I am so excited to share with you the wonderful words of wisdom from personal development legend Jim Rohn that changed my life, and let you know how these powerful quotes can change your life too.
We are very fortunate to live at a time when we do not have to travel to the other side of the world to see a great personal development trainer or mentor. We have at our fingertips all the resources that we need to change our lives by way of books, videos, eBooks and audio programs. But remember, all the wonderful information in the world will never help us if we do not read, listen or watch this material and then put that knowledge into our daily habits.
1. Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
I love to read motivational and inspiring quotes. I love how some quotes just resonate with me and a voice in my head says, “YES!” This is one of the reasons why I started the Facebook Pages Motivational Daily Quotes and Your Positive Oasis. I realized the power and positive effect that quotes could have. I wanted to inspire people during their day and indeed their lives. I wanted people to start having more belief in themselves, in their dreams, and also to take more action to achieve their dreams.
But motivation alone is never enough; we can have the best of intentions to achieve our goals, but without taking the necessary action, our dreams will remain just dreams. We must be careful not to fall into the trap of convincing our subconscious mind that we are living the life of our dreams, when we really should be taking more action. The first lesson that I learned from Jim Rohn was to make action a habit. From eating well everyday, exercising three times a week, reading 30 minutes every day, watching less television, and listening or watching more personal development material.
The lesson here is habit. After writing out a list of my short, medium and long-term goals it was clear to me what habits I needed to start and also what negative habits that I needed to stop. Once you start by incorporating a few positive habits into your life and you start seeing the results, you can then add more and more habits into your life. Motivation alone will only last so long, positive daily habits can last a lifetime.
2. Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.
Disciplines are the positive daily actions that you decide to do that will take your life to another level. Many people believe that personal development and success are more complicated than they really are. Most of us already know what actions we should be taking; it is just that most people are not disciplined. I learned from Jim Rohn that your mind-set and beliefs were also disciplines. When I started to have more belief in myself, and be a more positive person the better my life became. Disciplines are the actions that you take (both physically and mentally) that will help to turn your life around.
3. Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom.
For a long time I felt inspired and on the right track by just reading my goals and motivational material every day. I hoped that the answers to how I would change my life would almost come magically to me. Jim really opened my eyes with this wonderful quote. Having dreams and wishes are great, once they are the right kind of dreams and wishes. Don’t just hope for the job, car, house or life of your dreams. Instead, hope for the strength in yourself to take action and the knowledge that you will need to help you achieve your goals.
4. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
I have a long list of personal goals written at the back of my journal. I love to read them every morning and every night. But I have learned the hard way and the long way that it is my daily disciplines that help me achieve my goals that I have written and not just reading them. Discipline is the magic ingredient between setting a goal and achieving a goal. This quote helped me realize that I need to break down every goal into action steps/disciplines.
5. Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
How many of us wish much of our lives away by thinking “I will be happy when I get the job of my dreams”, or “I will be happy when I live in a beautiful house by the beach”, or “I will be happy when I earn $100,000 a year.” Yes, these might be your goals for the future, and they might give you some happiness. But why wait for the future? You have so many reasons now to be happy and be grateful. You have a roof over your head, food on your table, great friends, and perhaps even a loving partner. There are so many reasons why you should be really happy with your life right now! So many reasons to be grateful. Why not start each day by writing down three things that you are grateful for. This is a wonderful habit to start.
6. You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.
Many of us want to achieve our goals now, or even yesterday. We do not want to put ourselves through the journey that we must take to achieve our goals. If we only realized that there are so many amazing rewards along the way while we achieve our goals and dreams we would jump right in and enjoy the journey. I learned to break down long term goals into smaller exciting goals. When I did this, I went from believing, “I could never do that” to thinking, “yes, I could easily accomplish that.” By breaking your goals down, changing some habits, and just getting started will help you reach your long term goals and dreams.
7. The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.
The lessons that you will learn along the way while you achieve your goals can more often than not be much more rewarding than achieving the actual goals themselves. The good habits that you started, the knowledge that you acquired, the people that you met, and the personal discoveries that you had along the way.
8. When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it.
When you are totally honest with yourself, and you are totally committed and excited to achieving your goals, you will start the daily habits, find the necessary resources, and work with the right people that will help you achieve your goals. You will meticulously plan your exciting journey to achieve whatever you want to achieve in life. But remember, you have to really want it bad enough!
9. Take care of your body. It’s the only place where you have to live.
The foods that you eat and the exercise that you take will help to give you the vitality that you will need to live the life of your dreams. The knowledge that you acquire through books, videos and audio programs will give you the wisdom necessary to set the kind of goals and action plans to get you there.
I have listed the 9 great Jim Rohn quotes that helped to change my mindset and indeed my life. I hope that you will take action today and start working on your goals, your habits and start to live the life of your dreams.
Believe in yourself, believe in your dreams, take action today. Damien Thomas
