Robin S. Sharma: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Robin S. Sharma (1965) is an author and public speaker on topics related to personal development (motivational speaker.) After studying law at the university, he worked for a few years as a professor and later he acted as a lawyer, before dedicating his time to coaching and giving advice to others. He is the author of multiple books. Among them, we have to highlight: "The Monk who sold his Ferrari", "The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate your Life" and "The Leader Who Had No Title."
It's very likely that most of you had not ever heard about this author, so I think this article could bring more value than the ones about more famous people, such as Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Ok, so let's jump into the quotes followed by a brief explanation of each one.
1. Dream big, start small, act now!
Above all, act. The smallest action is worth more than the biggest intention. A lot of people die in the "waiting room" of life. It happens very often that "someday" becomes "never." When someone tells you "I will do it when I have more time" or "when I have more money" or "as soon as I can" it's not very unlikely that they will never do it. Many people have always a "but" to justify themselves and to not take the starting step. Robin S. Sharma says: "If you don't act over your life, it will do it over you." Days become weeks and weeks become months, and before you notice, your life will be over."
2. Spend more time with incredible people and you will feel how you become more incredible.
Limits are not in people, limits are in their surroundings. Most of the people are a reflection of the people they socialize with. Robin S. Sharma himself adds: "The main danger of being surrounded by mediocre people is that you start becoming and behaving like them before you even realize." If the seed is good but the ground where it is sowed is not fertile, there will be no sweet fruit. Do everything is in your hands to move around those circles of people, who have shown results that you would like to achieve, and spend as much time as possible with them.
3. Go towards what is more difficult. That's where you have more possibilities to grow.
If you feel scared, you have a huge opportunity for progress. If you aren't scared, likely you are just following a routine. Progress is always associated with a certain level of stress that forces you to do things you are not used to doing, and therefore, things that can make you learn and improve. Frequently, what we fear the most or what we do not like is what should be done. It's not about denying the fear (which never disappears), but to confront it; otherwise, you would feel a lot of frustration. The fears you don't control, control your life. Sharma highlights: "Fear is the essential factor that incites people to have smaller lives, lacking authenticity."
4. The worst treason is wasted brilliance. Express yours.
There's no other person like you. Neither in body (physically) nor in the soul (spiritually.) You are unique and unrepeatable, the same as the rest of human beings living on this planet. Why do you want to be like others? You, like everyone, have a singular and different gift, and if you practice it and you put yourself in others' shoes, you will have a good time, you will obtain recognition and make money. Sharma also claims: "Too many people spend too much time focusing on their weaknesses rather than reinforcing their powerful abilities. While focusing on what they don't have, they forget the talent they do have."
5. Your inner force grows as much as you deny giving it up.
Temptations always exist which invite someone to abandon. Those temptations have to do with the rejections you will find, the obstacles you will confront, the injustices you will have to bear, and how your surroundings will push you up to adapt yourself to the status quo, the "establishment", the conventional, the socially acceptable. Lots of times, you will feel that you cannot continue with something and that everything seems discouraging. However, every time you hang in there and you recuperate yourself afterward, your inner force becomes bigger and more robust after seeing that you have not given up due to all those circumstances.
6. Remember that there's no game where you can win without playing.
If you want to win, you have to play, simple as that; and when you play, you can lose. No risk, no heaven. Earning lots of money with no risk? What naivety! To better understand the winning or conformist mindset of a person, it's enough to observe if he or she is willing to lose. Successful people are people who would risk their lives for something. You cannot always jump with a net under. The only thing that can be considered as failure is not trying to do what you want in life. As Cleobulus of Lindos said: "If a light attracts you, follow it! What if it drives you to a swamp? you will get out of it sooner or later! However, if you don't follow it, you will be all your life wondering if that was your star."
7. The main reason for which we waste so much time doing little things is that we haven't identified our bigger things yet.
People, who are lost in life and don't know what goals do they want to achieve and what priorities they have, are wasting a lot of time, energy and effort. They are stumbling along with their lives without achieving anything. This way, it's impossible to make a real difference and progress. You must have very clear ideas about what you want to do in life if you want to be successful because it will be easier for you to make decisions and to design actions that allow you to carry out them successfully. Everything that gets you closer to your goals, is positive; everything that gets you further to your goals, is negative. This is important because people, who don't know what they want, end up being in the wrong place.
8. We give out our inner force to those things we complain about.
You become your complaints. Every second you waste thinking about what you don't want is a second where you are using your energy and concentration to deny what you really want. And the time, I'll tell you, runs extremely fast: tick tack, tick tack, tick tack... But there's hope. As Michael Althsuler claimed once: "The bad news is that time flies; the good news is that you are the pilot." You decide where you want to invest your energy: in complaining or in pursuing your dreams.
9. A fantastic dream needs a brilliant team. Otherwise, it won't be accomplished.
It can be said louder but not clearer. You are a lot of people. You cannot do everything alone. You need the support of other people to make incredible achievements. If you only have technical skills, you can earn a salary; but, to do something great, you also need social skills that will help you to create teams and build alliances. Search for professional people (better than you) and with values (integrity). Without honesty is impossible to survive and to be at peace with oneself in the long term.
10. Secret to success: look at what others are doing; finished? Ok, now do the opposite. You will be ok.
If you are seeing what everybody is seeing, if you are doing what everybody is doing, if you offer what everybody is offering, you cannot be different, and success always emanates from there: what makes you different, makes you special and unique. You have 2 choices: Either you are original or you are just another photocopy. To be different is essential to see through other eyes, to develop creativity and to give it a practical use. Robert Frost explained it very well in his poem "The Road Not Taken": "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." Be different means, though, to risk; to escape from the traditional speech and dare to stand out from what most people believe. To dedicate your life to copy only allows you to be in the middle of the crow.
It's very likely that most of you had not ever heard about this author, so I think this article could bring more value than the ones about more famous people, such as Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Ok, so let's jump into the quotes followed by a brief explanation of each one.
 |
| Robin S. Sharma |
1. Dream big, start small, act now!
Above all, act. The smallest action is worth more than the biggest intention. A lot of people die in the "waiting room" of life. It happens very often that "someday" becomes "never." When someone tells you "I will do it when I have more time" or "when I have more money" or "as soon as I can" it's not very unlikely that they will never do it. Many people have always a "but" to justify themselves and to not take the starting step. Robin S. Sharma says: "If you don't act over your life, it will do it over you." Days become weeks and weeks become months, and before you notice, your life will be over."
2. Spend more time with incredible people and you will feel how you become more incredible.
Limits are not in people, limits are in their surroundings. Most of the people are a reflection of the people they socialize with. Robin S. Sharma himself adds: "The main danger of being surrounded by mediocre people is that you start becoming and behaving like them before you even realize." If the seed is good but the ground where it is sowed is not fertile, there will be no sweet fruit. Do everything is in your hands to move around those circles of people, who have shown results that you would like to achieve, and spend as much time as possible with them.
3. Go towards what is more difficult. That's where you have more possibilities to grow.
If you feel scared, you have a huge opportunity for progress. If you aren't scared, likely you are just following a routine. Progress is always associated with a certain level of stress that forces you to do things you are not used to doing, and therefore, things that can make you learn and improve. Frequently, what we fear the most or what we do not like is what should be done. It's not about denying the fear (which never disappears), but to confront it; otherwise, you would feel a lot of frustration. The fears you don't control, control your life. Sharma highlights: "Fear is the essential factor that incites people to have smaller lives, lacking authenticity."
4. The worst treason is wasted brilliance. Express yours.
There's no other person like you. Neither in body (physically) nor in the soul (spiritually.) You are unique and unrepeatable, the same as the rest of human beings living on this planet. Why do you want to be like others? You, like everyone, have a singular and different gift, and if you practice it and you put yourself in others' shoes, you will have a good time, you will obtain recognition and make money. Sharma also claims: "Too many people spend too much time focusing on their weaknesses rather than reinforcing their powerful abilities. While focusing on what they don't have, they forget the talent they do have."
5. Your inner force grows as much as you deny giving it up.
Temptations always exist which invite someone to abandon. Those temptations have to do with the rejections you will find, the obstacles you will confront, the injustices you will have to bear, and how your surroundings will push you up to adapt yourself to the status quo, the "establishment", the conventional, the socially acceptable. Lots of times, you will feel that you cannot continue with something and that everything seems discouraging. However, every time you hang in there and you recuperate yourself afterward, your inner force becomes bigger and more robust after seeing that you have not given up due to all those circumstances.
6. Remember that there's no game where you can win without playing.
If you want to win, you have to play, simple as that; and when you play, you can lose. No risk, no heaven. Earning lots of money with no risk? What naivety! To better understand the winning or conformist mindset of a person, it's enough to observe if he or she is willing to lose. Successful people are people who would risk their lives for something. You cannot always jump with a net under. The only thing that can be considered as failure is not trying to do what you want in life. As Cleobulus of Lindos said: "If a light attracts you, follow it! What if it drives you to a swamp? you will get out of it sooner or later! However, if you don't follow it, you will be all your life wondering if that was your star."
7. The main reason for which we waste so much time doing little things is that we haven't identified our bigger things yet.
People, who are lost in life and don't know what goals do they want to achieve and what priorities they have, are wasting a lot of time, energy and effort. They are stumbling along with their lives without achieving anything. This way, it's impossible to make a real difference and progress. You must have very clear ideas about what you want to do in life if you want to be successful because it will be easier for you to make decisions and to design actions that allow you to carry out them successfully. Everything that gets you closer to your goals, is positive; everything that gets you further to your goals, is negative. This is important because people, who don't know what they want, end up being in the wrong place.
8. We give out our inner force to those things we complain about.
You become your complaints. Every second you waste thinking about what you don't want is a second where you are using your energy and concentration to deny what you really want. And the time, I'll tell you, runs extremely fast: tick tack, tick tack, tick tack... But there's hope. As Michael Althsuler claimed once: "The bad news is that time flies; the good news is that you are the pilot." You decide where you want to invest your energy: in complaining or in pursuing your dreams.
9. A fantastic dream needs a brilliant team. Otherwise, it won't be accomplished.
It can be said louder but not clearer. You are a lot of people. You cannot do everything alone. You need the support of other people to make incredible achievements. If you only have technical skills, you can earn a salary; but, to do something great, you also need social skills that will help you to create teams and build alliances. Search for professional people (better than you) and with values (integrity). Without honesty is impossible to survive and to be at peace with oneself in the long term.
10. Secret to success: look at what others are doing; finished? Ok, now do the opposite. You will be ok.
If you are seeing what everybody is seeing, if you are doing what everybody is doing, if you offer what everybody is offering, you cannot be different, and success always emanates from there: what makes you different, makes you special and unique. You have 2 choices: Either you are original or you are just another photocopy. To be different is essential to see through other eyes, to develop creativity and to give it a practical use. Robert Frost explained it very well in his poem "The Road Not Taken": "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." Be different means, though, to risk; to escape from the traditional speech and dare to stand out from what most people believe. To dedicate your life to copy only allows you to be in the middle of the crow.