You Are the Problem… and the Solution | The Shift That Changes Everything - Episode 15

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Most people are trying to change their life without ever changing themselves. And that's why they stay stuck. Today we're talking about the moment Jim Ron was told something that shattered everything he believed about success. And why this one shift is the difference between staying where you are or completely rebuilding your life.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

For those of you who don't know who Jim Ron is, he was an entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker, and he taught personal development and success principles for over 40 years. He mentored millions of people, including Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield and many others. And we wanted to talk about Jim Ron today because of an article I came across on his website, Jim Ron.com, and it completely resonated for us because it's what we've been discussing on the last few episodes. Right. And the article is called The Day That Changed Everything. I remember standing in that room with pennies in my pocket and promises I couldn't keep. 25 years old, broke, behind on everything that mattered, a young family depending on me, and I couldn't even afford to take my wife out to dinner. Somebody invited me to hear a lecture by a man named Earl Schoff. I almost didn't go. When you're that broke, you avoid situations where success might be on display. But I went. And what happened in that room, what that man said to me afterward, changed the entire course of my life. Let me tell you about it. The man in the back row. I sat in the back. That's where you sit when you don't want anyone to notice how far behind you are. Earl Schop spoke for about an hour. I don't remember all of it, but I remember this. He talked about success like it was learnable. Not lucky, not for special people, learnable. After the talk, I did something I almost never did. I walked up to him. My hands were shaking. He was a man who clearly had it together. Successful. And here I was in my cheap suit with lint on the shoulders. I said, Mr. Schauf, I need to talk to you. He looked at me. Really looked. Not past me, not through me, at me. He said, What's going on? The confession. I told him the truth. Sometimes desperation makes you honest. I said, I'm 25 years old. I've been working for six years since I got out of the Navy. I got nothing to show for it. I'm broke, I'm behind on my promises. If things don't change, I don't know what I'm going to do. He didn't flinch. He'd probably heard it a thousand times. But what he said next, I've never forgotten it. He said, Well, I suggest you change. I said, Change what? He said everything. If you'll change, everything will change for you. I stood there. I didn't understand. Change what? I was working hard. I was sincere. What was I supposed to change? Then he said something else. He said, Don't wish it was easier. Wish you were better. Don't wish for fewer problems. Wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge. Wish for more wisdom. Right there. Standing in that room, something shifted. The philosophy that shattered everything. See, up until that moment I've been blaming everything outside of me. The economy, my job, bad luck, the government. I had a whole wish list of reasons why I wasn't doing well, and none of them were my fault. Earl Schoff looked at me and said, The problem isn't out there. The problem is in here, he tapped his chest. He said, You can't change the seasons, but you can change yourself. You can't change the wind, but you can set your sails. The same wind blows on us all. The difference isn't the wind. The difference is how you set your sails. I'd never heard anything like it. It was devastating and liberating all at the same time. Devastating because I had to admit I was the problem. Liberating because if I was the problem, I could also be the solution. He gave me a phrase that day. He said, Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. I said, What do you mean? He said, if you work hard on your job, you can make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you can make a fortune. He said, Jim, if you're serious about changing, I'll help you. But you have to do something first. I said anything. He said, start reading books. Not just any books, but books that'll stretch your mind, philosophy, success principles, biographies of successful people. Can you do that? I said yes. I didn't tell him I hadn't read a book since high school. I didn't tell him I didn't own any books. I just said yes. He said, Good, come work for me. I'll teach you what I know. But understand this, I'm not just going to give you a job. I'm going to give you an education. And the tuition is your willingness to change. That was it. That was the moment, the day that turned my life around. Over the next five years, Mr. Schoaf became my mentor. He didn't just teach me about how to make money. He taught me how to think differently. He taught me about the power of philosophy. How the books you read and the people you associate with shape everything. He taught me that success is something you attract by the person you become, not something you pursue. You don't chase success. You become the kind of person success is attracted to. He taught me that your income rarely exceeds your personal development. If you want to have more, you must become more. And he taught me the greatest lesson of all. You are the problem and you are the solution. Not the economy, not your circumstances. You. By the time I was 31, I was a millionaire. Not because I got lucky, not because the economy turned around. Because I changed. I became a student. I read the books. I changed my philosophy. I became better at my craft. I set different sales. The question I ask you, here's what I want you to think about, my friend. Who is your Earl Schof? Who is that person who believes in you more than you believe in yourself right now? And just as important, are you listening? Because I almost didn't go to that lecture. I almost stayed home nursing my excuses. And if I had, I don't know where I'd be today. Mr. Schof didn't give me money. He didn't give me a magic formula. He gave me something far more valuable. He gave me a new way of thinking. He gave me the belief that if I changed, everything would change for me. And here's the truth. It will change for you too. The same wind blows on us all. But you can set your sales differently starting today. You can decide that the problem isn't out there, it's in here. And if it's in here, you can fix it. Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. Read the books, change your philosophy. Become the kind of person success is attracted to. Mr. Schoaf believed in me when I had pennies in my pocket. I'm telling you the same thing he told me that day. If you'll change, everything will change for you.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Wow. Very, very deep. When Jim realized that he was the problem, he was the solution. A lot of people out there don't even see that. Like I am not the problem. Right? People don't acknowledge that the problem is me.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

We feel like we need to find excuses why things are not working out in our advantage or why things are not really changing or the things are not moving forward. We always blame the government. We always blame our neighbor.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Politics, economy, the gas prices, the food prices.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

We get impacted by those. Of course. We have no control.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

But I don't think about those issues because we don't have control.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

We have no control. So you have to reframe, and that's what Jim did, right? I have to change the way I see the world. Yeah. And he started reading the books and we started implementing all these things. He saw a big change. Like the article said that he was a millionaire at 31, that just happened in six years. Right. Right? Six years seems like a long time, but it's not. If you look, if you think about it, it's really not. It's like imagine that someone is telling you, Kim, in six years, you're gonna have millions of dollars.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Yeah. I mean, what's the alternative to work a job for six years and never have a million dollars? Because you're not gonna get a million dollars working from a job.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

So in previous episodes, we've been talking about the work that we have to do, the beliefs in you, how those affect you to accomplish things and how to move forward, and how just feel bad about yourself is not really gonna do anything.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

For example, like about you know, people who get so hung up on politics or the economy or all the things that are not working in their favor. I see this all the time on social media, like people that just get stuck on these problems and it consumes their entire being. Like their world revolves around politics, food prices, gas prices. Yeah. And I just I laugh because I'm just I can't imagine a world where I let that stuff consume me because I'm too busy. I'm too busy focusing on how can I not think about those problems? Like, what can I do within my life where I never have to worry about how much eggs costs or how much gas costs? Like, I I don't I don't worry about those things, but because I can't control what the government does or the economy is doing, but I can control how much money I can make or how much I can work on myself and improve myself to make sure that I don't have to worry about those things.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

You're trying not to focus on the problem. You try to focus just to calm above the problem.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

I'm focusing on what I can control, which is myself and what I can do in this world with my life. And I'm focusing on making sure I never have to worry about if I have enough money in my bank account to pay gas or buy eggs or whatever the case may be.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

The thing is that it's really hard for people because a lot of people in the US or around the world, they're just basically they're living paying paycheck to paycheck. They're living paycheck by paycheck. And when they're seeing that, like, oh my god, how am I gonna afford that? Their body, you know, kicks in into, oh, I have no money to pay for gas. Or the eggs are too expensive, I don't have the money for this. So they're just focusing on the problem.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

Right. And then you just kind of downspiral into I don't have the money, I don't have the resources. Yeah. And that's the the only thing that goes to their brain is just to be upset about the situation that is happening, but they're not thinking, how can I make my life better?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

How can I correct it?

SPEAKER_02 11:17

How can I dig deeper and enrich myself somehow that I don't have to, like you said, I don't have to worry when I'm driving and see, oh, the gas is now almost five, seven bucks, whatever, and that you worry.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah. Well, that's exactly why we have been focusing the last few years on just focusing on what we can control versus what we can't control. And that negative media and for like people that I see online that are just like falling down that rabbit hole of politics or the economy or whatever, they get so stuck and hung up on the administration is doing wrong. So I don't even look at those things because again, that's out of my control. I'm not in politics. I can't control that. So what I can control is within me. What can I do? What can I bring to this world that's going to make my life easier? And so that's why we have always been putting in the work to do the inner work.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

That's like what this podcast is about is doing the inner work and rebuilding your life. And it's never too late, is the thing to start. You have to start where you are. And it seems like this big overwhelming task. But like you said, he made millions in a matter of six years. And it's like, well, you know, you look at the six years, which I'm not saying it will be six years for everybody. It could be a couple months for somebody, it could be 10 years for somebody, every everybody's different. But you look at that timeline and you just think, oh, God, that's so overwhelming. Well, six years. I I don't want to put in the the work for six years.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

But like, what's your alternative? Your alternative is never do putting in the work today. Start today.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Because you know, the problems are always gonna come to you. Problems are always there. Today is the gas and the eggs prices. Tomorrow is gonna be something different, or the next year is gonna be something different. There's always something. Every year, every two years, there's always something. And if you are just focusing on the problems, you're basically just revolving about the problems, and that's not taking you anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

And one of the quotes in there when he said, if you work hard on your job, you can make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you can make a fortune. That line really struck a nerve for me because even when I go, like we're always on this roller coaster right of emotions where like some days we're really good and you know things are going great and we're full of energy and motivation and things are looking up. And then for whatever reason, we go down the hill and we're like, oh my God, this sucks, and I can't do this. This is so overwhelming and my job sucks, blah, blah, blah. So even on those days when I feel low motivation where things aren't going as planned and I'm just not feeling it, I get stuck in that mindset. But then I think to myself, okay, if I'm not moving the needle today with like my business or what we're trying to accomplish, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to read my book and I'm going to get lost in my book because I know that I can still do the work within me. Even though I'm not moving the needle on my business, I can still do the inner work that I need to be done or learn something new that day. And, you know, like sometimes I'll be in that rut for two, three, four days or whatever, and I'll continue to do the work on myself. So at least I'm moving the needle, even if it's not in the direction of like moving my business forward and putting money in my bank account. I'm I'm putting all that effort and education and learning into myself.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

This goes exactly what the Jim Rum principles about personal development, which says work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

And that makes sense. Right. Like, hey, I need to get better.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

I have so much potential so that I don't need to work for anybody else. Now I'm not saying that having a job is bad, but there's more, right? So if you have the freedom to choose to become a better person, more knowledgeable. If you're more knowledgeable, you at some point you're gonna have more freedom. Yeah. Another one that is very interesting is says it's in his website also that says, you cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

He also said something very interesting about success in the article where he said that success was learnable, not lucky. And that's an important thing as well, because a lot of people think that success is only for lucky people or people that have money. But in reality, you can learn how to be successful.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Exactly. Basically, you're a one decision away.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

But people don't see it that way.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

No, because they're busy focused on the economy again.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Of the eggs.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Of the eggs or the gas prices.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

You gotta stop focusing about the goddamn eggs. And you gotta focus on just grabbing a book instead and thinking, how am I going to change myself, right? Become a better person, so I don't have to worry about eggs anymore.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

That's a better approach than you think.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

I 100% agree. Like you need to take the lead. Like this is your life, and nobody's coming to save you.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

You have to take the lead and the take the bull by the horn.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Sounds very cliche, but it's so true.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

True.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

You can't wait for somebody to come and save you. You have to take the lead. You have to put in the work if you want to see the change.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Yeah. And again, there is always opportunity there, but we just don't see it because we're not seeking.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

We're not looking for it. People aren't always looking for it.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

And you can save yourself. You the thing is that you doubt about yourself, about your own skills. Mm-hmm. First of all, you have to make a commitment, right? So again, you're worried. I know we're talking about issues in the world, about politics or so, but we're not gonna really dig deep into that. But again, if there's an issue with the economy, you're going through what we said about the eggs, that they're expensive, right? But if you commit, if you are concerned about the issue that bothers you, you don't have the money, you don't know how to afford it, you have two kids, three kids, four kids, eight kids. I know it's hard, but if you stop for a second, what can I do to change my life? So, like I said, you're just one decision away. Make a decision, I'm gonna change. I don't want to be worried about the economy anymore. Right. And I know it's not easy, but we also know that when we have a commitment and we show up and we make a decision and you start uh reading the books or you start implementing new changes, things will start compounding in your favor. So just decide that you want to change something. Make a decision that you want to change. Write it down. I need to change this, I cannot live like this anymore. Jim Ron took the leap of faith going to the seminar that night or that day. He sat at the back, and then he went up front. If you think about it, it was just these little tiny steps that he did that took him to the next level. So if he was able to do it, he knew that everyone's able to do it.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, and that brings up a good point where the moment that I mean, I've always been very passionate about personal development. I've always worked very hard on myself. However, the moment the big shift for me changed was when we went to that Mind Valley event in Miami, Florida that we have discussed on previous episodes. The shift that came from that event was it was almost just like a light switch for me. And I was like, I need to get back on this personal development path and really just go all in, 100% all in, because something shifted within me. And I just knew that I was meant for so much more. And I knew that I was being this victim of my own mindset, my own mentality. And I knew that I needed to make the shift. And so I decided from that moment, like I was gonna come back home from that event and just put in the work, whatever it looked like. And he said in this article that Earl Schof gave him that advice. We told him that he would help him if you but you have to do something first. And he said, Jim Ron said anything. And Earl said to him, start reading books. And not just any books, books that will stretch your mind, philosophy, success, principles, biographies of successful people. And that's exactly what we've been doing since then is like just all in constantly learning, constantly reading, constantly watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, all positive things. We don't sit around and like, again, read the news or read the happenings in the world because it's depressing. Number one. Number two, it doesn't move the needle. It does not help us move forward. No. It literally keeps you stuck.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Yeah, it gives you more anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

No, you're super worried.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Yep. And you get stuck in that mindset, that negative mindset of woe is me and the economy's terrible, and that's why I can't move forward. Like, no.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

And before you know, you're just making comments on social media, texting and bitching about the issues in the world because you're just basically focusing on that.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

And it's like you fall into that victim mentality where you're just making excuses of why you can't move your life forward. Can't be both. It has to be one or the other.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Exactly. It doesn't work like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

If you want to stay stuck, that's the path that you're gonna stay on, is like the just getting inundated with the news and the negative things of the in the world. If you want to move the needle and move forward and get out of the position that you're in, then you need to start putting in the work. And that starts with reading a book and listening to a podcast.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Yeah, and it's hard because I know people that wants to, we all want to have our voice heard. Yeah. And they feel like they need to put their ideas and their thoughts about what's happening out there. When we focus our attention and these issues, you're just basically amplifying it.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

People don't even notice it. Now uh there's bad news out there or whatever, and all the comments and everything in social media or in the news, and it gets everybody's attention.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

And that's not fixing anything.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

No.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

No one is doing anything about it.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Because no one even knows how to do anything about it. Some people they just have ideas, people just get crazy. We cannot we cannot agree to a solution. And it's just crazy. Right?

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

It is crazy and it's controversial also. Like we just get bombarded with bad news. We all get a stressed out about bad news. We just get angry about bad news. We just think that everything sucks. There's not enough. And basically that becomes your mentality. Yeah. And and it's crazy, but we didn't come to this earth or we weren't born just to suffer or just to to have lack and just to focus on the negative.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

And I think and the important takeaway from the article is that Earl Schof taught Jim Ron how to think differently. Yep. And he talked a lot of about philosophy and how the books that you read and the people you associate with are going to shape everything in your life. And that success is something that you attract by the person that you become. And as we've discussed in previous episodes, you need to become a new person in order to take on this new identity of a successful person. And I love the part he says that you are the problem and you are the solution. And how true is that? Like you possess both. You are the problem and you're the solution. Only you are the solution to your problems.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

It actually falls very good with Neil Degris Tyson, one of his quotes also one of the biggest problems with the world today is that we have a large group of people who will accept whatever they hear on the grapevine just because it suits their worldview, not because it is actually true or because they have evidence to support. This is basically about the view, the way one of the biggest problems with the world today is that we have a large group of people who will accept whatever they hear on the news. Whatever they hear, they believed it. Just because it suits their their own world.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

And that's the purpose of this podcast and what we're so passionate about, helping other people realize we would love for people to have that same aha moment that we had, like at the Mind Valley event. So there is no magical formula. You can't just sit around waiting for somebody to save you or give you money because that's not going to move the needle. What's most valuable is helping somebody to achieve a new way of thinking and a new way of showing up in the world. He gave me the belief that if I changed, everything would change for me. And that is so true because after I started changing my inner self and putting in the work, you started changing.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

And then our marriage started changing, started improving. Our our outer world started changing. We're having a better family life. Our finances started improving. Our business started improving little by little.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

And those are the things that you now see like, oh, when you made a decision to make a change, things started happening.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

So it's always a decision away, and we don't see it that way.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

No. And it doesn't, because again, you're looking for like the big, the big win, the big reward, and it just doesn't work like that. You have to you have to make meet the small milestones first and build that foundation first.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Yeah, because you have to now pick a new direction. Now you're choosing a new direction, right? So now you are not focusing on the problems, you're focusing now on how to get better at whatever you need to get better at.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

And once you do that, things will start unfolding.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Just like Jim Ron, I I know that people are gonna say, oh, well, I can't afford to do this and I can't afford to do that or whatever. But there's always things that you can do within yourself. There's so much information online. But what I do is I find like my North Star or somebody that I really admire, and I dig into what what their life is like and what they did to get to where they are. And you start following the people that you admire.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

And you start little by little to start surrounding yourself with people who want better for themselves.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Instead of saying stuck in your old friend group or with, you know, family members. I'm not saying dump all your friends or all your family members, but you can slowly but surely start making new connections, reach out to groups, go on meetup and be like, type in whatever it is that you're interested in changing or doing or being or having. Type in, find the groups, find the people that are also into those things. Go on Facebook or Instagram, whatever, and look up for other people that are in those similar groups that you want to be a part of and start making connections and slowly but surely just surrounding yourself with that, you're gonna get involved. You're gonna start getting more into it. Look for seminars or things that are maybe in your area, maybe they're not in your area. Maybe you have to pay an uncomfortable price that you don't want to spend the money on that right now.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

We did the same thing with Mind Valley. We were very uncomfortable spending that money at that time, but we knew we needed it. So we pushed ourselves and we did it. Just like Jim Ron said in the article, he didn't even want to go to that event because he was broke and he was embarrassed and he sat in the back of the room and his friend made him go. He had pennies in his pocket. Right. But he showed up and he started doing the work from from then on in. And lucky for him, he was able to make the connection with Mr. Schoff.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Yeah, and he says it. He said in his seminars that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Right. So your environment shapes you.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

Choose carefully who you allow into your inner circle.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Yeah. And it's not an accident that almost everybody that I've ever heard that I look up to says some form of that quote.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

You have to be hanging out with successful people to be that next successful person.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

And you don't have to start there, but you have to start where you're at. Yeah. The meetups, the groups, the different events that you can attend. Do whatever it takes. Go to the library, read the books, do the work.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

All right. So hopefully you get inspired with this episode today. We just kind of really want to talk about a little bit about Jim Ron. He's a great, great inspiration to the world today. And if he was able to do it back then, we believe that we can do it now. Because we have all the tools, there's more resources out there than before. So there's no excuses to not really get ahead. So again, hopefully you get inspired today. We'll see you the next time.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

And I was gonna just add one more quick little thing. If you need a place to start, check out his website, jimronrohn.com.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

He's got a lot of inspirational articles as well as our website. We have a lot of freebies. You can also start there as a great resource to start rebuilding your life one step at a time.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

That's right. I will see you the next time.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

All right, take care.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

All right, bye.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Hey there. If you like this episode, please like, share, and join our community. And check out our website at ken and kimpodcast.com for free tools and resources. We'll talk to you next time.