The Resilient Mind - Don't Wish It Was Easier, Wish You Were Better - Jim Rohn

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

Watch the full video interview on the new Resilient Mind YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfZN0kGbTpIJim Rohn was a renowned motivational speaker who has been widely regarded as one of the best in his field during his time. He had an incredible ability to inspire and motivate people from all walks of life with his speeches and teachings. One of his most notable achievements was serving as a mentor to Tony Robbins, one of the most successful and well-known motivational speakers in the world today.Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Now⁠⁠🌍 The Resilient Mind Podcast is a proud member of 1% for the Planet — building resilient minds and a resilient planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Resilient Mind Podcast. In this episode, you'll be listening to, Don't Wish It Was It Was Easier, With You Were Better, with Jim Rohn. This episode is also available in video. Watch it on YouTube by clicking the link in the show notes. Enjoy. Mr. Schof gave me probably the greatest clue he gave me when I first met him. He said, Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy the rest of your life,

just learn this lesson well. He said, learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. Then Mr. Schof gave me probably. One of the most important clues among so many things he taught me, but this was in those early days. Mr. Schof was very kind, but he was also very abrupt,

and he had these interesting questions to ask. I'm giving him a little rundown one day on how things hadn't worked out for me. He said, Mr. O'n, I've got the answer for you, if you will listen carefully. And listen carefully, I did, that day and for the next five years. If somebody's wealthy and happy, you got a list. He said, Jim, I've only known you a short time.

But he said, it's already my honest opinion that for things to change for you, you got to change. That wasn't quite the answer I was looking for. But that's the answer he gave me, and I pass it along to you on this war. summer evening in Anaheim, California, 1981. For things to change for you, you've got to change. Otherwise, it isn't gonna change. Before I met Mr. Schoev, I used to say, I sure hope things will change, right?

That seemed to be my only hope. If it isn't gonna change, I'm in serious trouble. And then I discovered it isn't gonna change, so I'm in serious trouble. See, I can tell you what the 80s are going to be like. You have dropped into the right place. I did a seminar one time for Standard Oil, executives and management in Honolulu.

And we're having a conference one day on this big conference table. And one of them said to me, Mr. Rohn, you know some fairly important people halfway around the world. What do you think the 80s are going to be like? I said, gentlemen, I do know the right people. I can tell you. So they all listen very carefully. And I said, gentlemen, based on my wide experience, I can really honestly say to you, in my opinion, in the 80s, it's going to be about like it's always been.

Aren't you glad you came? That's inside. I don't pass that around just everywhere. Now, of course, I said that to make a point, but I also said it because it's accurate. It's going to be about like it's always been. It isn't going to change. The tide comes in and then what? It goes out. for six and a half thousand years that we know of recorded history and probably long before that. So it is not going to change. It gets light and then what?

It turns dark. Six and a half thousand years. See, it's not likely to change. And we're not to be startled by that. If the sun goes down and the guy says, what's happened? What's happened? It means he hasn't been here long, I guess, right? It always goes down about this time.

The guy says, well, I don't like that arrangement. Well, you've got to talk to somebody besides me, right? It gets light, then it turns dark. In rotation, the next season after fall is what? Winter. Pray tell how often does winter follow fall? Every year regularly for the last six and a half thousand that we know of. See, it is not going to change.

Now, some winters are long, and some are short, and some are hard, and some are easy, but they always come right after falls. It isn't going to change. Sometimes you can figure it out Sometimes there's no way to figure it out Sometimes it goes well Sometimes it gets in a knot

Sometimes it sails along Sometimes it gets in reverse See that's not going to change The last 6,000 years reads like this Opportunity mixed with difficulty That's how it reads It isn't going to change The man says

Well if it isn't going to change How will my life ever change Answer when you change And whether I'm talking to high school kids or business executives, my message is always the same. And it goes like this. The only way it gets better for you is when you get better. Now here's the four major lessons in life to learn.

I've got my first book finished. It came out a couple of weeks ago. This is in it. The four major lessons in life to learn. Here they are. Number one, learn how to handle the winters. That's lesson one. They come right after falls with

regularity. Some are long and some are short and some are hard and some are easy, but they keep coming. You must learn to handle the nights. They come right after days. You must learn to handle difficulty. It comes right after opportunity. You must learn to handle recessions. They always follow progressions for the last 6,000.

See, it isn't going to change. The lesson you must learn is how to handle it. And there's all kinds of winters, right? the winter when you can't figure it out, the winter when it all goes smash, the winter when it turns belly up, the winter when it won't work, when you've run out of money,

and you've got a broken heart. See, those are winter times. There's all kinds, economic winters, social winters, personal winters, when your heart is smashed in a thousand pieces, and the nights are unusually long, Your prayer seemed to go no higher than your head. It's wintertime.

Barbara Streisand sings, It used to be so natural to talk about forever, but used to be as don't count anymore. They just lay on the floor until we sweep them away. You don't sing me love, so. And you don't say you need me. And you don't bring me flowers anymore. A song of winter.

Let's see the disappointments come. Those are normal. That's part of life. But the question is, how do you handle it? How do you handle the coming winters and the disappointments and the down times? Well, you can't get rid of January by tearing it off the calendar. But here's what you can do. You can get stronger, you can get riser, and you can get better.

The winters won't change, but you can. And that's how life changes for you. See, before I understood when it was winter, I used to wish it was summer. I didn't understand. When it was hard, I used to wish it was easy. I didn't know. And then Mr. Schof gave me a part of his very unique philosophy when he said, don't wish it was easier, wish you were better.

See, that triggered my whole life change. Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge. Wish for more wisdom. That's the key. So that's lesson one. Learn how to handle the winters. Here's lesson two.

Learn how to take advantage of the spring. That's the second one. Spring is called opportunity. And spring follows winter. What a great place for it. If you were going to put it somewhere, that'd be the place to put it right after winter. And pray tell how often does spring follow winter?

Every year with regularity 6,000. You can almost count on it. See, opportunity always comes. Days follow nights. Isn't that terrific? Opportunity follows difficulty. But here's what you must learn to do. Underline these two words in that key phrase.

Take advantage. Underline those two. You must learn to take advantage of the spring. See, just because spring rolls around is no sign you're going to look good come fall. You got to do something with it. In fact, you have to get good at one of two things in life, planting in the spring or begging in the fall. Or get somebody to do it for you.

See, those are about the only alternatives. Now, here's what else you must do. Take advantage of the springs quickly because there's only a few. Just a handful of springs have been handed to each of us. They don't come forever. Life is fairly brief. So you got to read every book you can get your hands on and what to do with your springs while they're here

and take advantage they soon run out. The Beatles wrote, Life is so short. And for John Lennon, it was extra short. But life is brief. Elton John sings, She lived her life like a candle in the wind. It's brief.

So whatever you're going to do with your life, you've got to get at it. Don't just let the springs pass, pass, pass. Here's the third major lesson in life to learn. Learn how to protect your crops all summer. You've got to take care of what you start. Sure enough, as soon as you've planted your garden in the spring, the busy bugs and the noxious weeds are out to take it. And here's the next bit of truth.

They will take it unless you prevent it. And that's the third major skill to learn. You've got to learn to prevent the intruder from taking all the good you start. It's one of the challenges. Here's two key phrases under number three. First one, all good will be attacked. On this planet, maybe not the next one we get to, but on this one, all good will be attacked. Every garden will be invaded. Not to think so is naive. And here's the second phrase. All values must be defended. Political values, social, values, community values, family values, marriage values, friendship values, business values,

every garden must be tended all summer. Third major lesson. Now here's number four. Fourth major lesson in life to learn. Learn how to reap in the fall without complaint. Learn to reap come harvest time without complaint. 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 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. I had that on the list. I used to blame the weather. I blamed the traffic. I used to blame my car. I blame 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 neighbors. They're just selfish looking out for themselves. Won't loan your money? They were on my list.

I used to blame the economy. I blame 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. Schof 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 have 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 careful. carefully. He said, Mr. Oan, 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. Thank you for listening. Continue strengthening your mind by subscribing and listening to our other episodes.