Jim Rohn, one of the country’s leading experts on success and personal development, stated that the one reason why people don’t succeed is NEGLECT.

Does that mean that the secret of success then is the opposite of neglect? The thesaurus states the antonym of neglect is to care for or to look after. But this does clear things up to much. Perhaps looking to Jim Rohn’s wisdom will help us understand.

Jim Rohn was a millionaire by the age of 31. He attributes his success to his ability to look after or care for the success characteristics others neglected.

Jim Rohn listened to successful people. His friends neglected to do this.

While his friends neglected to set goals, Jim Rohn carefully cultivated his goals.

Jim Rohn read good books to improve his intellect and his attitude. His friends neglected to pick up the right kinds of books, or any books at all.

Rohn points out opportunities exist all around us. There’s plenty of money in the world. There are plenty of changes at education. There are plenty of jobs out there. There are an infinite number of different types of careers to try.

Why don’t we succeed? We neglect.

We neglect to live our lives. We neglect to surround ourselves with people who will help us succeed. We neglect to set meaningful goals and then to strive to achieve them. We neglect to work on our attitudes. We neglect…

The problem with neglect is that it affects us, well, negatively. We suffer. Not usually in a physical way, but maybe, if you neglect to exercise and eat right.

Neglect affects our spirit. We lose faith in ourselves. Our self-esteem plummets. Our attitudes become decidedly negative. People around us are affected as well. We often let these people down. We lose confidence in our abilities. In our ability to succeed.

If you want to break the cycle of neglect in your life, you need to get in the habit of action. “Just do it,” like the old Nike ads admonished. Study the habits of successful people. Do what they do.

Acting will remove neglect from your life. Period. So start doing something. Now.