results you need to become a lot more
than a standard person this one I’ve
been working on all these years and I’m
certainly not finished I guess it is a
lifetime project seeing what you can
become personal development is truly the
key to the good life you see what you
become is far more important than what
you get the most important question to
ask on the job is not what am I getting
the most important question is what am i
becoming however it is also true that
what you become directly influences what
you get most of what we have we have
attracted by the person we have become
so here’s the great challenge of life
you can have more than you’ve got
because you can become more than you are
that is the great focus of attention for
life change now on the other side of the
coin it reads unless you change how you
are you’ll always have what you’ve got
I’ve discovered that income does not
usually exceed personal development
sometimes income takes a lucky jump but
unless you keep growing out where it is
it will usually come back where you are
if someone hands you a million dollars
best you become a millionaire quickly so
you can keep the money life has strange
ways a very rich man once said if you
took all the money in the world and
divided it equally among everybody it
would soon all be back in the same
pockets I guess it is hard to keep what
you haven’t attracted by your own
personal development personal
development how important remember the
major key to your better future is you
that’s a sentence with a lot of value I
suggest you put it up somewhere for a
while where you can see it every day
just to remind you as you put your day
together I call it the silent seminar
the major key to your better future is
you
for a share of my life I didn’t
understand the importance of that phrase
among a lot of things I didn’t
understand back in those early days back
then some things used to puzzle me I
used to wonder why two people could work
for the same company and one make twice
as much money why would one person be
paid two thousand dollars a month and
the other person four thousand if it was
the same company same product same
service same training same weather same
traffic maybe they were the same age and
went to the same school
wouldn’t that be a puzzle why would one
person do twice as well speaking
economically I know there are many ways
to do well but in this narrow area
called compensation what is the
difference what is the difference
between 2,000 and 4,000 a month and I
don’t mean 2,000 I can figure that out
well back then I tried to figure it out
best I could
I thought time makes some of the
difference some people do better because
they have more time I used to say Harold
ought to do well he’s got a lot of time
if I had all of Harold’s time I could do
well now that’s got to be dumb right you
can’t get someone else’s time a man once
said to me if I had some extra time I
could make some extra money I said then
you have to forget it there isn’t any
more time where would you find any Haven
the clock strikes 12:00 midnight that’s
about it it’s over there isn’t any more
time if you insist on finding more than
24 hours a day they will come and take
you away so if we can’t get more time
what could we get that would make the
difference in economic results and the
answer is value value makes the
difference you can’t get more time but
you can become more valuable so value
makes a major difference in how much
money you earn
now here is a primary lesson on economic
we get paid for value bringing value to
the marketplace is how we get paid
whether you work on a job or whether you
bring goods and services we get paid for
the value now I know it takes time to
bring value to the marketplace but you
don’t get paid for the time you get paid
for the value mistakenly the man says
I’m getting $20 an hour and the
correction is no not for the hour if
that was true you could just stay home
and have them send you your money no you
don’t get paid for an hour you get paid
for the value you put in an hour an hour
is simply a convenient way to measure
the value so one of the important
questions to ask is is it possible to
become twice as valuable and make twice
as much money in the same time could you
become three times as valuable and make
three times as much money in the same
time and the answer is of course yes you
can become more valuable if and it’s
always if right life is known as the big
if Harry Truman once said life is iffy
how true and here’s the big if we are
going to consider it’s possible to earn
two or three or more times as much money
in the same amount of time if you go to
work primarily on yourself and that’s
what we’re considering in this session
learning to work primarily on ourselves
mr. chef put it to me this way when I
first met him he said Mr Rohn if you
wish to be wealthy and happy learn this
lesson well he said learn to work harder
on yourself than you do on your job when
he said that I suddenly understood why I
was broke I was a hard worker on my job
if anyone would have asked me at age 25
mr. Owen are you a hard worker I would
have said yes I’m a hard worker check my
record
and that was true I was a hard worker
but see that was my problem I was
working hard on my job but I wasn’t
working hard on myself and that was the
main reason for my lack of progress see
it’s easy to get faked out the man says
I’ve got ten years of experience I don’t
know why I’m not doing better what he
doesn’t understand is that he probably
has one year of experience repeated ten
times he grew pretty well that first
year and then he just did that first
year nine more times he didn’t keep
growing some people look for more money
but they look for it in the wrong
direction a man says I need more money
I’m going to go to work on my boss hey I
found out bosses are notorious they
don’t play fast and loose with the
company till I’ve never seen a boss get
excited and triple somebody’s wages they
don’t behave in such an irrational
manner so that’s not it some people say
I’ll strike four more well the problem
with that is once you start you’ll
always have to strike and I’ll tell you
what you get by demand little bitty
pieces barely enough and now inflation
beats that approach right inflation will
usually equal or exceed a small wage
increase especially after taxes forget
the little increases that just let you
get by hey you can get by with a crust
of bread and a pair of shoes but in this
program we are talking big success not
just getting by the guy in sales says I
know what I’ll do I’ll get me some of
those sales books that teach the tricky
sales I’ll put it on my prospects dazzle
em with my sales footwork grab their
money before they know what’s happened
well you can try that but my experience
shows you wind up at the bottom of the
economic ladder not the top see it’s not
what you get by tricks that counts it’s
not what you get by demand it’s what you
get by performance
that count and I found this out
performance comes from the inside not
outside for the first part of my life I
was looking for the answers outside
before I finally discovered they were
inside success is not something you
pursue success is something you develop
people are often asking me how do you
develop an above-average income and the
answer is become an above-average person
develop an above-average handshake some
people want to be successful and they
don’t even work on their handshake as
easy as that would be to get started on
they let it slide they don’t understand
develop an above-average smile develop
an above-average intelligence develop an
above-average interest in other people
develop an above-average intensity to
win see that will change everything
probably one of the most frustrating
experiences in life is looking for an
above-average job with above-average pay
without becoming an above-average person
it’s called frustration mr. chef one day
gave me one of the most important
statements of our entire Association I
was giving him a rundown on how things
hadn’t worked out for me and he said Mr
Rohn I have an answer for you if you
will listen carefully and listen
carefully I did that day and for the
next five years if someone is wealthy
and happy you’ve got to listen
he said Jim I’ve only known you for a
short time but it is my honest opinion
for things to change for you you’ve got
to change that was not quite the answer
I was looking for but that’s the one he
gave me and now I bring it to you after
pondering it all these years for things
to change for you you’ve got to change
no matter what successes you’ve already
achieved otherwise it isn’t going to
change for you before I met mr. show if
I used to say I sure hope things will
change that seemed to be my only hope if
it wasn’t going to change I was in
serious trouble then I found out
it wasn’t going to change and I was in
serious trouble
hey remember it isn’t going to change
not long ago I did a seminar for a group
of oil company executives during their
convention in Honolulu sitting around
this conference table one of the masts
mr. Owen you know some important people
around the world what do you think the
next 10 years are going to be like I
said gentlemen I do know the right
people I can tell you so they all listen
very carefully I said gentlemen based on
the people I know and from the best of
my own experience I’ve concluded that in
the coming 10 years it’s going to be
about like it’s always been
aren’t you glad you’re listening I don’t
share that with just everybody now I
said that to make a point but I also
said it because it’s accurate it’s going
to be about like it’s always been the
tide comes in and then what it goes out
for six and a half thousand years that
we know of called recorded history and
probably long before that so it’s not
likely to change it gets light and then
what it turns dark for 6,000 years we
are not to be startled by that now if
the Sun Goes Down and the man says
what’s happened what’s happened surely
he just got here I guess hey it always
goes down about this time of day in
rotation the next season after fall is
winter and pray tell how often does
winter follow fall every time without
fail for 6,000 years that we know of
now some winters are long and some are
short some are difficult and some are
easy but they always come right after
it isn’t going to change sometimes you
can figure it out sometimes there’s no
way to figure it out sometimes it goes
well sometimes it gets in a knot
sometimes it sails along sometimes it
gets in Reverse see that’s not going to
change the last 6,000 years reads like
this opportunity mixed with difficulty
that’s how it reads it isn’t going to
change the man says well then how will
my life change and the answer is when
you change whether I’m talking to high
school kids or business executives my
message is always the same it is so
important to study the majors have you
ever noticed that some people don’t do
well because they major in minor things
whatever you do check at the end of the
week the end of the year and make sure
you’re not spending major time on minor
things otherwise you will wind up with a
below average life now before I get to
the four major lessons here are two
phrases to consider first life and
business are like the changing seasons
that’s one of the best ways to
illustrate life it’s like the seasons
that change Frank Sinatra sings life is
like the seasons here is the second
phrase you cannot change the seasons but
you can change yourself now with those
two key phrases in mind here are the
four major lessons in life to learn the
first is learn how to handle the winters
they come right after fall with
regularity some are long some are short
some are difficult some are easy but
they always come right after fall
remember it isn’t going to change now
there are all kinds of winters right the
winter when you can’t figure it out the
winter when it all goes smash wintertime
we call it the winters of your life one
writer called it the winter of
discontent
the winter when it turns upside down
when it all goes wrong there are
economic winters social winters personal
winters when you’re hard to smashed into
a thousand pieces wintertime
disappointments disappointment is common
to us all so learn how to handle the
winters you must learn how to handle the
nights they come right after days you
must learn how to handle difficulty it
always comes after opportunity you must
learn to handle recessions they come
right after expansions it isn’t going to
change so the big question is what do
you do about the winters well you can’t
get rid of January simply by tearing it
off the calendar but here’s what you can
do you can get stronger you can get
wiser and you can get better make a note
of that trio of words stronger wiser
better see the winters won’t change but
you can before I understood this when it
was winter I used to wish it was summer
I didn’t understand when it was
difficult I used to wish it was easy I
didn’t know then mr. shelf gave me the
answer from a part of his very unique
philosophy when he said don’t wish it
was easier wish you were better here’s
the second major lesson in life to learn
learn how to take advantage of the
spring spring is called opportunity and
uniquely enough spring follows winter
and tray tell how often is it reliable
can you count on it
well 6000 years that we know of that’s
pretty reliable and what a great place
for spring right after winter if you
were going to put it somewhere that
would be the place to put it God is a
genius
hey days follow nights isn’t that
terrific opportunity follows difficulty
expansion follows recession and all with
regularity you can count on it however
make a special note of the two words
take advantage
that is what we must learn to do take
advantage just because spring comes is
no sign you’re going to look good in the
fall you must do something with it in
fact everyone has to get good at one of
two things
planting in the spring or begging in the
fall so take advantage of the day take
advantage of the opportunity and read
every book you can get your hands on to
learn how to take advantage of the
spring and one more thought
get busy quickly on your Springs your
opportunities there are just a handful
of Springs that have been handed to each
of us life is brief even at the longest
the Beatles wrote life is so short and
for John Lennon on the streets of New
York it was extra short but it is short
Elton John’s things she lived her life
like a candle in the wind major skill to
develop preventing the intruder from
taking the good here are two key phrases
to consider under the third major lesson
number one all good will be attacked
that’s the first phrase on this planet
all good will be attacked and don’t
press me for a why I was not in on some
of the early decisions so I don’t know
why all I know is it’s true
let reality be your best beginning every
garden will be invaded not to think so
is naive here’s the second phrase all
values must be defended social values
political values friendship values
marriage values family values business
values every garden must be tended all
summer if you don’t develop this skill
you will never wind up with anything of
value last is the fourth major lesson in
life to learn learn how to reap in the
fall without complaint
that’s number four take full
responsibility for what happens to you
it is one of the highest forms of human
maturity accepting full responsibility
it’s the day you know you have tapped
from childhood to adulthood accepting
full responsibility and learn how to
reap in the fall without apology without
apology if you have done well and
without complaint if you have not that’s
the best of human maturity I’m not
saying it’s easy I’m saying it’s the
best now I used to have some problems in
this area way back in those early days I
used to have this list of reasons why I
wasn’t doing well to explain right
otherwise you’re going to look bad I
used to have this funny list called
reasons for not looking good I really
did I used to blame the government you
can believe that or not it was at the
top of my list I had a lecture second to
none the government I blamed taxes look
what you’ve got left after they take
everything out taxes that was on my list
I blamed prices that’s easy right you
walk into a supermarket with $20 and
come out with this little half bag of
groceries that was on my list I blame
the weather I blame the traffic I blame
my car I blame the manufacturers I blame
my negative relatives they were always
putting me down I blame my cynical
neighbors they were just selfish looking
out for themselves wouldn’t loan me any
money I blamed the community I blame the
economy hey that’s a pretty good list
for not doing well isn’t it I thought it
was a good list I will never forget this
one day mr. Shoaf was very kind but he
was also very blunt which was helpful
for me if he hadn’t been blunt I would
have missed some things on this
particular day with the kind of question
mark look on his face he said Jim just
out of curiosity tell me how come you
haven’t done well up until now
excellent question right well so I
wouldn’t look too bad
decided to go through my list how I ever
had the nerve to do that I don’t know
but I did I went through the whole list
the government taxes prices everything
he was very patient and let me go
through it all when I finished he looked
over my list very carefully and said mr.
own big problem with your list you
aren’t on it
how brilliant and how true when I went
to work for him a few months later I
learned very quickly to tear up my list
of reasons for not looking good and
threw it away and then I got a fresh
piece of paper and I put one word on it
me there’s a black heritage spiritual
that says it’s not my mother nor my
father nor my brother nor my sister but
it’s me O Lord standing in the need of
prayer see I used to blame everything
outside for my lack of progress until I
found the problem was inside for a big
share of my life I kept looking for the
answers to do well outside and I found
out the answers were inside success is
not something you pursue success is
something you become you see it’s not
what happens that determines the quality
or the quantity of your life it’s not
what happens and the reason is because
what happens happens to about everybody
the Sun went down on all of us last
night
a common event and I found out the same
things can happen to two different
people but one gets rich and the other
stays poor why is that it’s because it’s
not what happens but rather it’s what
you do about it
that is an important phrase for your
written and mental notes it’s not what
happens it’s what you do that makes the
difference in how your life works out
what happens is about the same for
everybody it’s what people do that makes
the difference anything can happen right
I’ve heard all of the stories
hey I’ve been one of the stories we
could all tell stories for days on end
anything can happen
have you heard of Murphy’s laws surely
you have riff had these laws one of the
was if anything can go wrong it will
that’s one of Murphy’s laws anything can
happen
I’ve fallen out of the sky so many times
once to the tune of a couple of million
devastating took me a while to get over
that one now it wasn’t all that much but
it was all I had
that’s much right when it’s all you’ve
got if you’ve got three and to go and
you’ve got one left
you aren’t looking that bad but when it
all goes I’m sure you’ve had that kind
of experience of course a long time ago
when you ran out of money and got to
zero you were all through heck now you
can whistle right on by zero right they
will bury you these days but those are
happenings everyone’s got the same
happenings the big question is what are
you going to do about it someone says
yes but you don’t understand the
procrastination procrastination is
particularly life-threatening because
when we put something off it doesn’t
seem at the moment to be all that
important at the end of the day if you
have let a few things slide it doesn’t
seem like such a bad day however enough
of those days piled up will make a
disastrous year and eventually a
disastrous life our inability to come to
grips with the natural tendency to
procrastinate will surely send us
drifting in the wrong direction before
you reach the final session of this
program you’ll have left procrastination
behind if you’re still troubled by it
you’ll have discovered that it’s simply
too costly to put up with any longer
besides you’ll be too excited about
where you’re going to postpone the
activities taking you there self-imposed
limitation number to blame all of us
have blamed others for our troubles from
time to time
in fact the tendency to blame someone or
something goes back a long way
when there were only two people on earth
it wasn’t long before they started
blaming the man said it was the woman
she got me into this and the woman
blamed the surface blame seems to be one
of those negative tendencies that just
comes naturally the ego striving to
defend itself remember the list I came
up with to explain why I wasn’t doing
well one of the items that was high on
my list was prices I told mr. show that
my problem was everything costs too much
however he soon set me straight on that
by saying mr. own that is not the
problem let me tell you the real problem
you can afford it it’s not it if you
keep dealing in it you will always be
broke unhappy and disillusion because
you will never have enough don’t deal in
it deal in you when I finally learn to
change my thinking from it to me I
changed my whole life
what a life-changing experience to
finally meet someone who doesn’t
hesitate to put it on you or on your
tendency to indulge in blame or
procrastination that is indeed a banner
day when you meet someone who has
learned how to skillfully and carefully
attack the same problem that has kept
you from doing very well or kept you
beneath your potential or kept you
off-balance as to your own self-worth it
is so easy to mistake appearances for
reality to confuse the symptom with the
real cause
along with blame comes the third
negative tendency we want to eliminate
excuses guess how many excuses we have a
million and in the course of a lifetime
we will probably use them all unless
somebody finally comes along and blows
all those excuses apart to make us come
face-to-face with the real reasons for
our current dilemma until that time we
will probably use another million
excuses to prevent ourselves from having
a million dollars here’s one of the
major questions all posed to you during
this program
what are you going to do starting today
that will make a difference in how your
life works out good question right what
are you going to do see if you don’t do
something starting today that will make
a difference guess what it’s going to be
the same and you can guess what the next
five years are going to be like just
look at the last five the next five
years will be like the last five unless
you made your key make all the changes
now here’s another key question what can
you do starting today that will make a
difference that’s a good question
what can you do what can you do with
economic chaos what can you do with
massive disappointment when it’s all
gone wrong what can you do and it won’t
work when you’ve run out of money when
you don’t feel well and it’s all gone
sour what can you do well let me give
you the broad answer first here’s what
you can do you can do the most
remarkable things no matter what
happened hey people can do incredible
things unbelievable things a man can do
the most amazing things with the most
impossible circumstances a woman can do
the most remarkable things with the most
disastrous circumstances hey I found out
kids can do remarkable things that is if
they have remarkable things to do I also
found out if they don’t have remarkable
things to do there’s no telling what
they’ll do now here’s why humans can do
remarkable things it’s because they are
remarkable they are not dogs animals
fish birds amoebas humans are different
than any other creation when a dog
starts with weeds he winds up with weeds
and the reason is because he’s a dog but
that’s not true with human beings human
beings can turn weeds into Gardens
that’s one of the major differences
being a human versus being a dog humans
can turn nothing into something
pennies into fortune disaster into
success and the reason they can do such
remarkable things is because they are
remarkable
so why not reach down inside of you and
come up with some more of those
remarkable human gifts they’re there
waiting to be discovered and employed
and with those gifts change anything for
you that you wish to change and I
challenge you to do that because you can
change if you don’t like how it is for
you change it if it isn’t enough change
it if it doesn’t suit you
change it if it doesn’t please you
change it and I challenge you to do all
that because you can change see you
don’t ever have to be the same after
today only by choice if you don’t like
your present address change it you’re
not a tree now for the process of change
just a philosophical pronouncement won’t
do it takes more than that and it takes
more than enthusiasm I know we are
hearing a lot about enthusiasm these
days we’re still hearing the old cliche
of the 30s to be enthusiastic you must
act enthusiastic but see that won’t help
I’m sorry
hey after you have leaped about there
are some things you’ve got to do or it
isn’t going to change for you you can
get all excited about lifting 200 pounds
until you get to the gym then you need a
new excitement and the new excitement is
discipline
discipline the major step to human
progress if there is one thing to get
excited about this is it get excited
about your ability to make yourself do
the necessary things to get a desired
result that’s true excitement not just
optimistic panic true excitement hey
what could you do starting today that
would make a big difference in your life
answer no telling what will some people
do starting today
that’s what’s disappointing it’s not
what we can do that’s in question what
we can do is fantastic what we can do is
unbelievable what we can do it’s what we
settle for that’s disappointing remember
the major question to ask on the job is
not what are you getting the major
question to ask is what are you becoming
what we become is what leads to all the
good things and the habits we form
habits of mind attitude and behavior are
a dominant part of what we are becoming
now I understand as well as anyone that
forming new habits doesn’t come easy but
new habits will come when we change it
is usually not in one cataclysmic
explosion but rather by changing small
pieces and parts at a time I think
that’s how most of us change we just
keep nudging ourselves in the right
direction forming one or two new habits
at a time little by little until finally
we’ve made the turn and this is where
the good life comes from those personal
changes there’s nothing you can do with
the seasons but there’s everything you
can do with yourself don’t wish for the
winters to change wish for your own
attitudes strengths and capabilities to
change in order to handle the winters
really making personal changes calls for
10% inspiration and 90% perspiration
wishing we could change as a beginning
but now wish must be translated into
activity and inspiration an affirmation
must lead to discipline we can affirm
that we are going to change but we must
now form new habits we can look at
developing ourselves spiritually
physically and mentally with respect to
our spiritual development this may be a
major or a minor issue for you depending
on your values and your goals I confess
to being an amateur in this field but I
think it’s very wise for you and me to
look at the spiritual side of our lives
and decide what growth we want to
experience here come to your own
decisions as to what it will take to
nourish your spiritual nature next let’s
look at physical development the body
and the mind work together and depend on
each other so they both need attention
there’s a Bible phrase that says treat
your body like a temple so just put it
in your notes body like temple not a bad
suggestion treat your body like a temple
not a wood now in taking care of
the physical we must learn to be
conscious of ourselves but not
self-conscious we need to be aware of
our physical appearance our physical
well being but not to the point of being
self-conscious we need to be aware we
need to take care but some people devote
too much of their day to physical
appearance physical appearance is going
to have something to do with your future
your well-being your income so to spend
some time on physical appearance how we
appear to other people does make a
difference in terms of our acceptance
and our ability to function and do well
in the marketplace in fact there’s
another Bible phrase that says take care
of the outside for people and take care
of the inside for God people look on the
outside and God looks on the inside now
you might believe that people shouldn’t
judge you by physical appearance well
let me give you a clue
they do make sure you don’t order your
life based on shoulds and shouldn’t
you’ll always be confused and you’ll
always have trouble the best thing to
base your life on is reality what people
really do so since people generally
judge by appearance then that’s probably
one thing we want to take care of that’s
just part of the game now of course when
people get to know you or if they’ve
been around you any length of time at
all they’re going to judge you by more
than appearance but sure enough people
at first are going to take a look so
taking care of yourself in personal
appearance is a consideration
now physical development also includes
your good health and your well-being
you’ve got to spend some time on that so
that you feel good in the marketplace
get involved in some form of disciplined
exercise keeping fit and feeling good
has a positive effect on your attitude
not just your appearance even if you’re
not into sports there are some cassette
programs and books on how to stay in
excellent shape in only 20 to 30 minutes
a day get the tape and find your best
way to stay physically fit just develop
a bit of consciousness about taking care
of yourself physically physical fitness
pays great dividends in terms of your
energy level your ability to live a long
healthy life and your general sense of
well-being the other part of physical
well-being is nutrition there are some
excellent cassettes and books on the
subject for you to investigate as well
do all you can to stay fit to stay
healthy and to stay well because
physical health and fitness affect how
you feel about yourself and how you
perform in the marketplace when you feel
good about yourself other people will
feel good about you to appearance vigor
vitality and well-being have a lot to do
with how your life works out that’s the
physical side now the mental exercise
and nourishment are just as important as
physical and spiritual exercise and
nourishment
you want to make sure that the
acceleration of your mental health
mental well-being and mental capacity
keeps up with your physical capacity so
make sure at 40 that your mind has kept
up with the passing of the years
don’t stay 30 at 40 don’t stay 30 at 50
keep up the learning curve with mental
exercises I congratulate you for your
investment in this cassette program as a
further expansion and stimulation of
your mind and your thinking it’s so
important for you and me to be stretched
beyond where we are it’s too easy to
just comfortably sit and stop growing it
often doesn’t seem to be that necessary
to make the push to make the effort to
learn and to grow and to challenge
yourself but let me give you something
to think about the last few years of the
20th century are going to demand a lot
more mental vigour and mental activity
the competitions and complications of
life are going to truly challenge the
full capacity of our mentality so
stretch your mind it’s easy when you
finally find yourself in a good job to
stop pursuing mental development have
you heard about the accelerated learning
curve from birth up until the time we
are about 18 our learning curve is
dramatic and our capacity to learn
during this period is just staggering we
learn a tremendous amount very fast we
learn our language our culture our
history science mathematics everything
but guess when this learning curve
starts to taper off when we get our
first job usually now sometimes for some
people it will continue but sure enough
here’s where it usually levels off if
there are no more exams to take if
there’s no demand to get out paper and
pencil why read any more books now you
will just learn by some experience just
getting out there and by doing it wrong
and doing it right and stumbling around
you learn some but can you imagine what
would happen if you
an accelerated learning curve all the
rest of your life
can you imagine what you could learn to
do the skills you could develop the
capacities you could have so here’s what
I’m asking you to do be that unusual
person who keeps up his learning curve
succeeding in life is not usual it’s
unusual you need to develop some unusual
habits to earn the outstanding rewards a
friend of mine said a standard education
will get you standard results you want a
lot more than standard results you need
to become a lot more than a standard
person and now I’ve got some more good
news for you never before in the history
of the world has it been easier for
someone like you or me to become
educated skilled highly creative
innovative and spilling over with
profitable ways of thinking I’m talking
about making full use of audio cassettes
like the one you’re listening to now you
can turn your automobile into a
professional growth seminar on wheels
I’m serious cassettes can turn the time
you spend driving your car dressing in
the morning or exercising into solid
effective personal development while
your friends are vegetating on the way
to work listening to the radio that
doesn’t help them one bit to do a better
job you’re picking up new negotiating
skills better sales techniques or a new
creative way to solve problems keep
building your library of fine quality
cassette resources there isn’t a better
place you can put a few dollars every
month become a student of good ideas
wherever they can be found always be on
discipline starts with the little ones
and works up to the big ones start with
all the things you can do to make your
life better and make you feel better
about yourself
make a list life will give you some
pretty big challenges if you can handle
the small ones but unless you practice
on the small ones and master those you
don’t have a chance for the major ones
a man strides out of his house to go
straighten out the corporation and he
has not yet straightened out his garage
who’s kidding who so work on all the
disciplines that will improve the
quality of your life and here’s an
important thought everything affects
everything else every lack of discipline
affects every other discipline
mistakenly the man says this is the only
place I let down see that’s not true
every let down affects the rest of your
performance now here’s the positive side
every new discipline affects every other
discipline every new thing you try
affects the rest of your performance
isn’t that exciting so get started on
every small discipline you can think of
you can’t believe what it will do for
your self-confidence and remember the
greatest deterrent to success is lack of
self-confidence and lack of
self-confidence comes from not doing
what you could do next comes self
motivation and really it’s the only kind
of motivation there is self motivation I
was on a lecture tour in Australia not
long ago and the press interviewed me
and they asked me Mr Rohn are you one of
those American motivators I said no I’m
a businessman I can share my ideas and
my experiences but people have to
motivate themselves hey I found out you
can’t change people they can change
themselves but you can’t change them
lord knows I’ve tried I had a super
group of salespeople back in those early
days and I said I’m going to make them
successful if it kills me
guess what I almost died you can’t do
that in management we learn good people
are found not change if you want good
people you have to find them that’s the
best answer I can give you if you want
motivated people you have to find them
not motivate them the first rule of
management is don’t send your ducks to
Eagle school why because it won’t work
I’ve tried it all I picked up a magazine
not long ago in New York which had a
full-page ad in it for a hotel chain the
first line of the ad read we do not
teach our people to be nice now that got
my attention and the second line said we
simply hire nice people I thought what a
clever shortcut motivation is a mystery
why some people are and some are not why
does one person in sales see his first
prospect at 7:00 in the morning and the
other salesperson sees his first
prospect at 11:00 in the morning
why would one start at 7 and the other
start at 11 I don’t know I call it
mysteries of the mind I give a lecture
to a thousand people one walks out and
says I’m going to change my life someone
else walks out with a yawn and says I’ve
heard all this stuff before why is that
why aren’t they both affected the same I
don’t know
I call it mysteries of the mind a
wealthy man says to a thousand people I
read this book and it started me on the
road to wealth guess how many people of
the thousand go out and get the book
answer very few isn’t that incredible
why wouldn’t everyone go get the book
it’s called mysteries of the mind
to one person you say you better slow
down you can’t work that many hours do
that many things go go go you’re going
to have a heart attack and die and to
another person you say when are you ever
going to get off the couch what is the
difference
it’s called mysteries of the mind why
wouldn’t everyone strive to be wealthy
and happy I don’t know it’s a mystery so
be self-motivated don’t give that job
away to someone else
the guy says boy if someone will just
come by and turn me on hey what if he
doesn’t show up you’ve got to have a
better plan for your life [Music]