The Greatest Secret in the World

by Og Mandino

  Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. What they will teach me is more to prevent failure than to gain success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Which two, among a thousand wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. Failure is man’s inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.

  In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedeth all others is—I will form good habits and become their slaves.

  As a child I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path which threatens to imprison my future. My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.

  I will form good habits and become their slave.

  And how will I accomplish this difficult feat? Through these scrolls, it will be done, for each scroll contains a principle which will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which will bring me closer to success. For it is another of nature’s laws that only a habit can subdue another habit. So, in order for these written words to perform their chosen task, I must discipline myself with the first of my new habits which is as follows:

  I will read each scroll for thirty days in this prescribed manner, before I proceed to the next scroll.

  First, I will read the words in silence when I arise. Then, I will read the words in silence after I have partaken of my midday meal. Last, I will read the words again just before I retire at day’s end, and most important, on this occasion I will read the words aloud.

  On the next day I will repeat this procedure, and I will continue in like manner for thirty days. Then, I will turn to the next scroll and repeat this procedure for another thirty days. I will continue in this manner until I have lived with each scroll for thirty days and my reading has become habit.

  And what will be accomplished with this habit? Herein lies the hidden secret of man’s accomplishments. As I repeat the words daily they will soon become a part of my active mind, but more important, they will also seep into my other mind, that mysterious source which never sleeps, which creates my dreams, and often makes me act in ways I do not comprehend.

  As the words of these scrolls are consumed by my mysterious mind I will begin to awake, each morning, with a vitality I have never known before. My vigor will increase, my enthusiasm will rise, my desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew at sunrise, and I will be happier than I ever believed it possible to be in this world of strife and sorrow.

  Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react, and soon these actions and reactions will become easy to perform, for any act with practice becomes easy.

  Thus a new and good habit is born, for when an act becomes easy through constant repetition it becomes a pleasure to perform and if it is a pleasure to perform it is man’s nature to perform it often. When I perform it often it becomes a habit and I become its slave and since it is a good habit this is my will.

  Today I begin a new life.

  And I make a solemn oath to myself that nothing will retard my new life’s growth. I will lose not a day from these readings for that day cannot be retrieved nor can I substitute another for it. I must not, I will not, break this habit of daily reading from these scrolls and, in truth, the few moments spent each day on this new habit are but a small price to pay for the happiness and success that will be mine.

  As I read and re-read the words in the scrolls to follow, never will I allow the brevity of each scroll nor the simplicity of its words to cause me to treat the scroll’s message lightly. Thousands of grapes are pressed to fill one jar with wine, and the grapeskin and pulp are tossed to the birds. So it is with these grapes of wisdom from the ages. Much has been filtered and tossed to the wind. Only the pure truth lies distilled in the words to come. I will drink as instructed and spill not a drop. And the seed of success I will swallow.

  Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not, for today I am a new man, with a new life.

  Now, before you continue, go back and read the scroll again. It contains one key sentence that I want you to underline:

  “As I repeat the words daily they will soon become a part of my active mind, but more important, they will also seep into my other mind, that mysterious source which never sleeps, which creates my dreams, and often makes me act in ways I do not comprehend.”

  In modern terminology what that key sentence means is that you are about to mind-condition yourself. You are about to begin the process of imprinting new relays and transistors onto your subconscious mind … that “control box” which mysteriously directs many of our actions and our ambitions. There’s nothing weird or “far-out” about this technique. Many of the nation’s outstanding examples of success constantly “program” themselves so that they instinctively react to various situations in a manner that will provide them with the greatest possible benefit. W. Clement Stone, Chairman of the Combined Insurance Company of America, and the country’s outstanding expert on the motivation of others, used this technique on himself to amass a personal and self-made fortune of more than $400,000,000.

  Perhaps your goal is not that high … but let’s make a run for it, anyway.

  Chapter III

  Downhill ski racing is a battle of the individual against his environment … and the clock. What has always caused me to shake my head in sympathy for the losers is the infinitesimal difference in time between the winner and the also-rans.

  The winner is clocked in 1:37:22 … one minute, thirty-seven and twenty-two one-hundredths seconds.

  Second place is clocked in 1:37:25 … one minute, thirty-seven and twenty-five one-hundredths seconds.

  In this case, the difference between being a champion and just another skier is three one-hundredths of a second! We can’t even blink our eyes that fast.

  What really was the difference between the champion and the also-ran? A lucky break? Maybe. But perhaps the champion practiced just a little bit harder … and just a little bit longer. Perhaps the champion worked on one bad habit, monotonous as this work is, until it was removed from his performance … saving him a fraction of a second on each downhill run … enough to spell success.

  Now let’s get to you … and let’s start off by admitting that we both know you’ve got some, or many, bad habits. Furthermore you know exactly what they are … perhaps procrastination, or over-indulgence, or laziness, or sloppiness, or a bad temper or an inability to follow through. I’m sure you can add to this list … and I’m sure you also recognize that you’re not going to get very far so long as these vices are fouling up your pistons.

  I’ve always pictured George Washington as he looks on my dollar bills … white coiffured wig framing a face both calm, confident, and the personification of self-control. My image of this great man was altered considerably when I read, recently, that George, in his younger days, had a flaming crop of red hair … and a temper to match.

  Had George not learned to replace this bad habit with one of self-control, which must have been extremely difficult for him as he tried to lead an undisciplined and untrained civilians’ army against the forces of King George, the odds are great that he would never have become our first President.

  Benjamin Franklin was probably the greatest and most influential individual this country has ever produced. He was “a man for any season,” patriot, sci
entist, author, diplomat, inventor, printer, and philosopher. He taught himself to read French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin and without his skillful guidance the United States might never have attained its independence.

  But even Benjamin Franklin had bad habits … and he knew it. Unlike most of us, however, he determined to do something about his. Inventor that he was, he worked out a “magic formula” to rid himself of his bad habits. First, he listed what he believed were the thirteen virtues necessary for true success: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility.

  In his great autobiography he explained how he used the magic formula. “My intention being to acquire the habit of all these virtues, I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and when I should be master of that, then to proceed to another; and so on, until I should have gone through the thirteen.”

  For another ingredient in his “magic formula” Franklin reached back to the advice of Pythagoras that it was necessary to examine one’s actions each day. He designed the first Success Recorder:

  “I made a little book in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues … and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day.”

  Did the magic formula work for this great man?

  Frank Bettger, author of one of the all-time classic books on self-motivation in the selling profession, How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling (Published by Prentice Hall) says, “When he was seventy-nine years old, Benjamin Franklin wrote more about this idea than anything else that ever happened to him in his entire life—fifteen pages—for to this one thing he felt he owed all his success and happiness.”

  Franklin wrote, “I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.”

  Frank Bettger followed Franklin’s examples, applied the magic formula to what had been a mediocre career as a salesman, and became the leading life insurance producer in the country.

  Will the magic formula work for you?

  Let’s ask someone who can speak from experience and results. Let’s ask the man we mentioned earlier, W. Clement Stone:

  “Benjamin Franklin’s magic formula has motivated many failures to subsequently succeed when they recognized, related, assimilated and used his formula. You can use it. Anyone can use it. I have never met a person who employed the principles in Benjamin Franklin’s magic formula daily who failed to make progress toward the goals he was striving for. You have an absolute guarantee that any year can be your record year if you follow the principles of his formula daily.”

  In point of time it’s a long journey from the ten scrolls which The Greatest Salesman In The World followed during the time of Christ, to Benjamin Franklin’s formula, to the present day success of great achievers such as W. Clement Stone and Frank Bettger. And yet the principles have not been altered, even in the smallest way, by the passage of centuries.

  The Magic Formula, or Success Recorder, or whatever name you want to give it, lives on … a proven and simple method which can change your life … if you give it the chance.

  It always comes back to you, doesn’t it?

  Chapter IV

  Push-ups.

  Let’s think about them, for a moment, before we get involved in the next scroll.

  If you got down on the floor, right now, how many push-ups could you do? Six, ten, twelve. Let’s say you can do ten. Then, wait two weeks and try it again. How many? Probably ten, again.

  But, if you do ten today, and try again, tomorrow, and the next day, and next, how many do you think you could be doing after two weeks? Probably thirty, forty, fifty, or more. Why? Because the muscles in your shoulders and your arms become stronger with each day’s attempt. You are conditioning them to respond to a greater challenge each day and the daily increase in the number of push-ups you can do is only a small example of what you can accomplish in a specific period of time which, today, seems almost impossible. You are, indeed, a miracle of nature, and what applies to your shoulder muscles also applies to that big gray muscle between your two ears. And you are about to begin to make it do things which, at this moment, seem impossible to you.

  Are you ready to begin?

  Okay. Let’s review the rules as they were spelled out for you in The Scroll Marked I. On the Monday which commences this program, sometime between your arising and departure for work you are to read The Scroll Marked II which you will find at the end of this chapter. Sometime around noon you are to read it again, which means you must take this book with you. Toss it in your brief case, perhaps, or leave it in your car if you use “wheels” in your business. In the evening, prior to your retiring, you are to read the scroll for the third time, and this time you should read it aloud. (You may have to explain this seemingly curious behavior to your spouse, but she’s on your side and certainly wants you to make good.)

  Following the scroll you will find your Success Recorder for the week, and the four weeks to follow, to help you live up to the injunction in The Scroll Marked I that each scroll is to be read, thought about, and acted on for thirty days.

  Your Success Recorder was purposely designed to enable you to quickly conduct that “daily self-examination” which Benjamin Franklin insisted was an absolute necessity in a program such as this. In capsule form it summarizes the virtues, the qualities, the good habits, and the powers you are working to put into your life each day.

  When your first day’s work is done turn to your Success Recorder and place a date in the Monday section. Then, in the proper box, indicate how many times you read the scroll, that day. (Three, I hope.) Finally, read the review paragraph and consider how well you did in following the scroll’s principles since you awoke. Rate yourself with 1 for “poor,” 2 for “good,” 3 for “very good,” and 4 for “excellent.” Be honest with yourself. Place your rating in the box … and tally the two boxes for the day. The highest rating you can have, for any day, is 7. This rating will serve as a daily and weekly accounting to yourself on your effort and your improvement.

  Continue with this same procedure for the other four work days and then place the total number of points you earned for the week in its proper box. Then go on to the next week and continue this practice for five weeks … at which time you will begin a new chapter … and a new scroll.

  Isn’t that simple?

  I’ll let you in on a secret. It’s so simple that it’s going to “turn off” a lot of your reading companions of the moment who believe that nothing can be very worthwhile unless it’s expensive or complicated. But then, they wouldn’t be doing many push-ups either, if that was our program’s purpose, so let them drop out with no regrets on our part. Mediocrity will always be their way of life.

  As the first few weeks pass you will note a gradual change in both your attitude and your treatment of others, those you love and even casual acquaintances. You will begin hearing remarks like, “What’s come over you?” or “That’s not the old Smith I know!”

  When that begins to happen you’ll know the message of the scrolls and your daily Success Recorder review are beginning to work and your subconscious mind has been imprinted with new personality tracings that will disclose themselves time and time again in your future life … and you are on the way to a great year!

  Now it’s that first Monday.

  As you begin this important day in your life I ask only that you remember these words:

  “Failure will never overtake thee if thy determination to succeed is strong enough.”

  The Scroll Marked II

  I will greet this day with love in my heart.

  For this is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. Muscle can split a shield and even destroy life but only the unseen power of love can open the hearts of men and until I master th
is art I will remain no more than a peddler in the market place. I will make love my greatest weapon and none on whom I call can defend against its force.

  My reasoning they may counter; my speech they may distrust; my apparel they may disapprove; my face they may reject; and even my bargains may cause them suspicion; yet my love will melt all hearts liken to the sun whose rays soften the coldest clay.

  I will greet this day with love in my heart.

  And how will I do this? Henceforth will I look on all things with love and I will be born again. I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars. I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul. I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.

  I will greet this day with love in my heart.

  And how will I speak? I will laud mine enemies and they will become friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses to gossip. When I am tempted to criticize I will bite on my tongue; when I am moved to praise I will shout from the roofs.

  Is it not so that birds, the wind, the sea and all nature speaks with the music of praise for their creator? Cannot I speak with the same music to his children? Henceforth will I remember this secret and it will change my life.

  I will greet this day with love in my heart.

  And how will I act? I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even though they be hidden. With love I will tear down the wall of suspicion and hate which they have built around their hearts and in its place will I build bridges so that my love may enter their souls.

  I will love the ambitious for they can inspire me; I will love the failures for they can teach me. I will love the kings for they are but human; I will love the meek for they are divine. I will love the rich for they are yet lonely; I will love the poor for they are so many. I will love the young for the faith they hold; I will love the old for the wisdom they share. I will love the beautiful for their eyes of sadness; I will love the ugly for their souls of peace.