Three Pillars for a Successful Life of Balance and Prosperity

It's a brand new year. And do you know there are only three things you need to pay attention to? If you pay attention to these three things, everything in this coming year will be better.

Welcome to becoming wiser with Dr. Robert A. Rohm, author and world renowned public speaker, as he shares stories involving his experiences and lessons learned in a good spirited, positive and fun way. Here's Dr. Robert A. Rohm.

Hi, I'm Dr. Robert Rohm. Today I want to share with you, as we start a brand new year together, three important concepts that will basically change the lay of the land for the rest of your life. If you pay attention to these three areas, everything will be better in your life. However, if you do not pay attention to these three areas, everything could possibly be worse. And the good news is there's not hundreds of them. They're basically three. And if you know these three areas and you understand how these three different areas of life work, you will be light years ahead of everyone else. And it's not that you're in competition with everyone else. You're basically in competition with yourself. I don't measure myself by other people because if I'm better than they are, then I'll become arrogant and prideful. But if I'm worse than they are, then I'm overcome, sad and depressed. So really there's no win situation when you try to measure yourself by other people. But if you can learn to measure yourself by yourself, in other words, am I doing my very best in life? Am I doing the next right thing? Which is really my motto for life. When you don't know what to do, just do the next right thing. If you do that day by day, you'll have a good. You'll have a right day. Then you'll have a good right day. You'll have a good right week, month, year in life. So again, getting back to the thought of there's just some basic things that you need to do day by day, and if you do these things and pay attention to them, everything will go in the right direction. So I want to share those three with you today. You might need a pen or a paper. And if you're driving, please don't, you know, write this down while you're driving, but maybe pull off the side of the road or listen to it later. I am 74 years old. I'll be 75 years old in April. I don't think I'm better than anybody or smarter than anybody, but I am very, very grateful. I've been very blessed and I've learned to measure my success by my own abilities. As I was mentioning earlier, don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to Am I doing the very best I can do? And there are three areas that you need to pay attention to. Do your very best. Let's get started on those. The first one is what I call relationships. We all have relationships, whether they're at home, school, work or play with other family members. Sometimes they're close family. Husband, wife, son, daughter, mom, dad, brother, sister. Close family relationships. Sometimes they're distant relationships like cousins and other extended family members that you maybe only see occasionally. And then their friends that you see at work, at school, and you interact with them on a fairly regular basis. And then they're co workers that you see all the time. All of these fall in the big category of relationships. Some are close relationships and some are just more what we would call casual or friendly relationships. Let me tell you how to always have successful relationships. This is going to be real easy, really. You'll always have good relationships if you watch your words. That's it. Proverbs 18:21 says life and death are in the power of your words. Is it any wonder? And I'm not saying this in a bragging manner. I have great relationships. Here's why I don't talk about other people. I don't talk about people behind their back. I only say things that are good, helpful and wholesome about other people. However, that doesn't I don't live in a unrealistic world. Sometimes there are hard things that need to be said. I was in a situation recently where I had to talk to another family member. We got alone in a mutual place where they would not feel unsafe or ganged up against. We were alone. We talked in a calm manner. There was no hostility, yelling, anger. The words were words of life, words of encouragement. Hey, I'm not perfect, but a couple of things we need to talk about that I think would help our relationship to be better.

Words make or break relationships. If you concentrate or focus or keep your pay attention to I'm not saying anything to another person unless it's something good, unless it's something helpful, unless it's something encouraging. And if we're talking about another person behind their back, only say things that are good. I always picture in my mind whoever I'm talking about if they're not there with me while I'm having the conversation. What if they were there? What if I was talking to you on the phone about another person and I knew that other person was on the phone, you see, it would temper. It would control the way you talk about things. And you don't have to clean messes up every day of your life. Well, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. You don't have to do that. If you keep your words positive, good, encouraging. And again, I know you may be saying, yeah, but sometimes people do things wrong and you need to expose those. You need to talk about them. And I would say quickly say, I agree. However, I would say do that in a proper manner alone. My father used to say, the more you stir stink, the worse it smells. And I think that's a pretty accurate picture of how important it is to make our words, words of encouragement, words of life. And when they do need to be difficult, they can still be done in kindness and they can be done appropriately to another person alone in what I would call a really good time. Here's what I mean. They're rested, they're fed, they're not in a hurry, they're not tired. I saw a sign one time, it said, remember to halt H A L T when you're hungry, angry, lonely or tired. I thought that was really, really powerful. I memorized that because it's helped me when I realize I'm hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Be careful, especially with what I say. So in the word world of relationships this year, just say things that are good and wholesome and helpful about other people and to them.

My wife was telling me the other day when she was in high school, a very popular boy walked up to her. And this would have been in the early 60s, in the early 1960s, a boy walked up to her and said, hey, ugly. And he was just kidding. He was just kidding. You know, just teenagers. We, when we were all teenagers, we said things we shouldn't have said. But he walked up to her and said, hey, ugly. And he was just. She told me, she said, I remember that to this day, and she's in her mid-70s. She said, I remember how it hurt my feelings. And he was just laughing and kidding when he said it, but still hurt words are powerful. Be careful in your relationships this year in speaking words that are good, wholesome, helpful and positive and you won't have any trouble in that area. The second area is the area of your finances, your money, your stuff, your things. My father taught me, if your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall. Well, that's the best course on finances and economic issues that you'll ever learn in your whole Life. If you're outgo, how much money you spend, what you throw money at all day long. If you're outgoing seeds, your income, how much money do you have coming in? Do you have a job? Do you have a budget? Do you have allowance? Do you have savings? If you're outgoing seeds your income, your upkeep, taking care of your bills, your financial commitments, your responsibility, the areas of life for which you're responsible will be your downfall. You'll find yourself in a world of hurt. Billy Graham once said, many, many years ago, the three biggest causes of marital failure are alcohol, in laws and finances, money. Ziglar used to say money's not everything, but it's pretty close to oxygen. You're going to find that if you don't pay attention to your financial life in this coming year, it will not be long before your financial life will be taking care of you. And I don't mean that in a good way. I mean that'll be in a bad way. You'll be broke. Some people are so broke they can't even pay attention. Well, I want to encourage you to pay attention. You don't. Don't let money burn your pocket. Don't be such a spendthrift. Don't have to buy something everywhere you go. I know people who, it just seems like all the time have to be spending money on something.

I don't want to create in myself or in you. What I would call a poor man's mentality. That means I'm broke, I don't have anything, I better not spend any of my money. But I do think it's a good balance in save your money for a rainy day.

Don't have to. Just because you have some money doesn't mean you have to spend it. I realize everywhere you turn, somebody's trying to get you to spend money. Whether it's online or some special one time event. Hey, this is the last time this will ever be offered in the history of the world. There's even a saying in the business world called fomo. Fomo, that stands for fear of missing out. That is a very, very popular topic among salespeople. That you've got to create a fear. If you don't get it this time, boy, oh boy, you have missed the ship. You have missed. This is a golden opportunity. Once in a lifetime. It'll never happen again. May I just tell you something? Yes, it will. Yes it will. Ever. The greatest deal in the world is still in the future. Don't worry if you, oh, you're going to miss out on this or if you miss this, this is the end of the world and you'll be broke the rest of your life. No, you may be broke if you get in on it. I want to say something a little bit hard, but listen carefully. I've lost a fortune twice. First time because I was stupid and the second time because I was arrogant. And both of those do not work well when it comes to money, stupidity or arrogance. Just learn. If you don't know how to handle money, find somebody who can help you. Find a mentor or a coach. Talk to somebody who is financially well off and ask them, how did you get there? What do I need to do? There are books written about this. I would encourage you if you've never read Rich Dad, Poor dad or Cash Flow Quadrants by Robert Kiyosaki. Those are excellent books on financial.

Wisdom, financial understanding and financial integrity. So the first area was relationships. The second area is finances. The third area and the final area. And I'm not a medical doctor, but the third area would be your health. Take care of your health. I'm going to tell you something that my father taught me many, many years ago. And I know I'm kind of known for, for this philosophy of life when it comes to health and, and people laugh at me, but here it is. You ready? Keep your hair dry and your feet warm and you won't ever be sick. I know you're looking. Say, what did he just say? Yeah, keep your hair dry and your feet warm. Those are the two ends of your body, the top and the bottom. I realize if you're at the pool in the summertime and it's hot outside and your hair's wet and you're walking around barefooted. That's not what I'm talking about. That would be perfectly fine. I'm talking about you walk around the house barefooted. The floor is cold, your feet stay cold. The next thing you know, you've caught a cold. Why do you think they call it a cold? Because you got cold? I see people, they walk around, I see my own family. They wash. They wash their hair and put it in a towel and just let their head stay damp, wet and cold. Next thing you know, they've caught a cold. Listen, I'm not going to come to your house and I'm not going to follow you around. You can do whatever you want to do with your own health and your own body. It's yours. However, I'm never sick. I'm never sick. I'm never sick. And the reasons I pay attention to keep my hair dry, my feet warm. When I take a shower and I get out or a bath or whatever it is, I dry my hair. Get a hair dryer. They're less than $20. I promise you'll spend more than that on medicine. If you get sick, keep your hair dry. I keep my hair dry. If my hair gets wet, I dry it. I dry it with a towel, then I dry it with a hair dryer. I heard two Israeli doctors found the cure for the common cold years ago and it was moving and staying in a warm, dry place. They said they learned to put blast of hot air or warm air in their, in people's nostrils, in their nose to help them overcome a cold. I thought, where can I find some warm air? I thought, I know exactly where a hairdryer. If I feel that I'm catching a cold or that I don't feel good, I let the hair dryer blow in my face. Not constantly, but sweep across my face, but back and forth and breathe it in and it's immediately kills all the germs it causes. Germs can't live in a dry, arid environment. They have to have moisture. In a way they can multiply Again, I'm not giving you medical advice. I'm just telling you I'm never sick. And the reason is because I pay attention to keep my hair dry, my feet warm. And then also on this topic of health, let me encourage you, eat vegetables and fruit. Fruit and vegetables. They I don't think. I'm not a vegetarian, but you know, I eat very little red meat. I basically live on fish and chicken pretty much, but I love vegetables. My mother raised me having two or three vegetables almost with every meal. Lots and lots of vegetables and fruit. You might say, well, I don't like vegetables. Well, that's why you're sick all the time. I'm as healthy as a bull. My doctor told me. She said, I've never seen anybody your age who has this a heart as healthy as you do. She said, it's amazing. She said, what do you eat? And I thought, isn't that interesting? That was the first thing that she asked me. She said, what do you eat? And we had a conversation about the fact that I pretty much live on fish and chicken, but I eat lots of vegetables. And I also told her I have very little stress in my life. Very, very little stress, because I know how life works. I know how to play the game of life. So I hope these three areas have been helpful this coming year. You don't have to pay attention to a thousand things. I find that almost everything in life emanates or comes expands from these three areas. Having good relationships, dealing or handling your money or your finances correctly, and taking care of your health, paying attention to what you eat. Someone once said, I don't mean to be unkind. I thought it was funny though. It said if you eat fat greasy foods, you'll become a fat greasy dude. And I don't want to do that. And so I eat junk every once in a while. All of us do. But primarily take care of my health by what I eat and having an environment of peace and tranquility and with very little stress as I handle these three areas of life. I hope you'll pay attention to these three this year. Your relationships, your finances, and your health. And if you do, I promise you this will be the best year of your life. Hope this podcast has been helpful. Let me encourage you to maybe jot those down, put them on a 3 by 5 card. Pay attention to those three areas and your life will get better and this will be a great year. Maybe the best year of your whole life. I'm Dr. Robert Rome. Thanks for listening to our podcast. I want you to grow wiser. I want you to have a great life. It can happen if you pay attention to these three areas. Look forward to our next time together. God bless you. Have a great day. Bye Bye.

For more information about this podcast, please visit www.becomingwiserpodcast.com.