(Starts at 15 seconds) Jim Rohn (September 17, 1930 - December 5, 2009) was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. His rags to riches story played a large part in his work, which influenced others in the personal development industry. "Always do more than you get paid for, to make an investment in your future." "If it's raining you can't fix the roof. If it isn't raining, it doesn't need to be fixed." "Review your performance." "Face all your fears: that's how you can conquer them." "Exercise your willpower to change your direction." "Pick a new destination and start going that way." "Use your willpower to start the process." "Admit your mistakes!" "Refine your goals." "Believe in yourself. There isn't a skill you can't learn..." "Ask for wisdom ... that creates answers." "Don't wish it was easier: wish you were better." "Invest your profits." "Protect your family. These are troublesome times." "Conserve your time." "Live with intensity. Invest more of you in whatever you do." "Put everything you've got into everything you do, and then ask for more vitality, more strength and more vigour." "Find your place... if you've got a lousy job, do the best you can: that is your best way out." "If you work on your gifts they will make room for you, they will make a place for you." "Demand integrity from yourself." "Welcome the disciplines... Disciplines create the reality." "Fight for what's right!" "I fought a good fight... and I kept the faith!" Source
In the book
Power vs. Force
, Dr. David Hawkins describes a hierarchy of human emotional states beginning with shame and guilt on the low end and leading to peace and enlightenment on the high end.
Hawkins claims the lower emotional states weaken us, while the higher ones make us stronger. And the dividing line between strong and weak is the state of courage, which is the first positive state. Courage separates the lower energies of force, where we feel we are fighting life, from the higher energies of power, where we feel we are cooperating with life.
As Hawkins writes:
[Courage] is the zone of exploration, accomplishment, fortitude, and determination. At the lower levels, the world is seen as hopeless, sad, frightening, or frustrating; but at the level of Courage, life is seen to be exciting, challenging, and stimulating. … Obstacles that defeat people whose consciousness is [lower] … act as stimulants to those who have evolved into the first level of true power. … This is where productivity begins.
Courage is the dividing line between weakness and strength of character. If you want to get past the situation where fear and anxiety run your life, you must eventually embrace the energy of courage. While it’s certainly not the highest evolutionary level available to you, it is the first positive rung as you work towards higher persistent states like reason, love, joy, and peace. At this level you see danger and risk, acknowledge it, and still take action in spite of it. This has the effect of shrinking the presence of fear in your life, such that you can grow into higher states where your needs are more easily met and fear simply becomes unnecessary. You realize that nothing out there is scary except to the degree that you make it so in your mind, and you learn to stop creating fear within yourself. Courage is the gateway in the sense that you must first learn to face down your fears, even as they still appear real to you. As long as you avoid them, you continue to weaken yourself. But face them and they dissolve. Source
