by Jim Rohn

My first mentor, Mr. Shoaff, taught me over a five-year period of time before he died some extraordinarily simple things...

Mr. Shoaff only went through the 9th grade. He never finished high school, never went to college, and never went to a university. So he put his experiences and ideas into very simple language, which, I think for me a farm boy from the state of Idaho was so important.

When I would say, "This is all the company pays." Mr. Shoaff
would say, "No, that is all they pay YOU." I thought, "That is a new way to look at it." I told him things cost too much. But he said, "No, you can't afford them." Well, that too was a new concept for me. And he also promised me, if I would improve, then I would be able to earn more money. So one of the first lessons I learned was, I didn't need to work on the company, I needed to work on myself!

If his advice to me had been technical, I might have missed it. If it had been mystic, I would have backed away. But it was just basic, blunt, "a-b-c" familiar stuff that I hadn't thought of before. For me it was the beginning of what he called, personal development.

Mr. Shoaff also taught me that life puts some of the more
valuable things on the high shelf so that you can't get to them until you qualify. If you want the things on the high shelf, you must stand on the books you read. With every book you read, you get to stand a little higher.

Mr. Shoaff only needed to use ten simple words to forever shift my thinking when he said, "Success is something you attract by the person you become." That phrase changed my life. It's true! Success is not to be pursued... Success is to be attracted by the person you become.

Therefore, if you want to do something remarkable and attract more success into your business and your life, then put your energy into becoming a better you. The best you. How? Learn the skills. Practice the skills. Apply the skills.

Those ten simple words, "Success is something you attract by the person you become" helped change my life forever. Thank you, once again, Mr. Shoaff.