Charlie “Tremendous” Jones’ Legacy

January 15, 2009

Hi All:

       For those of you who aren’t familiar with Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, he was one of the top motivational speakers in the world.  Charlie passed on a couple of months ago and will be sadly missed.  I remember in the early 90’s when I was starting out in the speaking industry I went to Charlie for advice.  I said, “Charlie, I want to be a really great speaker”.  I’ll never forget what he said (without missing a beat, I might add), “Don’t try so hard”.  I never really knew what he meant until a few years ago when I had a health crisis and realized that being a speaker was only a PART of my life, not my whole life!

       But, believe it or not, that’s not the most important thing I learned from Charlie.  He wrote a book called “Life is Tremendous” and at the beginning he stated that he could tell where a person would be 5 years from now by two things: the people you hang around with and the books you read.  How true this is.

       If you spend your time with unambitious and unsuccessful people you will soon adopt their mindset.   You wil find yourself just “getting by” and not stretching yourself.  This has been proven in countless studies.  We tend to assimilate with the people we’re around.  We tend to adopt their attitudes and ways of thinking and this is done virtually unconsciously!  If you want to be successful stick with the winners.  Stay close to people who are, as I call it, maxing out their potential.  People who have goals and want to make their lives better

       The second part of the equation is the books you read.  It’s sad, but very few people read consistently  in the general population.  I read some statistics from the American Booksellers Association  a few years ago and the number of people in the U.S. that haven’t read a book in the last five years was staggering!  I’m of the opinion that if you’re not moving forward, you’re going backward.  And one of the ways to move forward is continuous learning and that happens by reading.  Do you realize that if you read an hour a day in your chosen field for only 2 years you would be a bona fide expert in that field?  Don’t be under the assumption that because you don’t have a formal education you can’t be successful.   I’ve heard it said that a formal education will make you a living but self-education will make you a fortune.  This is done by reading.

       So Charlie’s gone but certainly not forgotten.  The lessons that he taught me in the brief time I met him will endure the rest of my life.  I sincerely hope you use his lessons also.

Until next time,

Tim

www.timpic.com

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