I had heard about Jim Rohn for years but have just recently exposed myself to his teachings. WOW!!! No wonder Tony Robbins was obsessed with him and modeled his philosophies after his content. This book is different from most personal development books because it is written as a story and you get the helpful nuggets from the characters conversations.
1. personal development
- work harder on yourself than you do on your job
- success comes when you develop yourself beyond where you currently are
2. total well-being
- the body, the soul, the spirit are all parts of total well-being
- the spiritual is at the core and it’s the most important
- the second layer is the soul
- the outer layer is the body, the physical
- each part rests on the one below and is only as strong as the layer below
- make sure the outside of you is a good reflection of the inside
- each one will get stronger and the stronger they get the stronger they will make the others
- they are all tied together
3. the gift of relationships
- relationships can be hard but they are the joy of life
- your family and your loved ones must be cultivated like a garden
- time, effort and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing
- life is hard, success is hard if you want easy you can have it but you won’t get much of anything else especially not anything of value
- you have to see with your imagination what the relationship could be
- ask for forgiveness
- pull out the weeds and plant some beautiful flowers so they bloom
- once a flower blooms it still needs water and sun to keep it from wilting the work isn’t over when the color comes out
4. achieve your goals
- set your goals and write them down
- the major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it
- make a million dollars not for the money but for what you will have to become to make it
- the real goal is to let the goal make you a better person
5. the proper use of time
- you cannot change your destination over night but you can change your direction over night
- we must all suffer from one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret
- days are expensive when you spend a day you have one less day to spend so spend each one wisely
- spend time on the important vs. the urgent
6. surround yourself with the best people
- if people have a negative effect on us it’s up to us to make the tough choices in effort to protect ourselves from the wrong influences
- what amount of time with each person will challenge you to become the kind of person you want
- friends of convenience are out of circumstance not true connection
- successful people look for relationships with other successful people who will push them, challenge them and encourage them to become better
- if you become, you attract
- 99% of life is attitude which is greatly shaped by influence and association
7. be a lifelong learner
- formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you a fortune
- if someone is going down the wrong path, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up, he needs education to turn him around
- learning is the beginning of wealth, the beginning of health, the beginning of spirituality
- learn by reading books, from successful people, by observation
- constantly reflect on your experiences and learn what went right and wrong
- how can you expect to grow if you’re not consistently and proactively pursuing knowledge and ideas that will move your life forward
8. life is sales
- influence is the key to a successful life
- successfully reaching our goals is dependent upon influencing others
- all of life is sales and all of sales is influence
- the key to influencing others is to have them perceive you as a person of talent and virtue
- what you become influences what you get
9. income seldom exceeds personal development
- whoever loves money, never has enough money
- profits are better than wages
- you must work for yourself to make money
- work full time on your job and part time on your fortune
- anything of significance is going to be hard
10. all communication brings the common ground of understanding
- success is based on human relationships and communication is the foundation for people working together
- communication is 2 or more people working together to find the common ground of understanding instead of trying to get the other to come to their side
11. the world can always use one more great leader
- to lead is to help others change their thoughts, beliefs, actions for the better
- leaders make a difference, rise to the highest levels, enjoy the bulk of wealth and have the best relationships
- they experience life to the fullest
- become a great leader by using the principles of influence (character and skill)
- managers see people as they are, leaders see people and themselves as better than they are or as they can be – their potential
- leaders talk about what could be
- the challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude, be kind but not weak, be bold but not a bully, be thoughtful but not lazy, be humble but not timid, be proud but not arrogant, have humor without folly
- the bad characteristics are just good ones taken to the extreme and used for selfish reasons
- great leaders are interested in people in general not just for what they can get from them
- integrity is the key
- the leader-follower relationship is built on trust
- practice what you preach
- great leaders have optimistic vision
- they know where they are-realism but also know how to get to a better destination-optimistic vision
- create a positive vision of the future, develop a plan to get there, communicate it and then work on the plan
12. leave a legacy
- we can make a living or we can design a life
- the earlier the better
- live a life that will help others spiritually, intellectually, physically, financially and relationally
- live a life that serves as an example of what an exceptional life can look like
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