FOCUS ON YOU EVERY DAY – Morning Speech for Daily Discipline
22:09 Share

This episode is brought to you by Amazon Business. How can you free up your team from time-consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams so they can focus on strategy and growth, free up your teams, and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights, and support available at amazonbusiness.com.

Summer's here and Nordstrom has everything you need for your best dress season ever. From beach days and weddings to weekend getaways in your everyday wardrobe. Discover stylish options under $100 from tons of your favorite brands like Mango, Skims, Princess Polly and Madewell. It's easy too with free shipping and free returns. In-store order pickup and more. Shop today in stores online at nordstrom.com or download the Nordstrom app.

The guy says, "I want to be a great leader." Wonderful. The first thing we do is follow him to his house. When we get there, we walk in and check his library. Number one. Somebody says, "Well, why check his library?" The reason is because what a man reads pours massive ingredients into his mental factory. And the fabric of his life is built from those ingredients.

Making sure you don't spend major time on minor things. This is why you need to think on paper. Put your game plan on paper to make sure you're not spending major time on minor things. Little phrase I have says, "Don't mistake movement for achievement." Destination is not determined by hope. It's not determined by wish. Destination is determined by direction. You cannot change destination overnight.

But here's what you can change today and overnight, you can change direction. And it is so fascinating what a little small change of direction will do. A few decisions in discipline, a few decisions in learning, a few decisions in change of behavior, change of habit,

a few decisions and setting goals that you've sort of let drift before. Like I did at age 25, didn't have a list. I immediately started to change that. And I immediately started to change my direction so that very quickly I started heading this direction. In less than seven years, I was a millionaire. By not being prepared, thinking ahead, it's your choice. Now here's the other side of it. By being prepared, you increase your chances of success. You increase the likelihood

By being prepared, you increase your chances of success, of seizing opportunities when they come your way, of being ready within yourself to take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime situations. The refinement of philosophy, the extra studies and the extra books and the extra classes and the extra thinking, the extra pondering,

The extra give and take of testing ideas and debate and discussion. That's where the extra life comes from is in the dimensions of refined philosophy, the extra thinking. And these are the steps of intellectual discovery that a lot of people just don't want to take.

or they're too busy to take it, or it presents itself in too strong and tough a manner, these extra skills. But I'm telling you, once you start engaging in these extra skills, you won't ever want to go back. This new intellectual discovery is where the wealth is, it's where the happiness is, the good life, influence, power. Take charge of your own life, take charge of your own day, take charge of your own conversation, take charge of your own family, take charge of your own possibilities.

and learn these skills, develop this kind of strategy and I'm telling you life will open up for you. Join the 3%, join the 10%, join the 5%, walk away from the 95%. We all need a good library. Mr. Schaaf got me started on mine. Here's one of the books he recommended, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

Shofast me. Doesn't that title intrigue you? Think and grow rich? Who wouldn't need that book? I found it in a used bookstore and paid less than 50 cents for it. And I've still got it. It's one of my most valued treasures. You can start this process of developing a library like I did. Here's a mindset to guide you as you begin.

Your library needs to show that you're a serious student of life, health, spirituality, culture, uniqueness, sophistication, economics, prosperity, productivity, sales, management, skills and values of all kinds. Let your library show you're a serious student. Your library will become your mental food, your food for thought. It is so important to nourish the mind, not just the body. You've got to be educated.

A good book to start with is "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler. Adler was the chief editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which is also a good set of books to have in your library. In "How to Read a Book", Adler gives you some good suggestions on how to not just read a book, but actually get the most information out of it. He also provides a list of the best books ever written, and I've used it as a centerpiece for my library. I'm just telling you what worked for me.

If it suits you, fine. If it doesn't suit you, keep looking until you find something that does suit you. Just be sure to keep your library well balanced. Let me give you some examples. Number one, we've all got to have a sense of history.

We need to know about American history, international history, family history and political history. This sort of knowledge will illustrate for you that the state of one's life rarely changes for the better of its own accord. Once you realize that, the next logical step is to realize that you have to do the changing. History helps us to understand what there is to work with: seed, soil, sunshine, rain.

It also tells us what human beings have done with those resources in the past to change their lot in life. You'll find that many of them transformed from non-productive citizens to productive ones. That's what history is for, to learn the lessons of our ancestors. Be a good student of history. The next crucial topic is philosophy.

You might find it a little bit difficult to comprehend some aspects of philosophy, but you can't just read and study the easy stuff.

Try to tackle the more difficult to comprehend stuff. That's how you grow as a person. Next novels. Many times an intriguing story is interwoven with the philosophy that the author is trying to get across. Ayn Rand was probably better at this than anybody else. Atlas Shrugged was a towering novel. It kept us intrigued as Rand was feeding us her philosophy.

And you don't need to agree with an author's perspective to benefit from a novel. Here's a little personal advice: skip the trash. Sometimes you can find something valuable in a trashy novel, but I wouldn't take the time to read something trashy just to find it. You can find a crust of bread in the garbage can, but I wouldn't dig through it. There's simply not enough time to read the truly brilliant stuff.

Next are biographies and autobiographies. You can read the dramatic stories of both good people and terrible people. You need to understand the balance between good and evil. Get a book on Gandhi and a book on Hitler. One will illustrate the heights of good a human being can accomplish and the other will illustrate how low and despicable a human being can become. You need to comprehend both sides of the coin.

Next, accounting. You've got to have at least a primary understanding of accounting. Kids have got to start learning the difference between a debit and a credit. And next is law. You don't have to be a lawyer, but you've got to know contracts. What to sign, what not to sign, and how to be safe rather than sorry. All of us need a little law, especially in these complicated times.

I learned this the hard way. Some time ago, a company I was affiliated with in Canada wanted to borrow money. They needed a quarter of a million dollars. The bank said, "Yes, we will loan the company the money if Mr. Ron will sign personally." I wanted to play the hero and I knew the company could pay it back, so I signed. Sure enough, within less than a year, they had paid the loan back in full.

I was indeed seen as the hero. About a year later, this company got in financial trouble. They went back to the bank and borrowed a quarter of a million dollars again. I said to myself, I hope my phone doesn't ring because I won't sign the note this time. I knew they were in trouble. I knew they were probably going to go bankrupt. My phone never rang. I was off the hook. Sure enough, within less than a year, the company went bankrupt.

They couldn't pay and I get a letter from the bank saying, "Dear Mr. Ron, since the company cannot perform its obligation and pay this quarter of a million dollars, and since we have here your personal guarantee, would you please send us your check for a quarter of a million dollars?" I thought there must be some mistake. I signed that first note and they paid it all back. I didn't sign the second note.

What I didn't know was that I had originally signed a continuing guarantee. So, now I know what the word continuing means. I'm asking you to study a little law. Know what to sign. Know how to defend yourself. Don't sign too quickly. Be a student. Don't be a lazy learner. You've got to build a library that shows you're a serious student of personal development in all areas. So, begin with a few books.

Soon, you'll open up a whole new world of fresh ideas. You encounter a plethora of ideas every day, but most of them probably go by unnoticed. That's why you need to develop the ability to absorb. Be like a sponge. Don't miss anything. Don't miss the words. Don't miss the atmosphere. Don't miss the color. Don't miss the scenario. Don't miss what's going on. Most people are just trying to get through the day.

Here's what I want you to be committed to doing. Learn to get from the day. Learn from it. Let the day teach you. Attend the university of life. What a difference that will make in your future. Commit yourself to learning. Commit yourself to absorbing. I've got a personal friend who is gifted in this area.

I think he soaks up and remembers virtually everything that has ever happened to him. He can tell you vivid stories from his teenage years. Where he was, what he did, what he said, what she said, how they felt, the color of the sky and what was going on that day. And the reason is that he absorbs everything that happens to him. I'm telling you, it's more exciting to have him go to Acapulco and tell you about it than it is to go yourself.

He has an extraordinary gift. Wherever he is, he doesn't miss anything. Here's a good phrase for you to jot down. Wherever you are, be there. Be there to absorb it. Take a picture if you can. Take pictures in your mind. Let your soul and heart take pictures. Get it, capture it, absorb it. And don't be casual in getting it. Casualness leads to casualties.

Next, learn to respond. Responding means letting life touch you. Don't let it kill you, but let it touch you. Let sad things make you sad. Let happy things make you happy. Let the feelings strike you. Our emotions need to be as acknowledged as our intellect. It's important to know how to feel. It's important to know how to respond. It's important to let life in, to let it touch you.

I'm the greatest guy in the world to take to the movies. I really get into a good movie. I want it to make me laugh, make me cry, scare me to death, teach me something, take me high, take me low. I just don't want the movie to leave me as I was when I came in. That's what we all need, to have life touch us. And that's exactly what will happen to you when you develop the ability to absorb

and respond to all life has to offer. One of the keys to making the most of ideas is developing the ability to reflect. Reflect means to go back over, to study again. Go back over your notes, go back over your thoughts and go back over your day. There are some particularly good times to reflect. One is at the end of the day. Take a few minutes to go back over the day

Whom did you see? What did they say? What happened? How did you feel? What went on? By answering those questions, you capture the day. Every day represents a piece of the mosaic of your life. You need to capture the experience, the knowledge, the sights, the sounds, the panorama, the color and the emotion so it will serve you well for the future. Don't miss a day. Then take a few hours at the end of the week to reflect. Go back over your calendar. Go back over your appointment book.

Ask yourself the same questions. Where did you go? Whom did you see? How did it feel? What went on? Capture that week. A week is a fairly substantial chunk of time. Next, take half a day at the end of the month to reflect. Follow the same process. Go back over what you read. Go back over what you heard. Go back over what you saw. Go back over your feelings and capture them so that they serve you.

Finally, take a weekend at the end of the year to establish the year firmly in your consciousness so that it never disappears. The Old Testament describes a unique scenario that unfolded according to the law. At that time, people worked for nine years and the tenth year was a sabbatical. The tenth year was probably used for relaxing, replenishing, getting in shape physically. We would call it a change of pace in modern society. But that was not the only objective for the tenth year.

I'm sure that in ancient days, sabbaticals were used to go over the previous nine years to see what went right and what went wrong, what worked well and what didn't work well. People would ask themselves, how did I grow? What did I learn? How did I change? What do I have now after nine years that I didn't have at the beginning? That time for reflection is what makes a sabbatical so effective and meaningful.

At times, you'll want to reflect with somebody else. A husband and wife can reflect on the past year together. Parents can reflect with their children. Colleagues can reflect with each other. But you've also got to learn to reflect by yourself. Solitude is a powerful force. We all need to find some occasions to shut out the rest of the world for a while. I've got a motorhome and a motorcycle. That's how I find solitude.

I head for the mountains and ride the trails where there are very few human beings or I go out into the desert somewhere. It's my time to get away. When you live a very public life, you treasure solitude.

When I have a chance to reflect alone, I go back over my life, go back over my skills, go back over my experiences. There are some things you need to do alone, such as ponder, think, wonder, read, study and absorb new ideas. Decide how you can become better this year than you were last year. Enjoy your solitude. Life is full of experiences, touching and seeing and looking and doing and acting.

But you're going to lose the lessons of those experiences if you don't take the time to reflect. We can all learn to gather up the past and invest in the future. Gather up today and invest it into tomorrow. Gather up this week and invest it in the next week. Gather up this year and invest it in the next year. Many people simply hang on one more year. They are just hanging in there, seeing what's going to happen.

I am asking you to choose a different path to learn, study, and reflect. This is a major part of personal development. The quest to become better than you are now. I think you're on mute. Workday starting to sound the same? I think you're on mute. Find something that sounds better for your career on LinkedIn. With LinkedIn Job Collections, you can browse curated collections by relevant industries and benefits, like FlexPTO or hybrid workplaces.

So you can find the right job for you. Get started at linkedin.com slash jobs. Finding where you fit. LinkedIn knows how.

Summer is coming right to your door. With Target Circle 360, get all the season go-tos at home with same-day delivery. Snacks for the pool party? Delivered. Sun lotion and towels for a beach day? Delivered. Pillows and lights to deck out the deck? That too. Delivered. Just when you want them. Summer your way, quick and easy. Join now and get all the summer fun delivered right to your home with Target Circle 360. Membership required. Subject to terms and conditions. Applies to orders over $35.

The spirit of innovation is deeply ingrained in America, and Google is helping Americans innovate in ways both big and small. The Air Force Research Laboratory is partnering with Google Cloud, using AI to accelerate defense research for air, space, and cyberspace forces. This is a new era of American innovation. Find out more at g.co slash American innovation.

Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot, crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.