in the world
I was in South Africa for a lecture tour
some years ago and I picked up this
short article by Arnold Bennett on the
subject of time I thought it was
excellent and I’d like to share it with
you now time he wrote is the
inexplicable raw material of everything
with it all is possible without it
nothing the supply of time is truly a
daily miracle an affair genuinely
astonishing when one examines it you
wake up in the morning and lo your
purses magically filled with 24 hours of
the un– manufactured tissue of the
universe of your life it is yours it is
the most precious of possessions no one
can take it from you
it is unstealable and no one receives
either more or less than you receive in
the realm of time there is no
aristocracy of wealth and no aristocracy
of intellect genius is never rewarded by
even an extra hour a day and there is no
punishment waste your infinitely
precious commodity as much as you will
and the supply will never be withheld
from you
moreover you cannot draw on the future
impossible to get into depth you can
only waste the passing moment you cannot
waste tomorrow it is kept for you you
cannot waste the next hour it is kept
for you I have said the affair as a
miracle is it not you have this
twenty-four hours of daily time to live
out of it
you want to spin health pleasure money
content respect and the evolution of
your immortal soul it’s right use its
most effective use is a matter of the
highest urgency and of the most
thrilling actuality all depends on that
you are happiness the elusive prize that
you are all clutching for my friend
depends on that mr. Bennet continues if
one cannot arrange that an income of 24
hours
shall exactly cover all proper items of
expenditure one does muddle ones whole
life indefinitely we shall never have
any more time we have and we have always
had all the time there is isn’t that
well said let’s consider some approaches
to managing our time most effectively
the first approach is to ignore the
subject altogether the man says I’ve
been laid all my life I can’t ever seem
to get a handle on my time heck with it
I’ll just struggle along the best I can
that’s ok it’s your life right you can
do with it as you please but consider
what this attitude might be costing you
here’s the second approach step down to
something easier
again that’s ok to a man works for a
company then decides he wants to own one
when he gets that responsibility comes
to work before everyone else leaves
after everyone else he now says I would
rather work for someone else’s company
hey again it’s your life
success is not a stereotype there isn’t
just one model know clearly what success
means to you and be comfortable with the
price you pay for it you might have
heard the story of the little girl who
complained to her mother that her daddy
never had time to play with her she said
why doesn’t my daddy play with me he
comes home from work goes to the study
and works comes out for dinner goes back
to work again I want to play with my
daddy so her mother explained to her
your daddy is very busy
he loves you very much and that is why
he worked so hard at his office he has
so much work to do that he has to bring
the rest of it home and finish it here
that is why he can’t play with you
the little girl thought for a moment
trying to solve this problem and came up
with the answer she said well why don’t
they just put him in a slower group hey
not a bad idea don’t throw away other
important values in your life just going
for one I went for some things in my
life and found out later I had paid too
much if I had known how much they were
going to cost I never would have paid so
that is a consideration the next
approach to time management is to work
longer and harder and we all know the
dangers there right unless you aren’t
working at all then you probably need to
work longer and harder but for some
people if 10 hours won’t do it in a day
they work 12 and if 12 won’t do they
move it up to 14 some people even take
on two jobs and there are some very real
dangers here not least of which is
health problems that result from not
being able to handle the stress so
you’ve got to be careful with this
approach the last approach I think is
the best and that is to get more out of
you in the time you have assigned to
labor make the hours more valuable the
key is not to work harder but to work
smarter if you’re putting in about eight
or ten hours a day six days a week
that’s about it you can’t work much
harder but remember it’s not the hours
you put in that counts it’s what you put
in the hours get more from you to make
the investment of time more valuable and
no telling how valuable you can become
we don’t lack the capacity we only lack
the ideas and the will and the
discipline to carry them out in
considering the subject of time
management remember that a big part of
the key for changing is to take it in
small steps most of us don’t make
revolutionary changes we change a few
degrees at a time
when you get some life momentum rolling
it’s not that easy to make all the
changes all at once hey you can’t flip a
u-turn with the Queen Elizabeth – when
that big ship gets moving they say it
takes seven miles just to get it stopped
so when it’s really moving you just have
to nudge it a little nudge it a little
and finally you get it turned that’s a
lot like our lives a few nudges at a
time everything in life is a lot like
that emotions are a good example either
you master them or they will master you
something is always going to master and
something is always going to serve
whether it’s your emotion your
enterprise or your project difficulty
will serve or master fear anxiety
inclinations they all serve four masters
we must learn to send our inclinations
to school to teach them how to behave
how best to serve and to learn their
true value so that is key one get in
charge you be the master it pays to take
a look often and examine all the parts
of your life and all the things that you
are involved in and all the things that
are affecting you so that you can get an
intelligent answer to the question who’s
in charge here it’s so easy when you get
something started to unwittingly
relinquish the reins of authority so
that it begins to subtly but surely take
over soon you become the servant it
dictates it demands and you respond so
let’s turn this whole challenge around
you take over the reins of authority you
subtly but surely take charge you
dictate you demand and you will be
delighted to see early signs of positive
response from your enterprise your
business and your life the next time
management essential is to learn to say
no I had some difficulty here it is so
easy to say yes to everything trying to
be a nice person and then have to spend
all that time trying to come up with
excuses to get out of the obligation
it’s one of the great time wasters how
much better to say no I don’t think I
can but if that changes I’ll give you a
call and isn’t it a better feeling to
call someone with the good news I can
come then with the bad news guess what I
can’t come
when in doubt learn to say no a friend
of Mines Ron Reynolds has a good saying
don’t let your mouth overload your back
that’s a great thought to keep in mind
when scheduling your time here’s the
next tip when you work work and when you
play play for time efficiency and for
that good feeling that comes from doing
something without any guilt feelings
don’t mix the two many years ago I used
to say I’ve got to get my family to the
beach I’ve been promising to take them
to the beach what are they going to
think if I don’t take them now guess
where I am while I’m thinking about the
beach right at the office now I finally
get my family to the beach but at the
beach I’m saying I should be at the
office I have so much to do now I’ve
messed up my beach time with the family
by thinking about the office so I
learned this lesson make a play day a
play day and a work day a work day don’t
mix the two sure enough if you say I’m
going to take off at 3 o’clock and go
play guess what you are thinking about
all morning taking off to go play so
don’t play at work and don’t work at
play it’s a great rule to follow to
ensure that your time is used more
effectively now I know all of this has
to be modified to fit your particular
situation
no one rule will apply to all but keep
the main thought in mind separate work
and play when I take a lecture tour to
Spain or Africa or Australia I make it a
work trip every day is filled with
lectures speeches and business
conferences then I arrange a play trip
because when I play I really want to
play
a builder friend of mine now has the
luxury of working a week and taking off
a week that’s what he calls it work a
week play a week
however with weekends on either side of
his play week it’s really nine days so
he works five and takes off nine that is
luxury right however the five days he
works he really works
secretaries accountants architects
superintendents long days around the
clock into the night five heavy full
days then he’s off to play though when
he works he really works so that he can
save all the play time for a longer
stretch now perhaps we can’t all do that
but we can learn to practice the skill
of separating work and play the next
time management essential is to analyze
how you are then if the challenge calls
for it you must either change how you
are or change your procedure that is
productivity waiting to make time pay
self analyzing the first thing to
analyze is your periods of greatest
productivity throughout the day if you
are a morning person who wakes up early
ready to start the day that is the best
time to do your creative work you can
get more done when you’re at your best
some people are night people fuzzy in
the morning late to get started foot
alerts and awake long into the evening
if that’s the way you are then this is
the best time to pack in the activity
and creativity the key is to find your
best time
and use it to its fullest Nick’s analyze
your habit if for example you’re not
good at keeping records get someone to
do it for you if you have promised
yourself that you’re going to keep your
records or balance your checkbook and
this has been going on for a few years
it looks like you aren’t that kind of
person nor are you likely to become that
kind of person you may say no I’m really
going to do it this time hey I would
suggest that a few years is long enough
don’t promise yourself anymore just say
maybe the smart thing to do is to get
someone to do this and make me look good
you would be surprised at how often you
can remain a lot like you are in many
areas if you will just make the
arrangements to have it covered some
years ago my office came to the
conclusion that I was a poor courier
someone would ask me to take a cheque to
San Francisco since I was going there
anyway I would say sure no problem put
the check in my pocket and fly off to
San Francisco guess when I would next
hear about that check from my dry
cleaners next time someone says this
document has to go to New York will you
be sure to give it to them this time I’d
say of course you can count on me this
time
I’m not flaky so I put the document in
my briefcase then head off for New York
guess what rye it would still be in my
briefcase when I got back to the office
the following week so there is a saying
now in my office don’t give the chairman
anything he’s good at some things but
he’s a poor courier make other
arrangements and that is my point there
is nothing wrong with admitting that you
just aren’t going to do certain things
as long as you are clever enough to make
arrangements to have them done it’s much
better than continually promising that
you will when the chances are good that
you won’t
next time management essential the
telephone
what an incredible instrument for
business social and emergency situations
the job it can do for you is
unbelievable
however there are some tips for using
the telephone so that it won’t use you
here’s the first one before you make a
call make an agenda an agenda is simply
a list of the items you want to talk
about especially if it’s a business call
it is one of the better habits to
develop did you ever make a call and
toward the end of the conversation say
let’s see there was something else I was
going to talk to you about I just can’t
think of it right now but if I think of
it later I’ll call you back a great
time-waster and for a business call not
very sophisticated on your part making
an agenda before you make a call serves
to keep your conversation on course so
that you cover the essentials without
missing any of them also it helps to
keep the conversation on track and
control the tendency to wander into
non-essential chitchat it is also a
money saver the extra minutes saved by
keeping to an agenda and a few
pleasantries is major I know my business
telephone bill just in California got up
to $13,000 a month and this was one of
the problems doing business
internationally we have learned the
incredible savings of both time and
money
by taking the time to write down an
agenda before we begin to dial and
here’s another benefit if you have made
an agenda when it comes time to recall
that conversation you had you’ve now got
the details in writing when you say John
how are you doing on those four things
we talked about the other day and John
says what four things we didn’t talk
about that you now have a written record
to show that you did remember people can
talk you out of what’s in your head but
it’s hard to talk you out of what’s in
your book next if you can afford the
luxury have your call screen then when
you pick up the messages you can decide
who to call and when to call and have
the time to formulate the important
information before you make the call now
this is a luxury I will admit it may be
that you just have to answer the phone
when the call comes in but at least file
this idea away for the future when you
might be able to use it and one more the
telephone at home here you have to
exercise great care to not let the
telephone intrude during social time
with family or friends my suggestion is
that you shut the phone off they have
all those neat devices now so you can
put on the recorder to take messages or
just pull the plug
family is a high priority take care that
valuable family time is not subject to
frequent intrusions if you set up this
rule you will not only have
uninterrupted time with your family and
friends but also they will give you high
marks for caring about them enough to
make them a priority every situation
calls for an evaluation of values you
have to go in search of the ideas they
don’t just come by make a thorough
investigation of the subject on your own
sort out the ideas choose those that you
think are most valid and put them to
work in your life
next point be more alert and analyze all
your procedures and tools old filing
methods old bookkeeping methods some
things we do can become quickly outdated
especially these days check for all the
new tools that can help you to use your
time more efficiently dictating machines
tape recorders answering devices
computers calculators there is just
about every tool imaginable in today’s
marketplace I now have a fabulous
computer in my office that can do the
most amazing things and save a great
deal of
I also have a portable computer
typewriter that I can take on an
airplane or in my motor home then I
merely transfer what I have typed onto
special cassettes or send the
information via telephone back to the
main terminal when I get home all of my
letters and scripts are typed and
waiting for my signature of my attention
so take a look
do some research do some shopping find
out no telling how much you can improve
your efficiency or multiply your skills
by eliminating the barriers and the
hindrances so that you are now free to
do all the creative things that make for
fortune and lifestyle now here’s an
important time-saver learn to ask
questions this habit will serve in so
many ways have you ever talked to
someone for an hour and then ask some
questions and found out that you just
wasted the last hour
make a note almost everything is
symptomatic of what’s really wrong
surface details don’t usually give us
enough information to effectively
communicate so ask questions before if
John isn’t making sales we say okay
let’s get on him about making sales but
perhaps we should ask why isn’t he
making Saviour someone says he isn’t
making enough calls we say okay let’s
get on him about making calls
well maybe we should ask another
question first why isn’t he making call
well it’s because he isn’t getting up
early and getting out into the
marketplace we say okay let’s get on him
about getting up early and getting out
into the marketplace well perhaps we
should ask just one more question why
isn’t he getting up early and getting
out into the marketplace now we have
probably gotten to the heart of the
problem perhaps it’s something personal
problems at home not his sales skills
the real problems are usually about
three or four questions deep so if you
get good at asking questions you can
save yourself a lot of time by getting
right at the heart of the matter when
dealing with other people otherwise you
tend to waste valuable time just finding
out what the problem really is now here
is the last part of time management
learn to think on paper from all of my
experience working on many projects and
in many countries
one of the major time savers is thinking
on paper it is so important to take
things out of your head and put them on
paper then work from the paper building
your business is a lot like building a
house you take the ideas out of your
head put them on paper and then build
from the plan we have a saying on this
idea operate from document not from
thought it’s just about over when a
person wakes up in the morning and says
let’s see what shall I do today too late
right the best thing you can do now is
to take today off and at least plan
tomorrow let me give you four major ways
to think on paper the first is a journal
I spend a lot of time talking about
journals in my lectures and programs
primarily because it is such an
invaluable tool for the serious student
of the better life a journal is merely a
gathering place for all the good
information that comes your way from
sermons from books from lectures from
business conferences magazines thinking
time research any source of information
that you feel is worth keeping
don’t let the good ideas of life escape
you remember most good ideas usually
only come by once get into the habit of
capturing them with pen and paper by
making daily use of your journal now
maybe you won’t write in it every day
but at least make sure it’s with you
every day here’s the second way to think
on paper a projects book this is simply
a ring binder with tabs in it to help
you keep track of all the current people
and projects you are involved with and
need to work on to make all the parts of
your life work to the maximum if you are
working with people give them each a tab
in your projects book then under this
tab you keep a running account of all
the current information you need to know
about that person performance family
goals strengths needs perhaps even some
graphs showing recent progress or
comparisons to past performance
essentially you make a note of all the
information you need to know so that
when you sit down to have a meeting with
this person you have all the pertinent
facts there before you in order to have
a meaningful and productive conversation
without this habit it’s so easy to take
up time talking with someone and get so
very little accomplished because most of
the meeting ends up by being devoted to
bringing you up to date on the facts you
could have already had in your projects
books now depending on your particular
business or enterprise you might want to
have a tab for each office or each
department for each ongoing project on a
more personal level you might want to
have a tab for each family member or for
your personal projects investments
finances game plans and so forth it’s
just an effective way to keep all the
key pieces of information readily
available so you won’t have to be
continuously hunting through files and
drawers for the data it is the best way
I know of to study your business and
life projects a projects book is a
guideline for this study
we simply don’t study files they are for
storing information
the project’s book is for the daily or
weekly summary accounting of all the
pieces like a financial statement of
your business at the end of the month in
fact that is one of the sections in your
projects book and another secret with a
guideline to study it keeps you on good
mental track if you try to study your
business and your life in your head you
will for sure miss something
miscalculate or let your mind go
undisciplined in those high thought
areas were the ideas and plans and
inspiration for fortune line it’s the
organized better discipline thought that
produces abundance everyone is thinking
but mostly about how to get by I’m
asking you to develop these tools and
disciplines to think about how to become
wealthy and happy powerful and
influential sophisticated and unique the
next way to think on paper is to keep a
day timer a daily log of your list of
things to do and your appointments and
schedules this is where I also keep the
agenda for my telephone calls it becomes
a clear and useful record if you have a
business and need to keep track of
expenses for income tax purposes your
day-timer should also accommodate this
need a day timer is also a good place to
record telephone numbers and other key
information that you need on a daily
basis basically it’s a way of keeping a
record of your daily activities your day
timer can also be used as a gathering
place for all the details or highlights
from your day which need to be logged
into your journal or projects book at a
later time it’s just an efficient means
of keeping track of your days and
scheduling your projects and
appointments I strongly recommend that
you develop the day timer habit it only
takes a few minutes a day to keep your
records up to date and the time and
information you save by using one is
messy
now here is the fourth way to think on
paper the all-important game plan a game
plan can make all the difference in the
world in how your months and years work
out for you in terms of both
accomplishment and satisfaction whether
you do business at home down the street
within the community or around the world
game plans are essential for maximizing
productivity here’s a phrase worth
remembering and that is don’t start the
day until you have it finished that idea
is worth the money a plan before you
start a day is a major piece of the
whole strategy of your wealth plan your
success plan I know it is laborious but
it’s labor and effort that pays in cash
and accomplishment and remember value is
on the other side of effort not hope now
if you want to make a lot more progress
and income here’s the key
don’t start the week until you have it
finished of course it is more
challenging to finish a week than to
finish a day but the pay and the results
are so exciting you won’t mind the
challenge and if you want to make a lot
of money and big success don’t start the
month until you have it finished that
one is a stretch but high and reward now
if you want to start walking among the
heavyweights here’s the key
don’t start the year until you have it
finished I don’t want to kid you this
one is difficult it’s reserved for those
few who do and become the superstars and
accomplishment enterprise wealth
influence and lifestyle it’s a high road
of sophisticated disciplines but I’m
positive you will like the view and the
taste and the company a game plan is
merely a spreadsheet for your activities
it can be a game plan for a day a week a
month a year several months or several
years and a game plan can be for a
single project or for a variety of
concurrent projects
here’s how it works on a sheet of graph
paper you make vertical columns for the
weeks or months that this plan is to
cover then on the left side of the paper
you make a heading called activities
under this heading you list all of the
activities to be performed within that
time frame let’s say that part of your
business requires providing ongoing
training programs for your employees
under the column marked activities you
merely list the various training
programs you wish to conduct for the
next 12 months then under the vertical
columns for each month you block off
particular periods of time for these
training classes game plans can be used
to help you plan almost any aspect of
your business or enterprise they can
also be used to help you organize all
areas of your life from investment plans
to reading plans game plans are
particularly useful when it comes to
scheduling family time vacations special
weekends and trips and so forth everyone
who is important to you wants to see
where he or she is on your game plan
especially if your business often
requires you to spend a lot of time away
from home and remember there’s nothing
like a visual plan it’s so much more
effective to be able to show members of
your family where they are on your game
plan as opposed to merely telling them
in conversation now a game plan can be
as detailed as you wish and please be
forewarned now that you are probably
going to tear up several before you get
what you want this is something you have
to work with every game plan must be
tailored to fit a particular need the
chart you use for your personal plans
may not necessarily be suitable as a
chart for your business plans here is
another key benefit of using game plans
if you have your plan in your projects
book or up on a wall somewhere it serves
as a constant reminder to get busy on
all the activities you have scheduled or
if there are a lot of blank holes beside
the activities you have listed your plan
reminds you to get busy scheduling them
now you might well ask doesn’t a
calendar do the same thing not really
many of the events on your game plan
will be on your calendar but here are
the major differences first the visual
reminder of the spreadsheet and the list
of activities on the left that have no
corresponding time assigned to them on
the right serve to remind you of what is
not yet done a calendar just won’t give
you that kind of information and second
it is so important to take a look at
three months six months one year at a
time for highly effective planning with
a game plan you can get a sense of the
whole picture of the time frame and all
of the important activities at one look
to effectively design something you just
have to have a picture of the whole
finished project complete or as complete
as possible game plans are both exciting
and painful painful because of all the
things you must get on with and plan
make up your mind about or give serious
thought to and painful because they
illustrate how far behind you are
sometimes but they are also very
exciting both because they help you to
foresee how your life your business and
your family are going to unfold over the
coming months and because they can help
you get the job done it’s like looking
at the artist’s rendering of the
finished project it brings all kinds of
feelings to the surface as we see it all
take shape and unfold and it also gives
you that incredible feeling of being in
charge you have your life in hand and in
order and well designed remember how
valuable a day is it is part of your
whole life Enterprise a day is like a
piece of the mosaic of your life fashion
it wisely to the best of your genius or
as someone once said at midnight the
winged messengers come and gather up all
these pieces and take them off to
wherever the mosaic is kept and surely
on occasion one messenger says to
another wait till you see this one a
well fashioned day with the beginning
a purpose and a Content a color and a
character a feel and a texture this well
fashioned day takes its place among the
many and becomes a valuable memory and
treasure an equity of experience in
spirit and life
and remember the genius to do all this
lies within you never forget that some
people say if I was as smart as you are
make sure you make the correction in
thinking to say if I had developed as
much of my smart as you have that’s it
we are all smart enough we just have to
develop that smart into a plan never
underestimate the power of influence
what an important statement the
influence of those around us is so
powerful many times we don’t even
realize we’re being strongly influenced
because it generally develops over an
extended period of time
peer pressure is an especially powerful
form of influence because it is so
subtle if you’re around people who spend
all they make chances are excellent that
you’ll spend all you make if you are
around people who go to more ball games
than concerts chances are excellent that
you’ll do the same if you’re around
people who don’t read many books chances
are excellent you won’t read many books
people around us can teach nudging us
off course a little at a time until
finally 10 years from now we find
ourselves asking how did I get here
those subtle influences need to be
studied carefully if we really want our
lives to turn out the way we planned now
on this major point let me give you
three key questions to ask
this may help you to make a better
analysis of your current associations
here is the first question Who am I
around good question make a mental study
of the major people with whom you most
often associate you’ve got to evaluate
everybody who is within the circle of
being able to influence you so major
question Who am I around next question
what are they doing to me that’s a major
question to ask what have they got me
doing what have they got me listening to
what have they got me reading where have
they got me going what have they got me
thinking how have they got me talking
and how have they got me feeling what
have they got me saying you’ve just got
to make a serious study of how others
are influencing you both negatively and
positively now maybe the influence of
all those around you is okay but just
ask yourself it doesn’t hurt to ask
Who am I around and what are they doing
to me now here’s the final question is
that okay maybe the people you associate
with and their collective influence is
okay but then again maybe it’s not all
I’m suggesting here is that you take a
close and objective look everything is
worth a second look
especially the power of influence
positive influence can have an
incredible effect on your life but so
can negative influence both will take
you somewhere but only one will take you
in the direction you truly wish to go
it’s so easy just to dismiss the things
that influence our lives
the man says I live here but I don’t
think it matters I’m around these people
but I don’t think it hurts I would take
another look at that I’ve got a good
phrase for you everything matters now
sure some things matter more than others
but everything matters everything weighs
something
so you’ve got to keep checking to find
out whether associations are tipping the
scales toward the positive or toward the
negative it doesn’t hurt to look right
ignorance is never the best policy
finding out is the best policy remember
part of the purpose of this program is
to get us to say the days of kidding
myself are over I really want to know
what I have become and what I am
becoming I want to know where my
strengths and my weaknesses lie what has
power over me what’s influencing me what
have I allowed to affect my life perhaps
you’ve heard the story of the little
bird he had his wing over his eye and he
was crying
the owl said to the little bird you’re
crying yes said the little bird and he
pulled his wing away from his eye oh I
see said the owl you’re crying because
the big bird pecked out your eye and the
little bird said no I’m not crying
because the big bird pecked out my eye
I’m crying because I let him hey it’s
easy to let influences shape our lives
to let associations determine our
direction to let persuasions overwhelm
us to let tides take us to let pressures
make up the big question is are we
letting ourselves become what we wish to
become in this most important subject of
association here are some actions you
may want to take first disassociation
you may after a study of those three
questions Who am I around what are they
doing to me and is that okay you may
come to the serious conclusion that
there are some people you just have to
break away from I’m not saying that it’s
an easy step to take and it’s not to be
taken lightly
however I am saying it may be an
essential task you may just have to make
that hard choice not to let certain
negative influences affect you anymore
remember it could be a chore
but saves the quality of your life the
second action you may want to take is
limited Association it could well be
that you are spending too much time in a
certain area of your life with a certain
group of people it’s easy to put time
and effort in the wrong place the guy
spends three hours at the ball game and
thirty minutes listening to the sermon
see that’s called out of balance
30 minutes for spirituality three hours
for entertainment that doesn’t weigh
well five years from now ten years from
now when you take a look at the sum
total of your values in your life here’s
one of the easy ways to end up with a
mediocre average life spending major
time on minor things sophisticated
people learn to weigh everything before
they spend time or money you’ve got to
weigh before you pay whether you’re
going to spend heavy time or a light
time you’ve just got to weigh otherwise
if you’re not careful you can get
trapped into spending heavyweight time
with lightweight people now it’s okay to
have casual friends as long as you give
them casual time not serious time spend
major time with major influence and
minor time with minor influence it’s so
easy to do just the opposite but don’t
let it be said that you fell into that
trap so maybe all you need to do to
change some of the influences in your
life is not to eliminate them but merely
limit them say I have a good time with
these people but I’m not going to spend
days and days with them anymore I’m just
going to cut that down and save some of
that time for more major people and more
major enterprises remember it’s your
life you can spend your time with
whomever you want and whenever you want
but you didn’t invest in this program
for me to kid you
take a look at your priorities and your
values we have so little time at our
disposal wouldn’t it make sense to
invest it wisely if you have only a
hundred dollars in your pocket it’s okay
to spend twenty for fun and put 80
toward your important values and
commitments but would you be happy
reversing those percentages better to
put the majority of your money where you
know it will get you a positive return
rather than put it for the taste is
brief and the results are poor of course
you must be the judge you must determine
whether the situation and the people
call for disassociation or limited
Association but remember if it isn’t
taking you where you want to be five
years from now ten years from now now is
the time to fix it the third process is
the one I most strongly suggest you
begin and that is called expanded
association that is spending more time
with the right people people of
substance and culture people who
understand philosophy and discipline
people of accomplishment and character
many years ago mr. shelf said to me Mr
Rohn if you truly wish to be successful
you’ve got to get around the right
people then he said it looks like in
your present circumstances you’re going
to have to plot them scheme and that was
true I had to plot a scheme to get
around the right people on some of those
early opportunities I had to be around
successful people I would park my car a
couple of blocks away I knew that if
they saw my car I’d never get in on more
than one occasion I got the question how
did you get here to which I would
respond Oh someone dropped me off and
that was me dropping me off a couple of
blocks away whatever you have to do do
it keep asking the question who can I
get around who could I spend some time
with who would have a positive influence
on my life
I played every trick in the book I could
think of to get around the right people
but it was worth it
now here’s the surprise it is possible
for a modest investment to get around
major people if you had a chance to sit
down for an hour or two with a wealthy
person and all that you had to do was to
pick up the lunch tab
wouldn’t that be a bargain that person
might drop an idea on you that could
change your life for a lunch tab and
that’s where we need to go to get our
success plan from successful people
don’t pick up your plan especially your
financial plan from unsuccessful people
here is something else exciting it’s
possible for people of modest means to
start a wealth plan you don’t have to be
wealthy to have a wealth plan you don’t
even have to be healthy to start a
health plan all you have to be is smart
smart enough to say hey I’ve got the
wrong plan and I’m going to get around
someone who has a better plan and make
it my plan so find some successful
people to help you fill out your success
plan
find somebody healthy to get your better
health plan going
find somebody living a unique lifestyle
to develop your lifestyle plan this is
called association on purpose getting
around the right people by expanding
your circle of influence I have a really
unique friend I’m always trying to find
more ways to spend more time with him
he’s the big game hunter millionaire
businessman traveler and in my opinion
one of the world’s great philosophers he
has two special gifts among many that
make it worth all the time I can
possibly spend with him and those gifts
are one the ability to absorb the
ability to soak up a day and all of its
events his memory is uncanny I swear he
remembers in detail almost every day of
his life and every book he’s read I
think it is more exciting for him to go
to Spain and come back and tell you
about it than it is to go yourself
and the reason is when he’s there he
doesn’t miss anything he picks up the
sounds and the colors the experiences
and the happenings he absorbs like a
sponge the sights the people the whole
scene then he has this second unique
gift the gift of expression he can put
all he saw and touched and felt into
words exciting words when he talks you
can feel the water lapping on your feet
you can see the color you can smell the
aroma of the flowers and the food
what great gifts to absorb and to
express if I spend a day with him I get
my times work he can put a year into a
day’s conversation it leaves you
spellbound he can read a book and with
flawless detail give you a capsule
version and more often than not to make
it more exciting than if you read the
book yourself from Shakespeare to the
Beatles from Africa to Beverly Hills
he’s got it recorded it and can express
it with spirit and precision you can
imagine what a valuable Association this is for me