The Strangest Secret
The Strangest Secret.
We become what we think about. Earl Nightingale figured it out in 1956. Most people still haven’t.
EARL NIGHTINGALE · THE STRANGEST SECRET · 1956
“We become what we think about.”
Six words. Recorded in a rented studio in Chicago. First spoken-word recording to sell a million copies. Earl called it “the strangest secret” because it was always right in front of us, and almost nobody was using it.
When I was rebuilding after the divorce, I was putting in the work, pouring into books, grinding hard. But something was still off. Then I found Earl Nightingale and Napoleon Hill back to back. And I realized the problem: my goals were completely vague. I wanted to be “successful.” I wanted to “do better.” I wanted to “build something great.” That’s not a goal. That’s a wish. And deep down, I was afraid to admit, even to people close to me, how BIG I actually wanted to aim. The real number. The real vision. It felt arrogant to say out loud.
Earl changed that. He didn’t make me feel foolish for dreaming big. He made me realize that a vague dream is just a thought that has nowhere to go. The strangest secret isn’t magic, it’s direction. Your mind is an engine that will run hard in whatever direction you point it. But it needs a clear destination. Not “better.” A real one.
Napoleon Hill was direct about what kills most goals before they ever start: not laziness, not bad luck, but fear. Fear of what people will think if you say the real number out loud. Fear of failure if you aim that high and come up short. He called it the most destructive force in human ambition. So the chain doesn’t start with thoughts. It starts before thoughts.
THE FULL CHAIN TO RISE ABOVE FEAR
Faith→Purpose→Courage→Thoughts→Words→Actions→Habits→Character→Destiny
Faith says “it’s possible.” Purpose says “it’s worth it.” Courage says “let’s go.” The rest follows, and the fuel that keeps every single link firing is a Positive Mental Attitude. Not wishful thinking. A committed belief that the outcome is already being built.
COURAGE #1
Aim big enough that it sounds crazy. Say the real goal out loud. Stop shrinking it to the size that won’t make people uncomfortable.
COURAGE #2
Go anyway when the odds look wrong. The fear of failure isn’t a warning, it’s the gate. The only way through is through.
“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
– Matthew 17:20
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
– C.S. Lewis
Here’s what I want to be honest about with all of you: Bjerk Builders needs championship goals. We talk about being lean and mean. We talk about being a family. Those aren’t just words, but we’ve never fully defined what they mean for us, and we’ve never built a way to measure how well we’re actually living them out. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
– Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, 1937
Earl and Napoleon Hill were saying the same thing 20 years apart: the goal has to be specific, written, and believed.
Not wished for. Decided on. Committed to. Burning.
“You don’t win races in the rearview mirror.” – Nate Lowrie
“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”
– Habakkuk 2:2
God told the prophet to write it down. Not think about it.
Write it down.
Make it clear enough that someone reading it can move. That’s not coincidence, that’s the oldest goal-setting instruction on record.
THIS WEEK: SIT WITH THIS
What’s your goal for Bjerk?
Not your job description. Not “I’m just doing my job” Your actual goal – the one that, if we hit it together, would make you proud to say you were part of it.
What does winning look like for your role? What does world class look like on your projects, your team, your craft?
And here’s the one I can’t stop thinking about:
what could we accomplish together, as a unified team – all locked in, building real camaraderie, if every single person on this crew brought that kind of faith, purpose, and courage to work every day?
Start thinking about it. We’re building the scoreboard together. But the thought has to come first.
It always does.
Let’s get after it in life, family, and business!!!
Lots of love, Nate
