One of the first things successful people realize is the old adage, “if it is to be, it is up to me.” That is, for you, the fact that your success and your course is up to you. This doesn’t mean that you do it all alone. It simply means that you take responsibility for your life and your career.
Too many people today look at opportunity and figure it is up to someone else to make sure they get it. They look at financial security and hope that the government will make sure they live safely in retirement or in case of disability. They wait and wait, figuring that it is up to someone else. And then the wait is over, and it is too late to do anything. Their life is over and they are filled with regret.
This isn’t true for you however. You know that you must take responsibility for your life. It is up to you. The fact is that nobody else is going to do it for you, you must do it yourself.
Now, some people may say, “Jim, that’s a lot of responsibility.” Friends, that is the best news you can ever hear. You get to choose your life. Hundreds of millions of people all around this world would give anything to live in the situation you dojust for the chance to have the opportunity to take control of their destiny. “It is up to you” is a great blessing!
Here’s why:
1. You get to chart your own destiny. Maybe you want to start a small business and stay there. That’s great because you can choose that. Maybe you want to create a small chain of stores. Maybe you want to have a net worth of $100 million. That’sokay too. The idea is that you get to choose. You can do whatever you like. Different people have different dreams and they should live them accordingly.
2. You can reap what you sow. Sleep in and go to work late and reap the return. Or get up early and outwork the others and earn a greater return. Place your capital at risk and earn a return or place it at greater risk and perhaps reap a greater return. You decide what you will sow and thus what you will reap.
3. No one else can stop you from getting your dream. Yes, there will always be things that come up and people who may not like what you are doing, but you can just move on and chart your own course. There is great freedom in that.
4. You experience the joy of self-determination. There is no greater pride than knowing you set your mind on something and accomplished it. Those who live with a victim mentality never get to experience the joy of accomplishment because they arealways waiting for someone else to come to the rescue. Those who take responsibility get to live the joy of seeing a job well done.
Let me ask you a question: Where will you be in 5 years? 10 years? Or 25 years? Do you know? DO you have an idea? Have you ever dreamed about it or set a goal for it? Are you willing to take responsibility and recognize that, “It is up to you?”
You will be wherever you decide to be in those timeframes. You decide. It is up to you.
And that is very exciting!
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Attitude is Everything!
The process of human change begins within us. We all have tremendous potential. We all desire good results from our efforts. Most of us are willing to work hard and to pay the price that success and happiness demand.
Each of us has the ability to put our unique human potential into action and to acquire a desired result. But the one thing that determines the level of our potential, that produces the intensity of our activity, and that predicts the quality of the result we receive is our attitude.
Attitude determines how much of the future we are allowed to see. It decides the size of our dreams and influences our determination when we are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us or providing us with negative sources of influence, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control.
No one else “makes us angry.” We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test. If we select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous or suspicious, then we have failed the test. If we condemn ourselves by believing that we are unworthy, then again, we have failed the test.
If we care at all about ourselves, then we must accept full responsibility for our own feelings. We must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead our attitude down the wrong path and to strengthen those feelings that can lead us confidently into a better future.
If we want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for us, then we must exercise the most important choice given to us as members of the human race by maintaining total dominion over our attitude. Our attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value, which must be protected accordingly. Beware of the vandals and thieves among us who would injure our positive attitude or seek to steal it away.
Having the right attitude is one of the basics that success requires. Thecombination of a sound personal philosophy and a positive attitude about ourselves and the world around us gives us an inner strength and a firm resolve that influences all the other areas of our existence.
To Your Success,Jim Rohn
Each of us has the ability to put our unique human potential into action and to acquire a desired result. But the one thing that determines the level of our potential, that produces the intensity of our activity, and that predicts the quality of the result we receive is our attitude.
Attitude determines how much of the future we are allowed to see. It decides the size of our dreams and influences our determination when we are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us or providing us with negative sources of influence, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control.
No one else “makes us angry.” We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test. If we select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous or suspicious, then we have failed the test. If we condemn ourselves by believing that we are unworthy, then again, we have failed the test.
If we care at all about ourselves, then we must accept full responsibility for our own feelings. We must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead our attitude down the wrong path and to strengthen those feelings that can lead us confidently into a better future.
If we want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for us, then we must exercise the most important choice given to us as members of the human race by maintaining total dominion over our attitude. Our attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value, which must be protected accordingly. Beware of the vandals and thieves among us who would injure our positive attitude or seek to steal it away.
Having the right attitude is one of the basics that success requires. Thecombination of a sound personal philosophy and a positive attitude about ourselves and the world around us gives us an inner strength and a firm resolve that influences all the other areas of our existence.
To Your Success,Jim Rohn
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Make A Life!
We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill
Little babies just born into this world are a perfect example of selfishness in the highest order but theirs is pardonable. At least they don’t have any sense yet enough to know that others are to be considered. All they ever know or want is to collect and collect until you no longer have any left and yet they will not want to hear of that. Theirs is, just provide.
Many of us are like babies or should I say worse off. My argument is that we have grown enough to know that others should be considered in what ever action we take. Yet all we ever do, have continued to do and will most likely continue to do is to take from this life without ever considering giving something back. There is actually a greater fulfillment in giving than in taking. This many have never realized. If you haven’t too, try do something for someone who will never ever be able to repay you. Give yourself to a worthy cause and see how accomplished you will feel.
Consider the electricity that we now enjoy, communication of all kinds, transportation systems, advances in medicine etc. They were not introduced by angels but by men and women like you and me. Nothing was seriously extraordinary about them except the fact that they had a burning desire to give humanity something to cheer.
You can however never give to life if you don’t discover what your purpose is. It must be something definite which will cause you to focus. Concentration on a single task brings about easy fulfillment and a great sense of accomplishment.
Once you have discovered that purpose, dig for every information about how you to go about it. Do not leave anything to chance. Dig for it like you would for gold. Be very diligent in this as failure to do this might just be your Achilles’ heel.
Plan your execution now that you have knowledge on the purpose. Take time out to utilize every little bit of information to your advantage. You must get yourself organized for proper execution of the plan of actions.
Do not expect everything to go so smoothly despite the planning because most time you just might have over- looked on tiny detail and of course you have to be open to accept failure and learn from them. The Thomas Edison story is a great challenge.
On the whole, I believe everyone has a quota to contribute to life and failure to do so means that you have sent your contribution to the grave where it will be of no benefit to anybody. Have it at the back of your mind that you don’t want to die ashamed of yourself. Posterity should speak well of you.
Winston Churchill
Little babies just born into this world are a perfect example of selfishness in the highest order but theirs is pardonable. At least they don’t have any sense yet enough to know that others are to be considered. All they ever know or want is to collect and collect until you no longer have any left and yet they will not want to hear of that. Theirs is, just provide.
Many of us are like babies or should I say worse off. My argument is that we have grown enough to know that others should be considered in what ever action we take. Yet all we ever do, have continued to do and will most likely continue to do is to take from this life without ever considering giving something back. There is actually a greater fulfillment in giving than in taking. This many have never realized. If you haven’t too, try do something for someone who will never ever be able to repay you. Give yourself to a worthy cause and see how accomplished you will feel.
Consider the electricity that we now enjoy, communication of all kinds, transportation systems, advances in medicine etc. They were not introduced by angels but by men and women like you and me. Nothing was seriously extraordinary about them except the fact that they had a burning desire to give humanity something to cheer.
You can however never give to life if you don’t discover what your purpose is. It must be something definite which will cause you to focus. Concentration on a single task brings about easy fulfillment and a great sense of accomplishment.
Once you have discovered that purpose, dig for every information about how you to go about it. Do not leave anything to chance. Dig for it like you would for gold. Be very diligent in this as failure to do this might just be your Achilles’ heel.
Plan your execution now that you have knowledge on the purpose. Take time out to utilize every little bit of information to your advantage. You must get yourself organized for proper execution of the plan of actions.
Do not expect everything to go so smoothly despite the planning because most time you just might have over- looked on tiny detail and of course you have to be open to accept failure and learn from them. The Thomas Edison story is a great challenge.
On the whole, I believe everyone has a quota to contribute to life and failure to do so means that you have sent your contribution to the grave where it will be of no benefit to anybody. Have it at the back of your mind that you don’t want to die ashamed of yourself. Posterity should speak well of you.
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