Can the next 10 minutes really make a massive difference to impact the rest of your life.
Maybe, by doing something you hear that truly stands out for you as your own “Oh Okay!” or “WOW!” moment just for You.
Hey, and if you don’t get your “WOW!” the first time… many have discovered by listening repeatedly it becomes easier to change to a better way of thinking…
Take full responsibility for what happens to you.
It’s one of the highest forms of human maturity.
Accepting full responsibility.
It’s the day you know you’ve passed from childhood to adulthood. The day you accept full responsibility.
And another note, learn to reap in the fall (Autumn) without apology. Without apology. If you do well, and without complaint if you don’t. That’s maturity.
I used to have that long list of reasons why I wasn’t doing well. To explain, you got to explain, right? Otherwise, you’re going to look bad. I used to have this funny list called…
“Reasons for Not Looking Good”
I used to blame the government.
I mean, you can believe that or not. It was at the top of my list. I had a lecture second to none.
The government, that was on my list.
I used to blame taxes.
Look what you got left after they take everything.
And they expect you to do well.
That was on my list there.
Prices. That one’s easy, right? You walk into the supermarket with $20, come out with a little half bag.
So I had that on my list.
I used to blame the weather.
I blamed the traffic.
I used to blame my car.
I blamed the manufacturers.
I used to blame the company.
I blamed company policy.
I used to blame the training program.
I blame my negative relatives.
They were always putting me down.
I blame my cynical neighbours.
They’re just selfish, looking out for themselves.
Won’t loan you money.
They were on my list.
I used to blame the economy.
I blamed the community.
That’s a pretty good list for not doing well, isn’t it? I thought it was good.
I’ll never forget one day, Mr. Shoaff is very kind, but he was also very blunt.
And this was no exception.
And I’m glad he was blunt.
There’s a lot of things I’d have missed if he hadn’t been blunt.
One day, with sort of a curious look on his face, he said,
“Jim, just out of curiosity, tell me how come you haven’t done well up until now?”
Excellent question.
I thought, “Well, so I won’t look too bad, I’ll go through my list.” And this list I just gave you, I put that on him and he was very patient.
He let me go through the whole thing, the government, the weather.
I went through this whole thing.
When I finished, he looked my list over very carefully.
He said, “Mr. Rohn, big problem with your list. You ain’t on it.”
How brilliant.
When I went to work for him a few months later, I learned very quickly to tear up my list, reasons for not doing well, and I threw it away and I got me a fresh piece of paper and I put one word on it.
“ME!“
There’s a Black Heritage Spiritual that says, “It’s not my mother, nor my father, nor my brother, nor my sister, but it’s me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”
See, I used to blame everything outside.
And then let me give you a little philosophy that helped turn my life around.
For your notes, here it is.
“It’s not what happens that determines the quality or the quantity of your life.“
It’s not what happens.
And the reason is because what happens happens to about everybody.
No different.
The sun went down on all of us last night.
A common event, a happening.
And I found out that the same things can happen to two different people.
One gets rich and one stays poor.
Why is that?
It’s because…
“It’s not what happens, but rather it’s what you do that changes everything.“
So that’s a key phrase.
It’s not what happens, it’s what you do.
What happens is about the same.
You might put that in parenthesis here.
“Same”
What people do that’s what’s different.
Anything can happen, right?
Everything can happen.
I’ve heard all the stories.
I’ve been one of the stories.
Hey, we could all tell stories all night long, right?
Happenings.
Anything can happen.
Have you heard of Murphy’s laws? Anybody here heard of Murphy’s laws? Okay, most of you have.
Murf had these laws.
One of them was “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
That’s one of Murphy’s laws.
He was not one of the great positive speakers of the day.
But anyway, it’s still true though, right?
“Anything can go wrong, everything can go wrong, for sure.”
I’ve fallen out of the sky so many times, once to the tune of a couple of million. Devastating.
Took me a while to survive that one.
Now, it wasn’t all that much, but it was all I had.
I mean, that’s when it’s much, right? When it’s all you got.
If you got three, two go, you got one left.
You ain’t looking that bad.
But when it all goes, has anybody been there when it all went? Anybody? Come on the rest of you liars.
Hey, we’ve all been there, right?
When it all went, of course, it used to be a long time ago, right? When you ran out of money, got to zero, you were all through.
Heck, now you can whistle right on by zero, right? I mean, they will bury you. That’s what they will do.
But see, those are the happenings, right?
Everything can happen. Anything can happen. But it’s not the happenings, it’s what you do about it.
Somebody says, “Yeah, but you don’t understand the disappointments I’ve had.”
Come on. Everybody’s had their share.
Disappointments are not special gifts reserved for the poor.
Everybody has them.
The difference is what you do about them.
It’s not the weather.
I used to blame the weather.
And I discovered it rains on the rich.
So, see that won’t help.
Two men wake up one morning, there’s a rainstorm on.
One of them looks out his window, sees the rainstorm, and he says, “Wow, what a storm. With weather like this, they can’t expect you to go out and make sales.” He stays home.
Same morning, the other guy looks out his window, sees the same storm, says, “Wow, what a storm.” But he says, “You know what? With weather like this, what a great day to go out and make sales. Most everybody will probably be home, especially the salesman.”
See, that’s the difference in how your life works out. It’s not what happens, it’s what you do.
So, here’s one of the key questions of the evening…
Starting tomorrow, what are you going to do that’ll make a change in your life’s direction?
Good question.
What are you going to do starting tomorrow that’ll make a difference? Now, see, if you don’t do something starting tomorrow that’ll make a difference, guess what?
It’s going to be the same.
And see, that way you can guess what the next five years are going to be like.
Look at the last five cuz the next five are going to be like the last five. Unless…
“You, major key, tomorrow change it all, or change a little, or change something, or don’t change. It’s choice time.”
You can do whatever you want.
But it’s nice to know any day you wish you can change your whole life.
What can you do starting tomorrow that’ll make a difference?
Good question.
What can you do with economic chaos?
Massive disappointment?
What can you do with a broken heart?
What can you do when it won’t work?
Good question.
So, if I had a word with you tonight one on one, just you and me. I think my personal advice to you would be this year 1981…
Reach down inside of you and come up with some more of those remarkable human gifts.
They’re there waiting to be utilised and then change anything for you you want to change.
And I challenge you to do that because you can change.
If you don’t like how it is for you, change it.
If it doesn’t suit you, change it.
If it doesn’t please you, change it.
If it isn’t enough, change it.
And I challenge you to do that because you can change.
See, you don’t ever have to be the same again after tonight.
Only by choice.
If you don’t like your present address, change it.
You’re not a tree.