I heard yesterday that Zig Ziglar had died after a bout of pneumonia, and I said a little prayer for the fact that this man entered my life 30-some years ago.
I don't talk about this often, but before I attended my first Zig Ziglar event, I was a woman with a master's degree, who had graduated college with honors and had a lot of potential. But that's what it remained -- potential. I was a person who was adept at using sarcasm, and I needed to be.
After all, I hung out with a bunch of negative people, including my first husband, who prized the ability to deliver a "put down" and aspired to nothing more than to have our month end before the paycheck ran out.
I had a friend who got involved in Amway, and she and her husband encouraged me to join them. My husband mocked me for doing this, but I did join them. Can't say I was successful, I wasn't too "into" recruiting people for my downline...
But because I was in Amway, my sponsors and I attended a couple of Zig Ziglar presentations at the local Masonic temple. I bought his book "See You at the Top," and read it cover to cover a couple of times. This led me to reading other motivational books and changed my way of thinking.
As a result, my life began to change. As I sit here and type, I can promise you that I would not be here today, your "Boomer in Chief" and a champion of the power of Boomer women if it weren't for that first Zig Ziglar speech.
I have no idea how many lives that man touched, but it has to be in the millions. Here's a
tribute to Zig that I just read, written by super sales guru Dan Kennedy.
If you don't take time to read all of it, at least let me share these short paragraphs from Dan's article:
During our talk, Zig hit on a couple of key principles that allow you to be one of those people that thrive no matter what the conditions. Not surprisingly, one of them was how to get motivated.
Zig said, “Don’t wait to get inspired. You have to manufacture your own inspiration and motivation.” He said you do that by talking to like-minded people and reading books. Zig read over three hours every day for over 30 years. His reading material included autobiographies, newspapers, and the bible.
Zig said everyone can find a mentor—and should. That who you associate with and what you read are great sources of inspiration.
He also said that you refuel and restart your motivation by re-reading things that inspire you so you can be reminded of what you need to know and the things that motivate you.
I didn't stay involved in Amway very long. Just long enough to understand that MLM's are not my thing. But I do continue to read uplifting books and avoid watching TV shows and movies that are negatively oriented.
So how about our BWS members? Anyone else a fan of Zig?
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