I am of course talking about the legendary Jim Rohn, who sadly passed away on December 5th 2009.

Since discovering him I’ve looked for every video I can find on youtube of him. I’ve listened to some of his audio books. I’ve tried to absorb everything he’s said because it really is pure gold.

So I’d like to pass on a few bits I’ve learnt to you in a hope that maybe if you’ve never heard of him you might just think about looking him up and maybe it might change your life too.

1. It’s not what happens that changes your life’s future, It’s what you do about what happens.

So many times I hear people blame their failure to do something upon some outside force. Hell, even I’ve done it in the past. People are too ready to make an excuse. We have to realize that we are in control of our own reality. You see, the same wind blows on us all, your destination is not determined by the blowing of the wind but instead the set of the sail. You can change what happens in your life by altering your response and reaction to people, things or events.

2. Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were smarter.

How many times have you come up against something challenging in life, such as a difficult task at work, and felt like giving up because it was too hard. Some other people could do this task though with relative ease. It’s the same task but different people see it differently. This is because different people have different skill levels. They know more and so the thing that you’re finding hard would be easier for them. So instead of complaining how hard something is, start reading the books!

3. It’s not too expensive, you just can’t afford it!

This one is a big paradigm shifter in my mind. It follows along with something else Jim Rohn says; Some valuable things in life are put on a higher shelf because they’re worth more, and in order to reach the higher shelf you have to stand on the books you read. A rich person and a poor person can walk into a classy department store and look at shirts, the price for one shirt is the same but the opinions of each the rich and poor guy regarding how expensive it is are different. Things of value are put on a higher shelf for reasons. It’s not too expensive, nothing is. You just can’t afford it! So it follows on that to afford it you need to read the books and learn how to afford it. Learning new techniques to earn money and extend your riches.

There are of course plenty of more amazing things Jim has said over his time and I bet I could write a book on them all describing how they’ve affected me and my personal opinion of how the world could be a better place if we all took that kind of learning to heart.

So I’m interested, what are your favorite Jim Rohn qoutes and principles? Comment below!

Why don’t we follow through?

It’s my personal opinion that there is a line that you have to cross before you actually do it. The part where things change from want to need. For instance someone may want to start a new exercise regime and eat healthy but that’s just a ‘want’. The day they almost have a heart attack and feel very unwell is the day that the ‘want’ turns into ‘need’. They crossed the line.

Even after that though, people may not follow through with the new thing whatever it is. Why is this?

I think people are waiting for something. Waiting for the weekend. Waiting for the movie to finish. Waiting til they really have to. We humans are lazy by nature.

My study of marketing has brought me to many conclusions but one of them is that everyone is looking for the magic pill. Or the silver bullet. The big red button that does it for them. That’s why diet pills exist. That’s how you sell sand in the desert – make it seem like the magic pill.

Look how lazy the majority of the population are, sitting in front of TV’s every evening letting the media brainwash them. If you could hype something up that they want to be the magic bullet then they will buy it. But it won’t make them any better because there is no such thing as a magic pill.

By using the Pareto principle (80/20 rule) we can say that 20% of the population owns 80% of the wealth. Whys that? Because only 20% of the population actually put some effort in to achieve the results of the magical red button. Whilst the other 80% sit on their arse looking for the magic pill to solve their problems.

It’s easy to slip into the hole of laziness however. So I thought I’d be proactive and come up with some ways of combating it.

1) When you feel like doing nothing, just make a list of what you need to do. Tell yourself you don’t have to do what’s on the list right away. Just make a list. It will wipe your mind and allow you to focus on individual things.

2) Go for a walk/jog/run/bike ride. It will get the blood flowing and make your mind more active allowing you to process more. I think it’s kind of like turning your computer on from sleep mode. What can you achieve in sleep mode?!

3) Set a stop watch to 30 minutes. Then spend a solid 30 minutes doing exactly what you need to be doing. Then when the time is up treat yourself for doing it. Have a break, then do another 30 minutes. Never spend a solid 6 hours doing one thing, you’ll burn out after 2 or less. Not unless you are in a supreme state of flow – in which case lucky you!

4) Say “fuck it” and do it anyway!

5) Ask yourself “What would Chuck Norris do?” or “How would Winston Churchill deal with this situation?”. See it through someone else’s eyes that you look up to and then follow through with what they would do in that situation.

What methods do you use to combat laziness? Comments are welcome