Think and Grow Rich! - Up-Date

Earl Nightengale's 1950's advice to think and grow rich is written for a world that no longer exists, if it ever did.

Ok, so I said it.

Nightengale's America at that time was the "richest country in the world" and not a place that is trillions of dollars in debt. His women baked apple pies, they aren't single moms working two or three jobs just to make ends meet. His men had a vocation such as running a gas station or being a salesman, they were not facing the new jobless economy and indebted for a college education they couldn't use.

Does this make his advice wrong?

I believe that much of his advice is even truer today than it was in the 1950s. This is because he was not writing about the conditions that we work in, but about our attitude towards ourselves and our lives. Eighty percent of his 100 American men failed despite the opportunities that proliferated around them. Moreover, Nightengale's America was a paradise of promise, but not for everyone.

Oprah's success was impossible in a country that barred Ella Fitzgerald from using the main entrance to the venues where she was the star attraction. However, this proves that Nightengale was correct -- Ella could not be kept down and niether could Oprah. These women both believed in themselves and surrounded themselve with people who also believed and were a positive influence.

The steps that Nightengale outlines are even more inportant to people who face systemic barriers to success, such as the racism that Ella encountered, because the positivity necessary for success is that much harder to find. The fears are more deeply ingrained and harder to extricate, but it must be done. The true supporters are not as plentiful because they are beaten down too, but they are out there and must be found.

In other words, if you let systemic barriers become your focus instead of thinking about your success, then that constant negativity will steal your life from you. Thinking to become rich is not about acting like barriers don't exist. Its about acknowledging them without accepting them as a limiting factor. You are bigger than that -- your success is only possible when you decide that it will indeed happen despite all.

Success has only one question -- when? The "how" is about sticks and stones, its the stuff you use your thinking power and positive attitude to overcome, step-by-step. If the question of how stops you in your tracks, then take the time to assess the possible fears that can be lurking behind that question. For example, maybe your website is not making money but you have been afraid of stepping out of your technological comfort zone to make it look different and really stand out. Or maybe you have a fear of standing out and you carry this into the design of your website.

We do not live in Nightengale's 1950s America, but that does not mean that some golden age of opportunity has passed that we will never see again. Remember that 80% of men didn't see the promise around them even then. Here are the take-aways that Nightengale gives us up-dated for the early 2000s:

• Recognize that you have a valuable contribution and can succeed in expressing this to the demographic that needs it, the money will follow.
• Think your way towards success, not away from it.
  
• Live your goal as an attitude toward life, change your lifestyle to reflect this attitude and actively become the person you want to be. Give yourself permission to do this starting now! If that permission is not forthcoming, assess the fears that are keeping you from it.

We are all on a journey, I hope that this brief up-date of Earl Nightengale's key principles is useful for you. Thank you to @herinnelson for pointing me toward Nightengale's teachings on YouTube and all the best to her on her $50,000 personal challenge.