Six Steps to Plan Your Success | Jim Rohn

Hey guys, welcome to Thursday! We're gonna talk some Jim Rohn here. It only takes six steps to plan your success, so I'm gonna share some of my reflections or commentary on these points that he made.

He starts by explaining his definition of failure and success. He says failure is a few judgment errors repeated every day. Think about that. An example he gives: A man says, "Well, I didn’t walk around the block today, and it didn’t kill me, so that must be okay." Jim says NO that’s a kind of errand judgment that, after six years, has this guy out of breath and panting as he walks from his car to his office. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes. It’s just like if you supersize it every day for 30 days, you’re gonna have some big problems, It’s the sum of the little things that we do daily in a cumulative effect. So little things done daily over time are gonna produce results.

Here’s his definition of success: It’s a few simple disciplines practiced every day.I agree with this. Do you see the distinction? It’s a few disciplines—not many or a lot or a ton. It’s just a few. Here’s a little phrase we’ve all heard: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Jim’s question to us is: What if that’s true? An apple a day keeps the doctor away, how simple and easy is that plan? But you’ve got to do it

The key point is the fact that when you look at successful people, you’ll almost always discover a plan behind their success. They didn’t just get there; it didn’t just happen. And it’s the little things that they do every day. It’s the habits that they practice. They know what they want, and they work their plan to get it. Okay? And that’s the foundation of success.

So his first point is: Develop the right plan for you. Okay, some people are very detail-oriented—they’re able to closely follow an intricate plan. Others are less detail-oriented, like myself. I get bogged down if it’s too detailed, and that’s okay too. He’s saying, "So what plan is right for you?" Well, it’s the plan that fits you. So there’s no one-size-fits-all. Find a plan that works for you, and then work it.

Number two: You want to establish times to spend on it. You’ve got to spend time on it. It might be a Sunday night, it might be 20 minutes each morning or at your lunch or before you go to bed, it might be listening to CDs in your car every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as well. Whatever it is, set times and do it. And I think the key point here is you want to do it consistently.

Thirdly, he talks about keeping a journal, record the ideas and the inspiration that will carry you from where you are to where you want to be. And I have to admit, this is not something I’ve done or I’m doing, so I’m kind of talking theory here. Take notes on the ideas that impact you most, and put down your thoughts or ideas. Brainstorm with yourself on where you’re going and what you want to do. Record your dreams and ambitions. I think he’s kind of talking about dreaming here, and I did talk about this in Intentional Thinking on Wednesday that shaping our thoughts, one of the best ways to do that is to put your thoughts into writing.

Fourthly, you’ve got to reflect. You’ve got to take time for reflectio, time to go back over, to study again the things that you’ve learned and the things that you’ve done each day. Remember, leaders are good thinkers, and they take time to practice. Good thinking is a discipline. And as I talked about being intentional in our thinking on Wednesday, the key here was that when you find a place to think your thoughts, your thoughts find their place in you.

And then fifth, we’ve all heard this: SETTING GOALS, If you don’t have a goal, how do you know where you want to go? Right? You don’t have any direction. Similarly, if you don’t write it down, then it’s kind of just really more of a wish. So you want to write your goals down. Remember that your plan is a roadmap for how you’re going to get your goals, so you have to have them. One of the things that changed his life—and I think it’s changed my life too—was learning how to set goals. We’re not usually taught that, are we? So think about what’s important for you. What are your dreams and objectives? What do you want to accomplish in your life? Write them down. Okay?

And then sixth, we’ve got to act on our plan, What separates the successful from the unsuccessful so many times is the successful will simply do it. They take action. They aren’t necessarily smarter than we are; they just work the plan. You’ve heard it: Plan the work and work the plan. Right? Nothing truly happens until you take action. So the best-laid plans—if you don’t take action, they’re not worth anything. You’re not going to go anywhere.

So quick summary: All these disciplines really are interrelated. They affect each other. That’s why the smallest action is important, because the value and benefits you receive from the one little action will inspire you to do the next one and the next one and so on. So step out and take action. The results may be awesome for you.

Okay, thank you so much for joining me today! Please feel free to hit the vote button or share this if this helped you to be more intentional about your planning for success or if it added value to you in some way and I certainly hope it did. You can also connect with me by your Votes and Comment at Below.

Remember: You either plan to succeed, or if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Have an awesome Thursday, guys! Bye-bye!