Dear Zig (Ziglar),

Dear Zig,

Thank you for the legacy of love, service, dedication, positivity, passion, and enthusiasm you leave for many generations into the future to enjoy. Thank you for caring enough about us all to make it your passion to share your pearls of wisdom with us, and to help us be motivated and more successful.

I know the lucky angels rejoiced when they got to escort you home, and your homecoming was surely a grand event. We all look forward to seeing you, someday, at the TOP.

Sincerely,

Tink

Zig Ziglar will be remembered and missed by millions. Many of us that have been or will be influenced by his life’s work of motivational and positive books, videos, audio CDs, and much more. In a world where it’s easy to forget how fortunate we are, and forget what a miraculous creation of God we are, we all need positive reminders. As Zig said, we need a “check up from the neck up”. What I personally appreciate most about Zig is that he was firmly committed to his Christian faith, and that was evident in his every word.

See You at the Top was perhaps Zig Ziglar’s most influential book. It published to millions of readers all over the world. The book is based on the basic premise often taught by Zig, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want”. Zig knew that sales was just another word for helping, and he advanced that philosophy through his life, and improved the attitudes and sales results of millions. This would be the natural result of heeding his own advice. Zig just “got it”. You help yourself when you help others.

I’ve appreciated watching the younger generation of our company discover Zig. His enthusiasm is contagious, and they often gain a passion for reading motivational material after reading just one of Zig’s books or listening to one audio CD. It’s not only evident in their performance at work after they start their goal setting program, but it’s evident to me in their personal life, overall attitude, and their interactions with others. They become proactive encouragers, because they know that others need encouragement, and it’s a way they can lift their own spirits, and well as be more valuable to their friends, family, and associates. Our organization is generally all smiles anyways, but I’d attribute it primarily to Dr. Hotze and Monica exposing all of us to Zig’s material so long ago. It’s a part of our culture.

After reading See You at The Top for the second time, here are my main take-aways:

·      A healthy self confidence level, but not puffing pride can make or break sales performance. If you don’t believe in yourself, others won’t either.

·      Zig’s conversational, warm tone improves the deliverability of his written messages as well as the ease of listening of his audio CDs. We can glean from this as our credo says, we are “relaxed yet refined”. Our conversations with our guests should be relaxed, yet refined, and completely centered around them, and how we can help them get their lives back.

·      Having a written goals program improves the chances of achieving you goals by 90%. Most people think they are clear on what they want to achieve but have never written it down. Many of us have written goals since originally reading this book. We have the original Goal Queen on staff who was trained by Zig Ziglar, so this has become a part of our company culture. We all write down personal and business goals for each other, such as the “snow goal” a few years ago. It snowed on Christmas eve!

·      I love the positive qualities list. I’ve done this before, the first time I read this book, and I was surprised how many positive qualities I could list for myself that I wasn’t consciously aware of until I thought more about it. This is a good confidence booster. This also helps me remember that other people often need to be reminded of their positive qualities, and it helps me to find more value in relationships when I’m searching for their positive qualities.

·      The victories list reminds me of Dan Sullivan’s 3 wins! We are doing this around our dinner table at night, and it keeps our conversations positive and boosts confidence. Often our minds are naturally attracted to danger, worry, and regret but we can train ourselves to think positively, and to think about our wins, rather than dwell on losses: Philippians 4:8: Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

·      For parents, compliment the characteristics of other children that you would like to see developed in your own. Compliment another child’s sweet giving spirit, rather than their beautiful hair or slim waist.

·      Only 1 in every 65 year old young man headed to success will achieve wealth. Like Jim Rohn, Zig loves a positive attitude but is not a fan of happy hope. Let’s face reality and get moving, hopefully before the age of 65.

·      When self image improves, performance improves. Dress up and make up. When we take care of ourselves we hold our head a little higher and laugh a little longer. Life’s easier, and we’re less worried about what other people think, happier with ourselves, and more focused on helping others.

·      “Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success and endowed with the seeds of greatness”. (I personally believe that our greatness is full and completed through a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ). 

These are just a few of Zig's pearls, and I hope they have blessed you today. 

In Him, 
Tink

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