Well, I believe there are actually some things that are more valuable than capital that can lead to your entrepreneurial success. Let me give you the list.
1. Time.
Time is more valuable than capital. The time you set aside not to
be wasted, not to be given away. The time you set aside to invest in
an enterprise that brings value to the marketplace with the hope of
making a profit. Now we have capital time.
How valuable is time? Time properly invested is worth a fortune.
Time wasted can be devastation. Time invested can perform
miracles, so you invest your time.
2. Desperation.
I have a friend Lydia, whose first major investment in her new
enterprise was desperation. She said, "My kids are hungry, I gotta
make this work. If this doesn't work, what will I do?" So she
invested $1 in her enterprise selling a product she believed in. The
$1 was to buy a few fliers so she could make a sale at retail, collect
the money and then buy the product wholesale to deliver back to
the customer.
My friend Bill Bailey went to Chicago as a teenager after he got out
of high school. And the first job he got was as a night janitor.
Someone said, "Bill, why would you settle for night janitor?" He
said, "Malnutrition." You work at whatever you can possibly get
when you get hungry. You go to work somewhere -- night janitor,
it doesn't matter where it is. Years later, now Bill is a recipient of
the Horatio Alger award, rich and powerful and one of the great
examples of lifestyle that I know. But, his first job -- night janitor.
Desperation can be a powerful incentive. When you say - I must.
3. Determination.
Determination says I will. First Lydia said, "I must find a customer." Desperation. Second, she said, "I will find someone
before this first day is over." Sure enough, she found someone.
She said, "If it works once, it will work again." But then the next
person said, "No." Now, what must you invest?
4. Courage.
Courage is more valuable than capital. If you've only got $1 and a lot of courage, I'm telling you, you've got a good future ahead of you. Courage in spite of the circumstances. Humans can do the most incredible things no matter what happens. Haven't we heard the stories? There are some recent ones from Kosovo that are some of the most classic, unbelievable stories of being in the depths of hell and finally making it out. It's humans. You can't sell humans short. Courage in spite of, not because of, but in spite of. Now once Lydia has made 3 or 4 sales and gotten going, here's what now takes over.5. Ambition.
"Wow! If I can sell 3, I can sell 33. If I can sell 33, I can sell 103."
Wow. Lydia is now dazzled by her own dreams of the future.
6. Faith.
Now she begins to believe she's got a good product. This is
probably a good company. And she then starts to believe in
herself. Lydia, a single mother, 2 kids, no job. "My gosh, I'm going to
pull it off!" Her self-esteem starts to soar. These are investments
that are unmatched. Money can't touch it. What if you had a
million dollars and no faith? You'd be poor. You wouldn't be rich.
Now here is the next one, the reason why she's a millionaire today.
7. Ingenuity.
Putting your brains to work. Probably up until now, you've put
about 1/10 of your brainpower to work. What if you employed the
other 9/10? You can't believe what can happen. Humans can come
up with the most intriguing things to do. Ingenuity. What's
ingenuity worth? A fortune. It is more valuable than money. All you
need is $1 and plenty of ingenuity. Figuring out a way to make it
work, make it work, make it work.
8. Heart and Soul.
What is a substitute for the heart and soul? It's not money. Money
can't buy heart and soul. Heart and soul are more valuable than a
million dollars. A million dollars without heart and soul, you have no life. You are ineffective. But, heart and soul is like the unseen
magic that moves people, moves people to buy, moves people to
make decisions, moves people to act, moves people to respond.
9. Personality.
You've just got to spruce up and sharpen up your own personality.
You've got plenty of personalities. Just get it developed to where it is
effective every day, it's effective no matter who you talk to -
whether it is a child or whether it is a business person - whether it
is a rich person or a poor person. A unique personality that is at
home anywhere. One of my mentors, Bill Bailey, taught me,
"You've got to learn to be just as comfortable, Mr. Rohn, whether it
is in a little shack in Kentucky having a beer and watching the
fights with Winfred, my old friend or in a Georgian mansion in
Washington, DC as the Senator's guest." Move with ease whether it
is with the rich or whether it is with the poor. And it makes no
difference to you who is rich or who is poor. A chance to have a
unique relationship with whomever. The kind of personality that's
comfortable. The kind of personality that's not bent out of shape.
And lastly, let's not forget charisma and sophistication. Charisma
with a touch of humility. This entire list is more valuable than
money. With one dollar and the list I just gave you, the world is
yours. It belongs to you, whatever piece of it you desire whatever
development you wish for your life. I've given you the secret.
Capital. The kind of capital that is more valuable than money and
that can secure your future and fortune. Remember that you lack
not the resources.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
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