In the Bible, it says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish. " What this means is that if you lack an exciting vision for your future, you will perish inside in terms of lacking motivation and enthusiasm for what you are doing. However, the reverse of this is that with an exciting future vision, you will be continuously motivated and stimulated every day to take the actions necessary to make your ideal vision a reality.
A clear vision and plan can act as a magnet for success. What a pity if your income grew and you didn't grow, because here's what usually happens: when your income takes some jumps, it's best that you grow quickly up to where your income is. Why?
Because otherwise, your income will soon come back to where you are. I'm telling you, success doesn't want to hang around an incompetent person. That's the problem with winning the lottery—the lack of self-development to be able to master it and keep it.
Now, the fortune is bigger than the person rather than the person being bigger than the fortune. You see, that's what's challenging: to be involved in a situation that makes you grow. If that situation is success, keep growing to be bigger than your fortune.
If that situation is failure, keep growing until you're bigger than the problem. Keep growing, keep becoming, keep doing it until success is something you attract by the person you become. Once I understood that, I changed my whole method of operation.
Success is something you attract by the person you become. Success is not something you pursue; what you pursue usually eludes you, like a butterfly—something you go after that you can't catch. Success is something you attract like a magnet by the person you become.
To attract attractive people, you must be attractive. To attract powerful people, you must be powerful. To attract committed people, you must be committed.
Instead of going to work on them, you go to work on yourself. You work harder on yourself than you work on the job, and if you become, you can attract. The whole key is to make yourself valuable, to make yourself attractive, to make yourself skillful, competent, willing, powerful, unique, sophisticated, educated, and cultured, being able to manage and control health.
The whole key, really, to the future is personal development, because the greatest gift you can give to someone else is your personal development—self-development, self-investment. The greatest gift you can give is your own personal development. If I become ten times wiser, ten times stronger, ten times brighter, and ten times more competent, think of what that will do for my success.
If I grow, think of what that will do for my future. Self-development earns success; self-investment earns respect. And the only way to make a better and better and better investment in your future is to become better, stronger, wiser, and more competent.
The more attractive you become, the more you attract success. Self-development, self-investment attracts success. That's powerful!
Let me show you something to turn me every way but loose. I've never been the same since I found out about it—learning how to set goals. Not long after I met Mr Cha, we were having breakfast one morning.
Mr Cha said, "Mr John, now that we've gotten acquainted and we know each other fairly well, maybe one of the best ways I can help you is to let me see your current list of goals. Let's go over them and talk about it. " I said, "What?
I don't have a list. " He said, "Well, Mr John, if you don't have a list of your goals, I can guess your bank balance within a few hundred," 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, "Drstically. " So, that day, I became a student of setting goals, and I've used it to dynamically affect my life. I've taught it to some of my business colleagues; we use it to do business around the world.
Setting goals can turn out to be a drama for your life. Here's what goals are: your vision of the future. Your vision of the future.
Now, there are two ways to face the future: one with apprehension, and number two with anticipation. Guess how most people face the future? With apprehension.
Why? A major reason is they don't have it well designed. They've left the design of their future to somebody else, and if you don't make plans of your own, guess what?
You'll probably fall into someone else's plans. Guess what someone else may have planned for you? Not much.
You've got to make a list of this "not much" stuff. I'm telling you, people all their lives count on this "not much" list. If all of your negative relatives turn positive, what will that do for your future?
Not much. If prices come down a little, what will that do for your future? Not much.
If the economy gets a little better, what'll it do for your future? Not much. If circumstances get a little better, what'll it do?
Not much. If the weather gets a little better over the next few years, what'll it do? Not much.
I mean, you can go right down this whole scenario list. Most people, all their lives, with their fingers crossed, count on this "not much" list. That's why, ten years from now, they'll be driving what they don't want to drive, living where they don't want to live, wearing what they don't want to wear, doing what they don't want to do, having what they don't want to have, and maybe becoming what they didn't want to become.
And it all starts by counting on something that's not going to count much. You say, "Well then, how can my life dramatically change? " You've got to count on yourself, and here's one.
. . Of the things you've got to count on is your ability to design the future.
It's called the promise, and the promise of the future, if you'll design it well, can have an awesome effect on your life. But if you face the future with apprehension, you'll take hesitant steps all day—uncertain steps all day. And if you take uncertain steps all day for six years, you can imagine how empty your life can be.
We've got to help our kids with the promise of the future. Now, here's what's connected to the promise: the price, the price to pay. But I'm telling you, the price is easy if the promise is clear.
One of the better notes to make for today: the price is easy if the promise is clear and powerful, but the price seems almost too much to pay—too much to get over, too much to accomplish—if the promise isn't clear, if the promise isn't powerful. I'm telling you, kids will pay the disciplines if they can see the promise. One of our biggest challenges as parents in the '90s is to help our kids see the promise of the future.
That's why I'm teaching financial independence—how to become wealthy and powerful, sophisticated and healthy, unique—all of the stuff kids would hope to go for. It's all possible; this is America. That's the promise of the future: the price— a few simple disciplines practiced every day.
And I'm telling you, the kids will pay the price of the simple disciplines if they can see the promise of the future. But if they can't see, they don't want to pay. And the same is true of all of us: we will pay the most extraordinary disciplines if we can see the promise of the future called setting goals.
So I'm asking you to get a handle on the future. I'm asking you not to leave it to anyone else; don't leave it to the company—companies have got their own goals. I'm asking you to set your own goals: your personal goals, income goals, financial goals, health goals, and spiritual goals.
Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? What do you want to see?
What do you want to be? That's it—the promise of the future. Design your own future; it's within your hands and your capacity to do so.
Here's how simple goal setting is: it's not mysterious. You don't have to anchor; you don't have to focus; you don't have to visualize. No, that's it!
Here's how simple goal setting is—it changed my life: decide what you want and write it down. I mean, that's how profound this stuff is. Decide what you want and write it down.
Make a list: where do you want to go? What do you want to do? What do you want to see?
What do you want to be? What do you want to have? What do you want to share?
What projects would you do to support? What would you like to be known for? What skills would you like to learn?
Some extraordinary things you'd like to do? Ordinary things you'd like to do? Silly little things you'd like to do?
Very important things you'd like to do? Decide on all that stuff and write it down. That's how simple this stuff is, and it's your own private list.
If it's really private, you know, on your list put some stuff in code where nobody can understand it. If this list fell into unfriendly hands, it doesn't matter—it's your list. Keep your list with you.
Now, how my philosophy has changed from ten years ago, five years ago, three years ago: here's my old list, here's my new list. Here's what's valuable to me now, here's what I want my life to be now—here's where I want to go, what I want to do, what I want to see. Keep your list of goals so that it shows your growth, shows your ability to change and grow.
Your philosophy grows and expands; what's valuable? Setting goals—it doesn't matter how small or foolish it is; put it on your list. Now, let me give you one more scenario on setting goals.
When I started making my first list, Mr Scha said, “Mr John, looks like we're going to be together for a while. " He said, "I've got a suggestion for you. I think one of the first goals you ought to set—you’re a 25-year-old American male, sure you've made some mistakes, but now you're on the road to better things.
You've got a family; make the difference. ” And he said, “You've got every reason to do this. Why don't you, among all the goals you're going to set, why don't you set a goal to become a millionaire?
A millionaire! This is America; all the possibilities are available. Why don't you set a goal to become a millionaire?
” He said, “It's got a nice ring to it—millionaire—enough zeros to impress your accountant. ” And he said, “Here's why. ” Now, I thought the man didn't need to teach me why.
I'm thinking, wouldn't it be great to have a million dollars? He said, “No, that's not it; here's why. ” And I had one of the greatest lessons I ever learned, and I'm about to share it with you.
This will be worth the price of being here today, if you can capture what I'm about to share with you. Babysitter fees, whatever else you paid…some of you missed some sales today to be here, so this is a costly day for you. But what I'm about to share with you changed my whole life.
Here's what Mr Scha said: set a goal to become a millionaire. And he said, "Here's why—for what it will make of you to achieve it. " And I got one of.
. . The greatest classes, in one sentence, I've ever received in my life: set a goal that will make you stretch that far for what it will make of you to achieve it.
What a brand new reason for setting goals! What an all-encompassing challenge to have a better vision of the future—to see what it will make of you to achieve it. And here's why: the greatest value in life is not what you get; the greatest value in life is what you become.
The major question asked on the job is not, "What am I getting here? " That's not the major question. The major question to ask is, "What am I becoming here?
" It's not what you get that makes you valuable; it's what you become that makes you valuable. So Mr Scha said, instead of a goal to become a millionaire for what it will make of you to achieve it, then he said when you finally have become a millionaire, now he said, "What's important is not the money. " I thought, "Wow!
I've got some more to learn. " He said, "No, no, Mr John, you could just give the money away. " Now, I did better than that, right?
I told you I lost it all. I'm rich; by the time I'm 31, I'm a millionaire; I'm broke by the time I'm 33. So I didn't have to give it all away; I lost it all.
Foolish mistakes I made! I'm a farm boy from Idaho. That early money drove me bonkers.
I used to say, "How many colors does it come in? I'll buy them all! " I just went crazy over that first money.
I just went crazy. And then I made that one foolish mistake, right? Continuing guarantee!
I mean, you know, I'm so naive! Off the farm, I don't know what "continuing" means—and a few other mistakes. By the time I'm 33, I'm broke.
Now, I've made and lost millions since then, but what an experience that was. I'm telling you, the man was right. When I finally was broke at age 33, guess what?
I discovered my money did not mean that much; it represented only a fraction of all my assets. Cha said once you become a millionaire, Mr John, you can give it away because he says what's important is not the money; what's important is the person you've become. Now give me the key phrase on setting goals: set the kind of goals that will make something of you to achieve them.
Always keep that in mind: what will this make of me if I set this goal and go for it? Not only will I achieve it, but what will it make of me in the process? What a whole new concept on setting goals!
Now there are two parts to this, and then we're wrapping up goals. Here's the first part in this goal: set for what you become. Number one: don't set your goals too low.
Interesting! We teach in leadership—you'll find it on the cassettes—don't join an easy crowd; you won't grow. Go where the expectations are high; go where the demands are high; go where the pressures are on to perform, to grow, to change, to develop, to read, to study, to develop skills.
I belong to a small group; we do business around the world. You cannot believe the expectations at that level—what we expect of each other in terms of excellence far beyond average. Why?
So that we can each grow, so that we can receive from the group, we can contribute to the group something unprecedented. It's called living at the summit. Go where the demands are high; go where the expectations are strong so that it'll provoke you, push you, urgently insist that you not remain the same for the next couple of years, the next five years—that you'll grow and change.
So don't set your goals too low! The guy says, "Well, I don't need much. " Well, then, you don't need to become much!
Here's the deal on setting goals: don't compromise; don't sell yourself short. There were things I chased after in my early years that cost me way too much. If I'd known the price tag, I wouldn't have gone for it, but I was clueless.
An old saying goes, "Count costs, count costs, count costs. " Let me tell you a story: Judas got a lot of money. Now, you might think that's a success story, right?
But hold on; his name was Judas. Ring any bells? Yeah, Judas the traitor.
So, here's the twist: after Judas gets the money, he's not happy. You might wonder why not; he's got a fortune! Well, he wasn't unhappy with the money; he was unhappy with himself.
Remember, the biggest source of unhappiness comes from within! It starts with doing less than you're capable of and feeling down about yourself. Judas realized he made a mistake and tried to give the money back, but it was too late.
He ended up throwing it all away and ultimately paid a big price. An ancient script sums it up: "What if you gained the whole world but lost your soul? " So don't sell out; don't compromise your values, your virtues, your philosophy.
Beware of what you become in pursuit of what you want. I hope this inspires you to set goals that'll make you better, stronger. Isn't this good advice?
It's golden!
