We continually complicate our own lives. We spread ourselves too thin, procrastinate, second-guess ourselves, make mountains out of molehills, ignore important things, pay attention to all the wrong things, fall prey to mindless distractions, listen to the wrong people, and engage in relativity.
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I certainly have fallen prey to these evils throughout my career. And although I could certainly tell when I was engaging in some of these complications, it took listening to a master who seemed to be watching my every move and reaching in to my soul, to finally drive home the need to get Back to Basics. Although I never met him in person, Jim Rohn was arguably the most influential person I have ever heard, and he assailed these evils constantly and elegantly.
BACK TO BASICS
If you have ever listened to the teachings of Jim Rohn, or were fortunate enough to be one of 5 million people to have seen him in person (Mr. Rohn passed away in 2009), you know that his elemental message is one of Basics and Fundamentals. So I present to you the truth about Getting Back to Basics, Jim Rohn style.
- Don’t Major in Minor Things - There are only a handful of things that truly make a difference in any area of life that you can think of. There aren’t a hundred, not even a dozen. Just a few, 5 or 6, that have the most impact on your life, whether it is your career, your physical health, your marriage or family relationships, or your finances. Find them, constantly refine them, and focus on them.
- Don’t Neglect – Once you figure out the major things, the handful of truly impacting things in each area of your life, then do them. Don’t neglect them. If you SHOULD do something, and you CAN do something, but you DON’T do something, that’s a formula for disaster.
- Life is About Basic Truths - Truth is truth, unchanging, never wavering,. Old. There is no such thing as a new truth (“That phrase doesn’t even make sense!” Jim Rohn used to say). There may be a new way to apply it for the 21st century, but truth is old. If someone comes along and says to you, “Come see my new factory, we’re manufacturing antiques. Take a look at how we do it”, you’d say, “No! That makes no sense! Antiques are – old!”, just like Truths. Figure out the Basic Truths and live them, because once you know them, you know them.
- Don’t Just Get THROUGH the Day, Get FROM the Day - Many people are just trying to get by. They can’t wait for the 5 o’clock whistle, always looking ahead to Friday. They barely get through the day. Why not change your outlook and philosophy, and instead, get as much as you can FROM the day? There is much to be gotten, but it won’t happen unless you are focused on getting, instead of just getting by.
- Be a Lifelong Student - Jim Rohn constantly talked about skills, building a library, becoming a voracious reader, and spending time with successful people to learn from them, and even learning from failure. The Back to Basic message here is that we should never stop learning. For the rest of our lives, we should dedicate ourselves to Personal Development, Growth and Evolution.
The beauty and power of Jim Rohn’s Back to Basics message is its elegant simplicity. No long, rambling, complicated, mantras or new age relativity. Just pure, elemental, unchanging essentials. Classic. Jim Rohn style. His teachings have changed my life.
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Jim Rohn is a legend. I really like how he talks about being a life long learner. This is so important when it comes to leading and living. Great post!!!
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