Good Game by Ron White, Mysticism, reading, forums, Numerology, Sun Signs, Divination

Posts: 5109 · Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 3:03 am

This week as we commemorate the 80th birthday of Jim Rohn, I can’t help but think of the impact he had on my life. Although, I must confess, his philosophies cross my mind more than just on his birthday. I was fortunate enough to be associated with Jim and his organization for the first time seven years ago, and my business, not surprisingly, skyrocketed. It has never been the same. However, it is not just my business that grew by my association with Jim. More importantly, my mind grew more than I could have ever imagined.

Whether I am competing in memory tournaments and going for national records, serving my country in the military or building my business, I live my life by two things Jim said that I can’t shake from my thoughts.

The first is: “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better.” Every time I wish my task was easier, this quote will appear in my mind and I press on.

Second is Jim’s philosophy that the true value in setting the goal to become a millionaire is not in the million dollars but in the person you must become to be a millionaire. He said: “After you become a millionaire, you can give all of your money away because what’s important is not the million dollars; what’s important is the person you have become in the process of becoming a millionaire.” That is powerful for me!

This last year I defined who I would have to become to be a national memory champion. After I defined that, I then set out to become disciplined, focused, sharp, clear, reliable and trustworthy. Then, I won the tournament before it even began because of who I became in the process.

Jim and his philosophies have made me a better man, leader and person, and I know I am just one of the millions that he impacted.

We miss you, Jim.

Ron White

1. Good Game by Ron White

I was eight years old. Looking back I remember walking across the baseball diamond of a Little League field and forming a line to pass the team that we had just played. The drill was to shake their hands and say, “Good game!”

I learned something at the age of eight. It is a lot easier to do that when you win!

When you lose, you have a tendency to slap the hand—instead of shake it—and look at the ground instead of the eyes. This is not only true at eight, but it is true for adults as well. A few years ago, I played 16 games in a softball league. You know you are on a bad softball team when motivational speaker Ron White is the standout superstar of the team! We lost 15 games in a ROW! It was humiliating. During the age-old “Good game” handshake after each loss, I made a point to look each player in the eye and shake, not slap, the hand. I did this because I knew that when I was eight years old I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t look my opponents in the eye and congratulate them on a good game. Somehow I took the loss as a hit on my self-worth and felt my self-confidence had been slapped; therefore I did what most eight-year-olds do and I slapped the opponent’s hand, not giving the satisfaction of a shake. I was wrong at the age of eight. I’m happy today as an adult that I have learned this lesson, and the lesson is: There is something to be said for losing well.

In 1960, Richard Nixon could have contested the close presidential election. He didn’t. He lost well and was elected a decade later to the same office. A few years ago, John Thune lost a razor thin election in South Dakota. He could have contested the election. He didn’t. He lost well and eventually won a Senate seat.

In 2000, John Ashcroft lost a Senate race to a woman who was standing in for her husband who passed away months before. He could have contested. He didn’t and became attorney-general.

Whether it is a baseball game, office promotion or political race, you can tell a lot about a person by how they handle defeat. The individual who handles defeat as a minor setback is not allowing the event to define him. On the other hand, someone who cannot handle defeat is allowing the event to define his self-worth. Events can only define your self-worth if you allow them to. You cease allowing events to define your self-worth when you handle defeat as a learning experience and remount the horse that has thrown you for another ride.

In money, your career or love, when you lose—as hard as it may be—look them in the eye, refuse to allow the events to shape your self-worth and shake their hand literally or metaphorically as you say, “Good game.” You just might find yourself winning the next game.

Trust

“Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.” —Booker T. Washington

“A person will not buy from you until he is convinced that you are a friend and are acting in his best interest. You must make this clear.” —Brian Tracy

“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” —Indira Gandhi

“You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.” —Frank Crane

“One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.” —E. M. Forster

“A man who doesn’t trust himself can never really trust anyone else.” —Cardinal De Retz

“I think we may safely trust a good deal more than we do.” —Henry David Thoreau

“Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. Success Is Easy, but So Is Neglect by Jim Rohn

People often ask me how I became successful in a six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money—banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity—America, and much of the world, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities of the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books—libraries are full of books—and they are free! It is not the schools—the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.

Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty, and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more... and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is that when giving the choice of “easy to” and “easy not to” that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy”; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.