In the conclusion of Jim Rohn’s “How to Have Your Best Year Ever!” seminar, Jim discusses how to overcome negativity and embrace the day your life will change. Failure can lead to new opportunity, disgust can push a person to make a much needed change in their life.

Jim also discusses what all good leaders must accomplish.

Overcoming Negativity

04:10:32: Here’s my last subject.

It comes in two parts, first is the negative part.

And I’ve got just a couple of tips for you on negative, there wouldn’t be positive, without negative. It’s part of the life scenario.

Ancient script says it best, “There’s a time to laugh. And once you’ve learned to laugh, just keep on laughing.”

No no, no. Just get another positive book. No, no.

“There’s a time to laugh, and a time to cry.”

And you’ve got to become so sophisticated, and so well educated, that you don’t laugh when it’s time to cry. And you’ve also got to learn to cry well.

How are you going to identify with some people if you don’t cry with them?

It’s very important, the negative side is very important. Negative thinking.

I teach kids—and you’ll find it on those cassettes—the ant philosophy.

Let me just give you the quick scenario on the ant philosophy.

Number one: Ants never quit.

What a good philosophy, if they’re going somewhere, and you stop them, guess what? They’ll look for another way.

How long will they look? ‘Til they find it or ’til they die.

What a great philosophy.

But here’s number two—I can’t give them all to you—but here’s number two: Ants think winter all summer.

You’ve at least got to be that bright. You can’t think summer all summer. You’ve got to do some winter thinking in the summer. You say, “Well, the sky is blue. The clouds are fleecy.”

You can’t be faked out by that. Ancient story says, “Don’t build your house on the sand in the summer.”

Why would we be cautioned not to build our house on the sand in the summer? Because it’s easy to get faked out.

So what should you do during the summer? Think winter, think storm that’ll drive you to find a rock in the summer when the sky is blue.

Key: Negative is normal.

You’ve got to handle it. You can’t dismiss it. It’s part of the life scenario, like your white corpuscles, we talked about earlier.

So don’t ignore it. Let it be part of the scenario. Here’s the key: Learn to master it.

Negative is not to be ignored, it’s to be mastered. It makes us better than we are to wrastle with it.

It makes us better than we are to be alerted to tyranny that moves into Kuwait, or ignorance that moves into your life, or procrastination that moves in and robs you of your fortune, or poor health that’s going to be the legacy of those who neglect their health disciplines.

You’ve got to do battle with the enemies on the outside and on the inside.

So learn how to handle the negative.

The Positive, or The Day That Turns Your Life Around

04:13:25: And now here’s the last last, called: The positive.

Let me give you the day that turns your life around, as quickly as I can.

I got four parts to the day that turns your life around, then we’re finished for the day.

Number one: Disgust.

Disgust.

Disgust is a negative emotion, but it can have a very positive, powerful effect.

Disgust says, “I’ve had it!”

What an important day that could be.

I’ve had it! Wow.

I met a beautiful, powerful, accomplished, executive lady in New York, company invited me to come in. This lady was the vice president—extraordinary lady. I got to know her and I found out her story.

I said, “How did you get here?”

Big income.

And she never went to college, never went to university. I said, “How did you get here? Executive, powerful, income.”

She said, “Well, let me tell you part of the scenario.”

She said, “When I was a young mother, a few years ago,” she said, “one day I asked my husband for $10, and he said, ‘What for?'”

She said, “Before that day was over, I decided I would never, ever ask again.”

She said, “I started studying opportunity, found it, took the classes, put myself through the schools. Did the scenario. Now I’m vice president, I make a lot of money.”

And she said, “I’ve kept my promise, I’ve never, ever had to ask again.”

It’s called a life changing day, the day you say, “Enough is enough.”

Now, if you can add an act to your disgust it helps.

A man takes a shotgun to his car, blows out every window, destroys every tire, puts 100 rounds in it, and says, “I’ve driven this embarrassing thing for the last time!”

And then he saves it. He saves it, and later when somebody says, “How did you become rich and powerful?”

He says, “Let me show you this car. One day I’d had it up to here, I blew it to smithereens!”

Enough is enough. Powerful.

Here’s the last three.

Next is decision.

Decision making is a life changing day.

If you went home today and in the next few days cleaned up a list of decisions, it could furnish enough inspiration for the next five years, ten years.

What an inspiring day, the day you can bring yourself to decide.

And here’s the third one: Desire. Wanting to bad enough.

Who knows the mystery of that? We don’t know.

But here’s something I do know, sometimes desire waits for a trigger, waits for something to happen.

Who knows what the happening may be? A song, the lyrics, a movie, the dialogue, a seminar, a sermon, a book, an experience, confrontation with an enemy, a conversation with a friend who finally levels with you.

Whatever the experience it is, it’s so valuable.

And here’s my best advice: Welcome all experiences.

You never know which one is going to turn everything on.

Don’t put up the walls—the same wall that keeps out disappointment, keeps out happiness. Take down the walls, go for the experience.

Let it teach you.

And here’s the last one: Resolve.

Resolve says, “I will.”

Two the most powerful words in the language.

Benjamin Disraeli said, “Nothing can resist a human will that will stake its existence on its purpose.”

Shortly put, I’ll do it or die.

Best definition I got of resolve, I got from a little junior high girl, Foster City, California. I’m going through some words one day, I got to this one, and I asked the kids, “Who can tell me what resolve means?”

Some didn’t know, some tried. Interesting.

The last one was the best, little girl about three rows back, she said, “I think I know Mr. Rohn.”

I said, “What?”

She said, “I think resolve means promising yourself, you will never give up.”

I said, “That’s the best I’ve ever heard.”

She’s probably giving seminars somewhere today, right? I mean, that’s the best I’ve heard.

I asked the kids, “How long should a baby try to learn how to walk?”

How long would you give your average baby?

Before you say, “Hey, enough’s enough.”

No! Any mother in the world would say, “You’re crazy. My baby is gonna keep trying…”

What? Until. What a magic word—I want you to write it down—until.

Promise yourself you’ll read the books, until your skills change. You’ll go to seminars, until you get a handle on it. You’ll listen to it, until it makes sense.

You’ll go for it, until you understand it. You’ll practice it, until you develop the skill. Never give up until, however long that is, step by step, piece by piece, book by book, word by word, apple by apple, walk around the block, walk around the block, go for it!

Don’t miss the chance to grow, and resolve that you’ll pay the price until you learn, change, grow, become.

And then you’ll discover some of life’s best treasures, when you pay that price.

The Greatest Challenge of Leadership

04:19:28: Now, here’s my last word to you.

As leaders in the community, I’m sure you are, parents, the greatest challenge of leadership is parenting.

Whether you’re in sales or management, wherever I found you today, I want to give you from my heart to you, what I wished you would do from this seminar today.

And if I have inspired you to do this part here, among all the other things I’ve talked about, I would have considered it worthwhile to leave my family, fly away from my home, drop down into Fort Worth-Dallas, and spend one of my very precious days with you.

If I can accomplish this. It’ll all be worthwhile. It comes in two parts and here it is.

One: Learn to help people with their lives, not just their jobs.

Learn to help people with their lives, not just their skills on the job.

Touch people with a book, touch people with a poem, touch people with some words.

Don’t fail to say something that could be meaningful.

Help people with their lives, help them set their goals, help them with their dreams, help them with the future.

Help them with errors, help them with mistakes, help people.

Help your kids not just get along, not just hang in there, not just try to hold the family together, try to build lives with communication, build lives with setting goals, help your kids with their lives, not just their homework. Their lives.

And here’s my last one for you personally, because I’m probably one of the best examples of this standing before you in this auditorium today.

Here it is.

Ancient script says, “If you work on your gifts, they will make room for you.”

If you work on your gifts, they will make room. Wow.

Look where my gifts have brought me today, to this room. A chance to invest in this many lives.

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