How to Turn Nothing into Something
by Jim Rohn
Have you ever wondered how to turn nothing into something?
First, in order to turn nothing into something, you've got to start with some ideas and imagination. Now, it might be hard to call ideas and imagination nothing; but how tangible are those ideas? That is a bit of a mystery. I don't believe that ideas that can be turned into a hotel, ideas that can be turned into an enterprise, ideas that can be turned into a new vaccine or ideas that can be turned into some miracle product, should be called nothing. But tangibly, you have nothing. Interesting! Think of it; ideas that become so powerful in your mind and in your consciousness that they seem real to you even before they become tangible. Imagination that is so strong, you can actually see it.
When I built my first home for my family in Idaho all those years ago, before I started construction, I would take my friends and associates out to the vacant property and give them a tour of the house. Is that possible? Is it possible to take someone on a tour through an imaginary house? And the answer is, "Yes, of course." "Here is the three-car garage," I used to say, and my friends would look and say, "Yes, this garage will hold three cars. " I could really make it "live." I would take them on a tour throughout the house…. "Here is the fireplace, and look, this side is brick and the other side is stone." I could make it so real…. "Follow me through the rest of the house. Take a look through the picture window here in the kitchen, isn't the view great?" One day, I made the house so real that one of my friends bumped his elbow on the fireplace. I mean, it was that real.
So, the first step of turning nothing into something is to imagine the possibilities. Imagine all of the possibilities. One of the reasons for seminars, sermons, lyrics from songs and testimonials of others is to give us an idea of the possibilities; to help us imagine and to see the potential.
Now here is the second step for turning nothing into something: You must believe that what you imagine is possible for you. Testimonials, like "If I can do it, you can do it," often become a support to our belief. And we start believing. First we imagine it's possible. Second, we start to believe that what's possible is possible for us.
We might also believe because of our own testimonial. Here is what your testimonial might say: "If I did it once, I can do it again. If it happened for me before, it could very well happen again." So we believe not only the testimonials of others who say, "If I can do it, you can do it; If I can change, you can change; If I can start with nothing, you can start with nothing; If I can turn it all around, you can turn it all around." Then we also have the support of our own testimonial, if we've accomplished something before. "If we did it once, we can do it again. If we did it last year, we can do it this year." So those two things together are very powerful. Now, we do not have actual substance yet, although it is very close.
Again, step one is to imagine the possibilities. Step two is to imagine that what is possible is possible for you. Here is what we call step two: faith to believe. In fact, one writer said this, "Faith is substance." An interesting word: "substance," the powerful ability to believe in the possibilities that are possible for you. If you have faith to believe, that faith is substance, substance meaning "a piece of the real." Now it's not "the real," it's not this podium, but it is so powerful that it is very close to being real, and so the writer said, "The faith is a piece of, the substance of." He then goes on to call it evidence, substance and evidence. It is difficult to call substance and evidence "nothing." It is nothing in the sense that it cannot be seen except with the inner eye. You can't get a hold of it because it isn't yet tangible. But it is possible to turn nothing, especially ideas and imaginations, into something if you believe that it is now possible for you. That substance and evidence becomes so powerful that it can now be turned into reality.
So the first step is to imagine what is possible, the second is to have the faith to believe that what is possible is possible for you. And now the third step is that you go to work to make it real. You go to work to make it a hotel. You go to work to make it an enterprise. You go to work and make it good health. You go to work and make it an association. You go to work and make it a good marriage. You go to work and make it a movement. You make it tangible. You make it viable. You breathe life into it and then you construct it. That is such a unique and powerful ability for all of us human beings. Put this to work and start the miracle process today!
