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The Seasons of Life
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Learn the key ideas of the book by Jim Rohn

The Seasons of Life

Achieving success to the rhythm of nature’s cycles

The farmer bases his life on the changing seasons, which determine the right time for sowing, reaping, and harvesting. In The Seasons of Life, Jim Rohn takes examples from the world of agriculture, in order to explain that we are in control of what happens to us. Life follows the seasons: if we plant the seeds of success in spring, we will reap the benefits in winter. So, just as the seasons change, the difficult times in life shall also pass. Rohn, said to have been one of the greatest motivators ever known, also explains how we can learn from the past to make better decisions for the future.

The Seasons of Life
Read in 11 min.
Listen in 14 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/9

The greatest value of the past lies in how we invest its teachings in the future

We are all the sum total of the people and events that we have come into contact with since the day we were born. These people or events, although they may have left their mark, are now behind us, and everything that happened yesterday is no longer of any consequence, unless we allow it to be. All that matters is who or what leaves its mark on today, and every day after. 

What we were in the past is an established and unchangeable fact, but what we can still become is an unlimited opportunity. Therefore, we must not allow our past difficulties and failures to negatively influence our future possibilities for growth. We need to use the past, in order to build a more enjoyable future.

We are all affected by something negative, every day: one of life's greatest challenges is to recognise these sources of negativity, and find the courage, if necessary, to cast them aside. No one would willingly drink a glass of deadly poison if they knew what it was. Yet each one of us has friends, relatives, or work colleagues who have exactly the same effect on us as that poison. The only difference is that one type of poison kills instantly, while other poisons kill our hopes, ambitions, dreams, and enthusiasm.

There are always people who will discourage those who are looking for a better job but, in order to find true happiness, it is essential that we do what we want to do. We allow people to mould our character in many ways with their attitudes and ideas, and we cultivate friendships that hinder our growth and progress. Friendships, although they are vital and valuable, can be very dangerous. 

Each of us 'accumulates' people, habits, attitudes, ways of doing things, opinions, and philosophies that we cannot afford to keep if we want to improve our lives. In order to change course, and improve the quality of our lives, we must 'weed’ our relationships, which is painful but necessary. It is better to have a few right friends than a thousand wrong ones, and it is better to have no friends at all than a few wrong ones!

  

The key ideas of "The Seasons of Life"

01.
The greatest value of the past lies in how we invest its teachings in the future
02.
To change our life, we need to change our attitude: with the right attitude, we can move mountains
03.
We should learn to simply experience change, without letting ourselves be changed by it, just as the seasons do
04.
In summer, we must protect and safeguard our seeds from the elements, weeds and insects, in order to encourage them to grow
05.
Autumn is the time for evaluation when we see the results of what we have sown
06.
We must learn to smile in the face of adversity because, like winter, it is a constant part of life. Through adversity, we grow and become worthy of success
07.
Defeat allows us to make a fresh start. Obstacles and challenges shape our character and our will to succeed
08.
Quotes
09.
Take-home message
 
 
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