“Getting older is automatic. Getting older is not getting better.” — John Maxwell.
Emmanuel was born to a poor family in Caldwell, Idaho, and dropped out of College just after one year. He started working for Sears at age ninetee,n struggling through life with unmet expectations and unfulfilled dreams until six years later when he met John through one of his friends who invited him to a success lecture hosted by John, a charismatic entrepreneur and speaker who had risen from humble beginnings to become a millionaire.
Emmanuel didn’t know it then, but that invitation would change the entire course of his life. He sat in that lecture, listening to John share ideas about success, discipline, and growth. Something clicked. John wasn’t just teaching business strategies; he was teaching a philosophy for life.
Afterward, Emmanuel joined John`s company. But more than that, he came under John`s valuable mentorship. And that’s when his real education began. This revered mentor took special interest in Emmanuel and taught him the laws of success, not from a classroom, but through intentional personal growth. Great statements like:
Success isn’t something you chase; it’s something you attract by the person you become.
You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.
If you want things to change, you have to change.
Those lessons pierced Emmanuel’s heart.
The Results of Intentional Personal Growth
This rich mentor was John Earl Shoaff, and Emmanuel James Rohn (popularly known as Jim Rohn) was the mentee. Under Earl Shoaff’s guidance, Jim Rohn grew rapidly. He built a massive organization inside the company, proving that Shoaff’s principles worked. People began noticing not just his results, but his way of thinking and speaking.
In the early 1960s, Jim Rohn was invited to speak at his Rotary Club. He accepted, and soon, others began asking him to speak at various luncheons and other events. In 1963, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he gave his first public seminar. He then began presenting seminars across the country, telling his story, and teaching his personal development philosophy.
Throughout the 1970s, Rohn conducted seminars for Standard Oil. At the same time, he participated in a personal development business called Adventures in Achievement, which featured live seminars and personal development workshops.
Jim Rohn mentored life strategist Tony Robbins in the late 1970s. Others who credit Jim Rohn for influencing their careers include Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield (Authors of the Chicken Soup book series), Brian Tracy, Darren Hardy, and T. Harv Eker.
Jim Rohn’s story isn’t about luck. It’s about a decision: the decision to make personal growth a daily priority. Growth doesn’t happen because time passes. Growth happens because you decide—every single day—to stretch, learn, and change.
What’s your “Earl Shoaff moment”?
Who is challenging you to grow?
What are you reading, listening to, or practicing today that will make tomorrow’s you stronger, wiser, and better?
Make your personal growth intentional and watch the doors open for you.
