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Here's one of the greatest gifts all of us have. Our language, our ability to speak, our ability to frame words into such a way that we create images and pictures. Help someone to understand. Help someone to become educated. Help someone to see what they couldn't see before. It's almost godlike in power. I've got four steps to achieve good communication. Let's just do the fundamentals here. There's not very many. In fact, there's not very many fundamentals to anything, just a few handful. 6, 7, 8. Here's the first step to achieve good communications. Number one, have something good to say. That's step number one. It's fairly obvious to have something good to say. Try to recall and remember and take notes. Keep journal, whatever of your experiences, because as you live your life, you're going to have something good to say. One, from your failures. Two, from your successes, you're going to have something better to say from the mistakes you've made and how you corrected it and bailed yourself out. And sometimes, instead of just registering it in your head, why not commit it to paper so that it gets logged, it gets recorded, and someday you can use it for the future. Have something good to say. The key to speaking well, the key to excellent communications is preparation. Actually, all of our life is preparing this year, preparing for the next. Those first, what, eight, nine grades. Preparing for high school, then high school. Preparing for college, college and university. Preparing for a career, a career to earn money. Then preparing to make the investments to keep you safe and secure. Build a financial wall around your family. Nothing can get through. Always preparing for those steps and stages in our life that's part of the game of life for humans. It seems like it takes us longer to prepare. When the little wildebeest is born, it only has about one hour to get ready to run with the herd and escape the lions. One hour. So the little wildebeest, as soon as it's born, tries to stand up, falls down. Its mother nudges it. Stand up. Stand up. Falls down. Stand up. Come on. Try again. Why such urgency? The lions. The lions are not very far away. Come on, come on, come on. And within less than an hour. Within less than an hour, the little wildebeest, brand new, just born, is now strong enough to run with the herd and escape the lions. Less than an hour. Human babies take a little longer. After 17 years, we're not quite sure they can escape all the lions and have a safe place to go. So preparation, getting ready sometimes seems so laborious. After going to grade one now you got to go to grade two. After grade two, it's grade three. Will it never end? Come on, one more grade. Grade four. And then five. Wow. Seems like it takes us forever to finally get ready, you know, to design a life and get married and have a family and a career and fortune and future. But it takes preparation now to communicate. Well, here's some good words to prepare for communication. Number one, interest. Just keep your interest alive in people and places. If you'll develop an interest in all of that when it's right side up and when it's upside down. Take a keen interest in the politics of the day and the speeches and all that's happening. It gives you good stuff to debate and decide. Where do you stand on the major issues? Not only the political issues, but the major life issues? Be that kind of. Be that interested in life and people. So underline the word life and people. That's the whole. Study life. Study life in all of its twists and turns. Study people in all of their variety, in being in an enterprise that you know, where you have to employ people. Get people to work with you. That's a challenge. Different ages, different different opinions, different personalities, different temperaments. Here's one of the skills I learned that paid me big money. Getting people to work together and see if they're all different and a whole variety. How do you get them all to work together? I'm telling you, it's not easy. It is a challenge, organizing, getting people to work together. But the pay, the paycheck, it's unbelievable. Now, if you're working with independent people, then it really is challenging. It's like herding cats. Did you ever try that? Herding sheep is easy. They all quickly get going the same direction very quickly. Cats. No way. If you've got eight cats, how many directions are they going? Eight different directions. But if you can master herding cats, I promise you a paycheck like you cannot believe. Here's what's interesting about people. The ones who should do it the most are inclined the least. How come they can't see it? I don't know. I can see it. They can't see it. Maybe right now they're not supposed to see it. That's the best. I said. Sometimes you just got to take the easier way out. I don't know. That's an easier way out than to try to explain it all. That's just the way it is. Somebody you thought was going to stay, they leave. Here's what you have to learn to say. Isn't that interesting. Wow. And somebody that you thought was going to leave, what, they stay. And you say, I wouldn't have thought that in a hundred years. There's a surprise a day waiting for you. Working with people. And then some people are nice, and some people are not so nice. But there's only a few. When I first started in sales, Mr. Shoaff, my mentor, said, here's the good news, Mr. Own. There's only nine or ten real nasty, miserable, horrible people in the world. That's what he said. Now, he said, they move around a lot. And you're liable to get one once in a while. But when you do, you just say, hey, there's only nine more like you. I can handle that the rest of my life. That was really good. And then sometimes you got to try a little wit and a little humor. That helps. When I first started traveling with mark hughes and herbalife 21 years ago, 1 of my friends said to me, I heard some people died using that product. And I said, not that many. Now, it was a silly comment that he made. So I had to think up a silly answer. You can't give a, you know, an honest answer, you know, a good answer to a silly comment. I said, I understand. As long as the Deaths are under 100amonth, they get to keep selling the product. If the numbers go over 100, they have to come in for a review. Now, that was all silly nonsense. But he deserved it, right? His silly comment? I don't know. Use a little humor. Somebody says, this isn't going to work for me. Say it was designed not to work for some people. I don't know. What, what do I know? You know, what can I say? I'm not a genius to figure this stuff out. Be a student of life and people and all the varieties and what's happening in the world. It's an interesting place to live. And while you're here, learn all you can. Study all you can. Right? The varieties. Some people are easy and some are miserable. Just learn how to handle all that. Here's the next word to communicate well, and that's fascination. It goes the step beyond just interest. Be like a child, fascinated with everything. Next, sensitivity. Trying to understand where people are, where they're coming from, the position they might be in at the moment. Trying to understand. A night visits us all after days. And some winters are tough. And some people are having tough times. Be sensitive to all that. Next is simply knowledge. Just gather every idea you can. That makes you a better communicator. The storyteller tells us, in the beginning, God spoke and said, let there be light. And there was light, giving us the indication that God's words can create light. But now make this note. There's more than one kind of light.
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Wow.
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Neck to the power of God. Creating light by his own words is the power of all of us. Creating sight, which is light in a form. Helping somebody to see by using our language the best we know how. What if somebody can't see how they could possibly be successful? And you came along and told them your story, choosing the best words you possibly could, and when you finished your story, they said, now I can see. Before you got here, I was blind. Couldn't see. Now that you've shared with me by your language, your story, now I can see. Before you got here, I was in the dark. And it seemed to me like while you were talking, some things dawned on me. Isn't that a good expression? Some things dawned on me, like the sun started coming up, and the more you talked, the further up the sun came and the brighter. Got the images and the imagination. Helping people to see. That's one of the greatest gifts. The best wit in the world was Winston Churchill, right? Lady Astor in the English Parliament, exasperated one day with Winston Churchill. She said, winston, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your coffee. He said, lady astor, if you were my wife, I would drink it, whatever it takes. Don't let anybody put you down. Words are so powerful if they're framed right, if they're sent with sincerity. Words that create images, words that express life, words that express experiences, words that express gifts of ideas that you've got to share. See, that's. That's some of the greatest gifts you can bestow. And here's the best place to start with your children. See if you can't inspire with your own language a better sense of the importance of the day, a better sense of the importance of doing the work, a better sense of the importance of getting good grades, developing yourself, becoming who you'd like to become. Do the disciplines now. That'll give you the joy later. Teaching is one of the greatest senses of accomplishment in the world. Helping somebody learn, helping somebody take early steps in a new career, early steps as an entrepreneur, showing somebody the way. The gift of words, the gift of language. Here's what the old prophet said. Words are like a lamp for your feet, so you can see where to walk. That's a gift. And then he said, words are also like a light for your pathway, so you can see where to go. If somebody with the gift of language and words can help you to walk where you should walk and then show you a pathway to go, they do you immeasurable service. Who could calculate the value and the worth of that kind of exercise? Showing somebody the steps to take and showing somebody the way to go, that would be helpful. Whether it's a way of good health, whether it's a way of a better relationship, whether it's a way of an entrepreneur, a refinement of career, doesn't matter what it is. If we know the steps and somebody reveals to us the way, see, they do us by their own language. Some of the greatest gifts we ever enjoy.
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In this insightful episode, Jim Rohn unpacks the art of effective communication — how to speak so people finally understand you. Drawing from his own life lessons, mentorships, and signature philosophy, Rohn breaks down the fundamental steps for impactful communication. He emphasizes the almost “godlike” potential in our words, highlighting their ability to educate, inspire, and bring clarity. Listeners gain timeless strategies and practical anecdotes to elevate their personal and professional conversations.
"Our ability to frame words in such a way that we create images and pictures... It's almost godlike in power." (00:13)
"All of our life is preparing: this year, preparing for the next..." (01:24)
"When the little wildebeest is born, it only has about one hour to get ready to run with the herd and escape the lions." (02:10)
"Human babies take a little longer... after 17 years, we're not quite sure they can escape all the lions..." (02:42)
"Underline the word life and people. That's the whole. Study life... Study people in all of their variety..." (03:25)
"It's like herding cats... if you've got eight cats, how many directions are they going? Eight different directions. But if you can master herding cats, I promise you a paycheck like you cannot believe." (04:27)
"The ones who should do it the most are inclined the least... Sometimes you just got to take the easier way out." (05:04)
"You can't give a… good answer to a silly comment... as long as the Deaths are under 100 a month, they get to keep selling the product..." (06:05)
"Somebody says, this isn't going to work for me. Say, it was designed not to work for some people. What can I say?" (06:45)
"Be like a child, fascinated with everything." (07:55)
"A night visits us all after days... some people are having tough times. Be sensitive to all that." (08:11)
"Just gather every idea you can. That makes you a better communicator." (08:31)
"The power of all of us: creating sight, which is light in a form. Helping somebody to see by using our language the best we know how." (09:06)
"What if... you came along and told them your story... and when you finished, they said, now I can see. Before you got here, I was blind." (09:29)
"Some things dawned on me, like the sun started coming up, and the more you talked, the further up the sun came and the brighter it got." (09:51)
Shares the classic Winston Churchill and Lady Astor exchange, demonstrating the power of wit (10:19).
"See if you can't inspire with your own language a better sense of the importance of the day..." (11:10)
"Words are like a lamp for your feet so you can see where to walk. That's a gift. And then... words are also like a light for your pathway so you can see where to go." (11:58)
On communication’s power:
"Help someone to see what they couldn’t see before. It’s almost godlike in power." (00:15)
On preparation:
"It seems like it takes us forever to finally get ready... but it takes preparation." (02:52)
On human unpredictability:
"Somebody you thought was going to stay, they leave... and somebody you thought was going to leave, they stay." (05:25)
On handling difficult people:
"There’s only nine or ten real nasty, miserable, horrible people in the world. Now, they move around a lot." (05:55)
On humor in tough conversations:
"You can't give a, you know, an honest answer... to a silly comment." (06:11)
"Somebody says, this isn’t going to work for me. Say, it was designed not to work for some people." (06:48)
On fascination:
"Be like a child, fascinated with everything." (07:57)
On story’s impact:
"Now that you’ve shared with me by your language, your story, now I can see… Before you got here, I was in the dark." (09:33)
On words as guidance:
"Words are like a lamp for your feet... and a light for your pathway..." (11:59)
Jim Rohn’s delivery is warm, humorous, anecdotal, and wise, blending storytelling with actionable insights. He employs metaphors, gentle humor, and personal stories, making his lessons not only accessible but memorable and inspiring.
This episode serves as an essential guide for anyone seeking to elevate their communication — not just to be heard, but to be truly understood and to make a lasting difference in people’s lives.