here's the big challenge of life you can have more than you've got because you can become more than you are that's the challenge and of course the other side of the coin reads unless you change how you are you'll always have what you got I have found in my experience that income does not far exceed personal development now sometimes income takes a lucky jump but sure enough unless you grow out where it is it'll usually come back where you are life has strange ways if somebody hands you a million dollars best you become a millionaire
quickly so you get to keep the money otherwise sure enough it'll disappear somebody once said if you took all the money in the world divided it up equally among everybody it would soon all be back in the same pockets incredible success is something you attract not something you pursue success is looking for a good place to stay so instead of going after it you work on yourself personal development see the major question to ask on the job is not what are you getting the major question to ask on the job is what are you becoming
- the big question is not what am I getting paid here the big question is what am i becoming here because true happiness is not contained in what you get happiness is contained in what you become so that's our major subject for tonight personal development of all the assignments mr. chef gave me at age 25 this was probably the most difficult in fact I'm still working on this one I think it's an unending challenge to see what you can become the next subject is called basic laws and it's good to study the basics and I
call these basics primarily because they come from the Bible now I'm not a theologian or a minister and that'll be a parent but mr. shelf taught me that the Bible was a good textbook for ideas and stories and success equations how to live the better life I found out that was true he also taught me that the Bible is as practical as it is spiritual and I found out that's true if you look at your bank account and your income and you're not happy there's several places in the Bible to check to see what the
heck's wrong so you can make the changes and we're gonna cover some of those tonight called basics okay the next subject is my favorite setting goals mister shelf taught me how to set goals what a favor that was one morning at breakfast shortly after I met him he said Jim let me see your current list of goals and let's go over him and talk about him he said maybe that's the best way I can help you get a better direction started and I said I don't have a list he said well is it out in
the car or at home somewhere I said no sir I don't have a list anywhere he said well young man that's where we got to start he said I can tell you right now if you don't have a list of your goals with you he said I can guess your bank balance within a few hundred dollars which he did and that got my attention I said you mean my bank balance would change if I had a list of goals he said drastically that day I became a willing student how to set goals and sure enough
learning how to set goals changed my life and I often wondered why no one had ever taught me how to set goals up until age 25 I went to high school but if they offered it I missed it I went to college for a year never heard it I work for Sears really and to my knowledge Sears never taught it right how to set goals so here I am age 25 married my family starting I've been to college I'm working and I still don't know how to set goals but fortunately when I was 25 I
met the man who taught me how and it revolutionized my whole life economically socially personally it's incredible so I want to share with you tonight what mr. Show shared with me how to set goals it can be a life changer okay the next subject is the negative part of the seminar life is part negative so we got to talk about the negative and this subject is called diseases of attitude diseases of attitude there's a lot of things that can wreck your chances to do well we live in a rather dangerous world so you got to
be not only wise you got to be careful now attitude diseases are just as bad as physical diseases right high blood pressure heart trouble I mean a lot of things lace your chances to do well so you've got to be careful and attitude diseases are deadly I mean they'll destroy all the good things you start okay so we'll go through those attitude diseases how to spot them how to look for them what they are and and the cure and I'm a pearl on these because I've had them all so I can give you excellent advice
on these now the last subject we're going to consider tonight is called the day that turns your life around the day that turns your life around and under this subject we're going to talk about the emotions that can change your life human beings are emotional creatures and emotions are powerful for life change now of course the emotions are so powerful they can go either way on you the emotions can either build or destroy so you really have to employ emotions properly we call civilization the intelligent management of human emotions if you can intelligently apply your
emotions in the right direction no telling what can happen could turn your life around one day would be sufficient so we'll talk about those okay now that's a lot to cover in one evening but we'll keep at it here and see if we can't get it all done I'd like to have you now jot down the theme of the seminar every seminar should have a theme I guess we've got one it's on some of our literature if you happen to notice it but if you didn't for your notes here it is the theme of the
seminar goes like this the major key to your better future [Music] is you that's the theme of our seminar tonight the major key to your better future is you and I'd like to have younger line to words just to give it some added punch underline the word major and the word you so that it reads the major key to your better future is you now my first suggestion is transfer this to a card or something where you can put it up where you can see it every day preferably put it up where you can see
it at the beginning of the day before you go off to put the day together this is a good phrase just to glance at to keep in mind as you're putting the day together it's called the silent seminar if you'll just let this talk to you during the day I found it to be tremendously helpful the major key to your better future is you for a big share of my life now I didn't have this one quite figured out among a lot of things I didn't have quite figured out many things just to puzzle me
back in those early days I used to wonder why two people could work for the same company one make twice as much money now see that used to puzzle me and maybe they were the same age graduated from the same school live in the same community work for the same company with the same products in the same services they've got the same traffic the same problems and one makes a thousand a month the other one makes two thousand a month now that was my puzzling question why would this long list be the same and the
money twice as much I asked what's the difference between a thousand a month and two thousand a month and I don't mean a thousand a month right I could figure that out but what what makes the difference why would one person do twice as well three times as well speaking economically now I know there's more than one way to do well I understand that but in this little narrow area called compensation what's the difference well back then with my faulty thinking I'm trying to reason it out I thought well maybe time makes some of the
difference right some people do better because they have more time I used to say Harold ought to be able to do well he's got a lot of time if I had all of Harold's time I could do well now that's got to be done right number one you can't get somebody else's time a guy says to me one time he says you know if I had some extra time I could make some extra money I said then forget it there isn't any extra time hey when the clock strikes 12:00 midnight that about wraps it up
right I mean you can look around the gong here for a little more but it's over you say to the guy what are you doing he said I'm looking for extra time see they'll come and take you away right there isn't any more time now if you can't get more time which you can't what could you get more of that would make a difference in economic results and here's the key word make it a part of your notes we're going to consider it tonight the word is value and I have a little phrase for your
notes value makes the difference in results value makes the difference you can't get more time but you can create more value now here's the first lesson of economics everybody should learn it from the time they're old enough to understand what a dollar means how to earn one how to get one how to keep one what to do with it first lesson of economics we primarily get paid for value that's lesson one bringing value to the marketplace that's how you get paid you don't get paid for the time I know it takes time to bring value
to the marketplace but you get paid for the value not the time now since that's true here's one of the key questions of the evening is it possible to become twice as valuable at the marketplace and make twice as much money in the same time could you become three times as valuable make three times as much money in the same time is that possible the answer is yes if and it's always if right life is known as the big if Harry Truman once said life is iffy how true and here's the big if we're gonna
consider it tonight it's possible to do much better at the marketplace if you go to work primarily on yourself and that's the theme of our seminar tonight learning to work primarily on yourself people have asked me for the last 24 years how do you develop and above average income and the answer is become an above-average person develop an above-average handshake some people want to be successful they don't even work on their handshake as easy as that would be to start on they let it slide they don't understand develop an above-average smile develop an above-average excitement
develop an above-average interest in other people develop an above-average intensity to win see that'll change everything probably one of the most frustrating experiences in life is looking for an above-average job with above-average pay without becoming an above-average person it's called frustration and mr. shelf gave me probably the greatest clue he gave me when I first met him he said Jim if you want to be wealthy and happy the rest of your life just learn this lesson well he said learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job then mr. shelf gave me
probably one of the most important clues among so many things he taught me but this was in those early days mr. shelf is very kind but he was also very abrupt and he had these interesting questions to ask I'm giving him a little run day run down one day on how things hadn't worked out for me he said mr. ona I've got the answer for you if you will listen carefully and listen carefully I did that day and for the next five years if somebody's wealthy and happy it got a list he said Jim I've
only known you a short time but he said it's already my honest opinion that for things to change for you you've got to change that wasn't quite the answer I was looking for but that's the answer he gave me and I pass it along to you on this warm summer evening in Anaheim California 1981 for things to change for you you've got to change otherwise it isn't going to change before I met mr. shelf I used to say I sure hope things will change right that seemed to be my only hope if it isn't going
to change I'm in serious trouble and then I discovered it isn't gonna change so I'm in serious trouble [Music] see I can tell you what the 80s are gonna be like you have dropped into the right place I did a seminar one time for standard oil executives and management in Honolulu and we're having a conference one day on this big conference table and one of them said to me mr. Owen you know some fairly important people halfway around the world what do you think the eighties are gonna be like I said gentlemen I do know
the right people I can tell you so they all listen very carefully and I said gentlemen based on my wide experience I can really honestly say to you in my opinion in the 80s it's gonna be about like it's always been aren't you glad you came that's inside I don't pass that around just everywhere now of course I said that to make a point but I also said it because it's accurate it's gonna be about like it's always been it isn't gonna change the tide comes in and then what it goes out for six and
a half thousand years that we know of recorded history and probably long before that so it is not going to change it gets light and then what it turns dark six and a half thousand years see it's not likely to change and we're not to be startled by that if the sun goes down on the guys what's happened what's happened it means he hasn't been here long I guess right it always goes down about this time the guy says well I don't like that arrangement well you got to talk to somebody besides me right it
gets light then it turns dark in rotation the next season after fall is what winter pray tell how often does winter follow fall every year regularly for the last six-and-a-half thousand that we know of see it is not going to change now some winters are long and some are short and some are hard and some are easy but they always come right after Falls it isn't gonna change sometimes you can figure it out sometimes there's no way to figure it out sometimes it goes well sometimes it gets in a knot sometimes it sails along sometimes
it gets in reverse see that's not gonna change the last 6,000 years reads like this opportunity mixed with difficulty that's how it reads it isn't gonna change the man says well if it isn't gonna change how will my life ever change answer when you change and whether I'm talking to high school kids or business executives my message is always the same and it goes like this the only way it gets better for you is when you get better let me give you the four major lessons in life to learn here's four majors it's good to
study the majors in our weekend seminar we teach some people don't do well because they major in minor things you've got to be on the lookout at the end of every weekend of every month you got to check make sure you're not spending major time on minor things if we go through that whole series majors and minors now let me give you two phrases before we get to the four majors this will set it up and you'll see where I'm going two key phrases for your notes here's the first word life and business is like
the changing seasons that's the first phrase life and business is like the changing seasons one of the best ways to describe life it's like the seasons Frank Sinatra sings life is like the seasons now here's the second phrase very important you cannot change the seasons but you can change yourself you can't change the seasons but you can change yourself and see that's how life gets better for you not by chance but by change now here's the four major lessons in life to learn I've got my first book finished came out a couple of weeks ago
this is in it the four major lessons in life to learn here they are number one learn how to handle the winters that's lesson one they come right after Falls with regularity some are long and some are short and some are hard and some are easy but they keep coming you must learn to handle the nights they come right after days you must learn to handle difficulty it comes right after opportunity you must learn to handle recessions they always follow progressions for the last six thousand C it isn't gonna change the lesson you must learn
is how to handle it and there's all kinds of winters right the winter when you can't figure it out the winter when it all go smash the winter when it turns belly up the winter when it won't work when you've run out of money and you've got a broken heart see those are winter times there's all kinds economic winters social winters personal winters when your heart is smashed in a thousand pieces and the nights are unusually long your players seem to go no higher than your head it's wintertime barbra streisand sings it used to be
so natural to talk about forever but used to bees don't count anymore they just lay on the floor till we sweep them away you don't sing me love songs and you don't say you need me and you don't bring me flowers anymore a song of winter let's see the disappointments come those are normal that's part of life but the question is how do you handle it how do you handle the coming winters and the disappointments and the down times well you can't get rid of January by tearing it off the calendar but here's what you
can do you can get stronger you can get wiser and you can get better the winters won't change but you can and that's how life changes for you see before I understood when it was winter I used to wish it was summer I didn't understand when it was hard I used to wish it was easy I didn't know and then mr. chef gave me a part of his very unique philosophy when he said don't wish it was easier wish you were better see that triggered my whole life change don't wish for less problems wish for
more skills don't wish for less challenge wish for more wisdom that's the key so that's lesson one learn how to handle the winters here's lesson to learn how to take advantage of the spring that's the second one spring is called opportunity and spring follows winter what a great place for it if you were going to put it somewhere that'd be the place to put it right after winter and pray tell how often does spring fall Oh winter every year with regularity 6000 you can almost count on it see opportunity always comes days follow nights isn't
that terrific opportunity follows difficulty but here's what you must learn to do underline these two words in that key phrase take advantage underline those two you must learn to take advantage of the spring see just because spring rolls around is no sign you're gonna look good come fall you got to do something with it in fact you have to get good at one of two things in life planting in the spring or begging in the fall or get somebody to do it for you see those are about the only alternatives now here's what else you
must do take advantage of the springs quickly because there's only a few just a handful of Springs have been handed to each of us they don't come forever life is fairly brief so you got to read every book you can get your hands on and what to do with your Springs while they're here and take advantage they soon run out the Beatles wrote life is so short and for John Lennon it was extra short but life is brief Elton John's sings she lived her life like a candle in the wind it's brief so whatever you're
gonna do with your life you got to get at it don't just let the springs pass pass pass here's the third major lesson life to learn learn how to protect your crops all summer you got to take care of what you start sure enough as soon as you've planted your garden in the spring the busy bugs and the noxious weeds are out to take it and here's the next bit of truth they will take it unless you prevent it and that's the third major skill to learn you've got to learn to prevent the intruder from
taking all the good you start it's one of the challenges here's two key phrases on the number three first one all good will be attacked on this planet maybe not the next one we get two but on this one all good will be attacked every garden will be invaded not to think so is naive and here's the second phrase all values must be defended political values social values community values family values marriage values friendship values business values every garden must be tended all summer third major lesson now here's number four fourth major lesson in life
to learn learn how to reap in the fall without complaint learn the reap come harvest time without complaint take full responsibility for what happens to you it's one of the highest forms of human maturity accepting full responsibility it's the day you know you've passed from childhood to adulthood the day you accept full responsibility and another note learn to reap in the fall without apology without apology if you do well and without complaint if you don't that's maturity I used to have that long list of reasons why I wasn't doing well to explain you got to
explain right otherwise you're gonna look bad I used to have this funny list called reasons for not looking good I used to blame the government I mean you can believe that or not it was at the top of my list I had a lecture second-to-none the government that was on my list I used to blame taxes look what you got left after they take everything and they expect you to do well that was on the list their prices that one's easy right you walk into the supermarket with twenty dollars come out with a little half
bag I had that on the list I used to blame the weather I blamed the traffic I used to blame my car I blamed the manufacturers I used to blame the company I blamed company policy I used to blame the training program I blame my negative relatives they were always putting me down I blame my cynical neighbors they're just selfish looking out for themselves won't loan you money they were on the list I used to blame the economy I blame the community that's a pretty good list for not doing well isn't it I thought it
was good I'll never forget one day mr. shelf is very kind but he was also very blunt and this was no exception and I'm glad he was blunt there's a lot of things I'd have missed if he hadn't have been blunt one day with sort of a curious look on his face he said Jim just out of curiosity tell me how come you haven't done well up until now excellent question I thought well so I won't look too bad I'll go through my list and this list I just gave you I put that on him
and he was very patient he let me go through the whole thing the government the weather I went through this whole thing when I finished he looked my lists over very carefully he said mr. own big problem with your list you ain't on it when I went to work for him a few months later I learned very quickly to tear up my list reasons for not doing well and I threw it away and I got me a fresh piece of paper and I put one word on it me there's a black heritage spiritual that says
it's not my mother nor my father nor my brother Norma's sister but it's me O Lord standing in the need of prayer see I used to blame everything outside and then let me give you a little philosophy that helped turn my life around for your notes here it is it's not what happens that determines the quality or the quantity of your life it's not what happens and the reason is because what happens happens to about everybody no different the Sun went down on all of us last night a common event a happening and I found
out that the same things can happen to two different people one gets rich in one stays poor why is that it's because it's not what happens but rather it's what you do that changes everything so that's a key phrase it's not what happens it's what you do what happens is about the same you might put that in parentheses here same what people do that's what's different anything could happen right everything can happen I've heard all the stories I've been one of the stories hey we could all tell stories all night long right happenings anything can
happen have you heard of Murphy's laws anybody here heard of Murphy's laws okay most of you have Murph had these laws one of them was if anything can go wrong it will that's one of Murphy's laws he was not one of the great positive speakers of the day but anyway it's still true though right anything can go wrong everything can go wrong for sure I've fallen out of the sky so many times once to the teen of a couple of million devastating took me a while to survive that one now I wasn't all that much
but it was all I had I mean that's when it's much right when that's all you got if you got three to go you got one left you ain't looking that bad but when it all goes has anybody been there when it all went anybody come on the rest you Liars okay hey we've all been there right when it all went of course used to be a long time ago right when you ran out of money got to zero you were all through hick now you can whistle right on by zero they will bury you
that's what they will do but see those are the happenings right everything can happen anything can happen but it's not the happenings it's what you do about it somebody says yeah but you don't understand the disappointments I've had come on everybody's had their share disappointments are not special gifts reserved for the poor everybody has them the difference is what you do about it's not the weather I used to blame the weather and I discovered it rains on the ridge so see that won't help two men wake up one morning there's a rainstorm on one of
them looks out his window sees the rainstorm and he says wow what a storm with weather like this they can't expect you to go out and make sales he stays home same morning the other guy looks out his window sees the same storm says wow what a storm but he says you know what with weather like this what a great day to go out and make sales most everybody will probably be wrong especially the salesman see that's the difference in how your life works out it's not what happens it's what you do so here's one
of the key questions of the evening starting tomorrow what are you going to do that'll make a change in your life's direction good question what are you going to do starting tomorrow that'll make a difference now see if you don't do something starting tomorrow that'll make a difference guess what it's gonna be the same and see that way you can guess what the next five years are gonna be like look at the last five because the next five are gonna be like the last five unless you made your key tomorrow change it all or change
a little or change something or don't change its choice time you can do whatever you want but it's nice to know any day you wish you can change your whole life what can you do starting tomorrow that'll make a difference good question what can you do with economic chaos massive disappointment what can you do with a broken heart what can you do and it won't work good question so if I had a word with you tonight one on one just you and me I think my personal advice to you would be this year 1981 reached
down inside of you and come up with some more of those remarkable human gifts they're there waiting to be utilized and then change anything for you you want to change and I challenge you to do that because you can change if you don't like how it is for you change it if it doesn't suit you change it if it doesn't please you change it if it isn't enough change it and I challenge you to do that because you can change see you don't ever have to be the same again after tonight only by choice if
you don't like your present address change it you're not a tree [Music] now let me give you three steps to personal development let's get down to the nitty-gritty what does it take to really make the changes starting tomorrow it takes more than philosophical pronouncement I know that it also takes more than enthusiasm I know we're hearing a lot about enthusiasm these days but see that just won't do the job we're still here on the old cliches of the 30s right to be enthusiastic you must act enthusiastic let's see that's not going to help after you
have leaped about there are some things you got to do or it isn't gonna change [Music] so you can get all excited about lifting 200 pounds till you get to the gym and then you need a new excitement and the new excitement is called discipline major step to human progress discipline if there's one thing to get excited over that's it get excited over your ability to make yourself do the necessary things what did you make yourself do starting tomorrow that would change at all no tell me now see that's exciting on any given day you
can massively change the direction of your life murder is a clear example that any one person on any given day can forever alter the course of their life it just happens to be a negative act but just as sure as you can commit a negative act you can also commit a positive act and forever alter your life whenever you wish now that's exciting and whatever that might be the change is your life the guy finally takes a shotgun to his car and blows out every window destroys every tire puts a hundred rounds in this shabby
old thing and he says I have driven this embarrassing thing for the last time and not only will I I'd never drive it again nobody else will ever drive it again and he lets that shuddering thing stand there for a while as a monument to the day he said today my life changes now who can do that anybody when can you do it whatever day you pick [Music] now here's the key to discipline start with the little disciplines get excited over the little disciplines and get right on those because those will lead to the big
ones you can't handle the big challenges in life unless you take on the little ones make a list of all the things you can do get right on those discipline yourself for those both for the results and for the muscle and for the practice so that when life hands you some big challenges you'll be ready you'll have the muscle but see if you don't handle the small ones you can't take care of the big ones okay here's what else it takes for life change self motivation key phrase self motivation I don't know why we call
it self motivation it's really the only kind there is you've got to motivate yourself cuz I found out you can't change people they can change themselves but you can't change them lord knows some I've tried but see it won't work people have to change themselves I learned some of those lessons early I built a little sales organization way back in those early days I'm 25 and I had some nice people I said I'm gonna make these people successful if it kills me I almost died I mean you can't do that see I've discovered this good
people are not trained there found you find good people you don't make them good you find them good training really is for the purpose of finding good people you don't need much instruction for a good person but too much training probably means you got the wrong peep so you got to find the right people that's the key to getting a good job done one of the major things we learn in management management lesson one don't send your ducks to Eagle school [Laughter] [Music] because it won't help I mean I'm telling you it won't help no
matter how good your school is and the little Eagle badge and little Eagle hat I'm telling you it won't help it won't help you can tell whether your school's done any good right is when it's over right the duck goes for his first rabbit and makes him a friend you say no no anyway so it takes self motivation to really alter your life and you don't want to give self motivation away to somebody else and make it somebody else motivating you the guy says boy if somebody just come by and turn me on what if
they don't show up see you've got to have a better plan for your life okay you know if you're excited and you're ready to change let me give you three steps to start life change that can change your life your personality your lifestyle everything can change here's the steps number one find out how things work the first key to doing betters find out to change your life really you need ideas there isn't anything an idea can't change and chef taught me the major problem is lack of an idea not a problem at first I didn't
have any money I said to mr. show I don't have any money he said that's not a problem now see you up until then I always thought it was all right I was confused he said no no the problem is lack of an idea on how to create money and wealth it isn't lack of money it's lack of ideas so if you get the idea so you can change anything now to get ideas you need a constant study of finding out now Shoaf also said when you find out something that works put the information in
your journal don't use your head for a filing cabinet put it in your journal so that you can do the next best thing repetition repetition repetition go over it and if you repeat it go over it sure enough some days some mysterious day the idea takes root starts to grow and shows up in your bank account and your dress and your personality and your lifestyle but capture the ideas in your journal find out how things work chef's gave me this word for my life change he said study great word if you wish to be successful
study success if you wish to be happy study happiness if you wish to be wealthy study wealth don't leave it to chance make it a study some people just go through the day with their fingers crossed see that won't do it you've got to study the things that can change your economic social spiritual personal life now here's a qualifying phrase and we'll have several of these qualifying phrases throughout the seminar here's the first one you may not be able to do all you find out I understand that you may not be able to do all
you find out but you should find out all you can do see you don't want to wind up at the end of your life and discover that you've lived only 1/10 of it and the other nine-tenths went down the drain not for lack of opportunity for lack of information so that's number one find out how things work now here's the best human virtue for finding out curiosity make a note of that curiosity be curious you might add a word to it that'll help childish curiosity what will kids do if they want to know something bad
enough bug you that's the phrase they can ask a thousand questions you think they're through they got another thousand they'll drive you to the brink it's a virtue when you got an O be like a child in fact Jesus the master teacher said unless you can become like little children you might as well forget it you don't have a prayer excellent advice you've got to be like children four ways in my opinion to be like a child number one's curiosity number two is excitement get excited like a child over your ability to make yourself do
anything for change third is faith have faith like a child adults are too skeptical and fourth is trust Trust is a childish virtue but the rewards are incredible so be like a child now if you're curious let me give you three ways to find out how to change anything any life direction any dimension here's three ways to find out how to change anything number one is to read become a good reader all of the successful people I know and work with around the world they're all good readers curiosity drives them to read they got to
know they just read read read read read read read read read become a good reader now that's my opinion listen to the other lectures and listen to me and make up your own mind don't be a follower be a student okay I say really for life change you got to read one way to learn is from your own experiences but another way to learn is from other people's experiences see one book might save you five years if you read did you know there's books on how to be stronger more decisive be a speaker be a
leader have a better effect on other people develop your personality did you know there's books on that and people don't read them how would you explain that and they can read did you know that hundreds of successful people have written their stories in books and they wrote down how they did it and people don't read it how would you explain that the guy's busy I guess you know you get tied up the guy says well yeah you work where I work but the time you struggle home it's late you got to either buy the supper
watch a little TV get to bed you can't sit up half the night read and read and read and reading and the guys behind on his car payment good worker hard worker sincere but you got to be better than sincere and work hard otherwise at the end of your life you'll wind up cold stony broke you've got to be better than a good worker you've got to be a good reader the whole world is governed by laws the universe in fact laws we call it the law of electricity we call it the law of gravity
there's mathematical laws there's physical laws speed and velocity laws agricultural laws there's all kinds of laws now that we find ourselves on the spinning planet you just have to learn what I call the setup learn the setup life's set up now we didn't set it up but we're here so you got to learn it and we should learn the setup for two basic reasons number one to keep from getting hurt it's one of the major reasons for learning so you won't get hurt see economically socially personally you can get hurt just not knowing ignorant is
not bliss ignorance is poverty ignorance is tragedy you got to know or you're gonna get hurt it's good to know not to walk out the 10-story window that's excellent information now what if a guy didn't know and he walks out no he's dead at the bottom somebody says well the poor guy didn't know you got an O or you're gonna get hurt okay now here's the parentheses you don't have to like the setup I don't ask you to like how it is that's not what's important but it is important to learn how it is okay
so you don't have to like it but you should learn it that's what I tell the kids right make sure you get the information what you think about it that's up to you what you're gonna do with it that'll soon be up to you but make sure you get it see there's nothing worse than being stupid I mean being broke is bad but being stupid is awful and what's really bad is being broken stupid right that's about the end of the world I mean there isn't anything much worse than that unless you're sick sick broken
stupid I mean that is it right there's nowhere else to go so make sure you get the information it's key you don't have to like it but learn it if this big monstrous thing lifts up in the sky hangs there for a little while cuts loose comes crashing down boom shakes the ground for five miles and then this big monstrous thing lifts back up in the sky pains for a little while cuts loose again comes crashing down boom shakes the ground for five months it just keeps doing that this big monstrous thing lifts it up
and then crashing down boom now you might come along one day and say that's got to be a stupid arrangement which is okay you're entitled to your opinion but the first thing you should learn to do is get out from under it that's number one you might have a great moral argument you might want to shake your finger at the sky but do it from over there right so you don't get smashed it's called your basic smart so number one learn so you won't get hurt whether you like it or not learn now here's the
second reason for learning the setup to benefit it's called the plus of life and that's what life is right both minus and plus the minus is tragedy heartache misery failure unhappiness but life is also happiness prosperity good feelings so here's the key learn to get on the good side of the way things work now here's two of the basic laws and we'll take our break chef's taught me these they come from the Bible now again I'm an amateur okay when it comes to the Bible I'm not a pro so you'll sort of have to take
my way of putting it but here they are the first one is the law of use the law of use and it goes something like this whatever you don't use you lose lack of use causes loss on this planet maybe not the next one but on this one if you tie your arm to your body leave it there long enough you'll never use it again it's over for the arm now may not be over but it's over for the arm the only way to keep the use of this arm is what keep using it if
you quit you lose automatically they don't bring it up for a vote you lose automatically when you quit now the same thing that goes for your arm goes for your brain mentality the same thing goes for all the human virtues ambition unused declines strong feelings unused diminish it doesn't grow it diminishes faith unused decreases it's a law vitality unused diminishes energy unused decreases the guy says well I'm going to save up my energy you can't do that that's like trying to save today put it on the end of the year so you can't do that
they'll come take your way if you don't use today what it's lost the guy says well I'll work twice as hard tomorrow to make up for it see that's foolish you could have done that anyway today unused is lost a talent unused is lost and ability unused is lost so here's one of the key expressions of the evening take a new inventory of yourself starting tomorrow new project taken new inventory and make sure that all of your talents and ability and mentality and ingenuity and vitality and strong feelings faith courage make sure that all you've
got being used otherwise you lose now one of the best illustrations of the law of use is a Bible story called the parable of the talents the talents story interesting story if you haven't read it in a while just review it it's a good story an ancient story it says there was a master with three servants he got him together one day and he said to the three I've got these talents and in those ancient days the talent was a measure of gold and he said to the three servants take these talents and see what
you can do with him while I'm gone he said I'm taking a journey and I'll be gone for a while when I come back we'll get together go over the book see how you did he said here's five of these talents for you five here's two of them for you two and here's one for you what the master said take those talents see what you can do with him when I come back we'll get together we'll go over it all the servants said okay master takes off according to the ancient story the master comes back
from his trip when he gets back he gets the three servants together and as he said he would he asks how did it go with those talents your five what happened that servant said well I took the five talents you gave me and I put him to work a little shaky at first but he said things finally got rolling and he said I poured it on and he said my talents grew to seven eight nine ten he said I doubled my talents from five to ten books will show Master said one heck of a job
or something like that he said I gave you two talents what happened that servant said about the same thing happened to me I put those two talents to work poured it on they grew to three and then to four he said I doubled my talents from two to four books will show Master said well done he said I gave you one talent what happened that servant said well I took the talent you gave me and I carefully wrapped it and I dug a hole and buried it and camouflaged it I suppose so nobody would steal
it and he said fortunately nobody got it and he said I knew you were gonna be here today so I dug it up here it is safely wrapped I did not lose it while you were gone according to the ancient story the master said take that talent away from him and give it to the man that's got tin now you might say well I don't like that arrangement the poor guys only got one Talent he's already got ten it ought to be more even remembered I didn't ask you to like it but this one I
would ask you to learn because it simply means whatever you do not employ you forfeit it's a law so learn well the law of use now here's the second one and we're gonna take our break second law from the Bible this one we've heard since we were small I'm sure it's called the law of sowing and reaping in fact we probably heard it so often we could quote it it says whatever you saw what you shall read fairly blunt hopefully clear here's my first suggestion on the law of sowing and reaping don't try to beat
it you might as well try sitting on the Sun in the morning keep it from coming up you'll have better luck whatever you sow you reap now for a fair share of my life I'm a bit mixed up on how all this applies among a lot of things I was mixed up on I knew I wasn't reaping too good that I understood my problem was I was confused about what was causing it remember me with a funny list I thought those are the reasons why it isn't working out well and then mr. chef gave me
the clue that helped me figure it all out he said mr. Owen I have another answer for you there's another way to quote this law that'll show you where the problem is so you can go to work on it right away all you need to know is where the problem is then you can go to work on it so he quoted me the law another way and I found out what my problem was here's the way you quote the law whatever you reap is what you've sown now I knew what my problem was whatever you
reap is what you've sown if you don't like the crop who do you look up answer whoever planted it and where do you find who planted your crop answer in the mirror what I finally learned to do come fall was to go to the mirror that's where you go and if necessary you say a few skinny carrots I got to be unimpressed where were you last spring asleep didn't you read the books did you break your hole let me give you seven key points to the law of sowing and reaping let's tick right down through
the list of seven and it'll be break time seven points to sowing and reaping here's part of the philosophy that really helped me to make some changes in life direction number one the law of sowing and reaping is negative that's number one which simply means if you're so bad you reap bad now this is kind of third grade but it doesn't hurt to go over the basics if you plant thistle seeds you don't get pumpkins honest no use looking for pumpkins John says how come no pumpkins come on John the laws negative that's outcome now
here's number two the laws positive which simply means if you're so good you reap good if you plant pumpkin seeds you don't get fizzles not from pumpkin seeds Mother Nature won't pull tricks on you or in the corner snicker and push them you thistles and you planting pumpkin seeds she won't do that you will get pumpkins from pumpkin seeds and the reason is because the law is positive now here's number three I got excited when I found out the full dimension of this see you do not reap what you sow but rather you always reap
much more than what you sow so the third key word is more you don't get back what you put out you get back much more than what you put out and it works both positive and negative on the negative side it said if you sew to the wind you reap the whirlwind so you've got to get ready for that or you will be naive see anybody can whether you will or not see that's the question and here's a good question to ask we are all buying somebody's plan the question is who's who's got you talked
into doing what you're doing who's got you talked into your present plan see 10 years from now you will surely arrive the question is but see anybody if you want to can go searching for a good plan pick it and start working it and sure enough as the time passes as it surely will 5 years from now 10 years from now then you'll be winding up wearing what you want to wear driving what you want to drive living where you want to live become what you want to become but now is the time to fix
the next 10 years and who can here's number 6 the sixth key to sowing and reaping this is leveling with you now as we promised to do there's one thing better than the truth and that's the whole truth and here's part of the whole truth of the law of sowing and reaping number six is you could lose there are times when you just lose no matter what you do it's that kind of planet you reap what you sow yes but what does that mean yes but well the farmer plants his crop in the spring takes
care of it all summer loves his family works 10 12 hours a day six seven days a week is an honorable man come fall he's got a beautiful crop and he deserves every bit of it but the day before he sends the combines into the field a hailstorm comes along and beats it all in the ground which means you lose somebody says well what did he do wrong answer nothing it's just that kind of planet sometimes it's gonna hail on your crop and rain on your parade so you got to get ready for that or
you will be naive that's just part of the life arrangement and don't piss me why I was not in on some of the original decisions here so I don't know how it got set up but there's just time sometimes you lose that's part of life but now here's number seven the seventh key to sowing and reaping and it goes like this it's just another way to quote the same law and it goes like this if you don't so that's just another way to quote the law if you don't so what you don't reap you don't
even have a so if you looked at your game plan tomorrow you might come to the quick conclusion I got to get some Solon going how true get you some soul and going and remember you've got plenty of time you've got all the time there is some people spend enough TV time to make a fortune the latest article on television watching in this country according to the latest article the average television is on in this country in every household seven hours a day called the big seven I asked a guy one time what his TV
cost he said about four hundred and fifty dollars I said you forgot to look at the price tag he said what do you mean I knew he was a TV watcher I said that television cost you in my opinion at least twelve thousand dollars a year to watch it not to own it on its cheap watching it is what's expensive and I said hey twelve thousand years too much to pay to watch TV that's too much a little but not 12,000 and he's the guy that said I hope pay-tv never comes okay we're trying to
cover an awful lot tonight I realize that but my time schedule is such that we just have to sort of give it all to you and let you sort the rest out I wish we had plenty of time for questions and answers and that whole thing but our time is just limited but we are trying to go through an awful lot I realize that but looks like everybody's getting it this is about the note-taking his crowd I've seen in a long time incredible does anybody have five pages yet anybody no fantastic incredible okay maybe you
heard the story about the preacher down in Texas southern part of the country he was an evangelist back in the horse and buggy days and he was very good at being an evangelist and a lot of people used to come and hear him preach and one day he put up his tent in one of these Texas towns and expected a big crowd as usual to come here and preach and he got their first night of the tent revival walked in 7:30 time to start and to his surprise the tent was empty he thought well something
must be drastically wrong so he waited till quarter date nobody showed up 8 o'clock zip finally 8:15 one lone cowboy wandered up on his horse tied his horse off outside came in sat down on the front bench right waiting for something to happen the preacher thought well at least I better go down and talk to the cowboy so he walks down talks to the cowboy and he says cowboy I'm the preacher and he said I don't know what to tell you something's gone wrong he said this tent was supposed to be full of people he
said I'm embarrassed he said you're the only one that showed up and he said I really don't know what to do and the cowboy said well I'm not a preacher so I really can't tell you what to do you know he said I'm just a cowboy but he said I know this if I went out to feed my cattle and only one showed up I'd at least feed it the preacher thought hey the cowboy is right if you've got a good idea to share you should share it if there's one or a thousand so he
got kind of inspired by this conversation and he jumped up on the platform started to preach as if the tent was full of people just exploded and he went for an hour hour and fifteen minutes just kept rolling finally he quit and when he finished he came down off the platform talked to the cowboy again says well cowboy what did you think I'm a sermon and the cowboy said well I'm not a preacher so I really can't tell you no he said I'm just a cowboy but he said I know this if I went out
to feed my cattle and only one showed up I'd feed it but I wouldn't dump the whole load of so anyway if it seems like we're dumping the whole load tonight I guess we are but gosh everybody's doing well I'm having a good time I appreciate the response here tonight okay the next subject is setting goals let me show you what turned my life every way but loose mister shelf dropped this idea on me changed me completely setting goals here's what can easily happen if you don't set goals it's easy to let life deteriorate into
making a living instead of designing a life and we all have a choice make a living or design a life it's easy to get trapped by economic necessity and settle for existence rather than substance that's easy but the best advice I can give you on how to break out of that trap is to learn how to set goals mister chef put it to me this way he said Jim if you had enough reasons you could do the most incredible things I never forgot how he put that if you have enough reasons C reasons will change
your whole life mister chef said to me said Mr Rohn I think you've got plenty of intelligence you've got plenty of talent you've got plenty of ability probably what you lack is plenty of reasons he said I don't think your current bank balance is a true indication of your level of intelligence I was happy to hear that he said I think you're much smarter than your present bank balance indicates and that turned out to be true I was much smarter but of course my first question was well then why isn't it bigger and he said
you don't have enough reasons you've got enough intelligence but not enough reasons so C reasons can change your life here's what else I found out reasons come first answers come second you don't get the answers to do well till you get the reasons life has a mysterious way of hanging on to all the answers and only gives them up to the people that are inspired by reasons so reasons make the difference in how your life works out now what are some of the reasons for doing well let's go through a quick list called reasons for
doing well first is personal reasons some people do well for recognition some people do well for respect some people do well for the way it makes them feel they love the feeling of being a winner those are good reasons I have some millionaire friends that keep working 1012 hours a day making more minions and it's not because they need the money it's because they need the joy and the satisfaction and the pleasure that comes from being a constant winner and see it's not just the money anyway it's the journey not the money once in a
while somebody says to me boy if I had a million dollars I'd never work another day in my life that's probably why the good Lord sees to it they don't get their Millions okay they'd quit they'd quit okay next is family reasons some people do extremely well for other people and that's powerful human beings can greatly affect each other sometimes we will do things for somebody else we will not do for ourselves we're made that way I met a man one time who said mr. Owen to do all the things I want to do with
my family around the world he said I got to have at least a quarter of a million dollars a year I thought incredible could a guy's family affecting that much and the answer is of course how fortunate are the people that find themselves greatly affected by somebody for personal achievement and we are affected the writer of a recent song said if not for you the winter would hold no spring couldn't hear a Robin sing I just wouldn't have a clue if not for you so we can be affected that might be one of the most
stimulating reasons to do well finding somebody when Andrew Carnegie died the wee little Scotsman had built a big steel industry when he died they opened up his desk and in one of the desk drawers they found a slip of paper on that piece of paper mr. Carnegie had written his goal for his life and he wrote it when he was in his twenties and on that piece of paper it said I'm going to spend the first half of my life accumulating money I'm going to spend the last half of my life giving it all away
what a goal he got so inspired by that goal that the first half of his life he accumulated 450 million dollars and the last half of his life he gave it all away good question tonight what's got you turned on what's got you bombed outta sight to get up early and stay up late and hit it all day next question what's got you turned off when I found the answers to those two questions my life exploded into change I finally found out what had me turned off and I got that cured and then I got
me a long enough list of reasons to turn me on and once the lights went on for me age 25 they've never gone out I've fallen out of the sky a few times but I've never lost that drive to make something unique out of my life see reasons altered my whole life now there's another list of reasons called nitty gritty hard little reasons sometimes those little reasons are the most powerful reasons that can change your life sometimes it doesn't take much I now carry several hundred dollars in my money clip it's only a few hundred
dollars but it was one of those reasons turned my life around just before I met mr. shelf I heard a knock at the door I go to the door and there's a little girl standing there about this tall selling girl-scout cookies and she gave me one of the finest sales presentations I've ever heard special deal several flavors this whole package of stuff two dollars and with a big smile she very politely asked me to buy and I wanted to big problem I'm broke I don't have to doll and to this day I can remember the
pain and the embarrass I'm a father I'm a husband I've been to college I'm working I'm 25 I don't have to and I didn't want to tell her that for some reason so I did what I thought was next best I lied too I said hey look I've already bought lots of Girl Scout cookies I've still got plenty stacked in the house which was not but it seemed to get me off the hook for the moment she said well gosh that's wonderful thank you very much and she went away when she left I closed the
door and that was the day I said to myself I don't want to live like this anymore I've had it with lyin and not had it with bein Brooke I'm never gonna let this happen to me ever again I promised that day I would work as hard as possible and would always carry plenty it took me a little while but now I do it was one of those reasons and I guess I carry plenty for two reasons one is the way it makes me feel but also in case I'd bump into another Girl Scout selling
cookies right I'm ready I walked out of the bank of America one time up in Saratoga California where I used to live two little girls selling candy right outside the bank good place some girls organization they're working for right I come walking out of the bank this first little girl walks up to me she said mister would you like to buy some candy I said I probably would what kind is it she said it's Almond Roca I said my gosh that's my favorite she said wonderful I said how much is it she said it's just
two dollars I thought incredible I said how many boxes of that candy have you got she said five and her little friend was standing there she was selling candy to I said how many boxes have you got she said I've got four I said that's nine I'll take them all they said really I said yeah it's my favorite I've got some friends I'll pass them around they got so excited put all this candy together I reached in my pocket gave me $18 when I've got the candy and they've got the money that first little girl
looked up looks up at me she says mister you are really something how about that can you imagine only spending $18 and have somebody look at you in the face and say you are really now you know why I carry heavy I'm not gonna miss anymore it was just one of those reasons helped to change my life one of my nitty-gritty reasons was budget finance budget finance used to grind my soul way back in those early days I had fallen for one of those consolidation loans where you take all your little hard to pay bills
put them into one big impossible to baby alright I would get four or five payments behind this one guy used to call me day and night I don't think they're allowed to do that anymore harassed me threatened to run me in front of the judge threatened to ruin my credit trying to embarrass my family one day he said we're gonna come get your car drag it rear end up down the street in front of your neighbors the guy even called me a flake and back in those days I'm broke I'm pitiful there's nothing I can
do about it but I never forgot how the guy treated me and when I met mr. show and I got my life started straightened out and the money started to flow that was one of my first projects budget finance I poured it on day and night I finally put all the money together I owed him which was considerable I picked a day for the payoff and when the payoff day came I put the money in small bills in a big brief case and I walked into the budget finance office on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles
the guy who harassed me so often his desk was about three back I walked right up to his desk startled it he wonder what I was doing there it was the first time I'd been there since I'd borrowed the money right without saying a word I opened up this briefcase dump this pile of money all over his desk I said count it it's all there I will never be back and I turned around and stormed out no that might not be Noble but if you haven't tried it you've got to one time [Applause] it can
be the day that turns your life around all you need is a reason that turns you on one of my dear friends Robert de PUE Bobby used to be a schoolteacher in Lindsey olive capital of the world Bobby taught school several years got a little weary teaching school one day decided he wanted to get into sales so without telling anybody he'd just up and quit his job teaching school and jumped into sales when he did his brother made fun of him laughter put him down said Robert's lost his mind had a good job teaching school
now he thinks he's a safe he's gonna go down the drain lose everything just put him down something fierce Bobby said the way my brother acted when I got into sales he said that made me so mad I decided to get rich and my question for you tonight is is it possible to get that man Gore's wealth is not a matter of intelligence it's a matter of inspiration today Robert happens to be one of my millionaire friends Bobby's rich Frank Sinatra said one time the best revenge is massive success hey get you along enough list
of reasons so that after tonight you never lack for inspiration you might not have all the answers right away but you can get the answers if you can get the reasons now let me give you a little simple formula for goal-setting okay we take two two and a half hours on the weekend for the whole ten year plan we don't have time for that tonight but let me get you started with a little simple formula mr. chef gave me and maybe this will be helpful first of all I've divided goals into two parts first is
long-range long-range goals that's your dreams your dreams for the next 3 5 10 20 30 40 years actually the rest of your life your dreams you've got to keep dreaming Ronald Reagan presidents said to the joint session of Congress a few weeks ago the Republic is a dream and if we don't keep dreaming we will lose the Republic your better future is a dream for yourself and for your family where do you want to go what do you want to do what do you want to be what do you want to see you've got to
dream dreams there's a Bible phrase that says without dreams and visions people perish you've got to have something to go for that inspires the heart and the soul dreams from the children of Sanchez it says take the crumbs from starving soldiers they won't die take the bread from hungry children they will cry but without dreams we all will die you've got to dream don't lose your dream for yourself for your future for your family the dreams of love and enterprise and travel and doing things becoming something unique on your journey here don't lose your dreams
do some dreaming that's a long-range goal you got to have those so that's number one here's the second part of goals short-range short-range goals that's your goals for tomorrow this week this month this year the immediate future we call these confidence builders because if you set up something short-range go for it get it last flex on to it work hard accomplish it that starts building your strong feelings to go for your dreams now I've divided goals into three categories here they are number one is economic that's your goals for money income business profits production economics
make sure you've got your economics well-planned economics plays a major role in everybody's life economics is major which means it ought to be meticulously well planned for tomorrow this week this month this year long range what if you ask somebody tomorrow if you could see their meticulously well planned list of economic goals what would they probably say they say you some kind of a nut you must be weird hey I found out what success is success is doing what the failures won't do make sure you've got your economics well planned it'll put you in the
top 5% one of the key little subjects we talk about on the weekend is the seven fundamentals for wealth and happiness and that's one of them well-planned economics it's a fundamental if you want to do well join the top 5% anybody in this room can join the top 5% if you will now here's the second category of goals things make a list of the things you want and on my list of things now I put everything little things as well as major things it doesn't matter how small it is it goes on the list I
used to just put major things cars homes I don't do that anymore I now load my list with everything everything and the reason is part of the fun of having a list is checking it off that's it boy at the end of the day if you can go got it got it got it got it got it got it whatever it is right you get into the habit so load up your list the things you want now when you check off something major celebrate that's an important point to make celebrate your achievements live it up
have a party when you reach something you've worked for for a while see we all grow from two experiences one is called the pain of losing the other one is called the joy of winning we need both of them amplify them as much as you can which also means make losing painful if you set up something food around didn't get it put it on yourself on the other side if you did get it congratulate yourself self congratulations is a sign of maturity seeking congratulations is a sign of immaturity but hey winning and losing see that's
what it's all about that's the name of the game now some people lead such mediocre lives at the end of the day they don't know whether they're winning or losing they got no clue guys just going through the day with his fingers crossed there's a better way okay here's the third category of goals personal development but those goals together personal development goals that's your goal is to be stronger more decisive via speaker be a leader learn a language all kinds of skills ok the whole weekend seminar was designed to improve all your skills so that
you walk away more skillful and that's what you want the personal development skills that's what attracts that's what brings good things to your life the person you'd become more skillful now this is quite a package to work on economics things personal development for tomorrow this week this month this year long range okay that'll get you started now here's the simple formula for setting goals it goes like this a work on your goals that's step one work on them and I put the word work there deliberately setting goals is plain hard work I don't want the
kids you haven't come here tonight the kid each other it's work I know it's work that's why a lot of people just let it slide it's work many people work hard on their job but they don't work hard on their future they just let that slide and the work involved is making plans I know most people don't I understand that but don't let that be you guy says well yeah you work for I work but the time you struggle home it's late you've got to eat a bite of supper watch a little TV get to
bed you can't sit up half the night plan plan plan and the guys be good worker hard workers sincere but you've got to be better then sincere working hard you've got to be better than a good worker you got to be a good planner somebody once wisely said the people who fail to plan are planning to fail well sit so work on your goals here's step 2 write your goals down that's so important I teach my staff around the world put your goals in your journal because one of the major people you want to study
is yourself say here's the list of goals I put together three weeks ago here's the list of goals I put together two years ago here's some of the changes I made rearrange me of my priorities I scratched these off I put these on I've gotten these study your accomplishments study what your desires are put them on paper write them down here's another reason for writing your goals down it shows you're serious about doing better and to do better you gotta get serious you don't have to be grim but you must be serious everybody hopes things
will get better everybody hopes poor people hope that ought to tell you something it means the future does not get better by hope it gets better by plan I used to have the affliction called passive hope it's an affliction it's bad probably what's even worse than that is happy hope now that is really bad that's bad happy hope the guy's 50 and he's broke and he still smiled see that's not good so get serious about your goals put them on paper write them down there's all kinds his goals her goals their goals business goals financial
goals financial independence goals family goals I mean there's so many things to work on on this that if you don't get busy and work on it sure enough the time will pass and sure enough five years from now you will wind up where you don't want to be where and what you don't want to we're driving what you don't want to drive being what you don't want to be now is the time to fix it now here's the third step to your goals check the size of your goals and the kinds of goals how big
they are what kind they are affects you and here's one of the important phrases of the evening your goals are affecting you whatever they are your goals affect your handshake your goals affect your attitude personality your goals affect the way you walk the way you talk the way you dress all day long we're being affected by our goals now some people have goals but they have such lousy goal the effect is bad I asked a guy one time what are your goals for this month the guy said look if I could just scrape up enough
money to pay these lousy bills I'm not saying it isn't the goal it's a goal but it's such a lousy goal the effect is bad you don't jump out of bed on Monday morning and say oh boy another chance to go out and scrape up the money to pay my lousy bills so you don't do that usually you say oh not another Monday and some people have so given up on life they have joined the thing God it's Friday club how sad surely those are the same people when life is over for them we'll say
thank God it's oh let me give you a Bible philosophy that teaches how to get whatever you want that's the title of the next set of notes how to get whatever you want from the Bible now again I'm an amateur when it comes to the Bible I'm not a pro but this I can quote and I think that'll be sufficient how to get whatever you want here's what it says if you're ready it says ask that's it end of notes ask if there's one art in life to learn extremely well that's got to be one
of them the art of asking what does ask mean asked means what do you want and the formula staggering it says ask and what a guy ought to look into that he says yeah but you work for I work but the time you struggle home it's late you got to eat a bite of supper watch a little TV TV get to bed you can't sit up half the night ask ask ask and the guys be see you've got to be better than a good worker you've got to be a good a skirt now let me
give you three key points on asking and receiving this can do it number one asking is the beginning of receiving asking starts a unique process mental and emotional I don't even know how it works all I know is it works it's like pushing a button and all this machinery starts working I don't know how it just works there's a lot of things you don't need to know how just welcomed some people are always studying the roots others are picking the fruit I mean it depends on what end of it you want in on asking is
the beginning of receiving so start the process here's number two receiving is not the problem receiving is automatic now if that's true receiving is not the problem what's the problem failure to ask might be one of your major problems I don't know check it out the guy says oh now I see it I got up last year and hit it every day but there's not a scrap of paper with my goal good work poor ass so you got to change that here's number three receiving is like the ocean there's plenty especially in California it's like
an ocean here success is not in short supply it isn't rationed and you stepped up to the window and it was all gone no no no it's like an ocean here now if that's true what's the problem well some people go to the ocean with at ease have you got the picture see what you want to do in view of the size of the ocean is trade your teaspoon for at least a bucket and you'll look better down at the kids won't make fun of you okay okay now there's two ways to ask and we'll
wrap up goal setting two ways here's number one ask with intelligence it didn't say ask intelligently but I'm sure it meant that don't mumble you don't get anything by mumbling be clear be specific intelligent asking means how wide how high how soon when what size what color how much define what you want and describe what you want that's powerful in the weekend seminar we teach goals become like a magnet they pull you that direction and the better you describe them the more they pull so ask intelligently here's number two ask with faith that's the childish
part of the equation believe you can get what you want like a child not an adult adults are too skeptical so the formula really reads make plans like an adult and believe in him like a child and the most incredible things will happen just try it for 90 days just try it you can always go back to the old ways just try it just 90 days 90 days now here's the last qualifying phrase on goal setting as we promise to qualify everything and it simply goes like this remember you won't get everything you want and
we've already studied the reason for that simply sometimes it hails on your crop and rains on your parade it's that kind of planet so you won't get everything you want but if you will work this goal-setting formula you can get plenty for wealth and happiness okay that's goal-setting we use it around the world we recommend it now maybe it won't work as well for you as it has for me I don't know maybe not but what if it did you've got to try okay here's the last subject the day that turns your life around let
me just quickly give you a list of four emotions that can change your life in one day emotions are powerful sometimes it doesn't take much to alter your whole life direction okay here they are number one disgust powerful emotional disgust says I had headed see that could be the day the day you can say I've had it and whether you've had it was something small or something major the day you can say I've had it may not be the day it ends but the day it begins that's what I said when that little girl scout
left my door when I'm 25 I give her the big lie she leaves I say I don't want to live like this any more I've had it with lyin and being broke powerful day the man's finally had it with mediocrity he's had it with being a loser he's finally had it with those awful sick feelings inside knowing his wife is at the grocery store looking at two cans of beans one mark 37 cents one mark 39 cents and the guy's sick inside knows his wife's gonna buy the 37-cent can and she doesn't even like the
brand do you know why she's gonna buy the 37-cent can just save to see the guy sick inside finally says I've had it being on my knees and the dust looking for pennies we're not living like this any could be the day that turned your life around the day you can say I've had it he walks into his closet and rips everything in it to shreds and says I've worn this embarrassing stuff for the last and not only will I never wear it again no one else will ever wear it you commit an act that
says here's the next one decision and decision making is powerful and it's emotional that's those nuts in the pit of your stomach right waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat trying to decide we sometimes call it inner civil war what shall I do well for progress you must decide the best advice I can give you came from a wealthy friend of mine who said if it's easy do it easy if it's hard do it hard just get it done if you went home tonight and in the next few days cleaned
up a whole list of decisions that might furnish enough inspiration for the next 10 years I found this out many times after you've decided getting on with it is easier than deciding sometimes decision is the toughest part here's the next emotion desire wanting too bad enough and I don't know how to tell you to want to that's something you've got to come up with there's two things I know about desire number one it comes from inside not outside you don't send off for it number two I know desire can be triggered by something who knows
what it might be sometimes desire waits and sleeps for something to happen maybe it's a book maybe it's a song maybe it's a sermon maybe it's a lecture a seminar maybe it's the conversation of a friend a happening an event who knows the best I can vice I can give you is what I give my staff it goes like this welcome every human experience you never know which one is gonna turn it all on even the bad experiences sometimes from the bitterest experience comes the greatest awakening so let down the barriers take down the walls
the same wall that keeps out a disappointment keeps out happiness let life touch you don't let it kill you but let it touch you here's the last one this one's powerful resolve resolve says I will two of the most powerful words in the language I will Benjamin Disraeli once said nothing can resist a human will that will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose shortly put I'll do it for die see that's powerful that could be the day that turns your life around the world has a strange way of stepping aside when
somebody says I'll do it or die the man says I will climb the mountain they've told me it's too high it's too far it's too rocky it's too difficult it's never been done before but it's my mountain and I will climb it pretty soon you'll see me waving from the top or dead on the side because I ain't coming back the best definition I ever got from the word resolve came from a little junior high girl in Foster City California up north I'm talking to the Junior High kids one day I love to ask kids
definitions they come up with beauties I got to the would resolve and I asked who can tell me what resolve means and I got several hands and they were all pretty good but the last one was the best little girl about three rows back don't look right here she said mr. rule miss truely I think I know what resolved me I said darling what do you think it means she said I think it means promising yourself you will never give up I said that's it Webster stand aside that is the definition promise yourself you will
never give up I asked the kids how long should a baby try to learn how to walk how long how long would you give you average baby before you shut them off how long see any mother in the world would say you're crazy my baby is gonna keep trying until it learns how to walk what a magic formula now let me show you what triggers all emotions into activity that brings results and results is the name of the game here it is action finally you must do something about how you feel Jesus the master teacher
said dog just be listeners be doers the world admires the doers whatever it takes to get you to try harder read more set your goals and go for it here's the next attitude disease over caution some people never will have much they're too cautious now you can also be too reckless but you can also be too cautious this is called the timid approach to life and my caution was always the risk risk used to drive me right up the wall I used to say what if this happens it's called the language of the poor what
if this happens and on top of that if this was to happen look at the fix I be and I better not try I could always ace myself out then I'll tell you what changed my whole life when I finally discovered it's all risky the minute you were born it got risky if you think trying is risky wait till they hand you the bill for not trying if you think investing is risky wait till you get the tab for not investing see it's all risky getting married is risky having children is risky going into business
is risky investing your money is risky it's all risky I'll tell you how risky life is you're not going to get out alive that's risky the Englishman says well if that's the way it's gonna work out let's give it a go right that's what it's for give it a go somebody says yeah but I'm looking for safety in security fine then huddle in a corner we'll cover you with the sheet bring you three meals a day and we'll protect you feed you look after you care for you we won't let anything happen to you and
you'll probably live to be 100 the guy said well yeah I'd live to be 100 but what a way to live right what a way to live safe and secure don't ask for security asked for adventure better to live 30 years full of adventure than 100 years safe in the corner and see it's not important how long you live what's important is how you live here's the next attitude disease we're almost through with this motley list in fact we're almost through hang on the next one is pessimism pessimism the deadly disease of always looking on
the bad side the problem side the difficult side checking all the reasons why can't be done the poor pessimist leads an ugly life he doesn't try to figure out what's right he tries to figure out what's wrong he doesn't look for virtue he looks for faults and when he finds him he's delighted how this is the poor guy looks through the window doesn't see the sunset he sees the specks on the wind and this is the poor guy right who rushes up take such leave of his senses this guy rushes up and he says I've
got 5 good reasons why it won't work he's so dumb he doesn't know all you needs word he's got 5 - the pessimist the glass is always half-empty - the optimist the glass is half-full why would the same measure affect people to different ways answer it all depends on how you look at it our lives are mostly affected by the way we think things are not the way they are the way we think they are affects us most there's a subject we don't have time to get into tonight called better thinking habits one of the
major things shoved taught me when I met him he said poor thinking habits keeps most people poor and not poor working habits most people work hard but they don't think hard and shope taught me that the mind is like a factory on mental factory and whatever you think about all day long pours ingredients into this mental Factory and that's what builds the economic social financial fabric of your life he quoted me a bible phrase that says as you think so you become how awesome when he talked about poor thinking habits he had me I used
to start the day reading the morning newspaper I mean you can believe that or not I'd get a cup of coffee and read the paper I'd load up on Wars and riots and murders and stabbings and killings and bank robberies and muggings and car wrecks and tragedies I'd even read the back pages I seem to like that stuff for some weird reason I'd load up on all that and then I start the day you can imagine the kind of days I used to have you walk around on your financial knees they call you economic peewee
the guy says I want to be a great leader wonderful the first thing we do is following to his house when we get there we walk in and check his library number one somebody says well why check his library the reason is because what a man reads pours massive ingredients into his mental factory and the fabric of his life is built from those ingredients you would not believe what some people have got in their house to read you would not believe one of the best best of words I know for a lot of it is
trash can you imagine dumping a bale of trash into this mental factory every day and coming out with a rich dynamic positive life it can't be done you might as well try making a cake with cement the kids back in Danbury Connecticut high school they're asking me questions one day I'm talking to the kids kids got good questions these days one of them said to me mr. Owen how do you build the good life I said it's simple it's not easy but it's simple here's how you build anything select the right ingredients keep out the
wrong ingredients and it starts with thought everything starts with thought so you must be wise and careful what you think about because that starts everything you gotta be wise and careful I asked the kids what would happen if somebody dropped sugar in my coffee they said well you'd be okay I said what if somebody dropped strychnine in my coffee they said well you'd be dead I said correct lesson 1 life is both sugar and strychnine you gotta be careful I said what if my worst enemy drops in the sugar they said will you be ok
I said what if my best friend even by accident drops in the strychnine they said well you'd be dead I said correct lesson 2 watch your car you got to be careful see it doesn't matter who hands you the bad stuff it doesn't matter where you get the bad stuff it'll still do its damage on your bank account wherever you get it mister shelf gave me one of the greatest phrases when I first met him when he said gym every day stand guard at the door of your mind how important stand guard at the door
of your mind and you decide what goes into your mental factory don't let anybody just dump anything they want to in your mental factory because you've got to live with the results ok here's the last disease and we're through with this list in fact we're almost through hang on the last subject is very brief the last disease but this one is deadly engage in this one indulge in it even slightly and you might as well forget the future because it's gonna forget you complaining crying whining griping a Bible word called murmuring see that will ace
your future spend five minutes complaining and you have wasted five and you may have begun what's known as economic cancer of the bone surely they will soon haul you off into a financial desert and there let you choke on the dust of your own regret I hope I said that well so you won't forget it's a deadly disease if you don't think it's bad ask the children of Israel of Old Testament fame typical of us all their story just happened to get in the book story says children of Israel were slaves God performed a series
of dazzling miracles and got him out and now they're heading for the promised land remember the story heading for the Promised Land tragedy of the story they never got their reason from day one they started to complain they griped about the water they griped about the weather they find and cried and griped about the food they griped about the leadership they've whined and cried cuz it was too far too cold too hot too difficult too miserable I mean they widened wined and cried for years finally God said I've had it canceled or something like that
the story says they died in the desert never got to the promised Li which I think means two things indulge in this long enough you get your Futurecast and I guess it also means even God Himself can only take so much okay just be on the lookout of the things that can destroy all the good you start the war is on and this evening tomorrow mentally personally socially economically you got to make sure you're winning the war and this is part of it you