Allow Your Self-Esteem & Positive Mindset to Shine! | Zig Ziglar | Top 10 Rules

If you're going to work tomorrow because that's what you did yesterday, you're not going to be as good tomorrow as you were yesterday.

I never had anybody say something like that to me. You could be a great one, you could be the national champion. You know, some people are about as committed as a kamikaze pilot on his 39th mission.

When I was a boy, during the Depression, we lived next door to some rich folks. I knew they were rich for two reasons.

Number one, they had a cook. Number two, the cook had something to cook.

Where would my integrity be if I came here unprepared to make something, a presentation that could make a difference in in your life.

And when I choose to eat too much today, I have chosen to weigh too much tomorrow.

You see, most people never dare to evaluate really where they are.

Zig, they tell me you could sell anything to anybody. I said, yeah, they lied to you.

So many times, you know, the employee goes to the employer and say, give me a raise and I'll start coming to work on time.

He was an American author, salesman, and motivational speaker. He served in the United States Navy during World War II from 1943 to 1945. In 1968, he became vice president and training director of the Automotive Performance Company. He's Zig Ziglar, and here is my take on his top 10 rules for success.

When you're asleep, ladies and gentlemen, you need your dreams. I'm here to tell you that when you're wide awake, you also need your dreams. Need your dreams. You must have your goals. You'll never make it as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful specific.

If you're going to work tomorrow because that's what you did yesterday, you're not going to be as good tomorrow as you were yesterday because now you're 2 days older and no closer to the goal which you do not have.

You can't make it as a wandering generality.

Tell us about some of the, the jobs that you've held over the years selling and what you've sold and some of the the lessons that you learned in selling over the years.

Well, I sold heavy-duty waterless cookware on the door-to-door demonstration plan, and that was a marvelous experience. It took me the first 2.5 years, I struggled financially. Now that doesn't mean I didn't sell a lot because I did. I sold my furniture, sold my car, and that's fairly close to the truth. It really was. Then I went to a meeting and a man named P.C. Merrill, who's an American Indian, persuaded me that I could be the number the number one salesman in America out of the 7,000-member sales force. He said, "You've got everything that it takes to be a great salesman if you just believed in yourself and went to work on a regular schedule." And this is in the cookware business?

That's right.

Okay.

And I put on the demonstration, door-to-door sales and so forth. I'd never had anybody say something like that to me. You could be a great one. You could be the national champion. Now I've always been loved, but nobody ever thought of me as a champion. Because of Mr. Merrill's integrity and because he had written the training program and because he had set all of the records, I took him absolutely at his word. The previous year I had not been in the top 5,000 out of that 7,000-member sales force, but the year after Mr. Merrill got through with me, I was number 2 out of the 7,000, had received the best promotion that, that was available in the company at that time. And the interesting thing about the success that year. He did not really teach me that much about sales. I'd been in it 2.5 years at that point. But what he did teach me was about who I was. The picture I had of myself changed dramatically. I started thinking as a champion and performing as a champion. And I did finish number 2 and had that wonderful promotion. A commitment plays heavily in everything. If you've made a commitment, When you hit the rough spots, not if, when you hit the rough spots, your immediate thought is, "How can I solve the problem?" If you've not made the commitment, when you hit the rough spot, whether it's in marriage or education or career or whatever, your first thought is, "Man, how can I get out of this deal?" And so that commitment plays a huge role. And as you know, some people are about as committed as a kamikaze pilot on his 39th mission. I mean, they don't really take it that seriously.

I was raised in a little town of Yazoo City, Mississippi.

Now I know that a lot of folks go around the country trying to impress people by claiming to be from Yazoo City, but I really am.

Now when I was a boy, during the Depression, we lived next door to some rich folks. I knew they were rich for two reasons.

Number one, they had a cook. Number two, the cook had something to cook.

And during the Depression, that was a sure sign of wealth.

I was over there for lunch one day, as I tried to be every day, and now don't misunderstand that.

Even though there was a depression on, we certainly had plenty to eat at my house. I know we had plenty because if they ever passed my place for seconds, they'd always tell me, "No, you've had plenty." So I know we had plenty.

Now the cook brought the biscuits out, and this is not an exaggeration, those biscuits were not as thick as my wrist was. And I looked at her for a moment, and I said, "Maude, what in the world happened to your biscuits?" She reared back, gave a big old tummy laugh, and said, "Well, I'll tell you about those biscuits." She said, "They squished squatted to rise.

But she said they just got cooked in the squat. You know anybody that's getting cooked in the squat?

You know anybody who's going to do something just as soon as, or they're half a mind to do such and such a thing? You ever have anybody say, "Well, you know, wait till the kids get out of school and then I'll really get involved in this project. We got so many things going on right now. Wait till they're out of school. Wait till summertime comes and then I'll really get busy." The kids get out of school, you know what they say then? "Well, you know, I didn't realize it, but I got to take the kids somewhere every day. I had more time time when they were in school. Wait till they get back in school and then I'll really get busy. Kids get back in school, you know what they say then? Well, you know, for the first time in 19 years, dear old Central High has finally got a winning football team and you gotta support the kids there. Wait till after the football season is over, then I'll really get busy. Football season ends, you know what they say then? Well, here it is, Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's and people don't want to be bothered with this sort of thing this time of year. Wait till after the first of the year, man, then I'll really get busy. After the first of the year, you know what they say? Well, it's the weather. Did you ever see weather like this in Chicago or San Francisco? San Francisco or Dallas or wherever. Wait till the weather settles down and then I'll really get busy. Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I've lost interest in it, but that's not the way I do things. Let me tell you the way I do things now. Here's the way I am, see. This is just the way I do it. See, the way I do things is I get everything organized. I get it lined up. I have everything in just such and such order, and then man, once "Once I get it all put together, that's when I really get after it. I mean, that's just the way I've always been that way, do things that way. I know some of these other folks are ahead of me right now, but you just wait, I'll catch 'em.

But this weather, it is just so horrible.

Wait till it clears up." And the weather clears up, you know what they say then? "Well, here it is, it's Easter time.

And Easter time, you know, that's a family time and we always spend a lot of time together.

And you said so yourself, the family is extremely important to you. You do the work for the family and if you can't spend some time with them, you might as well not do all the work. I mean, wait till after Easter's over, then I'll really get busy." And after you see, you know what they say?

At long last, we've got some beautiful weather.

And I haven't hit a golf ball or wet a hook in I don't know when. Man, I got to have some R&R. I got to have some rest and relaxation. And you know, you said you can't work all the time. I mean, an individual needs some time with himself. Wait till I relax a little bit, and man, then I'll really get after it. And finally, they get after it a little bit, you know, or when they have the fun and relaxation, then they say, well, It's almost time for the kids to get out of school.

And that's where we came in. As we'd say down home, folks, you can put this in your pipe and smoke it, 'cause it's the truth. The people who wait for Aunt Matilda to move out, or John to get on the day shift, or the new models to come out, or the new mayor to come in, or for the new advertising campaign to get started, the people who wait on the new senator in Washington, or until inflation slows, or the rate of interest come down, the people who wait for for changes to take place out there before they do the changing in here are flat going to end up getting cooked in the squat. The rule is simple. You do it now. You do it now.

How many of you feel like I've made this talk before? Can I see your hand, please? Several hundred times. I made it yesterday. You know what I did between yesterday Yesterday and today, I spent over 6 hours getting ready for today. You see, I think it would be arrogant if I thought I could stand up and spit it out just because I did it yesterday or hundreds of times. That's arrogance. That's when Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson. That's when an expansion team in Houston beats an established NFL team in Dallas.

I dare not.

Look at the people here, several thousand. I'm taking over an hour to—

That's several thousand hours of time.

Where would my integrity be if I came here unprepared to make something, a presentation that could make a difference in your life? There is no way. You got to prepare for it, ladies and gentlemen.

Almost did not go to the most important sales meeting I would ever have missed. That's, that morning I awakened. I'd been up there in Charlotte all day long in a meeting and didn't learn anything. 5 o'clock, the alarm clock goes off, and it was an alarm clock in those days. Now it's an opportunity clock. If I can hear it, that means I've I've got an opportunity to get up and go. If I can't hear it, that might mean I done got up and gone. Well, anyhow, I went off. We were living in a little 3-room apartment above a grocery store. 5 o'clock, weather was horrible. When the clock went off, you know, I looked out and I said, "No sane person would ever get in a little Crosley automobile without a heater in weather like this and drive all the way to Charlotte to go to another meeting." So I lay back down. As I lay down, the words of my mother came back to me, "Son, if you work for a man, You work for him all the way. You're loyal to him in every way. And if your word is no good, you're no good. I had promised this company, which had taken me 2 months to get the job, that if they would give me the opportunity, I'd be at every sales meeting, I'd be at every training session. And in 2 and a half years, despite my lack of success, I'd been at every sales meeting, at every training session, and I'd never even been late. The words of my mother came back. I rolled out of bed, went to the meeting. That's the one that changed my life.

How did it change your life?

It changed my life because that's the day that Mr. Merrill persuaded me that I could be the champion. Oh, man, it sure did. And so it made all the difference in the world.

I want to talk a little bit about goals on the light of how do you lose 37 pounds and write a book? I'm just going to kind of give you that as an example. For 24 years of my adult life, by choice, By choice, I weighed well over 200 pounds.

I say by choice because, you see, I have never accidentally eaten anything.

I mean, it's always been deliberate.

And when I choose to eat too much today, I have chosen to weigh too much tomorrow. You can choose to set goals. And realize your potential, or you can choose not to set them.

Now, if you choose not to set them, you got to understand that the consequences are not going to be good down the road. For 24 years, I was going to lose that weight. As a matter of fact, in 24 years, I lost several thousand pounds of weight. How many of you already know exactly what I'm talking about? But it wasn't until I wrote it down put a date on it, listed the obstacles I had to overcome, identified the people, the groups, organizations I needed to work with, spelled out a plan of action, set that time limit in there, and identified all of the benefits to me.

It was only when I did that that the goal became a reality, and I lost the weight.

For 10 or 15 years, I was I was gonna write a book.

You know anybody who's a-gonna-do just a whole lot of things, folks? I was gonna write a book.

But it wasn't until I got busy writing the book and writing the plans first before the book ever materialized.

Now, if it sound like I'm trying to sell you on having goals, how many of you are getting close already?

How many of you are becoming convinced right quick like that you need to have those goals? There's no question about it. The immortal J.C.

Penney many, many years ago said, "Give me a me a stock clerk with a goal, and I'll give you a man who'll make history. But give me a man without a goal, and I'll give you a stock clerk.

Now the interesting thing is goals do not care who has them. Let me give you a classic example of the way they work. In 1950, a war-torn, devastated Japan, a nation which had lost an incredibly high percentage of its young men, their cities were in ruins, they had been bombed out, But in 1950, they got together, they meaning industry and government got together and set a goal. The goal was we're going to be the number one nation in the world during the 1950s in the production of textiles.

In 1959, ladies and gentlemen, they accomplished that objective.

In 1960, they set another goal. We're going to be the number one nation in the world in the production of steel. Now when you understand there's no iron ore in Japan of any significance, there's no coal of any significance there, we're going to be the number one nation in the world in the production of steel? It seemed like an absurd goal, and yet they reached their objectives.

They had taken all of the steps. In 1970, the Japanese set another goal. They said, during the '70s, we'll be the number one nation in the world in the production of automobiles. They missed it, folks, one year. It took them until 1980.

In 1980, they set another goal, and this time their goal was, we're going to be the number one nation in the world in the production of computers and electronics.

Yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, you absolutely must have those goals.

Let me share with you a true story out of my notebook of life. A number of years ago, got an incredible letter from a gentleman in Toronto with a substantial check in it. He said, "My friend Steve Walker is following the wrong role model. He's working himself to death. His family's falling apart. He's— his health is in danger." and he's modeling himself out of his boss and he trusts you and respects you. If you will give us one hour, I will fly him to Dallas and give you this check. Wouldn't you love to have a friend like that? I sent the check back and I said, come on down.

Steve and I had quite a little talk.

And in our talk, I asked him why he had such a role model. Why did— what about this man that that made him so completely important in his life. And he said, "Well, he's the most successful man I have ever known." And I said, "Well, Steve, what do you call success?" Now it took several minutes for him to go down the list. But the interesting thing is, though they're not in the same order that I have put them, or they— we list them now, these are the 8 things that he said he really considered to be success.

Successful.

If a man was happy and healthy and at least reasonably prosperous and secure, if he had friends and peace of mind and good family relationship and the hope that the future's going to be better, he said, I'd consider that man as successful. Now I'm going to really encourage you to take some notes right here. And all I want you to do, and you'll be the only one that'll see it, somewhere write in my— as I go down the list, write whether you get a plus on that one or a I'll put a minus on that one. You'll be the only one to see it, but it might be an eye-opener. You see, most people never dare to evaluate really where they are. And you got to know where you are before you can really determine your chances of getting what you really want out of life. And so I said to Steve, I said, I understand that your boss is very important to you. You consider him to be successful. When he finally got through with the identification, as I said earlier, These were the 8 things that he said, "I think that's important for success, to measure success." I said, "Well, Steve, let me ask you now. As far as happy's concerned, tell me, how happy is your boss?" He said, "Oh, I don't think he's happy at all." I said, "Why not?" He said, "Well, I've never heard him laugh and he seldom smiles, and besides that, he's got ulcers." I said, "Well, do I give him a plus or a minus?" He said, "Oh, you give him a minus." Please grade yourself as we go. This is so important for you. "Then I said, that also tells me something about his health if he's got those ulcers. Do I give him a plus or a minus?" He said, "You give him a minus." I said, "That also says something, Steve, about his peace of mind because you don't get ulcers because of what you eat, but what's eating you." I said, "Do we give him a plus or a minus?" He said, "We give him a minus." I said, "Steve, I've asked you one question about what success is, what balance is, what's important to you, I said, "One question and your boss comes up with 3 minuses." I said, "Tell me how prosperous he is." He said, "Man, he's got money running out of his ears and he's getting more every day." I said, "We give him a plus on that one, don't we?" He said, "We sure do." I said, "How secure is your boss?" He said, "Well, he's as secure as money can make you." And I said, "Well, Steve, let me ask you, did you read where 2 billionaire brothers here in Dallas went bankrupt?" I said, "How does your boss compare?" —"Oh man, he doesn't have that kind of money. Did you read where our ex-governor was worth $100 million at one point? He's now bankrupt. How does your boss compare?" "Oh, he doesn't have that kind of money." Now understand, Steve equated security with corporate position and bucks in the bank. So I said, "Well, Steve, let me ask you, would we give your boss a plus or a minus or just a question mark on that?" He said, "Let's be generous and give him a question mark." I said, "How many friends does your boss have?" I hope you're marking these for you. "How many friends, real friends, do you, ah, does your boss have?" He said, "I don't think he's got any. I'm not his friend. I just happen to admire the guy. Tell you the truth, he's somewhat of a jerk." And I said, "Okay, we give him a minus on that one." I said, "Tell me about his family." And he said, "Well, his wife's divorcing him." Well, that one's easy to answer. I said, "How much hope does he have for the future?" He said, "Well, before I started talking to you, I thought he had a lot.

But right now, I don't think he's got any." Why did that statement come forth? Because for the first time he had evaluated it.

That's what we need to do, evaluate where we are. Are we investing our time properly, using our resources properly? What will the end results be? Well, then I said to Wesley when that was over, we give him the minus there. I said, "Steve, of the 8 things that you consider marks of success," he gets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 minuses. He gets 1 plus and 1 question mark. I asked Steve a question. I'm going to ask you the same question. Steve, would you swap places with your boss right now knowing what you know?

He looked at me kind of stunned.

He slowly rose to his feet and said, "No, I wouldn't.

Would you?" I never will forget this particular thing. On the radio interviews I was having done and did, at least 90% of the first 25 of them would always start with the same thing. "Zig, they tell me you could sell anything to anybody." I said, "Yeah, they lied to you when they said that." Because you've just described a con artist. No legitimate professional salesperson would ever dream of selling anything that he did not fervently believe was in the best interest of the person he was selling to. Of all of the qualities that a good salesperson must have, number one is integrity. Because if they don't have that— see, we are trained as salespeople to persuade other people to buy, to make decisions. And an unethical ethical salesperson can persuade people to buy things that they don't need, are overpriced, or they pressure them into buying it. A legitimate, integrity-driven salesperson will only sell a product that will enable him to sell them again and again and again. A product he would sell to his mother, in other words. That's the kind of salesperson who has long-term, balanced success.

See, unfortunately, a lot of people stand in front of the stove of life and they say, "Now, stove, you give me some heat, then I'll put some wood in you." That ain't the way it works. You got to put something in before you can get anything out. So many times, you know, the employee goes to the employer and say, "Give me a raise, then I'll start coming to work on time." Or so many times they will come to him and say, "Make me the boss. Now, I know I haven't been here very long, don't really deserve to be the boss, but I just function better when I am in charge of this thing. You reward me now and then I promise you I'll learn what this business is all about later on." Come on, reward me now and I'll produce later. It doesn't work that way. Can't you just see a youngster in school saying, "Teacher, if I take a failing grade home, my parents are going to skin me alive. Pass me on this quarter and next time I'll study more than anybody else. Reward me now, I'll produce later." It doesn't work that way. Can't you just see an old farmer standing out in the fields in October and saying, "Lord, I know I didn't plant a thing this year, but if you'll give me a big crop this year, I'll plant more than anybody next year." It ain't that way, folks. You got to put something in before you can expect to get anything out. Well, he's just pumping away. You know, that's hot. It's August. I mean, uh, the question is just how much pumping are you going to do for a drink of water? And finally, old Bernard said, "You know, Jimmy, I don't believe it's any water down there." Jimmy said, "Yeah, it is, Bernard." You know, in South Alabama, the wells are deep. And oh, we're glad they're deep because the deeper the well, the cooler, the cleaner, the sweeter, the purer, the better tasting the water. And isn't that true of life? Isn't it true that if you could become an MD by 6 weeks of summer school that the rewards would be almost minimal or nothing, and how many patients would you have? Isn't it true that if you become a sales expert in 3 days of a training school that the rate of pay would go down rather radically? Isn't it true that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can learn to do it? To do it well. We'll never know how many kids have missed a college scholarship because they didn't study an average of 10 more minutes a day. We will never know how we come so close to promotion, but we grew discouraged and quit too soon. We'll never know how much more success we would have had had we just had a little more pumping in there and pump and pump and pump and pump. Well, finally, old Bernard just got disgusted. He threw up his hands. He said, "Jimmy, there's just no water down there. Jimmy," said, "Don't stop, Bernard. Don't stop. If you stop, stop there. Water's going to go all the way back down, and then you're going to have to start all over. The reality is, folks, and I'm totally convinced of this, this is the story of America. This is your story. This is a story of success. This is the story of life. I believe with all of my heart that if you would pump long enough and hard enough and enthusiastically enough, that eventually the reward is going to follow the effort. And then once that water water starts to flow. All you got to do is just keep a little easy, steady pressure on it, and you're going to get more water than you can possibly use. The basic problem is this: so many times people get involved in something, and they'll say, "Well, I'll give it a try, and if it works out, that'll be good. And if it— if it doesn't work out, I mean, hey, I ain't gonna kill myself, you know what I mean, fella?" Well, I got to tell you something, folks. You're going to pump forever like that before anything happens. When you get into something, grab Grab that sucker and get with it. And then once the water starts to flow, then ladies and gentlemen, that's what Strategies for Success is all about.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Alvin Layden asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of Zig's top 10 rules meant the most to you, what impact it had on your life, what change you're going to make now as a result of watching this video. I'm really curious to find out. Leave it in the comments below and I'll join the discussion. Thank you guys so much for watching. Continue to believe and I'll see you soon.

You need to read at least 20 minutes every day. Now I spend about 2 hours a day or more But you got to understand, this is my business, this is my life, this is my profession. I got to do it. Fortunately, I just absolutely love to do it. But 20 minutes a day will make a dramatic difference. Now obviously I'm talking about reading something good, powerful, positive— biographies, autobiographies, self-help books, motivational books, books about your business, your profession, the industry of which you are a part, books about human human nature, how to deal with people. If you are an average reader, that's 220 words a minute. If you will just read 20 minutes a day, at the end of the year you will have read 20 200-page books. That is 18 more than the average American reads in a year's time.

That will give you a colossal advantage in whatever it is that you're doing.

I listened to the people who were successful in selling that product. I would learn new things from different ones, new approaches, and that's very— you must be a constant student. A lot of people are afraid to try anything new because they are afraid that they will be embarrassed until they get good at it. Well, one of my favorite sayings is Because, you know, the most important thing you can do is to understand that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.

What do you mean by that?

Until you can learn to do it well. My first few sales calls were pathetic, but I knew it was worth doing, so I kept after it, you know. My first few speeches were a disaster, but I believed that I could develop into that, so I kept at it until I could do it effectively. And all skills are exactly the same way. No running back that sets the records ever set a record the first time he picked up a football, and you can go right down the line with that. So if it's worth doing and you believe in it, uh, go ahead and fail. And the more times you fail, the closer you get into success, because you should be learning on every simple thing that you do.

A number of years ago, Laurie Majors, my executive assistant, got a phone call from a lady in Birmingham, Alabama. At the end of the conversation, she said, She said, "I believe this woman thinks she's got an impossible problem, but I believe you can solve that problem her— with her in just a few minutes if you will spend that time with her." I said, "Well, Laurie, tell her to meet me backstage. I'll get there about 10 minutes early." My schedule was such that was about all I had. Well, I got there and I was on backstage behind the curtain on one side. She spotted me from the other side and as she walked across the stage, I have never seen this woman much anger in a human being in my life as I saw in her. She almost started crying when she saw me. She said, "Oh, I'm just so glad to see you. I got this horrible job. I hate it. I hate everything about it. I hate everybody down there." I mean, you're talking about negative Nell. She was it. She said, "Can you help me?" Now, understand, I've only got about 10 minutes. So I looked at her, and one thing I have learned, I don't do counseling counseling, but I talk with a lot of people who do in psychology, psychiatry, and the ministry. And they tell me that everybody who comes to you with a problem are not necessarily looking for a solution. I couldn't understand that for a long time. Why do they bring you a problem if they don't want to solve it? Well, I can tell you why. They want to tell you about it, you about it, you about it, you about it, and you about it. And if you foul up the deal and solve the problem— [Speaker:JERRY] Right. [Speaker:DR. COLBERT] —they can't tell you again, you again. They want the attention attention that goes with the problem. And every company, just about it, has that kind of an individual. They want the attention that goes with griping and complaining. Well, I looked at the lady, and it wasn't unkindly, but firmly I said to her, "Yes, and you know, ma'am, I'm afraid your problem is about to get worse." She said, "What do you mean?" I said, "I believe they're going to fire you." She was stunned. I couldn't have stunned her more if I'd hit her in the face with a bucket of ice water. She said, "Fire me? Why on earth would they fire me?" The inflection in her voice clearly said, "They're the bad guys. I'm the good guy. Why don't they fire them and keep me?" Have you ever noticed that people who are the problem never recognize that they are? They're in complete denial. They think denial is just a river in Egypt. "Why would they fire me?" I said, "Ma'am, I don't believe there's a company in America big enough to contain this much poison in one small spot." Have you ever noticed that when somebody is about to lose something they've been complaining about, whether it's a car, a home, a mate, a job, or whatever, when all of a sudden it appears they're going to lose them, it takes on brand new value. She looked at me and said, "Well, what can I do?" I said, "Do you really want to know?" She said, "Yes, I do. That's the reason I came to see you. I came looking for help, but you sure haven't been any help so far." I said, "Well, ma'am, I've got an idea, and I will absolutely guarantee you it positively, definitely, absolutely will work if you will just do it." She said, "I'll try anything within reason." I said, "Okay. When you get home tonight, all of your household tasks are complete, it's bedtime. Get off in a room right by yourself. Get a sheet of paper out, and at the top of it write, 'I like my job because—'" She interrupted me. She said, "That'll be easy. I don't like nothing about that job. Don't like nothing about those people down there." "Down there." And I said, "Well, just as a matter of curiosity, do you work there for benevolent reasons, or do they pay you for working there?" She said, "Well, I got to confess, they pay me." And I said, "And you don't like to be paid?" "Oh," she said, "yes, I do." I said, "Okay, tell you what you do. Open your notebook right now. We'll start our list of the things you like about your job. They pay you for working there, and you do like it, don't you?" She said, "Absolutely." Absolutely. But she just stood there. I said, "No, open your notebook now and we'll get busy on the list." She just stood there. I said, "Ma'am, let me, let me tell you what my experience in life has been. I've discovered that in 100% of the cases, no exceptions, people who won't take step number 1 never take step number 2." You see, she had come to me with an impossible dream. Her dream was that nice Mr. Ziglar was going to solve all of her problems and she would live happily ever ever after. Well, folks, I got news for you. I can't solve her problems. I can't solve your problems. But I will give you some steps that I absolutely, definitely, and positively will work for you, as it worked eventually for her. I said, "Well, ma'am, let me tell you something. Unless you're willing to take step number 1 right now, it's been nice talking with you." She angrily opened agenda or notebook. Before we got through, there were 22 things she liked about her job. Not only did they pay her for working there, they paid her above average. She had 3 weeks vacation with pay. She had a retirement program. She was in on profit sharing. She had health insurance, life insurance, and accident insurance. She lived less than 10 minutes from home. She was in on management decisions. The company sent her to 3 seminars a year to be paid for. She had her own private office and parking place. 22 things that she liked about her I said, "Man, when you get home tonight, everything is finished, get off in a room right by yourself, close the doors, change one word from 'I like my job' to 'I love my job.' Get in front of that mirror." And folks, I cannot say this strongly enough, but I'm going to try. The eyes are the windows of the soul. Look yourself in the eye. And with excitement and enthusiasm say, "I love my job because they pay me for working there. I love my job because they pay me above average for working there. I love my job because they have a wonderful insurance program. I love my job," before every one of the statements, you will sleep better that night. You see, there's something hidden in what I'm saying to you now. When she says, "I like my job," she's really saying, "I'm grateful for my job." I like my job. And of all of the emotions we can have, according to Hans Selye, the number one stress pessimist in America, the healthiest of all human emotions is gratitude. I said, you go down that list. I like my job, I love my job rather, that is a way of gratitude. You'll sleep better the first night. Tomorrow morning when you get up, get back in front of the mirror just before you go to work. Get back in front of the mirror and repeat the process again with excitement. But in enthusiasm. I love my job because— and take the list with you. Because the reality is, you see, you will have started to change from a fault-finder to a good-finder. Some people do really find fault like there's a reward for it. They really do. Take the list with you, and you will be able to add to that list, absolutely guaranteed. Do this every morning and every night. Tonight, and you will have an astonishing recovery from this advanced case of stinking thinking. Now, I didn't say that to her, but I'm saying it to you. That's what it was. It was an advanced case of stinking thinking. Well, 6 weeks later, I was back in Birmingham, Alabama. I was doing a follow-up sales seminar. Now, the lady was not in sales, but she had been listening to my tapes. She had been listening to Automobile University. And she had discovered that everybody sells. Everybody who will ever hear this is in selling. Whether you're a schoolteacher, a civil service worker, a military personnel, an executive secretary, it doesn't make any difference what you do, you sell every day of your life. There she was on the— at the sales seminar, seated on the front row, grinning so wide she could have eaten a banana sideways. I'm telling you, you're talking about somebody that was excited. She was turned on. I said, "Well, how you doin'?" She grinned even more broadly and said, "Mr. Ziglar, I'm doing wonderfully well, and thank you for asking." She said, "You cannot believe how much those people down there have changed." I got to lay it on the line, folks. You're not going to change anybody else till you change You. Everything really does begin with you. Now you see, the unfortunate thing, this lady had been raised in a very negative environment. First, her parents had told her that she'd never amount to anything. They had said, "You know, you're always late. You're always sloppy. Why can't you be like your brother or your sister or whatever?" When she got married, her husband had continued it. And so her self-talk had become completely negative. Everything that she said about herself was negative. "I, you know, like Dad said, I'll never amount to anything." or like my husband says, "I can't do anything right." But when she started changing the input, then some radical changes took place. Zig Ziglar.

Ziglar. Inspiring true performance.