More people today are looking for work instead of pursuing a meaningful purpose.

The rising cost of college measured by a resulting career has been delivering a failing grade for return on investment leading to mass disappointment. These are not new challenges. It doesn’t matter when the graduation date fell on the calendar. Many that graduated in the summer of love in 1967 are still searching for purpose. Millions today are looking toward the upcoming days of the 21^st century with the same question, “What’s the purpose of my life?”

Tough times have always defined people in two ways. There are those who simply give up and settle for whatever wages they can get, and that amount defines their lifestyle. Then there is the other group who see tough times as a time to get motivated to find a career, make changes, and take advantage of ideas that emerge in times of dissatisfaction.

Earl Nightingale lived in a tent city in Los Angeles as a boy. Everything around him pointed to a life where he would be forced to settle for less. He chose a different path. As a young man he found the secret to riches in a book. Inspired with just six words, he grew up to revolutionize the personal development industry with his recording of, The Strangest Secret. The message he taped became the world’s first spoken word recording to sell over a million copies. That was in 1960 when there were no self-help sections in books stores, and no Oprah on TV.  It was this success, and Earl’s national following on over a thousand radio stations, that Lloyd Conant shaped into a new business model. Nightingale Conant has published hundreds of best selling authors and created more millionaires than all personal development experts combined over the company’s fifty-plus years as the world leader in personal development.

Vic Conant took over the company as President and Chairman and led the publishing giant into new media formats to change with the times, but remain true to the concepts that change lives, “I have always believed that thoughts and ideas are our most powerful possessions. An idea can change the way we look at the world and the way we think. Ideas improve every area of our life – career, relationships, personal wealth, and self-confidence.”

Today, Vic has taken on the challenge to find the most relevant messages for today’s growing population that can take advantage of the life work of Earl Nightingale. There are thousands of recordings from his best sellers and radio broadcasts. Over the past year, Earl’s extensive library has been researched and edited into a new release called, The Secret Advantage. In a discussion with Joe Nuckols to create a formula for the program, Joe mentioned, “Today businesses are looking for core fundamentals in the people they hire and promote.”

One idle comment started the engine of the creative process. Research conducted with top CEO’s and Business Owners revealed something in what Joe said. The top concerns of the leaders included developing dynamic core competences, focusing on and building human capital, effectively using new technology, engaging in valuable strategies and building new organization structures and culture. That research gave direction and shape to the new program to be based on four core fundamentals. Joe developed the concept around the acronym, CORE for Competency, Opportunity, Results, and Effectiveness. With this concept in mind, Joe took on the task of becoming a contributing author and producer to find Earl’s best messages to address each of the four core fundamentals.

The result is over 21 hours of edited best principles. From there, the program is produced in 64 episodes of approximately 20 minutes each for easy listening and reference. In addition to the audio library, the program includes a half hour video documentary on the lives of Earl Nightingale and Lloyd Conant is included along with six unedited Earl Nightingale Classic Videos.