Transcription
As soon as you plant the garden, the busy bugs and the noxious weeds are out to take it. And you've got to learn not only to nourish your values, you've got to learn to do battle with your enemies. Whatever threatens you, I'm asking you to threaten it back. Take care of your responsibility, but don't take anything off anybody.
Somebody wants to destroy your chances for a good future by their negative talk, negative thinking, putting it all down. I'm telling you, walk away if you have to. Walk away. Whatever threatens you, threaten it back. Whatever threatens your opportunity, threaten it back.
Now, some of our enemies are on the outside. But here's the most important thing to understand: some of our enemies are on the inside. Let me give you a quick list. Indifference. You've got to do battle with your own indifference. Boy, it's easy to coast, especially if you've accomplished something, you know, extraordinary. Now, somebody says, "I gotta relax." Here's the key: not too long. The weeds will take all you plant if you rest too long. Don't rest too long.
Indecision. You've got to make those decisions. The ones that don't turn out to be good give you experience to make better decisions. Don't let much time go by without making some decisions. The ones that you can make quickly, make them quickly. The ones that take time, take your time, but get those decisions made. Don't let indecision be an enemy rob you the future, empty your bank account, leave you with zero in the purse. Don't let that happen.
The next one is doubt. But I'm asking you not to pick up all those doubts. I'm asking you to have some faith, have some courage. Believe. Drive your doubts into a small corner. Don't let them loose like a mad dog. Drive you into a small corner. Don't doubt the future. Don't doubt the possibilities. Here's the most important one of all: don't doubt yourself. If I've got miracle-working power to change my life, so to you. If I've got the ability to change, so do you. If I've got the ability to read, so to you. If I can discover, so can you. If I can grow, you can grow. If I can develop, you can develop. If I can get an invitation like I got six years ago, helped take something around the world, so can you. If I can stand on this platform, Idaho farm boy, raising obscurity, so can you. I'm asking you, don't sell yourself short.
Here's the next one: worry. I'm asking you to drive worry into a small corner. You've got to worry some. All this negative stuff, sermons serve some purpose. But the key is for you to be the master, not the servant. But here's what I'm asking you to do: you be the master of worry. Drive it into a small corner. Don't let it loose. And I'm asking you to go home with some new faith and some new courage. I'm asking you, don't worry. Drive it into a small corner. We've all got concerns, and sometimes we all wonder, and sometimes there's a little crack of doubt. We worry a little. But I'm telling you, drive it into a small corner. Drive your worries into a small corner.
A couple more enemies of the mind you've got to do battle with in the summer. One is pessimism that tries to get you only to see the negative side. Of course, there's the negative side. Life is part negative. What else is new? If the glass is half empty, it is half empty. You say, "Well, I've been only taught to see that it's half full." Well, sure, it's half full, but it's also half empty. I mean, can't you handle that? I mean, no, that's not too difficult. But here's what pessimism would try to get you to do: believe that it's only happened. And when pessimism comes to your mind, you've got to educate pessimism because pessimism is stupid. Learn from your own experience, right? So the call didn't go well, all the stuff. Guess what they did when they finished that call? They made another call. What else could we do to make it better? How could we possibly improve? This is called the possibility for life change. Starts with education. Don't be lazy in learning. Don't be lazy in picking up the ideas. Don't be lazy in learning from your own experience.
One of the major reasons for setting goals is for what they make of you in achieving them. My teacher advised me when I first got started at age 25. He said, "Jim, why don't you set a goal to become a millionaire?" He said, "It's got a nice ring to it, you know, enough zeros to impress your accountant." And he said, "I'm here to help you. You're only 25 years old. You've been to one year of college. You've got a beautiful family. Every reason to do it. Why don't you set a goal to become a millionaire?" And he said, "Here's why." And I thought, he doesn't need to teach me. Wouldn't it be nice to have a million dollars? He said, "No. Then you'll miss it." He said, "Here's why: for what it will make of you to achieve." I'm telling you, that statement changed my life. Set the kind of goals that will make something of you to achieve. He said, "Now, once you become a millionaire, what's important is not the money." I thought, that's kind of strange teaching. He said, "Honestly, it isn't important." He said, "You could just give the money away." Now, I did better than that. I lost it all. The time I was 31, I was a millionaire. By the time I was 33, I was broke. But when I lost all my money, guess what I found out? Mr. Rohn was right. What was valuable was not the money. What was valuable was what I became to earn the money. The skills I had, the knowledge I had about the marketplace, the values that I had going for me. They were more valuable than the money. And here's an important statement to remember: it's not what you get that makes you valuable, it's what you become. So, part of the key here is to set the kind of goals that will make something of you. Don't set them too low so that you don't have to grow, and you don't have to read, and you don't have to try, and you don't have to stretch. Don't set them too low. And then don't sell out. Don't go for something that's going to cost you your virtue or cost your value or sell out your principles. There's a good middle road here to follow. Goals that will inspire, goals that will help you grow, change, develop, and become better than you are.
The power of extraordinary performance and demanding of yourself excellent results. This is so important. If you want to live extraordinary, you must do extraordinary. If you want an extraordinary income, you must do extraordinary things. If you want an extraordinary fortune, you must go with the demands of what it takes to have that fortune. If we would ask of ourselves that kind of performance, and you've got to ask it of yourself. You know, I can't ask it of you. I would try to inspire you. I would try my best to share with you what it might taste like, what it's like to finally make your fortune. It happened for me. But here's what you must do: you must demand it of yourself. Society does not demand that you not have a heart attack. But if you want to escape having a heart attack, you must demand it of yourself. Society doesn't demand that you prove your health. You have to demand it of yourself. Society doesn't demand that you jog around the block every morning. But if you want good health, you must demand it of yourself. Society doesn't demand that you read a couple of books a week and improve your intelligence and your knowledge. That you must demand of yourself. Society does not demand that you build a financial wall around your family, nothing can get through. That's not a demand of society. But you must demand it if you wish it. You must demand it of yourself. Society doesn't demand that you learn a list of 10 skills in order to ensure your own future and the future of your family. Society doesn't demand it. It is not required. It is not a law. But if you want the benefit, you must demand it.
Hug yourself. If there's some things you've been postponing, some decisions you have just, you know, haven't gotten to. I would ask you to just, you know, take out your journal and just go through, you know, what have I been postponing? It's not gonna be better for my health. It's not gonna be better for my future. It's not gonna enhance my finances. Uh, maybe a problem needs to be solved. I got to decide when I'm gonna do it and how I'm gonna proceed. I need to get to it. I promise you, if you'll go through some of that list and start making those decisions, your inspiration will start to flow. And those could be very critically important, exciting days. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. Indecision means the door is still closed. Indecision means the opportunity waits. Uh, indecision means what could be is postponed or may never be. You know, those are all the penalties of indecision. And sometimes we can't make a snap judgment. We can't decide immediately on something so important. But after a while, after a while, we must understand sometimes they have a penalty of putting off our, our decision-making.
So, one source of inspiration. Deciding where does self-confidence come from? And this is the best advice I can give you on that: not neglecting, first of all, the small daily disciplines. Self-confidence really comes from feeling good about yourself. And one of the best ways to feel good about yourself is at the end of the day to know that you poured it on. You did your best. If you conducted the meeting, you did the best you could. If you made a phone call, it was the best phone call you could possibly make. If you wrote a letter, it wasn't a casual letter, it was your best letter. At the end of those kind of days when you feel good about yourself, self-confidence starts to rise. You know that if you can have this kind of a good day, you can have another one the next day. And those days become the weeks, the weeks become the months, and the month becomes a powerful year. Self-confidence comes from the lack of neglect. If you will not neglect to do the small daily disciplines, that's where self-confidence comes from. Part of good health is self-confidence. I know I'm going to be healthy. I eat the apple a day. I walk around the block. I do the jogging on the beach. At the end of the day, when you've really poured it on and you've done all the stuff, self-confidence grows. That self-confidence affects your health. It affects your future. It affects your psyche. So, this is true. One of the great powers is self-confidence. Self-confidence means willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve. Some people say, "Well, I'll do it for a little while and see what happens. You know, I'll try a couple of things. If that doesn't work, I'm out of here." And all of us know that that kind of person doesn't have much of a future. But if you're willing to do whatever it takes. If I have to learn a couple of things, I will learn those things. If I got to learn five or six things, I'll learn all six. If I have to take an extra class, I'll take an extra class. If I've got to read the books, I'll read the books. If I have to consult with people who know more than I know, I will do the necessary consulting. Whatever it takes, I will do that. That starts to develop unbelievable self-confidence. Self-confidence also comes from the ability to rise above your circumstances, to rise above what happens, the petty little things, the discouraging things that would sink everyone else's ship except yours. It would cause someone else to quit early in the day, but you keep going. That kind of willingness to overcome all circumstances, whether it's the little challenges or the big challenges, if you're willing to do that, I promise you, this kind of power will work for you and in you. The variable, it'll make a difference. Somebody once said, "If you took all the money in the world, divided it up equally among everybody, it would soon all be back in the same pockets." Incredible success is something you attract, not something you pursue. Success is looking for a good place to stay. So instead of going after it, you work on yourself. Personal development. See, the major question to ask on the job is not what are you getting. The major question to ask on the job is what are you becoming? The big question is not, "What am I getting paid here?" The big question is, "What am I becoming here?" Because true happiness is not contained in what you get. Happiness is contained in what you become.
Of all the assignments Mr. Rohn gave me at age 25, this was probably the most difficult. In fact, I'm still working on this one. I think it's an unending challenge to see what you can become. The major key to your better future is you. For a big share of my life now, I didn't have this one quite figured out. Among a lot of things, I didn't have quite figured out. Many things used to puzzle me back in those early days. I used to wonder why two people could work for the same company, one make twice as much money. Now, see, that used to puzzle me. And maybe they were the same age, graduated from the same school, live in the same community, work for the same company with the same products and the same services. They've got the same traffic, the same problems. And one makes a thousand a month, the other one makes two thousand a month. Now, that was my puzzling question. Why would this long list be the same and the money twice as much? I asked, "What's the difference between a thousand a month and two thousand a month?" And I don't mean a thousand a month, right? I could figure that out. But what, what makes the difference? Why would one person do twice as well, three times as well, speaking economically? Now, I know there's more than one way to do well. I understand that. But in this little narrow area called compensation, what's the difference? Well, back then, with my faulty thinking, I'm trying to reason it out. I thought, well, maybe time makes some of the difference, right? Some people do better because they have more time. I used to say, "Harold ought to be able 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? Number one, you can't get somebody else's time. A guy says to me one time, he says, "You know, if I had some extra time, I could make some extra money." I said, "Then forget it. There isn't any extra time." Hey, when the clock strikes 12 midnight, that about wraps it up, right? I mean, you can look around the gongs here for a little more, but it's over. You say to the guy, "What are you doing looking for extra time?" See, they'll come and take you away, right? There isn't any more time. Now, if you can't get more time, which you can't, what could you get more of that would make a difference in economic results? And here's the key word. Make it a part of your notes. The word is value. Value makes the difference in results. Value makes the difference. You can't get more time, but you can create more value.
Now, here's the first lesson of economics. Everybody should learn it from the time they're old enough to understand what a dollar means, how to earn one, how to get one, how to keep one, what to do with it. First lesson of economics: we primarily get paid for value. That's lesson one. Bringing value to the marketplace. That's how you get paid. You don't get paid for the time. I know it takes time to bring value to the marketplace, but you get paid for the value, not the time. Now, since that's true, here's one of the key questions of the evening: Is it possible to become twice as valuable in the marketplace and make twice as much money in the same time? Could you become three times as valuable, make three times as much money in the same time? Is that possible? The answer is yes, 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're going to consider it tonight: It's possible to do much better in the marketplace if you go to work primarily on yourself. Learning to work primarily on yourself. People have asked me for the last 24 years, "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, they don't even work on their handshake. As easy as that would be to start on, they let it slide. They don't understand. Develop an above-average smile. Develop an above-average excitement. Develop an above-average interest in other people. Develop an above-average intensity to win. See, that'll 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.
And Mr. Rohn gave me probably the greatest clue he gave me when I first met him. He said, "Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy the rest of your life, just learn this lesson well." He said, "Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job." Then Mr. Rohn gave me probably one of the most important clues among so many things he taught me. But this was in those early days. Mr. Rohn is very kind, but he was also very abrupt, and he had these interesting questions to ask. I'm giving him a little rundown one day on how things hadn't worked out for me. He said, "Mr. Owen, I've got the answer for you. If you will listen carefully." And listen carefully I did. That day and for the next five years. If somebody's wealthy and happy, you've gotta listen. He said, "Jim, I've only known you a short time, but he said, "It's already my honest opinion that for things to change for you, you've got to change." That wasn't quite the answer I was looking for, but that's the answer he gave me. And I pass it along to you: for things to change for you, you've got to change. Otherwise, it isn't going to change. Before I met Mr. Rohn, I used to say, "I sure hope things will change." Right? That seemed to be my only hope. If it isn't going to change, I'm in serious trouble. And then I discovered it isn't going to change, so I'm in serious trouble.
See, I can tell you what the 80s are going to be like. You have dropped into the right place. I did a seminar one time for Standard Oil executives and management in Honolulu. And, uh, we're having a conference one day on this big conference table. And one of them said to me, "Mr. Rohn, you know some fairly important people halfway around the world. What do you think the 80s are going to be like?" I said, "Gentlemen, I do know the right people. I can tell you." So they all listened very carefully. And I said, "Gentlemen, based on my wide experience, I can really honestly say to you, in my opinion, in the 80s, it's gonna be about like it's always been. Aren't you glad you came?" That's inside. I don't pass that around just everywhere. Now, of course, 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. It isn't going to change. The tide comes in, and then what? It goes out. For six and a half thousand years that we know of, recorded history, and probably long before that. So it is not going to change. It gets light, and then what? It turns dark. Six and a half thousand years. See, it's not likely to change. And we're not to be startled by that. And if the sun goes down, the guy says, "What's happened? What's happened?" It means he hasn't been here long, I guess, right? It always goes down about this time. The guy says, "Well, I don't like that arrangement." Well, you got to talk to somebody besides me, right? It gets light, then it turns dark in rotation. The next season after fall is what? Winter. Pray tell, how often does winter follow fall? Every year, regularly, for the last six and a half thousand that we know of. See, it is not gonna change. Now, some winters are long, and some are short, and some are hard, and some are easy, but they always come right after fall. It isn't 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, if it isn't going to change, how will my life ever change?" Answer: When you change. And whether I'm talking to high school kids or business executives, my message is always the same, and it goes like this: The only way it gets better for you is when you get better.
Life seemingly does not wish to waste success on the unprepared. Life says, "Why waste a fortune on this person? They're not prepared to do the right things with it. They're not prepared to use it wisely." If a fortune was bestowed upon this unprepared person, it would probably be wasted. The people that could have been touched won't be touched. What could have been done won't be done because this fortune will have been wasted on the unprepared person. So, not only look for fortune, not only look for the promise, but prepare yourself. And ask of yourself, "What can I do to make myself ready?" Because remember, life was designed not to give us what we want, not to give us what we need, but life was designed to give us what we deserve. Every value in life must be paid for, and those that pay are the ones that get it. It says, "Those that give receive." Someone says, "I wish to receive. I wish to receive." You don't have to concentrate on receiving. Just become a good giver. It says, "Those that search will find." Someone says, "Well, I need to find some good ideas to help change my life for the future." Then, to find good ideas, that doesn't come because you need them. It's because it comes because you search for them. If you want good ideas, you got to go after them. You got to go to the class. You got to go to the workshop. You got to go to the training. Go to the book, right? You've got to go to the journal, right? Go where good ideas are being taught. Go search and go looking because good ideas are not going to be wasted on those that are not seeking, searching, well-prepared. So, prepare yourself to be ready for fortune when it comes. To be ready for challenge when it comes. To be ready for opportunity when it comes. Opportunity comes along and passes by the person that is not well-prepared. I want to prepare myself this year for next year. Yes, I wish to be effective this year, but I'm also thinking of ways, "How could I be better? How could my ideas be more powerful? How could they be sharper, more clear? How could I reach some people next year that I perhaps can't reach this year? I haven't reached deep enough into my own soul to affect some people." Some people just pass by and say, "Hey, what a good speech." But how could I make it stronger than that? Deeper than that? More powerful than that? I cannot be as powerful as I could be next year. You know, you can't go to the 10th grade in the fifth grade. You just got to go through the grades. But the more you are prepared when the tenth grade finally comes, now you can cash in and get two times, three times, five times more value from it by being prepared.
Now, here's the next one. There's great power in self-reliance. Self-reliance means you simply look mostly to yourself. It would be nice if someone just gave you this, gave you this, gave you this. It would be nice if everyone did their job exactly as they're supposed to do it. But here's what you've got to do: primarily rely on yourself. Primarily say, "I'm the person responsible, and I will learn the necessary skills so that I can help people learn their skills." If I need lots of people to do certain things to build my organization, that is what I must have. But I've got to be the final backstop. I've got to be the final one that people can rely on so that if this is missed and this is missed, I can catch up. I can fill the gap. I can do the job. We have to do it. When we conduct meetings, we have to do it. When we conduct training, we have to do it. When we're in a class of just a few, what someone might have missed, we're there to fill in. Self-reliance, primarily, we're learning to count on yourself so that you can do this. Never complain and never explain.
Here's the next key power, and that's image. There's many parts to image. The image that others see you as, the image you have with other people, and that's very important. How other people see you. If they don't see you as a leader, chances are they won't pay attention. If they don't see you as being in control, chances are they won't have the trust. If they don't see you as knowing where you're going, what you want to accomplish, they probably won't follow. But if people can see you, if you have the image of someone that's in charge, in control, in control of your life, your future, your destiny, in control of the situation. If they see that, that kind of image is powerful. It helps to win the day. It attracts other people. People want to be around people that are in control, that are powerful, but they know how to use their power, influential, but they know how to use their influence. That kind of image is important. But here's a very important image, and that is your image of yourself. The way you dress, the way you talk, the way you think, your capacity for learning. All of that is an important image that you have of yourself. The image that you have that if it needs to be learned, you could learn it. If there's a book that needs to be mastered, you could master it. If there's a skill that needs to be learned, why couldn't you get busy now and learn that skill? That kind of self-image, that I am continually trying my best to be the best I can. Because one of the most important places you have to look is into the future. Yes, you got to look into the past. Yes, you've got to look around. Yes, but one of the most important places you have to look is in the mirror. You know how I appear to other people? That's important. But how I appear to myself is the ultimate importance. That kind of image, to where you'll develop the self-confidence, you'll develop the self-reliance.
Now, here's another one. It's called character. Becoming a person of high values, a person of principles, a person of honesty, a person that earns respect. That kind of character. So, this is important to develop the character within yourself that people see you as honest, as fair, willing to do the right thing, willing to be helpful, but always willing to walk the center line, not to pass the line.
Now, here's another one. It's called self-discipline. Self-discipline. All of us have a challenge with that because sometimes it's easy, and especially if you're working hard, doing the best you can, it's easy sometimes to let up and let it go.
Philosophy, as I taught the last time I was here. Philosophy, in my personal opinion, is the major determining factor in how your life works out. Philosophy, the major determining factor in how your life works out. Philosophy, to form our philosophy, you got to think. Got to use your mind. Got to process ideas. This whole process over a lifetime, starting way back here when we were children, schools that we've attended, our parents, our experiences, all this stuff that we processed by the thinking process helps to develop our philosophy. And in my opinion, each person's personal philosophy is the major factor in how your life works out. Here's what's exciting about each person's personal philosophy: that's what makes us different than dogs and animals, birds and cats and spiders and alligators. That's what makes us different than all of the life forms: the ability to think, the ability to use your mind, the ability to process ideas and not just operate by instinct. In the winter, I'm telling you, the goose can only fly south. What if south doesn't look too good? Tough luck. It can only fly south. But see, human beings are not like a goose. Can only fly south. I mean, you can turn around, go north, you can go east, you can go west. You can order the entire process of your own life. And we do that by the way we think. We do that by exercising our mind. We do that by processing ideas and come up with a better philosophy, a better strategy for our life goals for the future. Okay, plans to achieve those goals. All this comes from developing our philosophy. Philosophy helps us to process what's available. Well, when we get here, we got seed and we got soil and we got some rain and we've got some good sunshine and we've got some seasons and we've got the miracle of life. Now, the key is, what do you do with all this stuff? How do you turn all this stuff that's available here into equity and promise and lifestyle and dreams and future possibilities? All of this that's possible now with human beings. How do you take all this stuff and turn it into these equities and values? Well, it starts with philosophy. What is the seed? What is the soil? What is the sunshine? What is the rain? Is it possible to take some of each of all the stuff that's available and turn it into food and turn it into value and turn it into nourishment, turn it into something spectacular and unique that no other life form can do? And the answer is yes. But you cannot deal with all this stuff and what to do with it unless you start refining your philosophy. Think. Use your mind. Come up with ideas and strengthen your philosophy. So, the seed and the soil and the rain and the sunshine, this is called, you know, the economy and the banks and the money and the schools and, uh, everything that's available out there. Processing information. What to do with all that and turn it into equity and value? That is the major challenge of life, my personal opinion. So, each person's personal philosophy now is going to determine what you're going to do with seed and soil and sunshine and rain.
Miracle. The change of season. Activity. This is the work part. The labor part. Taking action. The activity is the miracle-working piece. Miracle being something we don't quite understand how it works. Doesn't mean it doesn't work. Means we just don't quite understand how it works. Miracles work. Turning wisdom from your philosophy and inspiration, strengthening of attitude, faith, courage, commitment. All this stuff that comes from attitude. If you're willing to take these two qualities, philosophy and attitude, and invest it into activity, you can have a miracle. Anything short of that, no miracle. Wisdom doesn't perform a miracle. Attitude doesn't perform a miracle. The only thing that performs a miracle of increase called equity is called putting wisdom and attitude into discipline, into labor. This labor now can perform a miracle. And here's the two parts to the labor: One, do what you can. Number two, do the best you can. Can't give you better advice than that. Number one, do what you can. You just gotta go home and make a list after today. And here's the question to ask as you make this personal list: What am I not doing that would be easy to do that could greatly change my health, my wealth? What am I not doing? I'm neglecting that would be easy to do? Let's go home and answer that question personally. You don't have to put the answers on a public bulletin board. This is just all personal stuff. Errors in judgment, disaster, few simple disciplines, wealth beyond imagination. And if you'll pick up the activity part, the miracle-working part, plant the seed part, take care of your part, the soil will take care of its part, the seed will take care of its part, seasons will take care of their part, the miracle will take care of its part. If you'll take care of your part, call putting it into activity, action works miracles. Results. Every once in a while, you got to take a measure. See how you're doing with these three pieces: philosophy, attitude, activity. Now, we take a measure called results. What is the results at the end of the day? The results at the end of the week? You can't let too much time go by without checking. Time goes by. Six years I've been out there working. When I met my teacher, Mr. Rohn, said, "Well, Mr. Owen, let's just go through a little summary here. Said, in the last six years, how much money have you saved in investment? Let's go through a little tab list here. How much money have you saved and invested the last six years?" I said, "What? Zero." He said, "You have messed up." He said, "How many books have you read in the last 90 days?" I said, "What? Zero." Wisdom of the world available. Change your life, change your future. Wisdom of the world available. Develop, develop any skill you want. Earn the kind of income you want. Have all the treasures you want, equities you want, relationships with your family that you want. Everything that you want available. And the wisdom of the world to help you get it. Haven't read any books in the last 90 days." My teacher said, "Mr. Rohn, you have messed up." I'm telling you, you've got the deal. Rohn said, "Mr. Owen, in the last six months, how many classes have you taken to improve your skills or to develop new skills? How many classes have you taken in the last six months?" I said, "Hell, zero." He said, "You have messed up." You don't need to un-mess the country. You don't need to straighten out the perplexed. You don't need to straighten out any of this stuff. All you've got to do is look within and let results teach you a great deal about your own activity, your own attitude, and your own philosophy. I went through that process. Take this phrase home: Results is the name of the game. What other game is there? I'm telling you, if you'll start with that, it's called the process of life change. And it doesn't matter how small the process is to start. One discipline starts it, and then one discipline feeds another, feeds another. And the first thing you know, you've got this whole cycle in an upward, positive motion. And it's called life change. It's called income change. It's called health change. Relationship with your family change. Equity is unprecedented that you can have in numbers that will stagger the imagination. If you do not curse what's available and start amending what's possible to get the results that you want. I don't think I can put it in any better way. He said, "It's not what happens that determines the major part of your future. It's not what happens. What happens happens to us all." He said, "The key is what you do about it. It's not what happens, it's what you do about it." And he said, "If you will start that process of change, do something different the next 90 days than you did the last 90 days. Like picking up the books to read. Do something different. Like the new health disciplines. Relationship with your family. Whatever it is. It doesn't matter how small it is. If you'll start doing different things with the same circumstances, since we cannot change the circumstances, but we can change ourselves, we can change what we do." Then he gave me another secret to success when he said, "What you have at the moment, Mr. Owen, you've attracted by the person you've become. What you have at the moment, you've attracted by the person you've become." Few little simple principles here. Once you understand these, it starts to explain so much. Now, sometimes it's a little tough to take blaming yourself instead of the marketplace, taking responsibility instead of putting it off on someone else. Those that transition sometimes is a challenging mission, and this one was a little tough for me. He said, "Mr. Owen, you've got pennies in your pocket. You've got nothing in the bag. The creditors are calling. You're behind on your promises." He says, "Here's how that occurs: You've attracted up until now, you've attracted the things to you because of the person you've become." Now, I said, "Well, how can I change all that?" He said, "Very simple. If you will change, everything will change for you. You don't have to change what's outside. All you've got to change is what's inside." To have more, you simply have to become more. And then he said, "Don't wish it was easier. Wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems. Wish for more skills. Start working on yourself, making these personal changes, and it'll all change for you."
Develop these five abilities as part of your personal development quest. I call them the five abilities. Here's the first one: Develop the ability to absorb. The ability to soak it up like you're doing today. Be like a sponge. Don't miss anything. And not just the words, it's true. Don't miss the words, but don't miss the atmosphere. Don't miss the color. Don't miss the scenario. Don't miss what's going on. Most people are just trying to get through the day. Here's what I want you to be committed to do: learn to get from the day. Don't just get through it. Get from it. Learn from it. Let the day teach you. Join the university of life. Second, learn to respond. The ability to respond means let life touch you. Don't let it kill you, but let it touch you. Let sad things make you sad. Let happy things make you happy. I'm telling you, give in to the emotion. Let the emotion strike you, not just the words, not just the image. Let the feeling strike you. Let the emotion strike you. Here's what's important: our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. Our emotions need to be educated as well as our intellect. It's important to know how to feel. It's important to know how to respond. It's important to let life in. Let it touch you. We've covered the first two abilities in the personal development quest. One is the ability to absorb. Don't miss anything. Pay attention. Good word for the 90s: pay attention. Things are moving so fast these days. You got to pay attention. Pick it up. Soak up the colors. Soak up the sounds. Soak up what's going on. Second, respond. Let life touch you. Let the emotions affect you as well as the sights. Now, here's the third ability: Develop the ability to reflect. Reflect means go back over. Study it again. Go back over these notes that you're taking today. Go back through the cassettes one more time. Read the text one more time. But there's more to it now. Go back over your day. Take a few hours at the end of the week. Call time to reflect. Go back over your day. Time to go back over your calendar. Go back over your appointment book. Where did you go? And who did you see? And how did it feel? And what went on? Capture that week. A week is a pretty good chunk of time. Next, take half a day at the end of the month. Call time to reflect. And do the same thing again. Go back over what you read. Go back over what you heard. Go back over what you saw. Go back over the feelings to capture it so that it serves you. Next, take a weekend at the end of the year to establish this year now firmly in your consciousness, firmly in your experience bank, so that you've got it, so that it never disappears. Good ability to acquire. The ability to reflect. Go back over. Remember. Remember. Remember. It's so valuable to be able to remember the thought, remember the idea, remember the experience, remember the occasion, remember the day, remember the weather, remember the emotion, remember the complexity, remember the highs, remember the lows. So valuable. At the end of the day, lock that day in. Lock the month in. Lock the week in. Lock the year in. Old Testament says a unique scenario unfolded according to the law, and that was they worked nine years, and the tenth year was a sabbatical. The tenth year, work nine, take the tenth year. And not just to relax, not just to replenish, not maybe just to get physically in shape, change of pace, we call it in the modern society. But not just for that. I'm sure that in ancient days, that sabbatical was to go over the last nine years. What went right and what went wrong? And what worked well and what didn't work well? And how did you grow? And how did you learn? And how did you change? And what have you got now after nine years that you didn't have at the beginning of the nine years? See, that's so valuable. A sabbatical. A sabbatical. Some time. Some time. There's also something to be said for solitude when you reflect. Sometimes you can reflect with somebody. Husband and wife reflect on the past year, right? Parents reflect with their children on the past year. How did we do? And how didn't we do? And how could we improve? Colleagues can reflect with each other. But now, here's one of the most important: you got to learn to reflect with yourself. There's something to be said for solitude. There's something to be said for taking those occasions to shut out the world and shut out everything else for a while. For a while. Now, here's why it's important to reflect: to make the past more valuable to serve you for the future. Here's what's really powerful: learning to gather up the past and invest it in the future. Gather up today and invest it in tomorrow. Gather up this week and invest it in the next week. Gather up this year and invest it in the next year. See, that's so powerful. Rather than just hanging on one more year, hanging in there, seeing what's going to happen. Learn. Study. This is part of the personal development quest. Becoming better than you are. More valuable than you are. Not just in terms of economics, in terms of motherhood, in terms of fatherhood, in terms of being a better brother, better colleague, making a better contribution to the family, to society, to the community, to the church, to the office, to the commitment, to the partnership. It doesn't matter what it is that has value. Work on yourself. Then you bring more value to the partnership, to the marriage, to the franchise, to the corporation, to the enterprise, to the community, to the nation. Self-development, personal development. The best contribution you can make to someone else is self-development, not self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice only earns contempt. Self-development earns respect.
Here's number four: Develop the ability to act. Take action. Not hasty if it isn't required, but don't lose much time. Here's the time to act: when the idea is hot and the emotion is strong. That's the time to act. You say, "Mr. Rohn, I'd like to have a library like yours." See, if you feel strong about that, what you got to do is get the first book, and then get the second book, before the feeling passes and before the idea gets dim. Action pronto. Action immediate action as soon as possible. Because if you don't, here's what happens: we call it the law of diminishing intent. We intend to when the idea strikes us. We intend to when the emotion is high. But now, if you don't translate that into action fairly soon, now the intent starts to diminish, diminish, diminish. And a month from now, it's cold. Year from now, can't be found. So, act. Set up a discipline. When the emotions are high and the idea is strong and clear and powerful, that's the time to set up the discipline. Somebody talks about good health and you're stirred. It says, "Right, I need to get a book on nutrition." Get the book before the idea passes and before the emotion gets cold. Go for the book. Start the library. Start the process. Fall on the floor, do some push-ups. Action. Got to take action. Otherwise, the wisdom is wasted. Otherwise, the emotion soon passes unless you put it into a disciplined activity. Capture it. Disciplines is called how to capture the emotion and how to capture the wisdom and translate it into equity. Disciplines now. Here's the last ability: Develop the ability to share. Pass along to someone else if you've picked up a good idea.
Today, pass it along. Don't let it stay. Pass it along.
A book, if you take one of these little books I've suggested at home and it affects you, pass along. Say, "Hey, I found a book, really helped me. I found a book, got me thinking. I found a book, changed my health. I found a book, got me inspired." Pass it along. Pass it along. Pass it along.
Here's what's exciting about sharing. If you share with 10 different people, they get to hear it. Once you get to hear it 10 times. So, it's probably going to do more for you than it is for them. But it's called what? Everybody wins when somebody shares. Everybody wins. Share your ideas. Share your experiences. Share your knowledge. You can have just as much pleasure as I do. I said giving this seminar. This is one of my joys in life. Give a seminar like this. Make the best investment I can of words and spirit and heart and soul and time and energy. I don't have to work this hard, but I gladly work this hard. Why? I want the return. Your words touch my life. See, that's heavyweight stuff. You can't buy it with money. But I'm telling you, you can get the same thing started by recommending a book. Somebody will read that book, and then they'll read another one, and they'll read another one. And they'll come to you someday and say, "You got me started. That book you recommended turned my lights on, turned my mind around, got me thinking, got me pondering, and I've been on track ever since." You can get just as much praise as I do if you'll share. Share with your children. Share with your colleagues. Share with everybody that comes within your grasp. Share.
Now, here's what sharing does. Not only helps you, helps the person you share with. Here's what else it does. Makes you bigger than you are. If I had a glass of water up here and it was full, question: Can that glass hold any more water if it's full? If the glass is full, can it hold any more water? The answer is yes. But for it to hold more, you got to pour out what's already in. That's what I'm asking you to do. If you're full of ideas, if you're full of good things, I'm asking you to pour it out. Pour it out. Pour it out. Why? I'm telling you, more will be poured in. Poured in. Poured in.
Next, when you do pour out, you become bigger. It's not like a glass that stays the same. Human beings have the ability to grow in consciousness and awareness and capacity. It's unlimited capacity. I found out kids don't lack capacity. In Europe, the kids speak what? Two, three, four, five, six languages. When I grew up, my father spoke German, never taught me. My mother spoke French, never taught me. They were trying to get away from all the old-world languages back then. Had no concept how valuable languages were going to be in the future. Just didn't know. So they abandoned the German, abandoned the French. I could have learned all three languages instead of just English. My girls went to high school, went to school in Beverly Hills. They've turned that around. In first grade now, in Beverly Hills school system, they offer three languages besides English: French, German, Spanish. Why? Because kids can learn two languages just as easy as one. Question: How many languages can a child learn? Here's how many: As many as you'll take the time to teach them. They do not lack capacity. They only lack teachers. And I'm telling you, the same thing is with you. You don't lack capacity. But here's how you expand your capacity, and that is to share what you've got. Now you get bigger. Share some more. Now you get bigger.
I'm here for a very self-interested reason. If I share with you, my consciousness grows. If I share with you, I get to hear this again. Somebody asked me not long ago, said, "Mr. On, how are you doing with all this stuff you get on everybody's case pretty hard? How are you doing with all this stuff you teach?" I said, "Well, best I can share with you is this. Listen to me very carefully, but don't watch me too close. This stuff's easier to lecture on than it is to do. I understand that. I'm working on it, just like you. But hey, pour out what you've got so that your capacity grows."
Now, why should you want your capacity to grow? Very self-interested reason. Here it is: to hold more of the next experience. Ambition is not greed. Ambition is an eager desire to achieve. An eager desire to get ahead in life, to do more for your family, to prosper in health, wealth, and relationships. Now, desire does not always translate into ambition. Desire is what you want for yourself: a bigger house, a better car, a fatter bank account, a better life. I desire to have these things. Ambition is how you get there. Desire is sometimes healthy. Desire is sometimes unhealthy. Desire might say, "I want the tallest building in town." The destructive side of desire might urge you to tear all of the other buildings down. I guess that's one way to do it. You might get away with tearing down the first one and maybe the second one. But in your desire to tear them all down, sooner or later, some guy is going to be standing out in front of his building saying, "I'm on to you. Get out of here." And pretty soon, you're no longer known as a builder, you're known as a destroyer.
Now, the second way to have the tallest building in town is to see it, dream it, and plan it, and put your team on it, work on it, go through all of the steps to get there. Do it right. Have the ambition to be the owner of the tallest building in town and go through all of the right steps to get there. If you really want it and have the skills to do it and the patience to weather all of the storms, your ambition will lead you there. Having the ambition to do what it takes to get you where you want to go is good. Ambition is creative and constructive. Ambition is an expression. It's something inside of you you want to express in a positive way. I'm sure you have dreams of accomplishing great things. Are you ambitious enough to realize these dreams? Are your dreams strong enough to pull you toward your future? Are they vivid enough to see the end result? Now, are they worthy of doing until you get there?
What are your reasons for creating these dreams? Reasons vary from person to person. I bet if you did a little soul searching, you could come up with a fairly strong list. The list of reasons why. Why is it so important to achieve these dreams? What are you trying to express? These reasons for accomplishing great things are different for everybody. There are personal reasons, sometimes uniquely personal reasons. Some people do well for the recognition. Some people do well because of the way it makes them feel. They love the feeling of being a winner, and that is one of the best reasons. Once in a while, I hear someone say, "If I had a million dollars, I'd never work another day in my life." Hey, that's probably why the good Lord sees to it that he doesn't get his million, because he would just quit.
Family is another reason, a motivator for doing well. Some people do extremely well because of other people, and that's a powerful reason. Sometimes we will do something for someone else that we would not do for ourselves. I know a lady who was getting back on track from financial disaster. Even though she didn't have much of anything left, her primary motivator was to keep her daughter in private school, an expensive one, one of the best in the country. Although her goal was to financially surpass where she was before her economic fall, her main reason to work all of those extra hours was to give her little girl the best possible education. As you can well imagine, wanting to do something for someone else led her to all sorts of other accomplishments as well. How fortunate are the people who find themselves greatly affected by someone else. It's powerful. What has you getting up early, hitting it hard all day, and staying up late? What has you inspired? What are your reasons for doing well? What's at the core of your quest? What is the power behind your ambition?
Self-interest. Self-preservation. As human beings, we can't help but be interested in our own self-preservation. We can't help but be self-interested. It's one of the strongest urges we have. Interested in our preservation, interested in our development, interested in our success. There's certainly nothing wrong with self-interest. But here's the clue: Self-interest must be enlightened as to what truly serves us best. When I found out that self-interest was okay, that was a big relief to me. Now, we're not talking about selfish, we're talking about self-interest. Self-interest needs to be educated, enlightened. Self-interest is willing to be benefited by service to others, not at the expense of others. Self-interest at the expense of others starts to be greed, evil. Hoping you go up as someone goes down. Hoping to attain while someone else loses. "I win, you lose." We call that the beginnings of evil, the dark side of our nature. Wishing to benefit at the expense of others. Enlightened self-interest wishes to benefit at the service of others.
A friend of mine tells this little story about a person she hears from about every three months or so. This guy calls to solicit money for food baskets for homeless families. She's happy to give her money to them. She was unfortunately homeless for a short period of time, and she knows the position these people are in. This group is legit, she checked them out. But after the second or third time this guy called, same guy, after the second or third time he called, she started talking to him about other stuff. Turns out this guy is broke, living in a hotel, looking for any construction job he can find, any job at all. But what's unique about this guy is that he donates two or three hours a night, every night, to call people and get money to feed the homeless. Every night from his hotel room. Now, most people would say this guy should use those hours every night to work a second job or a third job. But while he's way down on the ladder of success, he feels it's important to help those less fortunate than he is. He has a roof over his head. He makes enough to feed himself. And my friend says that every time she talks to this guy, every two or three months, he's doing better. He's digging himself out of debt. He's starting to save money. He thinks he'll be able to move into an apartment in another month or two.
Now, recently, an interesting thing happened. My friend was talking with an associate of hers. She's single, lives in a big house, needs to find a handyman to help her out on a regular basis, someone who can build an addition onto her house. So my friend told her about this guy. The only reason this guy ended up being hired was that my friend's associate was touched by his dedication to service while he himself was down and out. Service. Success at the service of others. Now, this guy isn't rich by any stretch, but through my friend's network, he now has constant work doing things around several people's houses. And now he's in a place of his own. And guess what he does every night? He's still making phone calls to get money to feed the homeless. What great character this man has. Enlightened self-interest leads to wealth. Self-preservation leads to poverty. Somebody says, "Well, I can't be concerned about other people. I have to pay attention to myself." Well, then you'll always have to. Somebody says, "I can't be concerned about other people's bills. I've got enough worries trying to pay my own." Well, then you'll have to worry about them for the rest of your life. The best way to get that monkey off your back is to turn your attention around. Once I understood some of this stuff, I'm telling you, it revolutionized my whole life.
Now, self-interest is okay, yes. But here's what self-interest must be if you truly want to be happy. It must be enlightened. It says, "Don't keep your attention on yourself if you want your life to work out well. Turn your attention to others in your own self-interest. Be enlightened. Truly act in your own self-interest by making an investment in service to others."
Next, if you wish to receive. Now, there's nothing wrong with wishing to receive. It's part of self-interest. But here's the enlightened part: If you wish to receive, you must give.