COURAGE AND HONESTY – Jim Rohn | Powerful Motivational Speech ( Jim Rohn Motivation)
since ancient times philosophers have
seen it as the basis of all real
achievement this is the quality of
courage there’s a book that tells the
stories of all the winners of the
Congressional Medal of Honor it’s a book
that will bring tears to your eyes it’s
one of the most powerful documents ever
written
one American after another who put aside
all thought of safety and faced down
death in the service of this country and
more often than not it’s been in order
to save other Americans rather than to
defeat an enemy when you read of their
exploits you realize that these were
people who simply lost their fear of
death in order to do what had to be done
yes those Medal of Honor winners were
courageous individuals but by itself is
overcoming the fear of death necessarily
an expression of courage I don’t doubt
that there are many people in this
country who break the law and aren’t
afraid to die in the process but I
wouldn’t call them courageous and there
are people who do deliberately foolhardy
things with their cars that jeopardize
their own lives and the lives of others
but they aren’t courageous people in
fact a hungry donkey will keep eating
until his stomach bursts even if you hit
him with a stick trying to make him stop
he’s overcome his fear all right but
he’s obviously not courageous we might
not be able to precisely define it but
we intuitively sense that there are some
differences between acts of rashness and
the accomplishments of those winners of
the Congressional Medal of Honor let me
sum up in a couple of sentences what
those differences reveal about the true
nature of courage I can’t put it any
better than the Greek philosopher
Aristotle did more than 2,000 years ago
a truly courageous person is not someone
who never feels fear
but who fears the right thing at the
right time in the right way what exactly
does that mean what does it mean to fear
the right thing in the right way at the
right time to find the answer let’s look
at some specific sources of fear that
many individuals are facing right now
first a great many people today are
afraid of what might happen to them
financially and it’s certainly true that
great changes are taking place in the
economy that will have a direct impact
on the lives of millions of people I’ve
heard it said that a corporation that
employs 10,000 men and women today may
only need 1/5 that many within 10 years
over the last 50 years whole sections of
our society have learned to identify
with the corporation that employed them
that corporation provided not only a
salary but health benefits and the
opportunity to create a pension fund
that would make retirement possible at
age 65 or even sooner
now that relationship between the
employer and the corporation is changing
much of the work that used to be done by
domestic workers can now be done more
cheaply overseas and companies are
taking advantage of that perhaps out of
necessity perhaps simply to fatten the
bottom line in any case the fear of
losing one’s job has now reached a
segment of the white-collar workforce
that’s never been faced with it in quite
this way what else are we afraid of many
people are concerned about their health
they’re afraid that they’ll get sick
because they’re not getting enough
exercise because they’re eating the
wrong things or because of chemicals in
the air or in their food or water in
fact I think people today are even more
frightened of these things than they
were in the past when epidemics of
disease and poor sanitation were
everywhere and with regard to their
health people are also afraid of the
expenses that might result if they were
to become sick or disabled or the
expenses they might have to bear
if this were to happen to a parent or a
family member so financial fears and
health related fears are two of our
major concerns but the third thing that
I sense really scares people today is a
bit less easy to categorize it’s kind of
a general feeling that things aren’t as
good as they used to be that there’s
been a loss of control at some basic
level of our society there’s a sense
that one earthquake after another some
large and obvious some smaller and
almost imperceptible
have accumulated to shift the
foundations of society and it’s going to
keep on shifting toward a result that’s
anything but good now keeping in mind
our idea that a courageous person is not
someone who never feels fear but who
fears the right thing at the right time
in the right way let’s ask ourselves if
these fears really fit that definition I
think if we look a little deeper we’ll
see that what really scares people about
these situations is the sense that
they’re going to be helpless that all
their trust was placed in somebody or
something and now they’ve been let down
and they can’t do anything they’re
helpless but remember you’re never
really helpless and the sense that you
are helpless or that you might be if
certain things were to happen is
something we really ought to be afraid
of and that we should refuse to accept
you’re never just a victim of
circumstances no matter what happens
you’re never without options that can
get you back on track it takes courage
to recognize that because it means
accepting responsibility for your own
future but I would suggest that we
should accept that responsibility
because no one is really going to accept
it for us no matter what we may have
been led to believe let me emphasize
that underlying most fears the fear of
helplessness of being victimized or
being blown around by the winds of fate
like a leaf is blown off a tree
but is that really a legitimate way of
looking at things to me it sounds like
being afraid of the dark in which case
the best thing to do is to get yourself
up out of bed and switch on the light
after all the people who built this
country didn’t feel helpless when they
faced obstacles that we can hardly even
imagine today I’m not saying we should
all just gather around the campfire and
tell stories about George Washington but
we should realize that every generation
has faced insecurities and lived with
them and triumphed over them it’s only
in the past 50 years or so people have
come to expect a life without real tough
times and real difficulties but
adversity isn’t something to fear it’s
something to expect something to prepare
for and something to overcome the truly
courageous person is not immune to fear
but it plays a different role in his or
her life than it does for other people
if you’re a courageous person your fears
aren’t about what someone might do to
you
or something that might happen to you
your fears are about not living up to
your ideals about reacting instead of
acting about not taking advantage of the
opportunities that are always within
reach a truly courageous person is not
afraid of what might or might not happen
next week or next year he fears not
making the most of every moment today a
truly courageous person fears the
impulse to dominate other people she
leads by helping others to be their best
a truly courageous person fears making
appearances more important than
realities
in ancient Greece the philosopher
demosthenes went searching for an honest
man and he never found one I’ve been
fortunate I think I’ve known a great
many honest people but if I measured
that number up against all the less than
ethical people I’ve encountered I guess
I’d have to admit that even in my
experience honesty and integrity are
rather rare why is that I hope to
provide some answers but just as our
discussion of courage began with a look
at fear I want to start talking about
honesty by looking at the exact opposite
of honest behavior there was a time when
telling a lie was very serious business
I’m speaking now of the days before
lawsuits and legally enforceable
contracts and those days lying was a
very serious matter it was also very
serious if you accuse someone of lying
today a breach of integrity in a
business matter might mean calling in
the lawyers but for hundreds of years in
the past calling someone a liar was the
most common way to provoke a duel at
first with swords later with pistols
dishonesty was treated like a personal
insult the demanded immediate redress
everyone knew the big problems that
could result if you got caught so lying
to another person took a certain amount
of what’s the right word foolish bravery
maybe but there’s no such risk today is
there some people lie all the time
without thinking about it most people
know when they’re being lied to which
they may find irritating but they just
accept it maybe they decide to become
liars themselves in any case very few
duels are being fought lying can get
extremely complicated you’ve really got
to have an outstanding memory to be a
good liar because you’re always having
to create more lies that are consistent
with the one you told in the first place
I’m sure we have it some time been
caught up in a dilemma like that
Shakespeare had it right all along
what a tangled web we weave when at
first we practice to deceive
maybe you think I’m being a bit tough
here am I really saying that in every
instance you’ve got to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the
truth so if somebody asked me how are
you today I’m supposed to say well I got
to be honest with you I have a sore
finger last night I had a headache and
I’ve got to admit that my foot hurts a
little no that’s not what I mean in fact
I think there are many times when some
flexibility with the whole truth and
nothing but the truth is called for
outright lying however planned lying
lying with an ulterior motive lying for
personal gain that kind of lying is
definitely something to be avoided but
untruthfulness is so tempting today and
I want to spend a little more time on it
I want to make a clear distinction
between what I call foolish lying or
silly lying or stupid lying and lying
that is downright evil and poisonous to
the character boasting bombast
Blarney bragging these are all the same
thing they’re always floating around in
the atmosphere and they can affect you
at any time like catching a cold they’re
mostly harmless unless you start
building a whole personality around them
which has definitely happened to some
people some other guys scored the
touchdown back in high school but you’re
watching the Super Bowl with your
neighbor and you say that you did it
that’s pretty harmless you really don’t
know Joe the president of XYZ
corporation you were just introduced to
him one time but the client you’re
trying to impress has never even shaken
hands with Joe so here’s a chance to
score some points
that’s pretty harmless – you’re not
really the creative director of your ad
agency you’re the copywriter but a woman
sitting beside you on the plane to
Phoenix will never know the difference
it’s harmless unless you walks into your
office someday
and it’s a small world but you’ll chance
it this is all just hot air
I should mention that there’s such a
thing as boasting in Reverse to people
who flaunt their frugality people who
poor mouth people who are oppressively
ostentatious in their lack of
ostentation this is actually becoming a
bit more common keep an eye out for it
all of this is childish trash talk and
it’s usually spontaneous it comes from
succumbing to a moment of social
pressure it’s not the kind of behavior
that defines strong character but even
strong characters have been known to
indulge in it
Ernest Hemingway was a great writer and
one of the most powerful personalities
of the century but he could be reckless
too in any case this kind of bragging
and Blarney should be distinguished from
what I consider real line real lying
isn’t like putting bills on the credit
card reel lying is like theft in my
opinion a key element in this kind of
real lying is the presence of planning
and premeditation if somebody is a
supervisor in a corporation and he
steals one of his subordinates ideas and
takes credit for it in the eyes of the
CEO that requires a whole chain of
events and a conscious decision to keep
the deception going through the various
links in the chain that kind of lying is
theft it’s not only theft of the
subordinates idea it’s stealing from the
CEO too
it’s stealing the CEOs sense of reality
it’s creating an illusion
if someone falsifies an earnings report
in order to inflate the price of a
company’s stock that’s deliberately
creating a mirage in the minds of the
investors in the real world both these
examples have happened and many times
lives and careers have been ruined it’s
been my experience that those who engage
in serious lying and
ethical behavior get caught one way or
the other usually the people who are
being deceived awaken from the illusions
that have been foisted upon them but
even if this never happens the criminal
and I don’t think that’s too strong a
word has to buy into the illusion so
deeply himself that his own sense of
reality is eroded by trying to loosen
other people’s grasp of the truth you
end up losing your own all of it
small-time lying and big-time deceit it
all comes from fear somebody is afraid
the truth about themselves isn’t good
enough so they depart from the truth
somebody secretly fears that they can’t
really come up with ideas of their own
so they steal somebody else’s ideas or
they fear their company isn’t really
going to succeed so they come up with a
way to inflate the share prices it’s
really cowardice remember what we said
about courage courage is fearing the
right thing at the right time and in the
right way
fear the temptation to misrepresent who
you are or what you’ve done or intend to
do trust who you really are trust your
ability to earn the respect of others
pay whatever price the truth costs pay
that bill immediately because in the
long run it’s a real bargain when you’re
in a leadership position whether it’s in
a business or as the head of a family
honesty and integrity are not as
important as money or shelter or a
telephone honesty and integrity are
infinitely more important than any of
those things they’re about as important
as having air and food and water for a
leader honesty and integrity are
absolutely essential to survival a lot
of business people don’t realize how
closely they’re being watched by their
subordinates remember when you were a
kid in grammar school how you used to
sit there staring at your teacher all
day by the end of the school year I’ll
bet you could have done a perfect
imitation
of all your teachers mannerisms I’ll bet
you are aware of the slightest nuances
in your teachers voice all the little
clues that distinguished levels of
meaning that told you the difference
between bluff and now I mean business
you were able to do that after eight or
nine months of observation
suppose you had five or ten years do you
think there would have been anything
about your teacher you didn’t know as a
manager there probably isn’t anything
your people don’t know about you right
this minute if you haven’t been totally
aboveboard and honest with them it’s
certain you haven’t gotten away with it
but if you’ve been led to believe that
you’ve gotten away with it it’s most
likely because people are afraid of you
that’s a problem in its own right but
there’s another side of the coin too in
any organization people want to believe
in their leaders if you give them reason
to trust you they’re not going to go
looking for reasons to think otherwise
and they’ll be just as perceptive about
your positive qualities as they are
about the negative ones I heard a story
of a situation that happened some time
ago at a company in the Midwest the wife
of a new employee experienced
complications in the delivery of a baby
there was a medical bill of more than
$10,000 and the health insurance didn’t
want to cover it the employee hadn’t
been on the payroll long enough the
pregnancy was a pre-existing condition
one thing or another in any case the
employee was desperate he approached the
company CEO and asked him to talk to the
insurance people the CEO agreed and the
next thing the employee knew the bill
was gone the charges were rescinded but
when he mentioned to some colleagues the
way the CEO had so readily used his
influence with the insurance company
they just shook their heads and smiled
the CEO had paid the bill out of his own
pocket and everybody knew it no matter
how quietly it had been done an act of
dishonesty can’t be hidden and it will
instantly undermine the authority of a
leader
an active integrity is just as obvious
to all concerned
[Music]
