Many times, I will search for Jim Rohn on youtube –
I love how he puts things in plain English. Easy to understand language. He does not mince words. I never got the privilege to see him live but the first Jim Rohn tape I owned is at the end of this post.
Jim Rohn (17. September 1930 – 05. Dezember 2009)
(transcribed from the above video)
I got rich by the time I was 31. Here is the best advice I can give my teenage friends.
IT WAS EASY!!
What can I tell you? It was hard? NOOOO! IT WAS EASY!!
I'm a millionaire by 31.
Let me tell you how I did it.
I've got 3 reasons why I got rich by the time I was 31.
Let me give you those – here's Number One
I lived in America. I mean how lucky can you get?
America is easy.
That's why everybody wants to come here.
People haven't plotted and schemed for 50 years saying if I could just get to Poland everything will be okay – Nooooo!
The boat people are not desperately trying to get to Vietnam. No.
They are not squeezing through the fence to try to get into Mexico. No.
Neil Diamond says – Looks like everybody's heading for (pause)
They're all coming to America. Why, everybody wants to come here. By every means possible to get here. Why? Cause America is easy. So if you go home with anything, go home with that.
Mr. Rohn reminded us that America is easy. He got rich by the time he was 31. America is easy.
Bangledesh is hard. Just take that home.
Here's the average yearly income in Bangledesh. $120 dollars. That would be… hard.
Tell me Hard versus easy. So America is easy.
Cambodia would be Hard
The Khmer Rouge killed 2 million Cambodians to make communism work. That's Hard
America is easy.
India would be Hard
They got their challenges these days — tough.
America is easy
China would be really hard underline really and make a study it's hard
America is easy
And now in about 90 days you can have that memorized.
That's all you need. I got rich by the time I was 31. I lived in America. America is easy
Now here is #2.
I found an opportunity.
That's all you've got to do in America -search for opportunity. Take the first one, try it. If that isn't it it leads to another. One door closes, another one opens. That's what's exciting about America. It's full of opportunity.
A chance to try and then what? Try again and then what? Try again? Never. Never. Run out of opportunities to Try. See if you can't better your life and your health and your future your bank account and your income – Make your fortune here.
I lived in America Number One
Found an Opportunity Number Two
Here's Number Three – I found a teacher.
What a grand and glorious, unique thing that was for me at that time of my life. I found a teacher willing to teach me. And his teaching came in two parts – here's what it was. Very simple.
Number One: Mr. Rohn, you have evidently MESSED UP – between ages 19 and 25
Now I can understand that. But he didn't leave me there.
He said, Now here is the answers on how to change it all – the next 6 years. So that the next 6 years won't be like the last 6. What an incredible teacher. Taught me how to have a whole brand new 6 years.
First 6, what? I MESSED UP.
Second 6 what? I GOT IT RIGHT!
Second 6 years I became a millionaire.
During that Second 6 years the government was about the same.
I'm telling you.
Interest rates were about what? The Same
Pay scale was about what? The Same
Lord knows my negative relatives were? The Same
Circumstances were about? The Same
The economy was about? The Same
The unions and their philosophy was about? The Same
What was going on around me was about? The Same
How come I got rich those Second 6 years?
I WAS NOT THE SAME.
I had changed.
Well, Mr. Rohn, if you can do that, can anybody do it.
Yes. I invite you on that journey.
Anytime you want to.
You can stay the same so that the next 6 years can be like the last 6. Take a look at the last 6 years. And I'm telling you the next 6 years of your life is going to be like the last 6 unless you want to count on this short list we call the Not Much list.
Most everybody is counting on this Not Much list.
What if all your negative relatives turned positive?
What would that do for your future and your fortune?
What?
Not Much, Not Much
What if prices came down a little? Not Much
If the economy gets better? Not Much
Now that the Democrats are in power what's that going to do for you're future? Not Much
If the Republicans were to stay in power what would that do? Not Much
I'm telling you it's the Not Much list.
If you don't make plans of your own, guess what?
You'll probably always fit into someone else's plans.
Guess what someone else may have planned for you? Not Much
Then what's going to make the difference?
You're going to have to make the difference.
You're going to have to take charge.
My teacher gave me a promise and I want to give you that promise now.
Here was the promise I got and I bring it to you.
If you will change, everything will change for you.
You don't have to change the government, you don't have to change prices, you don't have to change taxes, forget all that.
He said if you will change, everything will change for you.
And the first thing you start changing is what? Your philosophy.
You start changing your mind. You start changing how you think. You start picking up new ideas and information. Gather new knowledge. Make better decisions about what's valuable.
And I'm telling you if you do that your whole life will change.
Your health will change.
Your relationship with your family will change.
Your ability to cope with challenges problems and problems and will change.
I'm telling you.
Income.
Promotions.
All of it will change. If you will change. It will all change.
If you won't change it isn't going to change.
You can keep your fingers crossed if you want to and hope that it'll straighten out.
You can wish for the wind not to blow quite as severe but I'm telling you –wishing for the wind to change in your favor we call naive at best. Don't do this any longer wish for a better wind. The key is to wish for the wisdom to set a better sail. Utilize whatever wind that blows to take you wherever you want to go. That is the philosophy I picked up at age 25 and it revolutionized my whole life.
And here's what I found. I found it was easy.
I got rich by the time I was 31 and it was easy.
Now, here's my definition of easy. Gotta jot this down.
My definition of easy meaning— something I could do.
I figure if it's something you can do it's — easy.
Now here is the parentheses. Parentheses – I worked hard at it.
I found something I could do which was easy but I worked hard at it.
I got up early and stayed up late worked hard that 6 years but what I did was easy– meaning it was something I can do.
You say, well Mr Rohn, if it was so easy how come everybody else around you during that 6 years, how come they didn't get rich.
Here's why. It's easy NOT to.
How else would you describe it? That's it.
You say no, no– for all the rest of them – it was hard for them and it was easy for you. That's not true. You couldn't debate me on that in front of this intelligent audience.
But here's the challenge. Let me give it to you in the philosophical phrase. I tend to be a little philosophical – here it is.
The things that are easy to do are also easy NOT to do.
That's the difference between success and failure.
So, you've got the choice here today of one of two Easy's – “easy to” or what? “Easy not to.”
I can give you in one sentence how I got rich by the time I was 31. Here it is in one sentence.
I did not neglect to do the easy things I could do every day for 6 years. Underline.
I did not neglect. That's the key.
I found something easy I could do that led to fortune and I did not neglect to do it.
Major reason for not having everything you want in America. Major reason for not having more of what you want in America. More health, more money, more power, more influence, more everything. Major reason why you don't get it.
Simple answer. Neglect. Neglect.
And here is the problem with neglect – it starts as an infection.
And if you don't take care of it – it becomes a disease.
And here is what else is the problem – one neglect leads to another.
Neglect to do wise things with your money you will probably neglect to do wise things with your time.
Neglect to do wise things with your time you will probably neglect to do wise things with your business.
One leads to another leads to another.
Pretty soon Neglect has you by the throat – emptying your purse, emptying your heart emptying all of your chances for equities and power and all the good things.
Neglect.
What if you should be walking around the block every day for your good health and you don't. I'm telling you you're on the wrong track. You should do it you could do it you don't do it – that's called formula for disaster.
All you've got to do is let that and a few other things accumulate for 6 years and now you're driving what you don't want to drive, wearing what you don't want to wear, living where you don't want to live, doing what you don't want to do. Maybe having become what you really didn't want to become.
I'm telling you that's it just neglect along, drift along and it's got you by the throat.
It'll take all your values, leave you with just a little bit of dust in a summer wind and it'll soon be gone.
I hope I said that well.
That's it. That's where I found myself at age 25 until my teacher came along and said Mr. Rohn, up till now, you've messed up. Let's see if we can't clean that up, change it all.
I did.
Change my life… not just the money.
All the rest of the values that came pouring in. When I understood that it was me.
It was me.
So, take the easy approach. This stuff's easy to figure out. Getting rich is easy. I teach it to teenagers.
How to be rich by 40. 35 if you're extra bright.
The stuff is not difficult. I love to teach kids enterprise.
If you liked that transcription of this audio/video of Jim Rohn on Youtube – you might like the first Jim Rohn audiobook I ever had on cassette tape over 25 years ago. Warning: This one is over 4 hours long. Lots of golden nuggets in this gem.
