Jim Rohn - Life and Business is like the seasons

Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn (September 17, 1930 – December 5, 2009) was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. His rags to riches story played a large part in his work, which influenced others in the personal development industry.

I learned about Mr Rohn when I was looking into one of my favorite speakers Tony Robbins and heard that Jim was his mentor, from there I learn to change my philosophy on life... Here is a 15 Min Video on his famous teaching... Life is like the seasons...

To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself:

•  First, what could I do? 
• Second, what could I read? 
• And third, who could I ask?

This is from The Art of Exceptional Living, just like there are 4 seasons, there are 4 lessons that are crucial to your life.

Handle the winters

Every year, winter comes. It always comes. We deal with it by preparing for it. This also applies to your life. Rough times WILL come. No life goes smoothly without a problem from beginning to end. You must learn to handle them.

• “Don't wish it was easier wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge wish for more wisdom”

 

Take advantage of the spring

Every year, after a long winter, comes the spring. This is a time where opportunities arise. After a challenging time, you will be faced with a great opportunity. This is your moment to plant the seeds of greatness to come.

• “We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment. ”

• “If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” 

Protect your summer

After having planted your seeds in the spring, soon the summer will come. This is a time where you can reap the benefits of your crops. “All good will be attacked”. If you are not careful, your crops will be either stolen, destroyed, or spoiled. Therefore you must do whatever it takes to protect your crops. Once you have achieved something in your life, you must defend it. You must stand up for it, and protect its value. Otherwise you may find yourself losing it.

• “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.”

• “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planed for you? Not much.”

• “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”

Take responsibility in the fall

As the autumn comes, the trees change color, lose their leaves, and the weather gets cooler. As you gear up for another winter, it is the best time to take full responsibility of what happened in the previous seasons, both good and bad. This is the time where you can open yourself to learning the lessons that the previous seasons taught you and put everything into perspective.

• "You say, 'The country is messed up.' That's like cursing the soil and the seed and the sunshine and the rain, which is all you've got. Don't curse all you've got. When you get your own planet, you can rearrange this whole deal. This one you've got to take like it comes."

• You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. You don't have charge of the constellations, but you do have charge of whether you read, develop new skills, and take new classes.

• It is easier to blame the government than it is your own philosophy.

Here is also some other life lesson from Jim Rohn:

1. You Attract Success

“Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.”

2. You Must Change

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.”
If you want things to change, you must change!  The greatest investment you will ever make is in yourself.

3. Never Give Up

“How long should you try? Until you get it right.”

Success is not that complicated.  I like what Jim said, “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”

4. Atmosphere is Critical

“You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
Who are you talking to?  Who are you listening to?  What seeds are being planted into your life?    

5.  Steady Progress

“Success is steady progress toward one’s personal goals”

"It is easy to do and also it is easy not, what if to have a healthy life is to have an apple a day, isn't that easy? Then why are so many people unhealthy? Because it is easy not to do" 

6. Set Your Sail

“It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.”


7. Learn to See the Value of Time

“Time is more valuable than money. You can always get more money, but you cannot ever get more time.”