The world lost another great soul this week with the passing of one of the father’s of Personal Development – Jim Rohn. This year we have lost a few legends, Michael Jackson in the world of music, Patrick Swayze in the world of acting and now Jim Rohn.

I remember when I first came across this legend – I was reading a book about how to make money in property and the author had, as his first chapter, an excert about success from Jim Rohn. I don’t remember learning anything about property investing from that book but I’m still grateful I came across the book because I came across Jim Rohn – and he started affecting me with principles that I’d never heard of.

I remember some years later attending a Tony Robbins conference which was life altering in many ways – and I was stunned to hear that Jim Rohn was the “big man’s” first mentor. This week, Robbins along with anyone else involved with personal development is mourning the loss of a great soul. In honour of his passing, I have included one of my favourite videos and then some of the quotes that have impacted me the most below:

Some of Jim Rohn’s Quotes that have had a great impact on me – and my comments

“Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion” – So many times we affirm something, we say we are going to lose weight, we say we are going to start the business, we say we are going to inject more passion into our relationship… and yet a few days, weeks or months later, the inspiration is gone, the desire dead. Why? It’s because to achieve anything requires discipline. Discipline to work out, discipline to say no to the chocolate cake, discipline to make those phone calls every day, discipline to email your list, discipline to practise your presentation. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Yet many of us are unwilling and that is why for many of us, our dreams will remain just that, dreams that were never realised.

Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.

This quote is what changed my business completely – from struggling to successful. For years, I could not understand why people would not give me money when I was struggling. I felt I was a good person and I deserved a break – so why wouldn’t anybody give me one? Then I realised that I needed to bring my skill to the marketplace. Once I realised that I went to work on developing my skills and then selling my skills – and the moment I started doing that my whole life changed. Money came but more importantly, I started to enjoy life a lot more. Life is definitely more enjoyable when you are working on your passions and skills everyday. What skills could you work on to increase your income?

Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.

Whenever I feel like complaining, I remind myself of this quote. We cannot control the strength of the struggle, we can only improve our only strength and skill. So when things out there got tough, I stopped complaining and instead I started to work harder on myself. The harder things got, the harder I worked on me and eventually the struggles disappeared but my new found skills did not. In fact, by working on me to overcome my struggles, I became a far greater person of value than if it had not been for my struggles. As someone said, Golliath was the greatest thing that happened to David. Without him, David was just a shepherd boy but with Golliath, David became a Giant Slayer. What struggle are you complaining about that you could instead use as motivation to become someone greater than you thought possible?

IT is not too expensive. The problem is YOU cannot afford it.

This quote was like a complete kick up the backside for me! It was true! Somebody could afford “it” (whatever “it” was at the time) – I just had to become one of those people. Again, time to stop complaining and get into action. When people started complaing about house prices being too high, I realised that it was not the fault of the houses. The houses did not choose their prices. It was my fault for not being able to afford it – after all I could change, I could grow. As Mr Rohn said, “If you don’t like your situation, change it! You’re not a tree!”

There can be no new life without labour

“Ask any mother,” Mr Rohn said when I had the pleasure of hearing him live one evening in Sydney, Australia. He said, “Nature has all the wisdom we’ll ever need, if we’ll listen”. I am still trying to listen And hopefully I’m getting a little better but I do know that nothing we want will ever be achieved without hard work. However, with hard work, discipline and some education, over time there is nothing we cannot achieve – Absolutely NOTHING!

Thank you for sharing your philosophy with us Mr Rohn – R.I.P

(If you have been impacted by Mr Rohn or you have a favourite quote of his, please share your thoughts with me by leaving a comment below and let’s all build the legacy of the legend that was Jim Rohn)