Living Sucessfully by Zig Ziglar

Zig On…Living Successfully

By Zig Ziglar

It’s not what you don’t have. Chances are excellent that you’ve heard the phrase used many times, “Life is what you make it.” Truer words were never spoken. Or we could put it in a slightly different way, as my friend Ty Boyd does, and say, “You can’t change the cards life has dealt you, but you can determine the way you’ll play them.” That’s the philosophy Wendy Stoeker decided to live by. When she was a freshman at the University of Florida, Wendy placed third in the girls’ state diving championship. At that point she was swimming in the number two spot, and she was doing so as a freshman on the highly-competitive Florida swim team. At the same time, she was carrying a full academic load.

Wendy Stoeker certainly sounds like an accomplished, happy, positive, well-balanced co-ed, capable of making life whatever she wishes it to be, doesn’t she? Well, as a matter of fact, you’re right when you say that’s what she was and is. The fact is, she already has made life what she wants it to be, even though she was born without arms.

Despite having no arms, Wendy enjoys bowling, water skiing, and types over 45 words a minute. Wendy doesn’t look down at what she does not have, she looks up to what she does have. The reality is that if all of us would use what we have and not worry about what we don’t have, we would be able to accomplish infinitely more in our lives.

The message is this: Follow the example of Wendy Stoeker. Think positively about what you want in life. Determine to use what you have, regardless of the obstacles you might face. If you do that, you will make your life more exciting, rewarding and productive. Buy that idea and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Zig Ziglar is a motivator and teacher. He is the author of 27 books and loved by millions of people world wide for his practical wisdom and his gift of hope.

Why Worry? by Zig Ziglar

Zig On…Why Worry?

By Zig Ziglar

Worry has been described as “interest paid on trouble before it comes due.” One of America’s worst enemies is worry. Worry is like a rocking chair, it requires a lot of energy and it gets you nowhere. Leo Buscaglia said, “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”

Question: Are you a worrier? Americans take more pills to forget more worries about more things than ever before and more than any other nation in history. That’s bad. According to Dr. Charles Mayo, “Worry affects the circulation and the whole nervous system. I’ve never known a man who died from overwork, but I’ve known many who have died from doubt.” Doubt always creates worry and, in most cases, lack of information raises the doubt.

Mathematically speaking, it really doesn’t make sense to worry. Psychologists and much research tells us that roughly 40% of what we worry about will never happen and 30% has already happened. Additionally, 12% of our worries are over unfounded health concerns. Another 10% of our worries involve the daily miscellaneous fretting that accomplishes nothing. That leaves only 8%. Plainly speaking, Americans are worrying 92% of the time for no good reason and if Dr. Mayo is right, it’s killing us.

One simple solution that will reduce your worry is this: Don’t worry about what you can’t change. Example: For a number of years I’ve flown in excess of 200,000 miles a year. On occasion, flights are canceled or delayed. As I write this article, I’m sitting on the runway waiting for my gate to clear. If I worry or get angry it will change nothing. If I take constructive action and finish this article, I’m ahead of the game. That’s a positive way to use the energy that would have been wasted on anger, frustration, or worrying.

The message is clear: If you don’t like your situation in life, don’t fret or worry - do something about it. Worry less, act more, and I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Zig Ziglar is a motivator and teacher. He is the author of 27 books and loved by millions of people world wide for his practical wisdom and his gift of hope.

Zig Ziglar on Thinking it Through

Zig On…

Thinking it Through

Never follow a bad shot with a bad decision. As an avid golfer I’m often puzzled by the actions of the typical high-handicap golfer. He steps up to the tee box and with driver in hand takes his stance, thinks the shot through, and hits the ball about two hundred ten yards out and about forty yards to the right, where it lands in the midst of some trees. He walks or rides to the ball, looks at the six-foot opening and determines that all he’s got to do to reach the green is hit the ball a hundred seventy-five yards through that opening, send it over the lake and fade it over the bunker to land on the green.

Let me remind you of the scenario: He just missed a fairway roughly sixty yards wide with the ball teed up and in perfect position. For his second shot he believes he can go through a six-foot opening and make the ball act like it does when one of the top touring pros on the P.G.A. hits it. With the confidence that generally goes with ignorance, he steps up, fires away, and hits the ball in the lake. In anger and disgust, he then hits the ball over the green into a sand bunker. Two strokes later he is on the green where he two-putts for a disastrous quadruple bogey eight. He followed a bad shot with a bad decision and it cost him.

Too often all of us hit a “bad shot” (make a mistake, handle the truth loosely, etc.). Then we compound that “bad shot” by denying it, defending it, lying about it or rationalizing it instead of quietly thinking it through, acknowledging the mistake, and working through it in a logical, forthright manner. Think about it and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Zig Ziglar is a motivator and teacher. He is the author of 27 books and loved by millions of people world wide for his practical wisdom and his gift of hope.

When a company or an individual compromises one time, whether it’s on price or principle, the next compromise is right around the corner.

Zig Ziglar