The Art of Exceptional Living and its Relevance for Students

Foreword: Jim Rohn and his business philosophy is what shaped GMR (Global Marketing Resources, LLC) to be a formidable online business today. As a result, deserving interns at GMR are coached in his philosophy when they join the company. Vishaal Prasad is a Senior at Irvine High School in California and is interning at Global Marketing Resources, LLC. The content below is an overview of Jim Rohns DVD. The Art of Exceptional Living.

Christopher Morgan Herrera

Associate Manager

In his two-part CD 'The Art of Exceptional Living, rags-to-riches millionaire Jim Rohn gives advice to his audience on how to improve their lives financially and in other aspects. Taught to him by his mentor Earl Shoaff, this change in philosophy advocates self-improvement as the key to ameliorating ones life, as opposed to blaming the circumstance (e.g., the economy, management, co-workers, etc.). The following advice is a concise summary of Rohn's CD.

• Never blame the circumstance. This has already been said, but it is crucial not to blame controllable events. There is always something you can do to improve, so focus on that.
• Read and learn from texts on how to improve by studying whatever you wish to achieve.
• The best way to be something is to learn its characteristics, thereby creating a path for success. If you wish to be happy, study happiness and and surround yourself with good people.
• Learn the basics of accounting, economy, dentistry, etc. Being knowledgeable about common professions reduces the chance of an expert swindling you or being disingenuous.
• Write everything you learn in a journal. Don't trust your memory- having useful information in front of you allows you to relearn a vast amount of material in a short time.
• A key to improving yourself is understanding that you are paid (or appreciated) for the value you bring. A person does not get paid per hour; rather, the person gets paid for the amount of value they bring per hour. Work on yourself and improve yourself, and the results will concomitantly follow.
• Do not spend major time on minor things; you are wasting your time.
• Learn to handle the hard times- the winters of your life, so to speak - because they will always happen, whether it be financial, social, personal, etc. Work on improving yourself and focusing on the positives in life; this is what will help you get through tough times.
• After the hard times come the times of opportunity - spring in this metaphor. However, you must take advantage of this opportunity; how useful is spring to a gardener who does not plant seeds?
• As soon as you have taken advantage of your opportunity, you have to protect what has grown from it. Someone, something will try to steal your crops, out of envy, necessity, or somewhere in the middle, but it will happen regardless. Protect yourself during your summers.
• Fall metaphorically is the time to reap what you have sown. Accept your pickings because you are the one responsible for where you are in life.
• Let life touch you. Allow yourself to be immersed in your emotions - not overwhelmed, but immersed. It is crucial to feel life to get the best out of it.
• Learn to reflect on your experiences and yourself in solitude. Read your notes again.
• Evaluate your day before you go to sleep. Evaluate your month before the next one begins. This allows you to correct anything that is not up to your standards.
• Act. Do not be passive and let life pass you by. If you do not act immediately on an idea, it will lose its strength and your motivation will diminish. Make sure to take action when you are inspired.
• Be disciplined. It is a slippery slope - if you let yourself slip once, you will continually fall.
• Keep rest a necessity, not an objective. Nothing good comes to you while you rest; use it as you need it but no more.
• Share your knowledge with people. If you share a piece of information with ten people, not only do ten people gain more insight, but you also hear the same information ten times. It becomes a win-win situation. Thus, something is to be gained from an altruistic act.

It may seem that this list relates exclusively to those in the workforce already, and indeed much of Rohn's advice relates directly to that group. However, Rohn's philosophy can be applied to students preparing for the future as well.

• Students - basically young adults in general - must learn to be held accountable for their actions. Taking responsibility is a sign of maturity. If you do not do well (on a test, a sporting event, a job, etc.), accept your shortcomings and learn from them or you will never improve.
• Look down the path to which your attitude leads. Perhaps you get A' s or are play varsity sports without putting in any effort. Sure, this philosophy may not lead to any disasters in the near future, but be wise and look past that. Maybe you can breeze through Pre-Calculus without actually learning the material, but how will you handle next year's Calculus?
• Re-evaluate your studying habits - too many students study hard instead of studying smart. Instead of memorizing something through sheer repetition, learn the value of writing down important information. It has been proved that this aids in memory retention.
• Much like Rohn's notion of increasing value per hour to become more valuable, do not aim to study longer but rather to study more efficiently. You will have more time for other activities and you will likely see your scores improve as well.
• If you spend hours studying and still do not perform as well as you would like, rework your studying. Maybe you need a friend to study with, maybe you do not. Maybe you need to be secluded, maybe you need music. Find what suits you instead of simply putting in more hours.
• Set priorities. Rohn has stated many times not to spend excessive time on smaller, more inconsequential things. Focus on what matters most.
• Look to the future: Will it matter what clothes you had worn or how well you did in school" Similarly, if you do not have a future in athletics, do not let your sport come in the way of academics.
• Things are not always sunny like in summer; handle your shortcomings and aim to improve them. Only when you make a mistake do you have the opportunity to re-evaluate yourself and truly improve.
• Be disciplined in all endeavours, including studying for tests or practicing an instrument or a sport. Not studying even once will set a precedent for future tests to go in unprepared.
• Conversely, when you accomplish a discipline, you will feel the gratification which will ultimately lead you to accomplish the rest of your goals.
• Act on an emotion. If you want to change your life and some cataclysmic event in your life inspires you to do something, do it before you start to lose your motivation. It is the only way you will make the sort of change in your life that you need.
• Your self-esteem is very important - if you do not feel like you are doing the best you can, your psyche is negatively affected. Only when you feel good about yourself do you have the motivation to continue your disciplines.

Reference: As a world-renowned author and success expert, Jim Rohn touched millions of lives during his 46-year career as a motivational speaker and messenger of positive life change.For more information on Jim and his popular personal achievement resources, or to subscribe to the weekly Jim Rohn Newsletter, visit www.JimRohn.com.