1. The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale - my first book!!!!

Ok last night I finished my first book!  This morning I also listened to the audio version of the same message!

Wow!

The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale - what a classic this is!

Yes, its a short book!  I need to read some short books in the beginning to build momentum!


Here is my book summary and bullet point notes:

This book was the First motivational spoken word album to sell 1 million copies.  It definitely paved the way for people like Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins to follow afterwards.

The message of this book is both so simple yet so powerful.  Honestly, I don't know of a better 30min read than this book or audio.

I will do the 30 day challenge and I believe it will absolutely change my life.

I think the biggest thing I learned from reading the book is that I am incredibly powerful by using and directing the power of my focus/thoughts.  Its amazing to realize that everyday I am attracting my life circumstances by my thoughts.  Like Norman Vincent Peale was quoted, "Positive Thoughts will achieve Positive Results."

I do acknowledge that this book is almost useless or destructive without application.  So for the rest of this month I will "become what I think about" CONSCIOUSLY!

• The opposite of courage is our society is not cowardness, it is conformity.
• We get all busy competing with others.... really there is very little competition... we just need to focus on Creating... and we will be in a league of our own.
• Marcus Aurelius said, "A Man's life is what his thoughts make of it"
• This quote by Williams James becomes more and more powerful to me as I meditate on it: "We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in question was real and it will become infallibly real by growing into such connection with our life that it will become real.  It will become so knit with habit & emotion that our interest in it will be those which characterize belief."
• Mark 9:23 Jesus taught, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
• Peale - "... if you think in negative terms, you'll get negative results.  If you think in positive terms, you will achieve positive results."
• The Mind is like a Farm Land... it will return what you Plant.  Thoughts are like seeds.
• People don't tend to value your consciously & gratefully utilize things like their mind....   why?  B/c it is free, we were born with it.   But this is sad b/c the great truth is that all truly valuable things in this life are free and equal to all.  Ex:  Mind, Body, True Love, etc...

6 Tips from Dr. Fink, a top psychiatrist M.D. 

1. Set a definite Goal (to direct "you become what you think about")
2. Quit Running yourself Down
3. Stop thinking of reasons why you can't, and start thinking of reasons why you can achieve something.
4. Trace back things to your childhood....  become aware & break limiting patterns
5. Write on a piece of paper the Image of yourself that you want.
6. Act that part Now!

Implementation Plan:

I already made a notecard that summarizes the key thoughts.  My action plan is to do what it says!  For the rest of this month of December, multiple times per day, I am going to review the notes, but especially stop to apply "We become what we think about".  I wrote down my primary purpose in life, and my primary goal... I put it in a mission statement form, and I even wrote memory triggers of times in my life when I was living the way I want to live fully.  Each day I will stop for 5-10min and Picture in my minds eye myself being and living this desired way.  I will let myself feel the joy and success of living my dream life.  I will see myself constantly growing and improving, and living in this desired outcome.

I actually went for a walk and really thought about the 30 day challenge.  On a future blog entry I may share some of the person Definite Purpose I set for myself. :)