The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari By Robin Sharma

"The task which has been set before us is not above our strength; its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance.  As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”

The above quote, which appears in the opening pages of the book, gave me new strength as I was in a difficult place when I started reading The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.  This quote sets the tone quite nicely for what the book is all about. Especially this sentence, “As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win.”

It tells the story of upstanding lawyer who leaves behind

all the bling of the Western world and finds new

and profound wisdom from the monks in the East.

 “Faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win.”

What comes to your mind when you read the above words?

To me it speaks about belief:

I will discuss these in turn:

Again, we return we return to the same old cliché, the question

“WHY?”  As was discussed previously when we tackled

Deepak Malhotra’s “I Moved Your Cheese.”

Why do you do what you do? Have you defined the purpose

for which you wake up every morning? The key word is YOU;

have YOU defined your purpose or are you following someone

else’s script for your character?

Here’s what I’ve come to realize:  If you’re not running your own race you will not be committed to the cause.  You will just be going through the motions, and wondering why your life feels empty.  When you run your own race, you have nothing to prove to anybody.  Learn to do what you believe is right for you, not what you think will impress someone else.

“There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person.  True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.”

Your ‘I Can’ is more important than your IQ. 

Your belief in yourself and your goals,

coupled with your determination to try and try again,

is more important than your intelligence.

Considered, who dares to tell you how intelligent or stupid you are?  More importantly, why should you listen to them? Victor Frankl says that humans are self-determining species.  This means you have the ability to determine your attitude and intelligence according to what YOU consider worthy of your intelligence.  Dr. John Demartini says that YOU increase or decrease your intelligence according to your values.  You will be highly intelligent in areas that interest you and that you hold in high esteem; and you will be less intelligent in areas that you don’t care about.

Remember, mental mastery comes through conditioning,

nothing more and nothing less.

So you must consciously develop the habit of pruning your mind’s garden.  Exhume the weeds of negative thought that don’t serve your purpose, and nurture positive and uplifting thoughts.  Don’t let worry consume you, for it drains the mind of much of its power.  Be very careful of what you allow into your mind.  Remember the saying, “garbage in - garbage out”?

“It doesn’t matter what other people say about you,

what matters is what you say to yourself.”

Jim Rohn says, “Discipline is the bridge between goals

and accomplishment.”

Robin Sharma exclaims, “Quick fixes don’t work. 

All lasting inner change requires time and effort.”

When you’re working towards an important objective,

mistakes and missteps are bound to happen. 

Don’t dwell on past mistakes and misfortunes. 

Learn from the experience and use the lessons

to shape your better future.  Discipline is a choice

you make every day, irrespective of your mood.

Remember “The Slight Edge” principle which says

that the small, seemingly insignificant actions you take

every day can lead you down to a path of ruin and misery,

or up to a life of bliss and joy.  Your decisions, not circumstances,

will determine your destiny.  “The price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts and actions.”

Disciplined thoughts and actions will lead you to greatness.

“The things that are most important should never be sacrificed

for the things that are least important.”  If you commit this error

in judgment, you will likely not achieve lasting happiness.  

According to Robin Sharma, the real source of happiness

can be stated in a single word: Achievement. 

Lasting happiness comes from steadily working

to accomplish your goals and advancing confidently

in the direction of your life’s purpose.

Discipline will lead you to achievement and lasting happiness.  Discipline is a test of your will-power… it allows you to do the things that losers are not willing to do.  Very often, this makes all the difference in achievement.

Time is of the essence.  “If you value life,” as Benjamin Franklin

so eloquently put it, “you will not squander time.” 

The first step to making the best use of your time

is to wake up early every day. “It is the quality, not the quantity

of your sleep that is important,” says Robin Sharma.

He also advises that you be ruthless with your time. 

Learn to say “NO”.  “Having the courage to say no

to the little things in life will give you the power to say yes

to the big things,” he concludes.

Another important consideration for those who value their time

is planning their day in advance; write down all your commitments

for the day and start working on your highest priority tasks first,

Eat That Frog first.

When you value your time, you will be more disciplined in your actions, more acute in your decisions, and more fulfilled at the end of each day.  “Stop acting like you have 500 years to live.  Don’t waste even 1 minute of your day.  Develop a deathbed mentality.”

And finally, live in the “now”.  Enjoy the gift of life daily…

invest time with your children, spouse, friends, and loved ones. 

Never put off happiness for the sake of achievement.

This book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, also contains other meaningful lessons that relate to following your purpose,

the value of service to others, personal development and more.

The three lessons discussed above are those that stood out for me

and challenged me to make changes in my own life.

Go out and buy the book today.

Come back and share the most important lessons

you took away from reading The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

in the comments section below.