Where do You Go For Your Intellectual Feast? by Jim Rohn
Where do You Go For Your Intellectual Feast? by Jim Rohn (excerpted from Leading an Inspired Life)
Pity the man who has a favorite restaurant, but not a favorite author. He's picked out a favorite place to feed his body, but he doesn't have a favorite place to feed his mind!
Why would this be? Have you heard about the accelerated learning curve? From birth, up until the time we are about eighteen, our learning curve is dramatic, and our capacity to learn during this period is just staggering. We learn a tremendous amount very fast. We learn language, culture, history, science, mathematics... everything!
For some people, the accelerated learning process will continue on. But for most, it levels off when they get their first job. If there are no more exams to take, if there's no demand to get out paper and pencil, why read any more books? Of course, you will learn some things through experience. Just getting out there - sometimes doing it wrong and sometimes doing it right - you will learn.
Can you imagine what would happen if you kept up an accelerated learning curve all the rest of your life? Can you imagine what you could learn to do, the skills you could develop, the capacities you could have? Here's what I'm asking you to do: be that unusual person who keeps up his learning curve and develops an appetite for always trying to find good ideas.
One way to feed your mind and educate your philosophy is through the writings of influential people. Maybe you can't meet the person, but you can read his or her books. Churchill is gone, but we still have his books. Aristotle is gone, but we still have his ideas. Search libraries for books and programs. Search magazines. Search documentaries. They are full of opportunities for intellectual feasting.
In addition to reading and listening, you also need a chance to do some talking and sharing. I have some people in my life who help me with important life questions, who assist me in refining my own philosophy, weighing my values and pondering questions about success and lifestyle.
We all need association with people of substance to provide influence concerning major issues such as society, money, enterprise, family, government, love, friendship, culture, taste, opportunity, and community. Philosophy is mostly influenced by ideas, ideas are mostly influenced by education, and education is mostly influenced by the people with whom we associate.
One of the great fortunes of my life was to be around Mr. Shoaff those five years. During that time he shared with me at dinner, during airline flights, at business conferences, in private conversations and in groups. He gave me many ideas that enabled me to make small daily adjustments in my philosophy and activities. Those daily changes, some very slight, but very important, soon added up to weighty sums.
A big part of the lesson was having Mr. Shoaff repeat the ideas over and over. You just can't hear the fundamentals of life philosophy too often. They are the greatest form of nutrition, the building blocks for a well-developed mind.
I'm asking that you feed your mind just as you do your body. Feed it with good ideas, wherever they can be found. Always be on the lookout for a good idea - a business idea, a product idea, a service idea, an idea for personal improvement. Every new idea will help to refine your philosophy. Your philosophy will guide your life, and your life will unfold with distinction and pleasure.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Vitamins for the Mind by Jim Rohn
Books/Library/Reading
Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book.
Some people claim that it is okay to read trashy novels because sometimes you can find something valuable in them. You can also find a crust of bread in a garbage can, if you search long enough, but there is a better way.
Most homes valued at over $250,000 have a library. That should tell us something.
Everything you need for your better future and success has already been written. And guess what? It's all available. All you have to do is go to the library. And there's probably a library in every neighborhood.
Some people read so little they have rickets of the mind.
I now have one of the better libraries. I admit that I haven't read everything in my library, but I feel smarter just walking in it.
Don't just read the easy stuff. You may entertained by it, but you will never grow from it.
The book you don't read won't help.
Books are easy to find and easy to buy. A paperback these days only costs six or seven dollars. You can borrow that from your kids!
It isn't what the book costs; it's what it will cost if you don't read it.
Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine. For more of Jim Rohn's great wisdom, check out his link in the blog links.
