I 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 going to 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 my list there. Price.
Is that one's easy, right? You walk into the supermarket
with $20, come out with a little half bag.
So I had that on my list. I used to blame the weather.
I blame the traffic. I used to blame my car.
I blame the manufacturers. I used to blame the company.
I blamed company policy. I used to blame the training
program. I blame my - 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 my 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 out of
missed, if you hadn't been blunt.
One day was 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 list over very
carefully. He said Mr. Rohn, big problem
with your list. You ain't on it.
How brilliant when I went to work for him.
A few months later. I learned very quickly that 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 Norma father nor my brother nor my 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, the 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 can happen tonight. 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 too 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 tune of a couple of million.
Devastating took me while I survived that one.
Now, it wasn't all that much but it was all I had.
I mean that's what 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 of you Liars. Hey, we've all been there,
right? When it all went.
Course, used to be a long time ago, right?
When you ran out of money, got the zero.
You were all through heck. Now, you can whistle right on by
04 item. 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 what I'm
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 story. Warm but he says, you know what,
with weather like this. What a great day to go out, make
sales. Most everybody will probably be
home. 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 going to be like,
look at the last five because the next five are going to be
like the last five, unless you major 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? It'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 in a won't work?
Good question.