The Law of Use by Jim Rohn

Introduction

The Law of Use is a very old law and can be retraced to Biblical times. Jim Rohn explained about the Law of Use in many of his training sessions. The Law stresses upon the regular usage of our acquired skills. It also focusses upon the importance of now and how our current priorities affect our future. Never put off things for tomorrow if those things can be done today. It’s all about taking the full benefit from the opportunity. Dhirubhai Ambani started his career from the Petrol Pump and worked his way upwards and was able to become the filing manager. Ultimately, he returned to India and started his own business. He took full advantage of the opportunity, even when the opportunity was completely unknown.

The Law of Use

In simple language, the law says that “The things which you do not use, you lose.” One of the most important ideas pertaining to the Law of Use is “Today Unused is Lost”. 

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Twelve Pillars | The Power of Ambition | 7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness

Many people start their day without planning, and they move around aimlessly from here and there. Each day must be planned out with the vision that align with our short- and long-term goals. This habit can be developed by making our own beds in the morning. Bed making is the smallest step towards self-discipline as we cannot fix the world without fixing ourselves.

The Parable of the Talents

Jim Rohn mentioned a biblical story which is also known as The Parable of the Talents. Here the Law of Use was put to test. This story shows what benefits can we get if we utilise our current resources and what happens if we decide not to act timely. 

A master had three servants and one day he decided to visit some other town for business. He called all three servants and handed over talents (measure of gold) to them. He guided servants to use those talents as per their convenience and told servants to discuss about those talents after returning from the business trip. The first servant got 5 talents, second servant got 2 talents and third servant got 1 talent. After returning from business trip, master called all three servants to enquire about the talents. First two servants were very successful and doubled their talents in the given period. First servant had 10 talents and second servant had 4 talents. The third servant was very conservative, and he had hidden the talent from everyone. He handed over that 1 talent to the master after his arrival. Master became very angry with the response of third servant and handed over that single talent to the first servant who had 10 Talents.

Summary

The major lesson from The Parable of the Talents is very deep. We cannot achieve something by doing nothing. The single talent was taken away from the third servant as he was totally wasting the opportunity. That talent was handed over to the person who was fully utilising his talents and had 10 talents with him. Similarly in corporate world, senior leadership provide the opportunity of executing new projects to the resourceful person. Always be resourceful and never wait for the correct time for grabbing the opportunity. Grab the opportunity first and then plan out execution with the help of current resources.