Book notes — 7 strategies for wealth and

happiness from Jim Rohn

I was first exposed to Jim Rohn through an audio CD that one of
my fellow Toastmasters lent me. She told me that she listened to
this audio CD at least once every month, which reminded me of
Seth Godin who listened to Zig Ziglar so many times when he was
younger that he wore out the cassettes. Why not read or listen to
such formative books multiple times to absorb the information. I
believe the more you read or listen to something, the better
ingrained it is in your mind.

In the audio CD, I remember Jim talking about how he learned

from his mentor, Earl Shoaff and this book starts out the same
way — everything that he has learned from Mr. Shoaff, he has
translated into this book. Even just looking at the book cover, I
knew this was a book that I was going to re-read many times in
the future. I want those 7 strategies to be burned into my brain. I
want to think and act like Jim Rohn.

What are the 7 strategies?

The first strategy: the power of goals

How many of you define and write down your goals on a regular
basis? I certainly don’t. I’ve written down goals in the past but do
not regularly go back to review my goals, identify new goals or
carefully consider what goals to try to reach that allow me to
stretch.

Jim shares a story about how when he first talked to Earl, Earl
asked him where his list of goals were. Jim replied that he did not
have any written down. Earl then said that if Jim did not have a
list of goals, that Earl could guess Jim’s bank account balance
within a few hundred dollars. And he did! Jim then asked “So if I
had a list of goals, my bank balance would change?” Earl said
“drastically”.

Goals do a number of things. Not only do they provide you with

the direction you want to move forward in, but they also provide
you the motivation and the reason (whether explicit or implicit)
to move ahead. Between two people that want to run a charity
marathon, the person that is going to train hard, eat right and run
that marathon and not slack off is the person with the better
reason (say, they have a friend who recently died of cancer and
they are doing it for them). If you have enough reasons to do
something, you cannot help but achieve those goals.

Why haven’t you started a business? Why haven’t you written

that book that you said you were always going to write? Maybe
it’s because you do not have enough reasons. Think about the
other way around — if you were stuck on an island and had to
survive, would you do anything you had to in order to survive?
Definitely.
How do you write and set goals? Jim explains his process:

 First, do a free form writing exercise. From a one year to ten

year time frame (i.e., what you want to accomplish in a year
to ten years), write down everything you want to do,
everything you want to be, what you want to see, where you
want to go, what you want to be able to share with others.
Don’t be detailed, just write down shorthand things (for
example, if you want to be a millionaire, write down
$1,000,000 and then move on)

 Beside each goal, write down the estimated time frame that
you think you need to achieve that goal. For example, write
down 1 if you think it will take 1 year to achieve or 5 if you
think it will take 5 years to achieve. Do this according to 1
year, 3 years, 5 years and 10 years.

 Look at your overall list of goals and see whether you have a
lot of long term goals or a lot of shorter term goals. If you
have a lot of shorter term goals, it could be because you do
not know what you want to be in the long term. If you have
a lot of long term goals, it could mean that you are putting
off a lot of things you do not want to do in the shorter term.

 Once you have the complete list, identify 4 goals from each
of the four categories that you consider to be the most
important. Beside each of the goals, write down: a detailed
description of what you want. If you want to own a
 particular car, think about the colour, the make, the year,
the interior, the scent of the car, how great it will feel with
the windows down, the amazing audio system and
everything else in as much detail as possible. Also write
down all of the reasons why you want to achieve that goal.
If you cant’ figure out a good reason why you want it,
replace it with another goal.

There’s also short term goals (these are accomplished between

one day and a year). These goals are also important and it’s really
up to you to find a way to organize these goals (could be under
the longer term goals or could be a separate place).

The fun is in having these list of goals and then crossing them off
as you do them.

The real benefit of goals is not in being able to achieve certain and
specific things. No, the true benefit of goals is to motivate you to
become a different person to achieve those goals. Mr. Trump
became a millionaire but when he lost all of his money multiple
times, he was able to get back millions — he had become a person
that could generate wealth.

The second strategy: seek knowledge

First, why is it important to keep studying and improving?

There’s a great quote here:
“Income rarely exceeds personal development”

The more you learn, the more you earn. There are two different
ways of learning:

1. Personal reflection

Jim is a strong advocate of keeping a journal. At the end of the

week, the end of the month, the end of the year, reflect on all of
the things that have happened to you and what you have learned.
Funny, we do lessons learned for projects to reflect on both the
good and the bad but why don’t we do this more with our lives?
And sure, it can be onerous to take the time to write down your
reflections but think of it as an investment into your future years.
You won’t (or at least are less likely) to make the same mistakes
that you’ve made in the past. You figure out how to avoid
situations that you have tried to get through before. You better
understand what makes you tick.

1. Learning from others

There is so much knowledge out there, if you only knew! Millions

of books, audiobooks, articles, magazines and courses out there
on the subjects that you are interested in learning about. When I
felt like my finances were in a bit of trouble, I decided to devote
myself to finance and investment books out there to make sure
that what I was currently doing was the right path. And this does
not have to be a lengthy investment either — 30 minutes every
day, devoted to reading or learning about something that can
help you stretch. And if you really want to grow faster, spend
more time every single day. It’s not about spending a whole
weekend reading — rather, it’s the consistent practice of learning
something every day that will help you grow faster.

The third strategy: learn to change

There’s an interesting anecdote about a man who says “I should

be paid more, I have ten years of experience.” Except that man
does not have ten years of experience, he has one year of
experience repeated ten times. Your life will change when you
change. My Dad often told me that you cannot rely on anyone
else to help you move forward in your life. You can’t rely on your
boss. You can’t rely on your mentors. You can’t rely on your loved
ones. All you have to rely on is yourself and your abilities.

What do you change?

Change your spiritual self. Journal, reflect and figure out what is
important to you in the future. Change your physical self.
Exercise. Sweat. Work hard. Make sure that you are in the best
shape of your life. Change your mental self. Learn. Grow. Repeat.
Stretch yourself mentally. Do what James Altucher does —
write ten ideas every single day.

How do you motivate yourself to change?

Take small steps towards your ultimate goal. Want to build a six
figure business? Build a five figure business first. Want to get a
million dollars in sales? Get a hundred dollars in sales first. When
you start small, it is both easier and that success will help
motivate you towards greater levels of success.

The fourth strategy: control your finances

Jim advocates a 70 / 30 rule for your finances. 70% of your

finances goes towards paying your expenses, rent, mortgage, food
and other things that you need to pay for. What’s more
interesting is the 30% that’s left. He says:

 10% goes to charity

 10% goes to capital investments (reinvesting in your

business)

 10% goes to savings (passive investments)

Now I can’t tell you to donate to charity but I can say that if you
do not donate to charity, you can allocate the 10% to some other
things such as a bigger chunk into savings or a bigger chunk into
capital investments or even using that 10% as a way to reinvest in
yourself (learning, certifications, courses, books, etc.)

You can certainly live on 70% of your paycheck but let’s just say
that you can’t. Start small — you should be able to cut back $10 or
$100 at the very least if you cut back on coffees or going out for
meals with friends. From there, see what else you can cut so that
you devote money to investments, to personal development or to
charity.

The fifth strategy: master time

Jim describes the four different ‘users’ of time and some specific
strategies to master time management:

 Schedule all the things that are important — exercise, work,

appointments, meals with friends and then throughout the
day, follow your schedule. Important here is to also
schedule down time.

 When you are working, really work. When you are relaxing,
really relax. Why? You want to make sure that when you
are working, you are not thinking about actually sitting
back in front of the TV and relaxing with a beer. Nor do
you, when you are sitting in front of the TV, want to think
about that e-mail that you have to send in the morning. If
you work, really work, when you have to work, you are
 going to be more efficient and there will be less ‘bleed over’
from other activities.

 Reflect on what you are spending your time on on a regular

basis to see if there are ways you can improve your
efficiency. Maybe you are spending a lot of time cleaning
your dishes when you could use the dish washer instead. Or
you are spending a lot of time deciding what to eat for
dinner when you could have a set meal plan for every week.

 Prepare a plan for how you will spend your time. If you
don’t plan out how you will spend your time, someone else
will plan it out for you and that means you may not have
the time to do the things you actually want to do.

The sixth strategy: surround yourself with winners

Here, I liken this strategy to the often quoted wise saying “you are
the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. If
you spend time with people that eat fast food all the time for
lunch, you are also going to eat fast food. If you spend time with
people that are reading all the time and discussing great books
and documentaries, you are similarly going to be influenced to
read and learn more.

The seventh strategy: learn the art of living well

Earl told Jim that more money does not make you or other
people happier. More money just makes you more of what you
already are. More will only send you more quickly to your
destination. If you are destined to be unhappy, you will be rich
but miserable. If you drink too much right now, more money will
mean that you will have more money for booze.

That also means that you should be kind and generous now and
learn to live gratefully on what you are making now. If you get
more money in the future, that will only help you be able to be
kinder and more generous to others in the future.

Don’t forget about love and friendships that you have on your
pursuit to wealth and happiness. Living life successfully means
living a life of balance. And that means that not only are you
spending time on working and developing yourself but also
spending time with the people that you love and that love you.

In the end, it’s important to understand that wealth and

happiness (i.e., success) is not about what you have but more
about what you become on the journey.

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Embrace Success With
Jim Rohn’s “7 Strategies
For Wealth &
Happiness”: An In-Depth
Review
Jim Rohn’s highly acclaimed book “7 Strategies for Wealth &
Happiness: Power Ideas from America’s Foremost Business
Philosopher” is a must-read for those seeking to improve their
lives financially and emotionally. This blog post provides a
comprehensive review of the book, examining its key strategies,
the author’s background, and the critical endorsements it has
received.

⚡Quick Summary
“7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness” guides readers through
essential principles of life and wealth, from goal-setting and
personal development to the value of time and the importance of
learning. Rohn presents these ideas in a simple yet profound
manner, driving his readers toward success and prosperity.
📕Pages
176🖨️Publisher
Brolga Publishing📅 Publication date
June 1, 1985⭐Ratings
4.5 stars

🪶Extended Summary
“7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness” by Jim Rohn is a
compelling guide that lays out clear principles for attaining
wealth and happiness in life. Through seven comprehensive
strategies, Rohn explores the pillars of personal development,
encouraging readers to take control of their financial destiny and
overall well-being.

The seven strategies include:

1. Unleash the Power of Goals: Rohn emphasizes the

significance of goal setting as the first step towards achieving
wealth and happiness. He advises readers to have a clear
vision and create measurable, attainable goals.

2. Seek Knowledge: The author underscores the role of

continuous learning and personal education in attaining
success, encouraging readers to always remain curious.
3. Learn How to Change: Adaptability, according to Rohn, is
critical for progress. He encourages readers to embrace
change and view it as an opportunity, not a threat.

4. Control Your Finances: Rohn elaborates on the

importance of financial literacy. He teaches readers to take
control of their finances to lay the foundation for wealth
creation.

5. Master Time: This strategy revolves around effective time

management. Rohn advocates mastering time, not just
managing it, to achieve more in life.

6. Surround Yourself with Winners: This strategy focuses

on the influence of one’s social circle on their success. Rohn
urges readers to surround themselves with successful, positive
individuals.

7. Learn the Art of Living Well: Finally, Rohn underlines

the importance of enjoying life’s journey and living fully,
reminding readers that true wealth lies in the quality of life
and the art of living well.

Using these strategies, readers can set themselves on a path

toward increased prosperity, personal growth, and life
satisfaction.

➕/➖Positives And Negatives

Positive aspects of the book include its simple language, relatable
anecdotes, and actionable advice, making complex concepts
accessible to everyone. The book is filled with nuggets of wisdom
that are highly motivational and inspiring.

On the downside, some readers might find the book slightly

repetitive in places. Also, while Rohn’s principles are timeless,
certain examples and perspectives may feel dated to a modern
reader.

📕Who Should Read This Book?

“7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness” is suitable for anyone
looking for guidance on personal growth, financial success, and
overall happiness. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a student, or
someone at a crossroads in life, this book provides valuable
insights for all.

📃What Will You Learn?

Readers will learn crucial life principles such as goal setting, time
management, financial control, the value of continuous learning,
and more. The book teaches you how to embrace change, choose
your company wisely, and enjoy the journey of life.

🔑Key Points

 The importance of clear, tangible goals

 Continuous learning as a stepping stone to success

 Embracing change as an opportunity, not a threat

 Financial literacy as a foundation of wealth

 Mastering time to achieve more

 The significance of surrounding yourself with successful

people

 Living life fully and mindfully

👤About The Author

Jim Rohn was an American entrepreneur, author, and
motivational speaker who left an indelible mark on the personal
development industry. Known as America’s Foremost Business
Philosopher, Rohn shared his success principles with millions
around the world, impacting countless lives.

🎊Celebrity Recommendations
Celebrities such as Tony Robbins, Darren Hardy, and Brian Tracy
have spoken highly of Jim Rohn’s work and have credited his
teachings for their success.

Famous Quotes

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines,

practiced every day.”
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.”

4 Major Lessons to Learn

in Life
[N.B. I will be integrating my understanding with
some of Jim Rohn’s thoughts. So, I will be borrowing
words from Jim Rohn every so often, as I deem fit.]

Life and business are like the seasons. You cannot change the
seasons, but you can change yourself. And that is where you
should put all of your focus.

If you study history, you will get to know more about life’s reality.
Here’s a little life lesson:
Human history in one sentence —

Opportunity mixed with difficulty.

This has been going on for how long? For thousands of years. For
as long as we can remember. That's got to tell you something.

As it has been the reality of life for thousands of years, we can

safely assume that it is not going to change suddenly, right? No!
It's not going to change. So, take it as a law of nature.

Life is opportunity mixed with difficulty.

Here are the 4 major lessons of life you ought to learn:

1. Learn How to Handle the Winters

Get wiser, stronger, and better.

Have you seen how ants behave during the winter? How other
animals behave?

They protect themselves. And in order to protect yourself during

hardships, you need to work on yourself and become better.

You need to educate yourself and become wiser. You need to get
your philosophies and values straight. You ought to be able to
defend your values.

You need to get stronger in order to handle yourself in the

winters, with whatever you have at your disposal.
Prepare for the winter.

2. Learn How to Take Advantage of the

Springs
Spring is called opportunity. Learn to take care of any and every
opportunity you come across. Don't lose opportunities. Don't let
them go to waste.

Another day is called another opportunity. A new day is a new

opportunity. You get to wake up and decide what to do! That’s an
opportunity not everyone gets. For example, those who don’t
wake up from their sleep, don’t get the opportunity of a new day.
So make use of it.

Take advantage of your opportunities.

Plant in the springs, or beg in the falls. Spring is the time to sow
your seeds. If you can make good use of your springs and your
opportunities, you will grow better. Otherwise, you will have to
beg others, because you would have wasted your springs.

There's an urgency when it comes to springs. Take advantage of

the springs swiftly and quickly because we are only offered a
handful of springs. If you live for 50 years, you only get 50
springs to take advantage of. Be swift, so that you don't lose any.

Sow the seeds of opportunity without delay. Don't be lazy.

Whatever you sow, you shall reap. And if you sow properly, you
shall reap even better.

3. In the Summer, Learn how to Nourish and

Protect
Nourishment and protection are two sides of the same coin. You
need both sides of a coin to make it valuable. Learn to balance
between the two.

Nourish like a mother, protect like a father. Give life like a

mother, take life like a father. Mother takes care of the children
and father protects everyone from danger. Love like a mother,
hate like a father.

You can turn that around. You can also protect like a mother.
Have you ever tried to catch chickens when they are with their
mother (hen)? The mother becomes very aggressive and protects
her children no matter the cost. That's a part of life.

During summer, the ants are very active. They gather food the
whole season and make preparations for the winter. They nourish
themselves and protect their valuables.

Become like your blood in the summer. Red corpuscles to nourish

and white corpuscles to fight. Your RBC takes all the nutrients
and supplies them to every little cell. But is that enough? No! You
need something else to protect your body from danger. That’s
where WBC comes in. They eliminate anything that threatens
your well-being.

Take care of your crops, take care of your plants. Don't let anyone
ruin them. This is a dangerous period. Some will come to take
away from you your belongings. Don't let them. Whatever's out to
threaten you, threaten it back.

The great struggle in life is called good and evil, tyranny and
liberty, sickness and health. There're always two sides of the coin.
Take care of both. Balance between the two. Nourish like a
mother and defend like a father.

4. In the Fall, Learn to Reap

In the harvest, learn to reap without complaint.

Take full responsibility.

A gentleman offers no apology if he has done well and no

complaint if he hasn't.

Be a gentleman. Learn to take full responsibility. Learn to reap

what you sowed.
Don't wait for the harvest to ruin. Don't let it ruin. It's what
you’ve been waiting for the whole year. So reap it properly.
Without complaint. Take full responsibility.

5 Major Pieces to the

Life Puzzle
Jim Rohn was a pro when it comes to personal development.

One of his famous works is known as "The 5 Major Pieces to the

Life Puzzle," where he discusses the most important 5 things to
focus on if a person wants to develop his overall condition.

I tried to summarize them from his speech and jot them down in
my own way. I will try to put forth his philosophy as easily as I
can.

1. Philosophy

What You Know And the Decisions You Make

Your personal philosophy is the major determining factor in how

your life works out.
Your philosophy is formed by thinking and processing ideas. And
Ideas are life-changing. one more idea can change your life.

Philosophy is the set of the sail. When you don’t have correct
philosophy, a correct understanding of things and reality, you are
bound to fail.

And what is failure?

Failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day. Being lax

about developing your own personal philosophy. It's called
accumulated disaster.

When you don't develop your personal philosophy, you pave the
road to your failure.

On the other hand, the formula for success is — a few simple

disciplines practiced every day.

These disciplines, you can find them through correct philosophy.

2. Attitude

How You Feel

Attitude is how you feel. You need to straighten your attitude

about a number of things.
You must keep a good attitude about the past. Use it as a school,
not a club. Use it learn from it. Not to feel overly emotional and
fight, or argue over it.

Keep a good attitude about the future. Set goals. Goals are
promises of the future.

Attitude also includes how you feel about everybody else. It takes
everybody to make all of this. So you must have a positive attitude
towards others.

And it also includes how you feel about yourself. Understanding

self-worth is the beginning of progress. Tell yourself this - If one
of us can do it, all of us can do it. If anybody can think it, we all
can think it.

But remember, life-change doesn’t start with inspiration, life-

change starts with education. If a guy is an idiot and you motivate
him, then you will get a motivated idiot! You don't want that.

3. Activity

The Work Part

If you plant the seeds, God will make the trees. You do your part,
and God will take care of the rest. You don’t need to control the
weather or the seasons. That’s not your job. No! Your job is to
plant the seeds in due time and proper manner. The rest is not in
your hands.

Now, If you take wisdom from your philosophy and inspiration

from your attitude and invest it in activity, you can have a
miracle. Only wisdom is not enough. Only attitude is not enough.
You need to combine the two and apply them through your
actions.

A miracle is called a miracle only because we don’t quite

understand how it works. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. We at
least know this, when you take wisdom from your philosophy and
inspiration from your attitude and invest it in activity, you can
have a miracle.

There are two parts to activity:

i. Do what you can and

ii. Do the best you can.

Remember these two points when you are combining philosophy

and attitude for labor.

Reality says that if you could change and you should change, but
you don't change or you won't change, then that's called
accumulated disaster.
It's not the economy that's going to determine your future, it’s
your philosophy, your attitude, and then your ability to take
action.

4. Results
Results tell us where we are.

So, take measure every now and then.

Ask yourself this -

How much money have I saved in the last 5 years?

How many books have I read in the last 5 months?

How many classes have I taken in the last 2 years?

Results is the name of the game. Success is a number’s game.

Make measurable progress in reasonable time. There are some
things you have to check every day and some things at least at the
end of the week.

5. Lifestyle

Learning How to Live Well

Fashion for yourself lifestyle. What we call - the good life.

If you wish to be wealthy, study wealth. If you wish to be happy,
study happiness. Happiness is not something you postpone,
happiness is something you design.

So design a healthy lifestyle, where you have a good philosophy, a

good attitude, good activity, and you have good results. This is a
good life. Fashion it.