You encounter a plethora of ideas every day, but most of them probably go by unnoticed. That’s why you need to develop the ability to absorb. Be like a sponge. Don’t miss anything. Don’t miss the words. Don’t miss the atmosphere. Don’t miss the color. Don’t miss the scenario. Don’t miss what’s going on.
Most people are just trying to get through the day. Here’s what I (Jim Rohn) want you to be committed to doing: learn to get from the day. Learn from it. Let the day teach you. Attend the University of Life. What a difference that will make in your future. Commit yourself to learning. Commit yourself to absorbing.
We all need a good library.Mr. Shoaff got me (Jim Rohn) started on mine. Here’s one of the books he recommended: Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. Shoaff asked me, “Doesn’t that title intrigue you?” Think and Grow Rich. Who wouldn’t need that book? I found it in a used book store and paid less than fifty cents for it… and I’ve still got it. It’s one of my most valued treasures.
You can start this process of developing a library like I did. Here’s a mind-set to guide you as you begin: your library needs to show that you’re a serious student of life, health, spirituality, culture, uniqueness, sophistication, economics, prosperity, productivity, sales, management, skills, and values of all kinds. Let your library show you’re a serious student.
Let me (Jim Rohn) share with you two of the best sources of information available. First, there are your own experiences. Become a good student of your own life. It’s the information you are most familiar with and feel the strongest about, so make your own life one of your most important studies.
In studying your own life, be sure to study the negative as well as the positive, your failures as well as your successes. Our so-called failures serve us well when they teach us valuable information. They’re frequently better teachers than our successes.
The consistent, disciplined, purposeful, constant search for knowledge: it’s where the life-changing ideas are. Pursue knowledge with high expectations. Spend the money, time, and effort. They are all investments, but the payoff is so great it’s hard to compare the cost to the reward.
First is the money. I (Jim Rohn) have a great suggestion. Set up an educational fund for the programs, the books, the lectures, the seminars, and the videos you need for a constant flow of ideas and inspiration. Take a portion of your income each month and set it aside to invest in the search for knowledge. Remember, the best money spent is the money spent to cultivate the genius of your own mind and spirit. Make sure you don’t spend more for frivolous comforts and conveniences than you do for education. The money is a small price. The promise is unlimited potential.
Ideas can change your life. And sometimes all you need is just one more good idea in a series of good ideas. It’s like dialing the numbers of a combination lock. After you’ve dialed five or six numbers, the lock may not come open. But you probably don’t need five or six more numbers. Maybe you need just one more number, one more idea. Maybe a seminar or a sermon can provide it. The lyrics from a song could do it. The dialogue from a movie could do it. Conversation with a friend might do it. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you’ll find that one last idea you need.
Once you find that idea, the lock comes open, and there’s the door for you to walk through. Just one more idea, no matter where you get it, may be all you need to open that door of opportunity.
If you want your life to change, here’s the source of it all: ideas plus inspiration. The good news is, ideas are not that far away. I (Jim Rohn) have got an excellent phrase for you to consider, one that will serve you well for the rest of your life: everything you need is within reach. The ideas you need for life change or business change are within “reading reach.”
In fact, there’s probably a library not too far from you. The problem is, most people pass by libraries; very few walk in. Andrew Carnegie set up all these libraries across the country thinking everybody would stop in. But no, almost everybody drives right on by. Do you know how many people own a library card in the United States? Three percent. And guess how much they cost? Nothing.
The Irish poet William Butler Yeats once wrote a poem describing some of the unfortunate characteristics of the modern world. One of the things Yeats noticed was that malevolent people seem to have the most energy, while good people become discouraged and doubtful of their own abilities.
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with a passionate intensity”–those are the words Yeats used.
It’s true that we can look around and see all sorts of things happening that we might wish were not happening and people doing things that we might not admire. When we see that taking place, it’s easy to start thinking, “What’s the use? What hope do I really have? Why don’t I give up on all the things I’ve been trying to accomplish and just start taking it easy?”
Wouldn’t you prefer a life of productivity rather than a life of endless tasks with little accomplishment? Of course! When you carefully set your goals and keep them at the forefront of you mind, you can work smarter instead of working longer. You’ll know that a life worth living comes from a life of balance.
In order to maintain that balance, here’s a key technique that you can use in your life to help keep you on the right track. This technique is called “visual chain thinking.”
