The Secret To Having More

You can have more than you’ve got because you can be more than you are.

Jim Rohn

One of my favorite quotes from the legendary motivator and sales trainer Jim Rohn sets the tone for this post. Most people want more of many things, especially money, yet they struggle with how to achieve that. You can be more, Jim Rohn exclaims. And if you are willing to be more then you can have more. It’s a call to self-development. How many people will answer that call? Mr. Rohn used to talk about three percent of people having library cards. Of course, that was before the internet. Still, I bet today about 3% of the people who use the internet use it to develop themselves.

For things to change, you have to change.

Jim Rohn

Once again Jim Rohn provides further inspiration regarding having more in your life. The desire to have more is just another type of change in your life. Self-development is a way of changing. Read a book. Listen to an inspiring speech. Watch a recording of a seminar. Meditate. Change your habits so that you do those things. Then change your habits by taking what you learn to heart and applying it in your life. If you want more and better in your life then start the process of getting more by changing YOU!

If you work on your job, you’ll make a living. If you work on yourself, you’ll make a fortune.

Jim Rohn

Finally, Jim Rohn offers us another perspective on the idea of increasing financial wealth. It can’t hurt to get better at your day-to-day job. That helps keep a roof over your head, the utilities paid and food on the table. If you want something more than your basic needs met though, then you must expand your horizons. Gain access to bigger ideas. Explore new concepts. Learn a new language. Find out what people outside your immediate circle think and value. Learn a totally different skill than what you’re used to. Doing these things offers no guarantee of greater wealth building but not doing them certainly guarantees that you won’t build wealth.

When Jim was in his speaking hey day most often the reason that people failed to develop themselves could be attributed to laziness. Now with social and streaming media I think it’s safe to say that a failure to develop one’s self can likely be attributed to the addiction to distraction. Scroll a news feed. Binge watch a TV series. Post about what you’re doing right now. Get wrapped up in someone else’s drama. Rinse and repeat. These things are anything but a recipe for self-development and they are preventing people from having more of the things they say that they want in life.

From my perspective some of the saddest people are the people who come out of the grocery store or the gas station mini mart with those scratch off lottery tickets. For some reason I notice those people. I have people like that in my family. To me the habit of purchasing lottery tickets is the epitome of the desire to have wealth without any personal development. And that’s sad. I’m not saying that people who buy scratch off tickets are bad or that I have animosity towards them. Quite the opposite. I’d love to see them try a different way to access wealth.

So what’s the difference between the three percent who develop themselves and the remainder who don’t? That still remains a mystery. There is obviously a difference in motivation but the answers as to exactly why there are those differences are elusive. The one thing that. I think is critical to understand and take away from this post is the following. Don’t assume that you are not destined to have more than you do. Humans are the one species that can go beyond instinct to guide the development of their lives. So take that step towards self-development so that you can be more than you are today!