The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Jim Rohn’

Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

The main purpose of the Invisible Mentor blog is to offer you a guiding hand through the information it provides. On a more basic level, its intent is to unleash the latent genius within you. After interviewing people for my book Tales of People Who Get It, a recurring theme that was apparent is that to be successful, you have to be focused, learn continuously and have passion. A few days ago, we talked about focus (You Can Only Walk Down One Road At A Time) and today we will talk about knowledge (learning).

What does Franklin’s quote mean to you? 

 For me, the quote means to plant the seed of knowledge, to learn continuously: read broadly, take courses, observe people, try new things, experiment, be prepared to fail, brainstorm, collaborate… This quote also reminds me of Jim Rohn‘s book, The Seasons of Life, see book review Planting to Reap Full Rewards: A Book Review of The Seasons of Life by Jim Rohn. In the spring farmers plant their crops, water and nurture them in the summer, harvest the crops in the fall, and rest the land in the winter.

 Plant your seeds of knowledge, creating your body of knowledge.  Continuously build on the knowledge, connecting the dots and taking care of what you know. Test yourself to ensure that you remember the important stuff. Whenever you need the information you harvest it, and you take a rest and reflect on the information. So, in Connecting the Dots When There Are No Dots, let’s add Graham Wallas‘ 4-Step Creativity Process: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, Verification/Implementation into the mix.

1. What type of information will allow you to perform your job better?
2. What type of information will allow you to navigate your career to the next level?
3. What type of information will allow you to significantly improve your life?

Based on the answers to the questions above, gather the relevant information (preparation). Take a break when you feel as if you have collected enough information (incubation). Mull over the information and start making connections among disparate pieces of data. At some point you will have an aha moment where you get an idea (illumination). Test the idea then implement it (verification/implementation).

 When I started to write this post I had no idea that this is where I would end up. Who would have thought that thinking about a Benjamin Franklin quote about knowledge could lead to generating new ideas.

 Again, what does ”An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” mean to you? Start with the quote and end with an idea, and fill in the dash, all that in-between information.

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The Five Pieces to the Life Puzzle by Jim Rohn is about how to live a more successful, fulfilling and happier life. This book contains some unique ways of looking at life and it’s an easy read. So, What are the five major pieces of the puzzle?

• Philosophy – what we know
• Attitude – what we feel
• Activity – what we do
• Results – what we achieve
• Lifestyle – how we choose to live and design our lives

According to the author, our personal philosophy establishes our attitude, which determines the quantity and quality of our activity, which produces a final and proportionate result, which provides the lifestyle that we live. Rohn suggests that to become successful, we have to practice a few simple disciplines every day.

To look more closely at personal philosophy, “A major factor in determining how our lives turn out is the way we choose to think. Everything that goes on inside the human mind in the form of thoughts, ideas and information forms our personal philosophy.” The beliefs that form our personal philosophy also determine our value system. We are encouraged to learn from other people’s experience with success and failure, surround ourselves with positive influence, become good listeners and observers, read all the books and keep a journal. For example, to become a good observer and excel, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is going on in my industry?
• What challenges are currently facing our community?
• What are the new breakthroughs, the new opportunities, the new tools and techniques that have recently come to light?
• What are the new personalities that are influencing the world and local opinions?

Rohn explains that all the books that we will ever need to make us as rich, as healthy, as sophisticated and so on, have already been written. He further adds, “The habit of reading is a major stepping stone in the development of a sound philosophical foundation.”

It’s also very important for us to study our results so that we can make adjustments along the way. “If we are not satisfied with what we have achieved at this point in our lives, then now is the time to fix the future… If we are not making measurable progress in a reasonable amount of time, then something is clearly wrong with either our objectives or the execution of our plans… Ten years from now we will all be somewhere, the question is where? Now is the time to fix the next ten years.”

Five Great Ideas

1. To have more, we must first become more
2. In the end, our lives will be judged not by the things that we began, but by the things that our effort and resolve brought to a successful conclusion
3. Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event – it is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated everyday
4. For things to change, we must change
5. The only thing that is necessary for triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. It is our lack of intense, disciplined activity that has allowed evil to flourish and good men to flounder

I recommend The Five Pieces to the Life Puzzle. It’s very easy to read and has information that causes you to pause and reflect.

Excerpt from April 2006 Ambeck Edge

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