Zig Ziglar Health Update - And Other Great News!
There is much to be thankful for during this Christmas season for the Ziglar family and Ziglar, Inc. Dad had another checkup yesterday with his neurologist Zig Ziglar Health Update - Embrace the Struggle! and he is doing fine. He doesn't need to go back in for another checkup for six months! I am still working out with Dad four to five times a week, and he continues to improve in his strength, balance, and stamina. Angie Katz www.metabolicwellness.net, his trainer, is amazed that even doing weight training and 30 minutes on the bike his heart rate peaks at about 120 beats per minute. Of course, we all know Dad has a big and strong heart! When your heart is filed with hope and gratitude every beat takes you further and allows you to get more out of life.
Dad's short- term memory is still short, but that is not slowing him down or keeping him from reaching people in new ways. Just in the last six weeks, Dad and Julie have done three Get Motivated Seminars and have spoken to 14,500 people in Nashville, 20,000 people in Kansas City, and 18,000 people in Austin. Not bad for an 82-year-old guy recovering from a brain injury! (This pretty much means I won't be able to use ANY excuse for not doing something I am supposed to until I am at least 90!). I have to tell you, I am extremely blessed to have him as my role model. When I was younger I used to think people loved Dad for his talent; now I realize they love and respect him for his character. No matter what your physical limitations, they can never limit your character ... unless you let them.
Dad has had some pretty amazing honors in the last few months as well. The Zig Ziglar Center for Ethical Leadership (www.ziglarcenter.com) at Southern Nazarene University was dedicated last month. If you are considering an MBA you need to check out The Ziglar Center where you can earn one in ethical leadership based on Dad's body of work. How cool is that! In addition to this, the Prestonwood Foundation named an award after Dad called the Zig Ziglar Servant Leadership Award (www.zigziglaraward.com) to help support Kingdom education. Next March the first recipient of the award will be Mike Huckabee. If you are looking for great things to support the future of our country, you might want to consider contributing to either or both of these programs. Imagine if the next generation of leaders all lived the principles and values that Dad teaches! I bet we wouldn't need a bailout!
One last piece of big news. We just moved into a new office location and there is a great story behind it. In the move process we reviewed over 30 different potential sites and visited about 10 of them. All in all, I have to tell you it was very discouraging that we were not finding the perfect fit and I was very concerned that we were going to have to make a decision that just didn't feel right. Then, about six weeks ago, I was at church with Mom and Dad. (Now when you are at church with Mom and Dad you get to talk to about 100 people between the front door and the pew!) As we were making our way down front to the second row where Mom and Dad always sit, we ran into someone I had not seen for several years. Dale Dodson is a great guy (he invited me to play golf once, so that qualifies him), and as we caught up on things a voice in my head kept telling me I needed to call him. Two weeks later, after a very disappointing day of looking at potential office space, the same thing popped into my head: "call Dale." So I did.
As Dale and I talked on the phone, he asked me about our business and I told him we were looking for a new office space for about 15 people. Dale then said we should be able to find a good deal with the market being slow and I said there were certainly good "deals," but we had not found one just right for us yet. Dale then said, "You know, maybe you should look at my space. I sold some of my business units off not too long ago and we have three people sitting in almost 6,000 square feet. Of course, our lease is up in about 30 months, so you may not be interested." Dale didn't know that our goal was a two to three year sublease. When he told me where his office was I couldn't believe it. Less than one mile from Mom and Dad's house and the exact office buildings that Mom had been telling me for over 10 years we should check out! Dale didn't know it then, but I knew we had found our new home. We moved in last Friday and we are sharing the space with Dale and his team! And, of course, we didn't need to do one bit of construction - the space is PERFECT for us and even has the ideal set-up for our studio requirements. As Dad says, "Coincidence is just God's way of staying anonymous." The moral of this story: "When you go to church with Dad, good things happen!" You can go to church with Dad, too - just plug a CD of Dad in your car when you are on your way to church!
Embrace the Struggle and Merry Christmas!
Tom Ziglar
Proud Son of Zig Ziglar
