Full transcript
0:00Success is something you attract, not
0:02something you pursue. Success is looking
0:04for a good place to stay. So, instead of
0:07going after [music] it, you work on
0:09yourself. Personal development. See, the
0:11major question to ask on the job is not
0:14what are you getting. The major question
0:16to ask on the job is what are you
0:18becoming? So, the big question is not
0:20what am I getting paid here. The big
0:23question is what am I becoming
0:25here. Because true happiness is not
0:28contained in what you get. Happiness is
0:31contained in what you become. There's a
0:34lot of things that can wreck your
0:35chances to do well. We live in a rather
0:37dangerous world. So, you got to be not
0:39only wise, you got to be careful.
0:41[music]
0:42Take full responsibility for what
0:44happens to you.
0:47It's one of the highest forms of human
0:48maturity, [music] accepting full
0:50responsibility. It's the day you know
0:52you've passed from childhood to
0:54adulthood, the day you accept full
0:56responsibility. And another note, learn
0:59to reap in the fall without apology.
1:02Without apology if [music] you do well
1:05and without complaint if you don't.
1:09I used to blame taxes. Look what you got
1:11left after they take everything.
1:13And they expect you to do well.
1:15I used to blame the weather.
1:18I blamed the traffic.
1:20I used to blame my car. I blamed the
1:22manufacturers.
1:24I used to blame the company.
1:27I blamed company policy.
1:30I used to blame the training program.
1:33I used to blame the economy.
1:36I blamed the community.
1:39That's a pretty good list for not doing
1:40well, isn't it? I thought it was good.
1:43See, I used to blame everything outside.
1:46And then let me give you a little
1:47philosophy that helped turn my life
1:48around.
1:49For your notes, here it is.
1:51It's not what happens, but rather
1:55it's what you do that changes
2:00everything. But it's not the happenings,
2:02it's what you do about it.
2:04Somebody says, "Yeah, but you don't
2:06understand the disappointments I've
2:08had."
2:10Come on.
2:11Everybody's had their share.
2:15Disappointments are not special gifts
2:17reserved for the poor.
2:20Everybody has them. The difference is
2:22what you do about it.
2:25It's not the weather. I used to blame
2:27the weather, and I discovered it rains
2:30on the rich. The major key to your
2:32better future [music]
2:34is you.
2:36I used to wonder why two people could
2:37work for the same company, one make
2:39twice as much money.
2:42>> [music]
2:42>> Now, see that used to puzzle me. And
2:44maybe they were the same age, graduated
2:46from the same school, live in the same
2:48community, work for the same company
2:50with the same products and the same
2:51services.
2:53They've got the same traffic, the same
2:55problems,
2:56and one makes a thousand a month, the
2:58other one makes two thousand a month.
2:59Now, that was my puzzling question.
3:01>> [music]
3:01>> Why would this long list be the same and
3:03the money twice as much?
3:05I asked, "What's the difference between
3:07a thousand a month and two thousand a
3:09month? But what what makes the
3:10difference? Why would one person do
3:12twice as well, three times as well?"
3:15Speaking economically, now I know
3:16there's more than one way to do well. I
3:18understand [music] that.
3:19But in this little narrow area called
3:21compensation, what's the difference?
3:24Now, if you can't get more time, which
3:26you can't, what could you get more of
3:29that would make a difference in economic
3:30results? And here's the key word. Make
3:33it a part of your notes. We're going to
3:34consider it tonight. The word is value.
3:39You can't get more time, but you can
3:41create more value.
3:45Now, here's the first lesson of
3:47economics. Everybody should learn it
3:48from the time they're old enough to
3:49understand what a the means, how to earn
3:51one, how to get one, how to keep one,
3:53what to do with it.
3:54First lesson of economics,
3:56>> [music]
3:56>> we primarily get paid for value.
4:01That's lesson one.
4:02Bringing value to the marketplace,
4:04that's how you get paid.
4:06You don't get paid for the time. I know
4:09it takes time to bring value to the
4:11marketplace, but you get paid for the
4:13value, not the time.
4:15Is it possible to become twice as
4:18valuable
4:19at the marketplace and make twice as
4:22much money in the same time?
4:26Could you become three times as
4:28valuable?
4:31Make three times as much money in the
4:32same [music] time. Is that possible?
4:36The answer is yes, if
4:40and it's always if, right?
4:42Life is known as the big if.
4:44>> [music]
4:44>> It's possible to do much better at the
4:45marketplace if you go to work primarily
4:49on yourself. People have asked me for
4:51the last 24 years, "How do you develop
4:54an above average income?" And the answer
4:56is, become an above average person.
4:59Develop an above average handshake. Some
5:02people want to be successful, they don't
5:04even work on their handshake. As easy as
5:06that would be to start on. They let it
5:07slide, they don't understand.
5:10Develop an above average smile. Develop
5:13an above average excitement. [music]
5:15Develop an above average interest in
5:17other people.
5:18Develop an above average intensity to
5:20win. See, that'll change everything.
5:22>> [music]
5:22>> Probably one of the most frustrating
5:24experiences in life is looking for an
5:26above average job with above average pay
5:28without becoming an above average
5:29person. It's called frustration.
5:33Work harder on yourself than you do on
5:35your job.
5:37If anybody would have asked me, age 25,
5:39"Mr. Rohn, are you a hard worker?" I'd
5:41have said, "Yes, I'm a hard worker.
5:42Check my record. I work as hard as
5:45anybody." And that was true. I was a
5:46hard worker. I really was. But see, that
5:49was my problem.
5:51I was working hard on my job, but I
5:53wasn't working hard on myself.
5:56And that was my reason for lack of
5:58progress. If somebody hands you a
5:59million dollars, best you become a
6:01millionaire quickly.
6:03So, you get to keep the money.
6:05Otherwise, sure enough, it'll disappear.
6:09Somebody once said, if you took all the
6:12money in the world, divided it up
6:14equally among everybody, it would soon
6:17all be back in the same pockets.
6:21Incredible. Some people look for more
6:22money, but they look for it in the wrong
6:24direction. The guy says, I need more
6:26money. I'm going to go work on my boss.
6:29Well,
6:33number one, bosses are notorious. They
6:35do not play fast and loose with the
6:37company till.
6:39I've never seen a boss get excited and
6:40triple somebody's wages. Right? I mean,
6:42they don't behave in such an irrational
6:43manner. So see, that's not what you work
6:46on.
6:49Some people say, well, I'll go on strike
6:50for more.
6:52Well, big deal.
6:54The problem with that game is, once you
6:56start it, it's never over. You'll always
6:58have to strike.
7:01And I'll tell you what you get by
7:02demand. Little bitty pieces.
7:06Barely enough.
7:09And now inflation beats that game.
7:11Right? The guy demands 10%. Inflation's
7:1312. He's behind two.
7:16I mean, it never ends. So see, that's
7:18not the key to success. Maybe survival,
7:21but not success. See, it's not what you
7:24get by tricks. It's not what you get by
7:27demand.
7:28It's what you get by performance that
7:31counts. For things [music] to change for
7:34you,
7:36you've got to change. Life and business
7:40is like [music] the changing seasons.
7:42One of the best ways to describe life,
7:44it's like the seasons. You cannot change
7:47the [music] seasons, but you can change
7:51yourself. Let the four major lessons in
7:54life to learn. Here they [music] are.
7:55Number one,
7:56learn how to handle the winters.
7:59That's lesson one.
8:01They come right after falls
8:04with
8:05regularity.
8:07Some are long and some are short and
8:09some are hard and some are easy, but
8:10they keep [music] coming. You must learn
8:12to handle the nights. They come right
8:14after days. You must learn to handle
8:16difficulty. It comes right after
8:18opportunity.
8:19You must learn to handle recessions.
8:21They always follow progressions. For the
8:23last 6,000, see it isn't going to
8:25change. The lesson you must learn is how
8:27to handle it.
8:29And there's all kinds of winters, right?
8:31>> [music]
8:31>> The winter when you can't figure it out,
8:34the winter when it all goes smash, the
8:37winter when it turns belly [music] up.
8:40The winter when it won't work, when
8:42you've run out of money and you've got a
8:43broken heart. See those are winter
8:45times.
8:47There's all kinds, economic winters,
8:49[music]
8:50social winters, personal winters. When
8:54your heart is smashed in a thousand
8:56pieces
8:57and the nights are unusually long, your
9:00prayers seem to go no higher than your
9:01head. It's winter time. A song of
9:04winter.
9:06But see, the disappointments come.
9:08Those are normal. That's part of life.
9:11But the question is, how do you handle
9:13it?
9:14How do you handle the coming winters and
9:16the down
9:19you can't get rid of January by tearing
9:20it off the calendar. But here's what you
9:22can do. You can get stronger, you can
9:25get wiser, and you can get better.
9:31The winters won't change, but you can.
9:33And that's how life changes for you.
9:35Don't wish for less problems, wish for
9:39more skills.
9:41Don't wish for less challenge, wish for
9:45more wisdom.
9:48That's the key. [music]
9:51So, that's lesson one, learn how to
9:52handle the winters.
9:54Here's lesson two.
9:56Learn how to take advantage of the
9:58spring.
9:59That's the second one.
10:02Spring is called opportunity.
10:05And spring follows winter. What a great
10:07place for it. If you were going to put
10:08it somewhere, that'd be the place to put
10:09it, right after winter.
10:13And pray tell, how often does spring
10:15follow winter?
10:17Every year with regularity, 6,000.
10:20You can almost count on it. See,
10:22opportunity always comes.
10:24Days follow nights, isn't that terrific?
10:28Opportunity follows difficulty.
10:30But, here's what you must learn to do.
10:32Underline these two words in that key
10:33phrase, take [music] advantage.
10:37You must learn to take advantage of the
10:38spring.
10:40See, just because spring rolls around is
10:42no sign you're going to look good come
10:43fall. You got to do something with it.
10:49In fact, you have to get good at one of
10:51two things in life, planting in the
10:53spring or begging in the fall.
10:56Or get somebody to do it for you. See,
10:58those are about the only alternatives.
11:01Now, here's what else you must do, take
11:03advantage of the springs quickly because
11:05there's only a few. Just a handful of
11:07springs have been handed to each of us.
11:09They don't come forever, life is fairly
11:11brief. So, you got to read every book
11:13you can get your hands on and what to do
11:15with your springs while they're here,
11:17and take advantage, they soon run out.
11:19Learn how to protect your crops all
11:21summer.
11:22You got to take care of what you start.
11:26Sure enough, as soon as you've planted
11:28your garden in the spring,
11:30the busy bugs and the noxious weeds are
11:32out to take it. They will take it.
11:35You've got to learn to prevent the
11:37intruder from taking all the good you
11:39start.
11:41It's one of the challenges. All values
11:43must be defended. Political values,
11:46social values, community values, family
11:48values, marriage values, friendship
11:50values, business values. Every garden
11:54must be tended all summer.
11:58Fourth major lesson in life to learn.
12:00Learn how to reap in the fall without
12:03complaint. See, that's the difference in
12:05how your life works out. It's not what
12:06happens, it's what you do. So, here's
12:08one of the key questions of the evening.
12:10Starting tomorrow, what are you going to
12:12do
12:13that'll make a change in your life's
12:15direction?
12:17Good question. What are you going to do
12:19starting tomorrow that'll make a
12:20difference?
12:23Now, see, if you don't do something
12:24starting tomorrow that'll make a
12:26difference, guess what?
12:29It's going to be the same.
12:32>> [laughter]
12:34>> And see, that way you can guess what the
12:35next 5 years are going to be like. Look
12:37at the last five.
12:41Cuz the next five are going to be like
12:42the last five unless you, major key,
12:45tomorrow change it all.
12:47Or change a little, or change something,
12:49or don't change. It's choice time. You
12:51can do whatever you want.
12:53But it's nice to know any day you wish
12:55you can change your whole life. What can
12:57you do starting tomorrow that'll make a
13:00difference?
13:02Good question.