Skills Make Labor More Valuable by Jim Rohn

As you know by now, if you have been a long time subscriber to our weekly E-zine, I'm a very big proponent of activity, labor and discipline. In fact I devoted one of the five major pieces to the life puzzle (in my book under the same name) to the subject of activity and labor. But now let me add another key word to the labor equation - skillful. Yes, skillful labor.

We need the skills to help build our family's dreams, the skills to stir up an enterprise and make it successful. We need skills to build equities for the future. We need skills of all kinds.

How about this - skillful language. If you just talk to your family you can hold them all together, but if you skillfully talk to your children you can help them build dreams for the future. That is why I spend so much time at the Weekend Seminar on communication - how to affect others with words. You can't be lazy in language - it costs too much. What if you meant to say "what's troubling you?" and instead you said "what's wrong with you?". Wow, that's too big a mistake. And sure you could have made that mistake 10 years ago, but not now. You should have gotten much better by now in language and communication.

Skills multiply labors by two, by five, by ten, by fifty, by one hundred times. Hey, you can chop a tree down with a hammer but it takes about 30 days, called labor. But if you trade the hammer in for an ax, you can chop the tree down in about 30 minutes. What's the difference in 30 days and 30 minutes? Skills. Skills made the difference.

So do what you can - labor. But also do the best that you can do – improved skills. And you will find that the labor combined with skills will start producing miracles. Miracles with your money, miracles with your family and miracles in every part of your life.


To read previous articles and quotes from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine Archives, or to get a complete listing of Jim Rohn's books, audios, videos and seminar schedule, or to place an order; please go to: http://www.JimRohn.com

The World is Speaking, Are You Listening?

The world is constantly communicating with you through feedback. Feedback comes in many forms and it is very helpful in moving you toward your successes, if you choose to respond to it.

Think about feedback as your goals talking back to you. When your actions are not in line with your goals, you will know it by getting results that are not in line with your goals. Your goals are telling you that you have fallen off course.

If you want to have a wonderful supportive relationship but your spouse is angry with you for neglecting your share of the household responsibilities, what do you do? Get mad at your spouse for being upset? Your goal of having a supportive relationship is telling you that you’ve gone off course. To get back on course you listen and take the appropriate action, start helping out around the house!

Therefore, it’s important to note that there really is no such thing as “negative” feedback. Feedback is simply information about your progress, about your course of action, about your abilities and attitudes. It is up to you to interpret this information to help you improve yourself and your situation.

Successful people learn to use feedback to their advantage. They put their awareness on what kind of results they get with certain actions. If the response is good, they continue. If the response is not what they want, they make adjustments. Feedback is that simple, and learning to listen to feedback and respond to feedback will keep you on track to achieve your success.

When feedback is telling you that what you are doing is not working you have a choice as to how you will respond. You can either see it as an opportunity to improve yourself and correct your behavior, or you can see it as the world ganging up on you and insulting you. You can quit trying to reach your goal when feedback keeps telling you what you’re doing isn’t working. You can get mad and criticize it right back. You can simply not listen to the feedback you are getting. But those are not effective ways to respond to the information you want to have guiding you in the appropriate direction!

So how can you become successful in dealing with feedback? The answer is to ask for it and to create a safe space for people to tell you what they are seeing. Don’t be vague about what kind of information you want. Ask for it in specific terms. Ask how you are limiting yourself, how you can improve, and what it will take to get back on course. Don’t be afraid of what you will hear. Once you know the truth, you can set about taking action to improve. Everyone will be better for it.

Make it a habit to ask for feedback!

Even when things appear to be going pretty well, there is always room for improvement. Ask how you can make things even better. When you get feedback, take an honest look at it and see if it rings true with you. Obviously, someone telling you you’re a lazy piece of chopped liver could be feedback that isn’t accurate. However, if ten people tell you you’re a lazy piece of chopped liver, it is probably time to re-evaluate the path you're on.

Learn to recognize feedback for what it is. Trust your gut feeling about things, listen to what others are saying, and look at the results of your actions. Feedback is a powerful tool to keep you on the road to success.


Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at:
www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

The First Step for Getting Better Results by Jim Rohn

How dramatically we can change our results is largely a function of imagination. In 1960, it was a technological impossibility for man to travel into outer space. Within ten years, however, the first man stepped out onto the surface of the moon. The miraculous process of converting the dream into reality began when one voice challenged the scientific community to do whatever was necessary to see to it that America "places a man on the moon by the end of this decade." That challenge awakened the spirit of a nation by planting the seed of possible future achievement into the fertile soil of imagination. With that one bold challenge the impossible became a reality.

- THE SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO EVERY OTHER AREA OF OUR LIFE! -

Can a poor person become wealthy? Of course! The unique combination of desire, planning, effort and perseverance will always work its magic. The question is not whether the formula for success will work, but rather whether the person will work the formula. That is the unknown variable. That is the challenge that confronts us all. We can all go from wherever we are to wherever we want to be. No dream is impossible provided we first have the courage to believe in it.


To read previous articles and quotes from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine Archives, or to get a complete listing of Jim Rohn's books, audios, videos and seminar schedule, or to place an order; please go to: http://www.JimRohn.com

The Person Responsible for Your Success

It’s time to meet the person who has been responsible for the life you live right now.

This person has created your income, your debt, your relationships, your health, your fitness level, your weight, your attitudes and your behaviours. Who is it? To introduce yourself, just walk to the closest mirror and say hello! This person is you!

Although one of the popular myths out there is that "external factors" determine how you live, the truth of the matter is that you are in complete control of the quality of your life.

It’s time to look at the life you’ve created and determine what is working and what is not. Certainly there are wonderful things happening in your life, whether it’s your job, your spouse, your grades, your children, your friends, or your income level.

Congratulate yourself on these successes; you are creating them for yourself! And then take a look at what isn’t working out so well. What are you doing or not doing to create those experiences?

It’s time to stop blaming outside factors for your unhappiness.

When you realize that you create your experiences, you’ll realize that you can un-create them and create new experiences whenever you want. But you must take responsibility for your happiness and your unhappiness, your successes and your failures, your good times and your bad times. When you stop blaming, you can take that energy and redirect to focus on creating a better situation for yourself. Blaming only ties up your energy.

It’s also time to stop complaining.

Look at what you are complaining about. Really examine it. More than likely it is something that you can do something about.

Are you unhappy about something that is happening? Make requests that will make it more desirable to you, or take the steps to change it yourself. Making a change might be uncomfortable to you. It might mean you have to put in more time, money, and effort. It might mean that someone gets upset about it. It might be difficult to change or leave a situation, but staying put is your choice so why continue to complain? Face the facts that you can either do something about it or not. It is your choice and you have responsibility for your choices.

Successful people take 100% responsibility for the thoughts they think, the images that visualize and the actions they take.

They don't waste their time and energy blaming and complaining. They evaluate their experiences and decide if they need to change them or not. They face the uncomfortable and take risks in order to create the life they want to live.

Taking responsibility requires you to first decide to believe that you create all your experiences. Second, to pay attention to yourself, your behavior, and your life experiences. And last, to face the truth and deal with what is not working in your life. You have to be willing to change your behavior if you want a different outcome. You have to be willing to take the risks necessary to get what you want.

Isn’t it a great relief to know that you can make your life what you want it to be? Isn’t it wonderful that your successes do not depend on someone else?

Commit to taking 100% responsibility for your every aspect of your life. Decide to make changes, one step at a time. Once you start the process you’ll discover it is much easier to get what you want by taking control of your thoughts, your visualizations, and your actions!


Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at:
www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com