SUCCESS IS EASY, BUT SO IS NEGLECT
by Jim Rohn
People
often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time
while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The
things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I
found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it
easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my
thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to
attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful
people. They said it probably really wouldn't matter. If I had to sum
it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy
not to do. Six years later, I'm a millionaire and they are all still
blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they
neglected to do the basic, easy things.
In
fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they
could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.
It
is not the lack of money - banks are full of money. It is not the lack
of opportunity - America, and much of the Free World, continues to
offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six
thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books –
libraries are full of books - and they are free! It is not the schools
- the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of
ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.
Everything
we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is
within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all
that we have is, simply, neglect.
Neglect
is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our
entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete
breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.
Not
doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and
guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence
diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity
diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer,
our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow
shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even
more...and on and on it goes.
So
my suggestion is that when given the choice of "easy to" and "easy not
to," you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, "easy," but
potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
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