learn and with each time you read and reread this life-changing information, you’ll unearth new gems from these “acres of diamonds.”
Chapter 1: "The Magic Word" is my favorite chapter. Earl refers to Attitude as the most important single factor that can guarantee good results in life. It took me a while to internalize this idea. Earl explains that attitude is our "position or bearing as indicating action, feel or mood" which is expressed by your mind and your body. Our attitude tells others who we are and that is what we will expect in return. This is an important concept that ties very well to the law of attraction.
Final Note
So there you have it, my dear friend. Earl Nightingale changed his own life by searching for answers to a question he made at a young age. This intention motivated him to find the answer on how to create a successful living while having a meaningful existence. But I am sure surviving the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor gave him a whole new perspective on life.
Do you think Earl Nightingale had a very rewarding journey? You bet he did! To summarize his achievements, he was recognized as the dean of personal development; became known as the best internationally motivational speaker; created his own spoken words records with such sonorous voice; achieve Gold Record status with his successful audio book The Strangest Secret; created his own radio programs; became a well known American radio speaker; and ran his own insurance agency. Wow! Just by writing this gets me motivated to do more and get better in everything I do. Don't you feel the same?
Earl's profound journey created a legacy that will live for many generations to come. His creative thinking combined with his original and creative commentaries is needed to gain personal insight in our ever changing world.
Earl then became Bob Proctor's mentor. The coaching received from him transformed his personal life forever and made him greatly prosperous. Earl's tachings were then passed on to Bob Proctor, who then pass it along to millions of poeople.
Now It's your turn to achieve personal success, maybe not as a motivational speaker but as a world leader in the area you are most passionate about so you can achieve personal fulfillment and leave a legacy as well. Are you ready to live a meaningful existence?
Inspirational Earl Nightingale Quotes
"We become what we think about."
"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The timem will pass anyway."
"Everthing begins with an idea."
