Out of all the emails I receive each week, updates from Darren and the weekly updates from the Jim Rohn one year plan are the two that I most look forward to.

There’s not much else I can say – if you are seeking success in life, relationships, income or spirituality then Darren should be on your reading list!

http://darrenhardy.success.com/

• A Giant Is Born
• Giants Go For Victory
• Giants Are Peak Performers
• Giants Use Their Mind As Their Ally
• Interview With Mark Victor Hanson
• Interview With Artemis Limpert
• Interview With Jim Rohn

The overall message is about thinking big (i.e. thinking like a giant). I upgraded a couple of months ago, so I’m now able to download all of the audios and videos and listen/watch on my iPod. If you are wondering about the quality of the material, I can say it is good value. It is very much about personal development – no ‘power of positive thinking’ fluff in here. All of the lessons and tutorials are about learning how to identify the areas of your life you need to change, and how to take action to make those changes.

Like a lot of things, it can be explained in several ways. Perhaps rather than saying you’ve been programmed, it would make sense to say that we live by a belief system. As we grow up we’re basically told what is right and what is wrong… what is good and what is bad. Some of us are encouraged to really get the most out of our lives and most of us are not.

That’s the key point right there. If you are like me, there was probably plenty of encouragement to succeed, but nobody every told you that you could be wealthy or incredibly successful. Nobody told you that it was easy to live an extraordinary life if you just applied some basic principles and disciplines.

That’s something I’ve learned in the past couple of months and I don’t hope any more. I KNOW what I can do and I KNOW what I can have and I KNOW what I can become.

Everyone has heard the saying “What’s your life purpose?” Most of us just toss that question to the wind as some mumbo jumbo baloney. But, that’s only because you don’t know how incredibly easy it is to answer that question by following these simple steps. Once you have your answer life begins to unfold in the most amazing ways…

The exercise which is in several steps, is about discovering what your purpose is. It’s an important question – if you don’t have a purpose or at least don’t know what your purpose is then it’s going to be more difficult to set goals. This is something I tell people when I’m talking about online marketing. Before you build a website you should have a very clear vision of who and what you want to be in one year, five years and ten years. Many online marketers fail because they try to emulate or impersonate other people who they can see are having success selling products or services on the Internet. It’s okay to learn from those people but you really need to be you and choose a path that you get the most enjoyment from.

Between the Success Principle course and Jim Rohn’s audios I’m getting to the point where I can feel that as time goes by I will become unstoppable in pursuit of my goals. I’ve never had any ambition or desire to do any public speaking but one of my new goals, after I become financially independent is to speak to high school students. I figure that they can benefit the most from some of the powerful insights I’ve learned since I began my personal development journey.

Just as Jim Rohn, Earl Shoaff and Jerry Clark had stories to tell, my story is evolving. It will be a story about how a 46 year old man with 30 years programming experience and 15 years experience running his own businesses managed to mess things up. My main enemies were indifference and self doubt. I’ve never suffered any sort of discouragement from friends or family (fortunately). My problem has always been that I simply never even entertained the idea of being successful, financially independent  or wealthy. Even during the 5 years that I’ve worked from home… nearly all that time I’ve concentrated almost entirely on being a wage earner rather than concentrating on building a profitable business. I guess I’ve fit neatly into the same mold that ninety percent of the population fit into.

That all changes this year.

It’s a stark reminder that we often wait until it’s too late before we think about things like that. Fortunately no-one died in the crash landing but I wonder how many people have died regretting that they didn’t do enough in their lives or they didn’t achieve some of their goals simply because they didn’t give them any time or priority.

It reminds me of how we often say we ‘need’ something. When someone says ‘I need to lose weight’ what they are usually saying is ‘I want to lose weight but I’m not really going to try’.  I’ve been ‘needing’ for years now and this year I’m going to ‘do’!

One way would be to look at the other side. If you have convinced yourself, or you have been convinced by others that you will never amount to anything, never have a great life and never be happy, how is that going to affect you? I’d suggest that the main effect is that you are never going to amount to anything, you will never have a great life and you will never be really happy. Why is that? Well, if you believe what you and/or others have told you, then you are never even going to make the attempt to improve your situation. Now it may well be that you have no money, your personal life is a shambles and you are just about ready to cash in your chips and call it a day.

One of the things I’ve discovered is that positive thinking doesn’t solve anything on its own. You can’t ‘think’ yourself out of your problems. Having a positive thought though can be the catalyst for a change. It’s the starting point. Once you decide that hey, maybe I can improve things a bit you then get that little bit of motivation to make the attempt. But if you are stuck in a ‘things will never change’ rut then the chances are that things will never change.

When we’re hungry for food or water we just naturally and automatically do something to satisfy that hunger. You can do the same with anything. All you really need to know is HOW to satisfy your hunger for a better life and HOW to satisfy your hunger for a little bit more money in the bank. As Jim Rohn often said, the good stuff is always a little out of reach. We need to read books and then step on the stack of books, going that little bit higher each time we read another one, until we’re high enough to reach the good stuff. If you want to continually improve your quality of life then life itself has to be a continual learning experience.

• Low cost – start with a low one time cost and then move on to monthly if you want.
• Some of the best self improvement resources you will find anywhere.
• All available as digital downloads. These are all self improvement online courses.

Start With Jim Rohn

Many of the top self improvement and business coaches such as Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy and Mark Victor Hansen have a great deal of respect for Jim Rohn. Here are some quotes:

“I truly believe Jim Rohn is an extraordinary human being whose philosophy can enhance the quality of life for anyone who exposes themselves to it. He certainly had a positive impact on me at a time in my life when I was first forming the philosophies that guide me today.” -  Anthony Robbins

“Jim Rohn is outstanding!  He is among the most polished, professional speakers in America, with a message everyone should hear.” – Brian Tracy

Jim Rohn is the master motivator – he has style, substance, charisma, relevance, charm, and what he says makes a difference and it sticks.  I consider Jim the ‘Chairman of Speakers.’  The world would be a better place if everyone heard my friend, Jim Rohn.” – Mark Victor Hansen

Sadly, Jim Rohn passed away in December 2009. He has left an incredible legacy though which will last for many many years to come. My recommendation for you if you are just starting out or even if you’ve tried a course and haven’t been satisfied with the results, is to purchase Jim Rohn’s ‘Challenge To Succeed‘. It is a set of MP3 files that you can download and burn on to 4 CDs. Topics include:

• Five Major Pieces To The Life Puzzle
• Success Is Easy
• Books To Read
• What Shapes Our Attitudes
• Wisdom & Labor
• Work Harder On Yourself
• Setting Goals
• The Day That Turns Your Life Around

There are many more – that’s just a small selection. This particular set is one that I think everyone should have. It should be given out at schools, to workers and to business owners. It really is THAT good. And at $39 it’s a really cheap way to get a really incredible audio set. You can read more about it here – Challenge To Succeed – and purchase online. Once you pay you have immediate access to the download. I listen to it in the car and I also have the audios on my iPod to listen to when I’m on the exercise bike or out walking.

Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan

This is the next step up and still very affordable. There is currently a special on that gets you the first 3 months for just $9.97/mth and the remaining 9 months for $17.97/mth. Here’s the course outline:

Experience the power of The Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan!
It’s a one-year game plan covering the 12 pillars of success and created to help you achieve a 10%-40% increase in the following:

Plus, you receive 52 unique, weekly strategic game plans via email that will:
• Focus on mastering each month’s module (see above)
• Review and highlight the weekly audio portion of the program
• Offer action strategies and exercises
• Provide follow-up Q and A
• Provide mastermind and synergistic feedback

Plus, listen in on 12 exclusive pre-recorded conference calls (one per month) with a specific focus and hosted by a premier expert in each of the 12 pillars of success.

That’s a very comprehensive course! You can sign up for that one at the Your Success Store website.

The Success Principal

This course is a little more pricey at $67/mth but it goes into a bit more about online marketing. The course consists of 9 sections which open on a weekly basis – so you can;t go flipping around and losing track. You have to follow the course through one week at a time. The main coach is Jerry Clark, a guy who was ‘born in a garage’ and went on to become a self made millionaire in his early 20′s. You can find out more about the course via some videos at The Success Principle.

I’m currently using all three of these. You can read about The Success Principle in my other posts. The 1 year Jim Rohn course starts for me in early February so I’ll be posting more about that after it begins. I’m really looking forward to that one as Jim Rohn really was an amazing individual!

Last week we started a five part series on The Seasons of Life.

At that time I stated that I believe there are overriding principles that we should follow and be led by. That life is about constant, predictable patterns of change. And that as we approach the future; for all of us, the only constant factor will be our feelings and attitudes toward life.

Secondly, we as human beings have the power of attitude and that attitude determines choice, and choice determines results. All that we are and all that we can become has indeed been left unto us to decide and interpret through our attitude and choices.

This week we will begin our discussion of the four seasons. I’ll start by making two comments. First, life and business are like the changing seasons. That’s one of the best ways to illustrate life: it’s like the seasons that change. Second, you cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself.

Now with those two key phrases in mind, let’s look at what I consider to be the first major lesson in life to learn, and that is how to handle the winters. They come regularly, right after autumn. Some are long, some are short, some are difficult, some are easy, but they always come right after autumn. That is never going to change.

There are all kinds of winters – the “winter” when you can’t figure it out, the “winter” when everything seems to go haywire. There are economic winters, social winters and personal winters.

Wintertime can bring disappointment, and disappointment is common to all of us.

So you must learn how to handle the winters. You must learn how to handle difficulty; it always comes after opportunity. You must learn to handle recessions; they come right after expansions. That isn’t going to change.

The big question is what do you do about winters? You can’t get rid of January simply by tearing it off the calendar. But here is what you can do: you can get stronger; you can get wiser; and you can get better. Remember that trio of words: stronger, wiser, better. The winters won’t change, but you can.

Before I understood this, I used to wish it were summer when it was winter. When things were difficult, I used to wish they were easy. I didn’t know any better. Then Mr. Shoaff gave me the answer from a part of his very unique philosophy when he said, “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.”

(Next week we will talk about the second major lesson in life: learning how to take advantage of the spring. Spring is opportunity. Fortunately, spring always follows winter.)

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Rohn

http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Seasons-of-Life,-Part-2-of-5&id=11143

By Jim Rohn

Life is about constant, predictable patterns of change. For the six thousand years of recorded history, as humans have entered this world, received parental instruction, classroom instruction, and gathered the experience of life; many have set for themselves ambitious goals, and dreamed lofty dreams.

As the wheel of life continues its constant turning, all human emotions appear, disappear, and appear once again.

A major challenge faced by us all is that we must learn to experience the changing of life’s cycles without being changed by them; to make a constant and conscious effort to improve ourselves in the face of changing circumstances.

That is why I believe in the power and value of attitude. As I read, ponder and speculate about people, their deeds and their destiny, I become more deeply convinced that it is our natural destiny to grow, to succeed, to prosper, and to find happiness while we are here.

By our attitude, we decide to read, or not to read. By our attitude, we decide to try or give up. By our attitude, we blame ourselves for our failure, or we blame others. Our attitude determines whether we tell the truth or lie, act or procrastinate, advance or recede, and by our own attitude we and we alone actually decide whether to succeed or fail.

How incredibly unique that a God who would create the complex and immense universe would create the human race and give to those humans the free choice that would permit them to select their own achievement or their own destruction.

This strange, but all-knowing God gave to us a delicately balanced sphere called earth. On it, he placed the intelligent human who would either develop it or destroy it. How terribly fascinating that a God would leave both projects – earth as well as humans – unfinished! Across the rivers and streams he built no bridges; he left the pictures unpainted, the songs unsung, the books unwritten, and space unexplored. For the accomplishment of those things, God created the unfinished human who, within his heart and mind, had the capacity to do all these things and more, depending upon his own choice.

Attitude determines choice, and choice determines results. All that we are, and all that we can become has indeed been left unto us. For as long as you continue to draw breath, you have the chance to complete the work in and for the earth and for yourself that God has begun for you. In the cycles and seasons of life, attitude is everything!

(Next week we will look at both winter and spring as we continue our review of the Seasons of Life)

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Rohn
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Seasons-of-Life,-Part-1-of-5&id=11142