I was exposed to The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale when I was 13 years old. The idea that we become what we think about and can control our minds really rocked my world.

Earl tells of a friend who made a terrible decision to hold up a liquor store and ended up killing the proprietor. He went to prison for life. 

Earl checked in on his two boys (12 and 14 years old when he went to prison). One grew up to be a very successful businessman, a husband and a father. The other followed his father’s path of addiction and went to prison for attempted murder.

When they were grown, he asked them both the same question: "Why did your life turn out this way?" To which they both gave the same answer, “How else could my life turn out having a father like that?”

Ultimately, the life we’re living comes down to our own decisions, not our circumstances.

Find more about Dan Miller and Wisdom of the Sages at https://www.48days.com/wisdom-of-the-sages-podcast/