Set Out to Accomplish a Goal. Not for Achieving the Goal, But Rather For What It Will Make of You to Achieve the Goal. -Jim Rohn

Mike Towers
3 min readMay 31, 2020

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I was listening to an Audible program called Sales Revelation. It’s a mashup of several Nightingale-Conant courses put together on several different topics called “meetings.” On one of them, a speech was played by Jim Rohn in which he shared one of the most powerful and business-changing quotes he had ever heard in his life. It was this: “Set out to accomplish a goal. Not for achieving the goal, but rather for what it will make of you to achieve the goal.” He emphasized it by saying it was one of the most powerful statements he had ever heard.

I was so impressed with the statement that I created a quotes page in notes on my cell phone and wrote it down as the first entry. For the past few days, I have been thinking about it and spending some deep thought on it. I would say this is a very powerful statement and, if applied, could have a profound effect on your business and mindset.

I have often reflected on my success (or, lack thereof, compared to the level I want it to be at). I have found that, for some reason, a voice in my head would argue with another voice in my head that becoming successful is a BAD idea. Why? Because, that voice reasoned, becoming successful (and thus having more money) would make me a bad person. That it would change me. First off, how STUPID is that? Why is it that I would become a BAD person simply if I was more successful? Where does that idea even come from?

I believe this quote can help people who have this same discussion going on in their minds. Your mind is scared at being successful, therefore it argues to stay complacent, comfortable, and safe in your present state. Let’s be honest- being complacent sucks. Am I right? It limits you. And if you have the potential to be successful, you SHOULD be successful. You can help so many people with your success (starting with obviously yourself, then your family, then your friends and loved ones, then those less fortunate, on and on.

So, applying this quote to your life, don’t accomplish a goal for the sake of the goal, but rather what you have to do and how you have to improve to achieve the goal. That way, the entire process to become successful IMPROVES you. The benefit of achieving the goal is self-improvement. To succeed, you have to become better than who you are. If you are becoming better, that would prevent you from becoming this horrible person that your mind is lying to you about. That is what we all want, isn’t it?

Let’s say you decide to make a goal of increasing your income. To make more money than you currently do, you cannot stay the same. You will have to improve your ability, your knowledge, and your performance to produce more income. Your mindset will increase, your skills will increase, and your abilities will increase as well.

Then, not only will you achieve an increase in income, but you will also be rewarded by becoming a better producer. You will be more valuable and your business will become more profitable. You do want to become more valuable and more profitable, is that correct?

Also, by having this mindset and applying this quote to your business, you will see much more success, you will avoid your fears, and you will be more happy and satisfied in your business. Then your relationships will improve, your self-esteem will skyrocket and you will achieve even more goals in your life.

Go get it!

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