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“The Strangest Secret…”

By Sherman Ragland | July 29, 2007

So began the title of one of the most influential messages of the 20th Century.

In 1956, Earl Nightingale made the decision to put to paper the results of his life-long quest to uncover the secret to success, which he believed he had uncovered six years before. Earl, who had grown up very poor in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Specifically, at the age of 12 Earl wondered over to the beach in Southern California from the tent in which he and his brother and mother were living to observe the wealthy people on their yachts who seemed to be completely immune to the sorrows and financial woes being experienced by countless people during the days of the American Depression of the 1930’s.

After devoting 25 years of his life to answering this fundamental question, Earl found what he was looking for.

In his own words, he wrote a “short-essay” and recorded the essay for the benefit of his team. This recording is of course, THE STRANGEST SECRET, and it was the first recorded spoken word record to sell over a million copies. It also launched what is today known as the Personal Development industry, which includes such notable personalities as Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Wayne Dyer, David Bach and Zig Zigler.

Earl has gone to be with the Lord, however, unlike other great mental giants of his era, Earl did not leave this world without passing the torch on to another to carry on his work.

Diana Nightingale, Earl’s wife, has for over 20 years continued the work of getting out the message of The Strangest Secret.

Recently, Diana visited with the members of our private coaching group on our annual trip to St. Thomas, USVI and afterwards offered an invitation to learn more about Earl and his work.

Needless to say, Mrs. Ragland did not raise any dummies. I had the wonderful opportunity to continue my WEST COAST TRIP by traveling from Vail, CO to Carmel, California and visiting with Diana and some of her family.

After breakfast and coffee, Diana says to me: “come on, let me take you by the house Earl and I shared after we got married, where he continued to work on his life’s work, getting out the word of THE STRANGEST SECRET…”

With my friend Diana Nightingale, in front of the house where she and Earl Lived in Carmel, CA
What an awesome trip!

To invest time with my friend Diana, learning more about what went into Earl’s quest to know how to raise himself from poverty to prosperity, to hear about how an unspoken force continued to lead him down the path of discovery, and then to learn more about what transpired to ulitimately cause Earl to take it on as a personal mission to devote his entire life to sharing with the world the message of THE STRANGEST SECRET and then exposing example after example who had applied THE STRANGEST SECRET in their lives would have been blessing enough.

But to actually walk the same streets that Earl and Diana walked all those years as he imparted to her the wisdom of the lessons of THE STRANGEST SECRET as he passed the torch to her was simply incredible.

During our meeting Diana shared with me story after story of lives that were changed by the message of THE STRANGEST SECRET, and unlike some of the material being “hawked” on late night TV, and over the INTERNET, THE STRANGEST SECRET is not a fad or a fluke. With her permission, I hope to share some of these stories in upcoming blog entries.

I am not sure why G_d has allowed our paths to cross, but I am certain that it was not by accident. I am even more convinced that the message of THE STRANGEST SECRET is as relevant today as it was in 1956, when Earl Nightingale first recorded it.

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One Response to ““The Strangest Secret…””

  1. luckadoj Says:
    August 1st, 2007 at 4:06 pm

    The “strangest secret” sounds like the story of my life! It’s one of my favorite audiobooks! I don’t think most people realize just HOW powerful the mind is. You can think yourself into the poor house or out of it. You can also think and WILL yourself into the stratosphere by being “efficiently smart” along with taking “swift” action. I’m not rich YET, but I definitely wouldn’t be positioned the way I am today if I had listened to friends, colleagues and family members who didn’t believe I’d last 20+ years in the military or start multiple businesses!

    I’m just getting started!!!!

    Jeff
    doozgroove@yahoo.com

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