Let's read...

In the 1940s, 1950s, radio was how America was entertained. Television was not widely distributed at that point. Families would gather around the drama, the series, like they gather around Netflix now. And so it was drama on the radio. One of the radio shows was a show in Chicago and it was Sky King. Now, if you keep in mind, this is the 40s. Airplanes were still a big deal. It was a cutting-edge technology to fly still. And Sky King was this guy with a great baritone voice. Of course, he was a radio voice. And he would fly in whatever the drama was and he was the guy that would save the day. And the voice behind Sky King was a guy named Earl Nightingale. And Earl pretty quickly realized there was no money in radio. And he bought an insurance business, a general agency. And every Monday morning, he would have a sales meeting and pump up his sales guys and send them out to sell insurance. And he was very, very successful at it all the way up into the late 50s. And one of the things Earl loved more than motivational speaking or jacking up his sales guys and getting them ready to go out and sell insurance was he loved to fish. And Earl decided he was going on a fishing trip in Canada. His sales manager came to him and he said, you understand that the two weeks that you're gone, sales are going to go down because when you get these guys wired up on Monday morning, they're ready to go attack the world. And they go out there and make sales without you here and do the pump-up, the halftime speech for the football coach. They're not going to do their thing, man. And sales are going to go down. Well, Earl thought, well, that's not good, but I'm going fishing. So I got to figure this out. So he goes back to his old radio days and decides he's going to record a talk. And he goes into the studio and records a talk just for the two-week vacation.

Let's follow Dave Ramsey...

In the 1940s, / 1950s, / radio / was how America was entertained. // Television was not / widely distributed at that point. // Families would gather around the drama, the series, / like they gather around Netflix now. // And so it was drama / on the radio. // One of the radio shows was a show / in Chicago / and it was Sky King. // Now, / if you keep in mind, this is the 40s. Airplanes were still a big deal. / It was a cutting-edge / technology to fly still. // And Sky King was this guy with a great baritone voice. Of course, he was a radio voice. // And he would fly in / whatever the drama was and / he was the guy that would save the day. // And the voice behind Sky King was a guy named / Earl Nightingale. // And Earl pretty quickly realized there was no money in radio. // And he bought an insurance business, / a general agency. // And every Monday morning, he would have a sales meeting and pump up / his sales guys and send them out to sell insurance. // And he was very, very successful at it / all the way up into the late 50s. // And one of the things Earl loved more than motivational speaking or / jacking up his sales guys and getting them ready to go out and sell insurance was / he loved to fish. // And / Earl decided he was going on a fishing trip in Canada. / His sales manager came to him and he said, / you understand that the two weeks that you're gone, sales are going to go down / because when you get these guys wired up on Monday morning, / they're ready to go attack the world. // And they go out there and make sales without you here and do the pump-up, / the halftime speech for the football coach. // They're not going to do their thing, man. // And sales are going to go down. / Well, Earl thought, well, that's not good, but I'm going fishing. So I got to figure this out. // So he goes back to his old radio days / and decides he's going to record / a talk. And he goes into the studio / and records a talk just for the two-week vacation. //

Let's read...

And the way you did a recording in those days in a studio was not tape. It was on an acetone record, real floppy, real thin looking record. Any of you old enough to remember getting a record on the back of your cereal box, that kind of a thing. There's a little thin flimsy record. It's meant to play three or four times and five times and then not meant to work after that. It didn't have a long shelf life. It was a short recording. And he went in and he recorded a 33-minute talk. They played it. Sales went up while he was gone. They played it the next week. Sales went up again while he was gone. He came back. By the time he had gotten back, everyone who sold anything in the entire Chicago area was abuzz wanting a copy of this talk. He ended up recording the talk formally, pressing records, and selling the records. And as best we can determine in research that we've done in the broadcast world, this is one of the records that sold beginning in 1959. This is the first recorded talk, not music, but the first talk of any kind to sell a million copies. The talk was called, "The Strangest Secret." And in it, he talks about the strangest secret is simply that you become what you think about. Now, this is a biblical truth. In Proverbs, it says, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, a man becomes what he thinks about all day long. It turns out that what we focus on, what we concentrate on, what we think about, we tend to gravitate towards, move towards, become that. And if it's good or bad, we're gonna be pulled magnetically in the direction of the things we think about. You become what you think about is the strangest secret. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

Let's follow Bill Roche...

And the way you did a recording in those days in a studio was not tape. It was on an acetone record, / real floppy, / real thin looking record. Any of you old enough to remember getting a record on the back of your / cereal box, that kind of a thing. // There's a little thin flimsy record. It's meant to play three or four times and five times and then not meant to work after that. It didn't have a long shelf life. It was a short recording. And he went in and he recorded a 33-minute talk. // They played it. // Sales went up while he was gone. // They played it the next week. // Sales went up again while he was gone. He came back. // By the time he had gotten back, / everyone who sold anything in the entire Chicago area was abuzz / wanting a copy of / this talk. // He ended up recording the talk / formally, / pressing records, / and selling / the records. // And as best we can determine / in research that we've done in the broadcast world, / this is one of the records that sold beginning in 1959. // This is the first / recorded / talk, / not music, / but the first talk of any kind to sell a million copies. // The talk was called, / "The Strangest Secret." // And in it, / he talks about / the strangest secret is simply / that you become / what you think about. // Now, this is a biblical truth. // In Proverbs, it says, as a man thinks in his heart, / so is he. // Ralph Waldo Emerson said, / a man becomes what he thinks about / all day long. // It turns out that what we focus on, what we concentrate on, / what we think about, / we tend to gravitate towards, move towards, / become that. And if it's good or bad, we're gonna / be pulled magnetically in the direction of the things / we think about. // You become / what you think about / is the strangest secret. / As a man thinketh in his heart, / so is he. //