Life and the world is filled with stress and chaos. We can’t change that. But we can equip ourselves to deal with it, and a foundational necessity is having a place of peace and renewal. Our home. Our closest relationships. How do we go about creating this? In her book, Creating a Haven of Peace, Joanne F. Miller guides us through the key ingredients needed to have a home of peace and relationships of love.

Zig is helping us to actually achieve our goals, and it comes down to…us. What we do and don’t do. But don’t rely on sheer will. And definitely don’t rely on happenstance. What are you doing, and not doing, every day…that is leading you? We listen to Zig, then pull out three main points for better digestion.

What legacy do you want to leave?

Imagine with me for a moment that you are 90 years old, in good health, and have a sharp mind.

You are on a family vacation. Kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids are everywhere. As you watch the activity around you, you are inwardly smiling because the fruit of your intentional legacy is all around you.

A few days ago I sent out a Zignificance email that started off with:

"The liberal thinkers drive me crazy when they say making a lot of money is wrong and that making a profit is evil."

I need to apologize for that. Many liberal thinkers believe strongly that making a profit is a very good thing.

“A SNIOP is a person who is Susceptible to the Negative Influence of Other People.” Zig Ziglar

Does this describe you?

Here are three keys you can use to stop being a SNIOP.

Know who you are and what character qualities and attitudes are important to you.

In today's environment we're constantly exposed to "superstars," particularly in the world of athletics, but also very frequently in the political arena. We see an athlete do his job, which might be to make a tackle, throw a block, catch a pass or make an exciting run.

Nothing is more painful to watch than a speaker meltdown in front of an audience.

What caused the meltdown

Lack of preparation?
Nerves?
Mindset?
Confidence?
Lack of experience?
Lack of training?

Something far more common, and almost as bad, is a speaker who does “ok,” or even "good,” but has no impact on the audience.

Business owners ask me all the time, “Tom, how do you get people to ‘own’ their position and lead from right where they are?”

I bet you have noticed that some people are just passive in their job role. They won’t make a decision without specific, detailed instructions given by their boss.

One of the blessings I have is the ability to travel and to meet my brothers and sisters all over the world.

Dad’s legacy and philosophy have impacted over 250 million people around the globe. Dad’s core philosophy of “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want” has opened doors for me and created life-long friendships with people of every nationality and faith.

This story is told from many years past by Dr. John Maxwell, but the message is so poignant and says so much it will always be a timeless story.

Shortly after the end of World War II, Europe was in ruins. Perhaps the saddest sight was the little orphaned children, starving in the war-torn streets.

You can never go wrong by working on these three things every day.

The Mental

The Spiritual

The Physical

The Mental – as Dad used to say, we all need “a check-up from the neck up to get rid of stinkin’ thinkin’ and to prevent hardening of the attitudes.

In our country we have a number of proverbs or wise sayings that have been handed down from generation to generation. For example, "A stitch in time saves nine," "A watched pot never boils," and "Saved by the bell," to name just a few.

Many of these sayings have fascinating origins and when we explore those origins we not only learn a bit of history, but some practical philosophy and lessons also come from them.