He's picked out a favorite place to feed his body, but he doesn't have
a favorite place to feed his mind!
Why would this be? Have you heard about the accelerated learning
curve? From birth, up until the time we are about eighteen, our
learning curve is dramatic, and our capacity to learn during this
period is just staggering. We learn a tremendous amount very fast. We
learn language, culture, history, science, mathematics... everything!
For some people, the accelerated learning process will continue on.
But for most, it levels off when they get their first job. If there
are no more exams to take, if there's no demand to get out paper and
pencil, why read any more books? Of course, you will learn some things
through experience. Just getting out there – sometimes doing it wrong
and sometimes doing it right - you will learn.
Can you imagine what would happen if you kept up an accelerated
learning curve all the rest of your life? Can you imagine what you
could learn to do, the skills you could develop, the capacities you
could have? Here's what I'm asking you to do: be that unusual person
who keeps up his learning curve and develops an appetite for always
trying to find good ideas.
One way to feed your mind and educate your philosophy is through the
writings of influential people. Maybe you can't meet the person, but
you can read his or her books. Churchill is gone, but we still have
his books. Aristotle is gone, but we still have his ideas. Search
libraries for books and programs. Search magazines. Search
documentaries. They are full of opportunities for intellectual
feasting.
In addition to reading and listening, you also need a chance to do
some talking and sharing. I have some people in my life who help me
with important life questions, who assist me in refining my own
philosophy, weighing my values and pondering questions about success
and lifestyle.
We all need association with people of substance to provide influence
concerning major issues such as society, money, enterprise, family,
government, love, friendship, culture, taste, opportunity, and
community. Philosophy is mostly influenced by ideas, ideas are mostly
influenced by education, and education is mostly influenced by the
people with whom we associate.
One of the great fortunes of my life was to be around Mr. Shoaff those
five years. During that time he shared with me at dinner, during
airline flights, at business conferences, in private conversations and
in groups. He gave me many ideas that enabled me to make small daily
adjustments in my philosophy and activities. Those daily changes, some
very slight, but very important, soon added up to weighty sums.
A big part of the lesson was having Mr. Shoaff repeat the ideas over
and over. You just can't hear the fundamentals of life philosophy too
often. They are the greatest form of nutrition, the building blocks
for a well-developed mind.
I'm asking that you feed your mind just as you do your body. Feed it
with good ideas, wherever they can be found. Always be on the lookout
for a good idea - a business idea, a product idea, a service idea, an
idea for personal improvement. Every new idea will help to refine your
philosophy. Your philosophy will guide your life, and your life will
unfold with distinction and pleasure.
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Vitamins of the Mind
Education/Learning
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
We must learn to apply all that we know so that we can attract all that we want.
Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of
health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and
learning is where the miracle process all begins.
If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to
speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.
Don’t see the mind for more than it is, but don’t misread it for all
that it can be.
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"There are no new fundamentals. You've got to be a little suspicious
of someone who says, ‘I've got a new fundamental.’ That's like
someone inviting you to tour a factory where they are manufacturing
antiques." -- Jim Rohn
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Taking the Right Turn by John C. Maxwell
As president of Ford Motor Co., Robert McNamara once briefly pondered
a decision made by one of his executives and then asked him, “What did
you decide not to do?” Why is it important to consider multiple
options during the decision-making process? Here are three reasons:
1. With options come possibilities.
Not long after moving to the Atlanta area, I realized that the drive
from my home to the airport takes 35 minutes—if I leave at 6:30 a.m.
If I leave just 15 minutes later, at 6:45 a.m., the same drive takes
an hour. And if I wait until 7 a.m., that same drive takes 80 minutes.
Driving in Atlanta traffic has trained me to become a student of the
routes and time because they help define my options. When I arrive
somewhere early, sometimes I double back and look for new ways to make
the same trip. I want to know my options. That way, when the obvious
route slows to a crawl, I know my options and I often come up with a
creative solution. If we don’t have options or if we don’t know our
options, we’re stuck. We have little choice but to stay in the traffic
jam. In decision making, if we do not have options, we only have one
decision. And that decision may be the wrong decision, or it may not
be the best decision.
2. With options come insights.
The more options we have, the more we can see what is not obvious to
others. And people who are successful see what is not obvious to
others. They don’t see what others can’t see; they just see what
others don’t seem to see. Successful people engage that creative part
of their minds and say, “Well, I wonder how else I can look at this
problem. I wonder how else I could deal with this decision. I wonder
what other possibilities I have there.”
3. With options come options.
Options are a result of thinking early, often and differently. And
when we think early, often and differently, we begin to create more
options within our life. Options come from the disciplines of pursuing
options. And very often they take us down roads we never would have
traveled, to places we never would have seen, where we find new
options we never would have considered.
Fred Smith, a businessman in Texas who has been one of my mentors, has
a sign on his desk that says, “But on the other hand...” He’s an
optional thinker, and he’s taught me to be an optional thinker, too.
So when somebody asks me to make a decision about a situation, I don’t
offer a solution, I ask a question: What are our options? Give me the
good, give me the bad, give me the pretty, give me the ugly, give me
the impossible, give me the possible, give me the convenient, give me
the inconvenient. Give me the options. All I want are options. And
once I have all the options before me, then I comfortably and
confidently make my decision.
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"Success is the study of the obvious. Everyone should take Obvious I
and Obvious II in school." -- Jim Rohn
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From Jim Rohn's Weekly Newsletter
Issue 708— June 10, 2013
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