“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success” is a paraphrase of what American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947) said in a 1929 interview. Ford was asked if there is a secret to success, and he responded, “Getting ready. Getting prepared. (...) Before everything else, get ready.”
 
“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.—Henry Ford” was cited in print in 1962.
 
     
Wikipedia: Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with “Fordism”: mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently.
 
Google Books
The Power that Wins:
Henry Ford and Ralph Waldo Trine in an Intimate Talk on Life—the Inner Thing—the Things of the Mind and Spirit—and the Inner Powers and Forces that Make for Achievement
By Ralph Waldo Trine and Henry Ford
Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company
1929
Pg. 147:
MR. TRINE: Mr. Ford, is there a secret of success?
MR. FORD: Certainly. I know two people who have found it.
MR. TRINE:  Found the secret?—what is it?
MR. FORD: Getting ready. Getting prepared. There were Edison and Lindbergh—they both got ready before they started. I had to find that out, too. I had to stop 10 years after I had started—I had to stop for 10 years and get ready. I made my first car in 1893, but it was 1903 before I had it ready to sell. It is these simple things that young men ought to know, and they are the hardest to grasp. Before everything else, get ready. When I say “before everything else,” I know it includes almost everything else.
 
Google News Archive
5 May 1929, Pittsburgh (PA) Press, Automobile Section, pg. 10, col. 1:
I Don’t Believe In Age Limits, Ford Says
Says Two Have Found Secret Of Success In Getting Ready.
(...) (Col. 5)
(Mr. Trine) And the differences in success?
 
(Mr. Ford) Well, that depends on what is meant by success. It isn’t the same as fame. It isn’t the same as wealth. Many unsuccessful men have both of these. No success is some very satisfactory fulfillment of one’s own life, and there must be much more of it than we ever hear of. If success is only that which we hear about, there wouldn’t be enough for the world to get along. it is like greatness. The world is full of greatness that we never hear of.
 
(Mr. Trine) Mr. Ford, is there a secret of success?
 
(Mr. Ford) Certainly. I know two people who have found it.
 
(Mr. Trine) Found the secret?—what is it?
 
GETTING READY IS
SUCCESS SECRET.
 
(Mr. Ford) Getting ready. Getting prepared. There were Edison and Lindbergh—they both got ready before they started. I had to find that out, too. I had to stop 10 years after I had started—I had to stop for 10 years and get ready. I made my first car in 1893, but it was 1903 before I had it ready to sell. It is these simple things that young men ought to know, and they are the hardest to grasp. Before everything else, get ready. When I say “before everything else,” I know that it includes almost everything else.
 
23 December 1962, Sunday World-Herald (Omaha, NE), “So They Said,” pg. 6-F, col. 2:
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.—Henry Ford.
 
31 January 1963, Childress (TX) Index, pg. 2, col. 8:
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.
 
Google Books
Civilization’s Quotations:
Life’s Ideal
Edited by Richard Alan Krieger
New York, NY: Algora Publishing
2002
Pg. 216:
“Before anything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” — Henry Ford
 
Google Books
The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World
By Harvey Mackay
New York, NY: Portfolio/Penguin
2011
Pg. 6:
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. —Henry Ford