From a young boy living in a tent city in Long Beach, California, to an internationally syndicated radio personality, award-winning spoken word recording artist, and owner of a multimillion-dollar electronic publishing company, Earl Nightingale was the human embodiment of a “rags-to-riches” success story. Nightingale’s ascent to success began after he read a line from Napoleon Hill’s 1937 book “Think and Grow Rich”: “We become what we think about.” Nightingale realized this correlation between our cognitive behaviors and the world around us was also highlighted in multiple religions and philosophies, and it quickly became the linchpin of his motivational speeches. Nightingale believed anyone could be successful if they put their mind to it, and that this success could then be shared and multiplied with others. His ideology was well received: Nightingale’s spoken word records sold millions of copies, and his radio program, “Our Changing World,” was syndicated in more than 25 countries. 

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychologist, psychiatrist, and contemporary of Sigmund Freud. Jung is perhaps most lauded for his research into mind functions and personality types, including his introduction of the terms “introversion” and “extraversion.” The above quote on mental and emotional resistance is more often heard today in its abbreviated form, “What you resist, persists.” The idea is that by investing energy into avoiding, resenting, or denying our feelings and experiences, we give those hindrances power over us and prevent ourselves from moving forward. Jung’s quote suggests a counterintuitive notion: Allowing ourselves to accept and work through those difficult feelings makes it easier for us to process, heal, and learn from them. 

Patti Smith’s life went through many different chapters: First a factory assembly-line worker and a spoken-word poet, she rose to a successful career as a singer-songwriter and wrote a series of autobiographical books later in life. Her first of these, “Just Kids,” written about her experience as a struggling artist in 1960s New York City, earned a National Book Award and a place on the “New York Times” bestseller list. Smith is considered a female pioneer of punk rock, lighting the way for other women in that male-dominated world. Her growth as a multidisciplinary artist reminds us that change is good for the human spirit and that evolving to discover our most authentic selves can bring bounties we can’t even imagine.

Stoic philosophers believed in the power of mind over matter. Former Roman Emperor and Stoic Marcus Aurelius reflected that in his own work, saying the thoughts that occupy our minds ultimately inform the way we live. In this quote, Aurelius underscores the power of practicing consistent, constructive thinking. When we engage in positive reflection, our minds gravitate toward optimism, empathy, and growth. Dwelling on negativity or worry, however, can lead to a more pessimistic and myopic outlook. Aurelius' wisdom highlights the reciprocal relationship between our thoughts and our mental dispositions, reminding us to cultivate mindful awareness of our thinking patterns and to actively choose to pivot our thoughts in a direction that aligns with the life we desire to live.