The Resilient Mind - Take Time To Reflect - Jim Rohn

Episode Date: March 31, 2024

Jim 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Resilient Mind podcast. In this episode, you will be listening to Take Some Time to Reflect with Jim Rohn. Get access to the Resilient Mind Journal by clicking the link in the show notes. Enjoy. Maybe you heard the story about the evangelist here in Texas way back in the horse and buggy days. Used to put up his tent in, you know, these various Texas towns and whole tent revivals. And he put up his tent, one of these towns, expected a big, crowd to come and hear him preach and he got there first night at the tent revival and he walked

inside the tent it was empty and he thought something must be wrong he waited till eight o'clock nobody showed up he waited till 815 not a so finally 830 one lone cowboy wandered up on his horse tied his horse up outside came in sat down on the front bench big empty tent So the preacher thought, well, at least I better go down and talk to the cowboy. So he goes down and talks to the cowboy and he says, cowboy, I don't know what to tell you. He said, I'm the preacher. And this tent was supposed to be full of people. And he said, something's gone wrong.

I really don't know what to do. I'm embarrassed. And he said, I don't know what to do. And the cowboy said, well, you know, I'm not a preacher. I'm just a cowboy, so I can't tell you what to do. But he said, I know this. If I went out to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd at least feed it. So the preacher said, hey, the cowboy is right. If you've got a message to share, if there's one person or a thousand, don't let your ego get in the way. You know, you should do the best you can. So he got kind of inspired by this conversation with the cowboy,

jumped up on the platform, started preaching as if the tent was full of people. and he was so inspired he just kept going kept going went for an hour went for an hour and 15 minutes hour and a half Finally wound down and quit come down off the platform talked to the cowboy again said well Cowboy What did you think of my sermon? Cowboy said well I'm not a preacher so I can't really tell I'm just a cowboy But he said I know this if I went out to feed my cattle and only one showed up I'd feed it but I wouldn't dump the whole load on it So if it seems like we're dumping the whole load here today, I guess we really are, but We've covered the first two abilities in the personal development quest One is the ability to absorb don't miss anything pay attention

Good watchword for the 90s pay attention Things are moving so fast these days. You got to pay attention pick it up. Soak up the colors. Soak up the sounds Soak up what's going on second respond Let life touch you. Let the emotions affect you as well as the sights. Now here's the third ability. Develop the ability to reflect. Reflect means go back over. Study it again. Go back over these notes that you're taking today. Go back through the cassettes one more time. Read the text one more time. But there's more to it than that. Go back over your day.

I call it run the tapes again. So that the day locks in firmly. Here's some good times to reflect one at the end of the day Take a few minutes at the end of the day go back over the day. Who'd you see and what they say and what happened? How'd you feel? What went on? So that you capture that day a day is a piece of the mosaic of your life Number one, don't treat it casual. Number two get from the day and then number three go back over the day so that it locks in that experience, the knowledge, the sights, the sounds, the panorama, the color-emotion picture of the day, just lock it in so that it will serve you for the future, having that day, not missing. Next, take a few hours at the end of the week. Call time to reflect. Go back

over your daytime or go back over your calendar, go back over your appointment book. Where did you go and who did you see? and how did it feel and what went on capture that week a week is a pretty good chunk of time next take half a day at the end of the month call time to reflect and do the same thing again go back over what you read go back over what you heard go back over what you saw go back over the feelings to capture it so that it serves you next take a weekend at the end of the year to establish this year now firm in your consciousness, firmly in your experience bank, so that you've got it, so that it never disappears. Good ability to acquire, the ability to reflect. Go back over. Remember.

Remember. Remember. It's so valuable to be able to remember the thought, remember the idea, remember the experience, remember the occasion, remember the day, remember the the weather, remember the emotion, remember the complexity, remember the highs, remember the lows. So valuable at the end of the day, lock that day in, lock the month in, lock the week in, lock the year in. Old Testament says a unique scenario unfolded according to the law, and that was they worked nine years and the 10th year was a sabbatical. the 10th year work 9 take the 10th year and not just to relax not just to replenish not maybe just to get physically in shape change of pace we call it in the modern society but not just for that I'm sure that in ancient days that sabbatical was to go over the last nine years what went right and what went wrong and what worked well

and what didn't work well. And how did you grow and how did you learn and how did you change? And what have you got now after nine years that you didn't have at the beginning of the nine years? See, that's so valuable. A sabbatical. A sabbatical. Some time. Some time.

There's also something to be said for solitude when you reflect. Sometimes you can reflect with somebody. Husband and wife reflect on the past year. Right? Parents reflect with their children on the past year. How did we do it? And how didn't we do it? how could we improve? Colleagues can reflect with each other. But now here's one of the most

important. You've got to learn to reflect with yourself. There's something to be said for solitude. There's something to be said for taking those occasions to shut out the world and shut out everything else for a while, for a while. I've got a motor home. That's how I do. My motorcycle on the back. and I head for the mountains and ride the Jeep trails where there's very few human beings on the Jeep trails or out in the desert somewhere it's called my time to get away when you live a very public life

you treasure solitude a chance to reflect go back over my life go back over my skills go back over my experiences alone alone there are some things you need to do alone ponder think wonder, read, study, absorb, soak in, see if you can't become better this year than you were last year,

better the next nine than you were the first nine. Solitude. There's even a more modern advice that says, go to the closet for time of meditation, time of prayer. Go to the closet. Closet, meaning what? Away. And there's even a graphic description of the way, said, enter into your closet and what? Got some students here, I'm sure what? Close the door. For what? Just to shut out everything.

Life is experience, experience, experience, and touching and seeing and looking and doing and acting and disciplines and all the stuff. But sometimes, this is where this reflecting is so important, to shut the door, to shut the door and wonder. prayer, contemplation, thinking, and let things move in to your consciousness and awareness that no other way can it be done, right? Flying down the freeway, I'm telling you it's difficult to get through. So many things to do, it's difficult to get through, but times of solitude, times to reflect. So this is so valuable, learn to reflect. Now here's why it's important to reflect to make the past more valuable to serve you for the future. Here's what's really powerful, learning to gather up the past and invested in the future.

Gather up today and invest it in tomorrow. Gather up this week and invest it in the next week. Gather up this year and invest it in the next year. See, that's so powerful rather than just hanging on one more year, hanging in there, seeing what's going to happen. Learn, study. This is part of the personal development quest, becoming better than you are, more valuable than you are,

not just in terms of economics, in terms of motherhood, in terms of fatherhood, in terms of being a better brother, better colleague, Making a better contribution to the family to society to the community to the church to the office To the commitment to the partnership doesn't matter what it is that has value Work on yourself then you bring more value to the partnership to the marriage to the franchise to the corporation to the enterprise to the community to the nation Self development personal development the best contribution you can make to someone else is self-development not self-sacrifice Self-sacrifice only earns

attempt. Self-development earns respect. Pity the mother who says, I'm just going to give up my life for my children. Self-sacrifice is not noble. Self-investment is noble from self-development. If I work on myself and become more valuable, think of what that'll do for our friendship. I used to use the old expression, you take care of me and I'll take care of you. I found out how shallow and short-ended that was. And I changed it to read like this. I'll take care of me for you. if you will please take care of you for me. And this is part of it, the personal development, that we work harder on ourselves than we do on our job. Now we bring that to the friendship. Now we bring that to the marriage. Now we bring that to the family relationship as a father as a mother. And we develop the strength and we develop the power.

That's key. And it takes, I think, this scenario of disciplines, these abilities to acquire those gifts and those skills, that value. so that we bring more. Now, we bring more to the next week. We bring more to the next month. We bring more to the next year. If you follow this, absorb, respond, and reflect. I said to my father, when he was about to turn 76, his 76 birthday, I said, Dear Father of Mine, can you imagine what it's going to be like to gather up the last 75 years of your life and invest them in your 76th? year. What a difference of philosophy rather than just hanging on one more year. Gather up 75 and invest them in the next one. Gather up the last six years and invested in the next year. See, that's so

powerful in communication which we're going to study soon. So powerful. So consider this. One, the ability to absorb. Second, the ability to respond. Third, the ability to reflect. Here's number four. Develop the ability to act. Take action. Not hasty if it isn't required but don't lose much time here's the time to act when the idea is hot and the emotion is strong that's the time to act you say mr. Ron I'd like to have a library like yours see if you feel strong about that what you got to do is get the first book and then get the second book before the feeling passes and before the idea gets dim action Pronto action immediate action as soon as possible

because if you don't hear what happens we call it the law of diminishing intent we intend to when the idea strikes us we intend to when the emotion is high but now if you don't translate that into action fairly soon now the intent starts to diminish diminish diminish and a month from now it's cold year from now can't be found so act set up a discipline when the emotions are high and the idea is strong and clear and powerful that's the time to set up the discipline somebody talks about good health and you're stirred right I need to get a book

on nutrition. Get the book before the idea passes and before the emotion gets cold. Go for the book. Start the library. Start the process. Fall on the floor. Do some push-ups. Action. Got to take action. Otherwise, the wisdom is wasted. Otherwise, the emotion soon passes. Unless you put it into a disciplined activity. Capture it. Disciplines is called how to capture the emotion and how to capture the wisdom been translated into equity disciplines. Now here's what's important about disciplines. All disciplines affect each other. In fact here's a good philosophical phrase. Everything affects everything else. Nothing stands alone. Don't be naive in saying, well, this doesn't matter. I'm telling you everything matters. There are some things that matter

more than others, but there isn't anything that doesn't matter. We all pity the man who says, well, this is the only place I let down. Not to True. Key to take home. Every letdown affects the rest of your performance. Every letdown affects the rest. This is part of the educational process on personal development. If you don't take the walk around the block, you probably won't do the apple a day. If you don't do the apple a day, you probably won't consist, you know, start building your library. If you don't build your library, you probably won't keep a journal and you won't take pictures and then you won't do this, you won't do wise things with your money, won't do wise things with your time, won't do wise

things with your possibilities and relationships and the first thing you know six years of that accumulated and we say you have messed up so the whole key to reversing that process now is to start picking up these disciplines now here's the positive side every new discipline affects the rest of your disciplines every new one affects the rest that's why action is so important the least action the smallest action take it because when you start accomplishing and the value starts to return from that one accident will inspire you to do the next one and the next one and the next one You start walking around the block. It'll inspire you to get an apple. Get an apple. It'll inspire you to get a book. Get a book. It'll inspire you to get a journal. Get a journal. It'll inspire you to grow, develop some skills. All disciplines affect each other. Every lack affects the rest. The key is to diminish the lack and set up the new. And you've started a whole new life process. Key. Also, one more thought on discipline. Here's the greatest value of discipline.

self-worth, self-esteem. People are teaching self-esteem these days, but they don't connect it to disciplines. The least lack of discipline, and it starts to erode our psyche. One of the greatest temptations is to just ease up a little bit, right? The slightest lack of doing your best starts to erode the psyche. Instead of doing your best, doing just a little less than your best. Sure enough. You say, well, it's just going to affect my sales. No, it's going to affect your consciousness. It's going to affect your philosophy. Now you've begun in the slightest way to affect your own philosophy. Here's the problem with the least neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. And if you don't take care of it, it becomes a disease. And one neglect leads to another. And the worst of all, when neglect starts. It diminishes our self-worth, our self-confidence, our self-value. You say, well, how can I get back my self-respect? I'm telling you, you don't have to go to 29 classes. All you have to do is start the smallest discipline that now corresponds to your own philosophy

like I should and I could and I will. No longer will I let neglect stack up on me so that I will have the sorry scenario six years from now giving some excuse instead of celebrating my progress. That's the key to discipline. Okay, let's get kids involved in the least of disciplines one more and then one more and then another one and then another one and then some more and the first thing you know you're starting to weave the tapestry of a disciplined life Into which you can pour more wisdom and more attitude and more strong feeling more faith and more courage now you've got something a vessel in which to put it and now the equity start to flow and the early return I'm telling you if you'll start this process the early return will have you so excited, you'll commit yourself to this strategy for the rest of your life. You'll never go back to the old ways. Join a new crowd, join a new group. The disciplines to do it. Take action. Thank you for

tuning in. Continue strengthening your mind by listening to our other episodes.