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Everyone, and especially entrepreneurs working to build a business from the ground up, enjoys a solid rags-to-riches story. It's something we can relate to and get behind.
One of the greatest rags-to-riches stories is that of Jim Rohn. Jim spent his entire adult life giving back to humanity by teaching and lecturing about how to gain success in selling. He tried to teach people that they could be whatever they chose to be. Jim was an only child who grew up on a little farm in southwest Idaho, U.S.A., to become what many consider to be America's foremost business philosopher.
Rohn began his career as stock clerk for Sears, but after attending a lecture given by entrepreneur John Earl Shoaff, he decided to follow a different path. He asked Shoaff to be his mentor and followed every bit of advice he could glean from him. Rohn became a direct marketing distributor. Within just six years, Rohn earned his first fortune, then lost the millions he had made. That led him to observe, "Whether you win or whether you earn a million dollars, best you quickly learn how to be a millionaire, or you will lose it."
Rohn was quickly made that money back in just a few short years saying, "The second time I made a fortune was much easier than the first time, because I knew how to." In 1963, Rohn delivered his first public speech and began traveling across the country sharing his personal development philosophy. Anyone who was blessed enough to hear Jim Rohn speak is lucky, indeed. Most of Jim's speeches are available on YouTube and are well worth listening to -- many times. They are truly invaluable.
For more than 40 years, Rohn was one of the most influential and motivational speakers and authors for people seeking advice and guidance on every type of personal development. He monitored and mentored Tony Robbins and received the the 1985 National Speakers Association CPAE Award for excellence in speaking.
If you're looking to make a change in your life, there is no better words of wisdom than those coming from a true great, and one of my hero's, Jim Rohn. This is just a small sampling of Jim Rohn's many quotable quotes, but they are twenty of his greatest life changing thoughts:
1. "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 challenges, wish for more wisdom."
2. "How sad to see a father with money and no joy. The man studied economics, but never studied happiness."
Related: Success vs. Happiness: Don't Be Fooled Into Thinking They're the Same
3. "Days are expensive. When you spend a day you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely."
4. "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."
5. "Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment, repeated every day."
6. "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."
7. "The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering if something could have materialized - never knowing."
8. "Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
9. "You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circ*mstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of."
10. "Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want."11. "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."
Related: 7 Life Rules That Will Position You for Greater Success
12. "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."
13. "The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy."
14. "Asking is the beginning of receiving. I ask for all kinds of things. Make sure you don't go to the ocean with a teaspoon. At least take a bucket so the kids won't laugh at you."
15. "Get around people who have something of value to share with you. Their impact will continue to have a significant effect on your life long after they have departed."
16. "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."
Related: How Making Employees Lifelong Learners Can Help Your Company Succeed
17. "Make rest a necessity, not an objective. Only rest long enough to gather strength."
18. "Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know."
19. "No one else 'makes us angry.' We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude."
20. "You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills."
