This is the absolute crux of your entire life and existence regarding success and failure. You control it by what you speak and think. Practice the exercise in this show and declare war, rebellion, and anarchy on yourself.
Hey, everyone, this is Kevin, bringing you Ziglar’s True Performance Show, episode #413. We’re back with Zig talking goals…and how you can actually achieve them. Setting them is like buying a membership to a gym. It’s only good if you show up and do the work.
Today’s is surely not the best show ever. But it just may be the most important. You just are…what you tell yourself. Right. If you tell yourself you can flap your wings and fly, and you jump off a cliff, you’ll die. Gravity is an absolute and you aren’t a bird. But most of your ability is not limited by the absolute truths. It’s limited by the reality that you have agreed with and you believe is true. You have already proven it wrong in many areas. There are things you were told you could not do, you believed it for a time, but at some point, you did it. There are many more things you weren’t told you couldn’t do, but you personally believed, for many reasons, you couldn’t do them. And, ultimately…you did them. If all those things equal 5 or 50 or 500…there are another 1,000 or 10,000 things you are capable of that you are currently not living up to because another or you told you…you can’t.
You can pay for a decade of therapy. Or listen to Zig and this show and take it captive and get shock therapy and start achieving…now.
So here is an interesting idea regarding making changes in your life and taking action toward goals. I’ve been in a season of…out of balance…for a good while. Two growing businesses, an oversized family, vacations and trips and a load of pursuits. It’s gotten to feeling fairly out of control and I’m in a place of feeling that I’m just keeping everything afloat and not doing anything really well. Anyone relate?
My wife and some of the kids are on a missions trip to a place we have been involved in for many years, investing in neglected, abused, and abandoned kids. She is returning…with a new family member. To take our number to…10. In discussing it via phone, I told her my heart is there, quickly and easily. But logistically, we need to talk. There is no way we can do all we are now and care for this new child.
My wife has been thinking of postponing her Doctorate Program, so now she’s definite. I said I have got to get these businesses whipped into shape and a couple new initiatives launched so our income increases and my work time decreases.
The point -- I’m excited about the changes that now must take place. We have to get smarter. We have to get leaner and more strategic. We’re forced to make decisions that we’ve been letting slide for too long. Sometimes taking on something significant is what it takes to get us organized, committed, and focused. Nothing makes us take action better than…when we have no choice. We must act or the consequences will be unbearable.
What cripples us is when things are…ok. Somewhat manageable. We can, and often do…go on indefinitely. Months, years, decades.
So, for you to think about -- Do you need to go after and commit to something big? Something that will force you to give other things up? Think about the sinking ship or the descending hot airballoon. I spent a summer on a hot air balloon competition team. If there is a problem, you throw out everything that’s not 100% essential. What is incredible is you realize how much you really can simplify. How much excess, unnecessary baggage you have been lugging around.
OK, here we go then…with 11 minutes of raw Zig:
Let’s get real with these self-talk cards and why this crazy practice produces such amazing results:
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Self-talk cards. Folks, over a year ago I did a show on the self-talk cards, and offered them as a free download at ziglar.com/selftalk, where you can get them…right now. ziglar.com/selftalk
We have come to the topic of “brain training” many times in recent shows. So let me simply say…of all the things you’ve ever done for your personalท development and improvement, chances are you’ve never, ever…stood in front of a mirror, looked yourself in the eyes, and spoken to yourself. But let me clarify…spoken something good. Spoken a blessing over yourself. Many people have looked in the mirror in the bathroom or your car rearview mirror and said, “Good grief, Kevin, you are an idiot! That was stupid. What is your problem?” following some mistake or disappointment.
In show #412 I referenced an article by the Cleveland Clinic about the 60,000 thoughts we have every day, and 85% of them are negative. We are telling ourselves negative things…constantly. There is nobody I get more upset with than myself. And I freely let myself have it. Sometimes I’m even a scapegoat to rant on when I’ve held back from letting someone else have it.
We do -- and are -- whatever we tell ourselves. Our actions come right from our self-talk.
So, again, to speak out loud to ourselves, looking in the mirror, is for all sakes and purposes, declaring war on ourselves. It’s an act of treason to the negative, albeit generally normal, existence inside of us. And, folks, there is a Biblical and non-Biblical version of the self-talk cards to choose from.
You will feel stupid. Absolutely idiotic, maybe. Juvenile and ridiculous. But do it day in and day out and you will change for the better, guaranteed. You can’t NOT change for the better, because you can’t withstand the onslaught of that kind of mental programming. You just can’t believe the power of your words to yourself. You DO really believe what you think and say.
Crazy people are in a padded room claiming they are a parakeet and they actually believe it after repeating it for so long. So, Zig is calling us to claim the successful attributes we want to be and battle against our negative, selflimiting natures.
I would honestly ask you to print out the self-talk cards and read them daily, in place of listening to another of these shows, buying any Ziglar product…anything. It’s worth more.
And one more point…where Zig mentions the difficulties of claiming all the positive attributes you know you are not -- right now. You know you don’t emulate…now. But what he says is…you have the seed. That is absolute truth that we can all…accept. We have the seeds for discipline, righteousness, perseverance, wisdom, great strength, brilliance, leadership, creativity, innovation, great decisions and ideas…insert the positive qualities you desire. You have the seed. Self-talk is the absolute best way to DEVELOP…that seed.
So you aren’t lying to yourself. You are growing your best possibilities. I love that Zig says self-talk goes back to the dawn of time. He cites the book of Joel in the Bible, “Let the weak say I am strong.” That is profound, folks.
Claim the qualities you want.
Well, Zig says something interesting next. He talks about speaking good out to others, and he mentions his response to “How are you doing?” “Better than good!” He says that compared to 99.9% of the world, every day IS…a good day.
But, folks, let’s get real. Zig was a human. While he realized he was so blessed, this does not mean he didn’t have hard times. It doesn’t mean he didn’t have strife and disappointment. He was just very skilled at putting things into perspective.
We had a guy not long ago on Facebook respond to a Ziglar quote about every day being a good day. He cited a day where all these bad things happened. His wife left him, he wrecked his car, lost his job, and ran out of money. Now, it wasn’t that exact list, I exaggerate a bit, but he laid out a reality of a hard day and said that in any world, there is reality to having a bad day. Zig lost an adult child. On that day, do you think he felt it was a good day? In all honesty, he probably did…to a degree. His heart was unbelievably sad, but he knew his child was in Heaven. He found gratitude in the blessing she was. But, of course…his heart was hurting. His soul had sadness.
But, folks I’ll tell you, back to the guy who posted on Facebook. He wasn’t being disrespectful. He was being real, and so, so many people responded in like. But, also, they were on the Ziglar Facebook page…because they WANTED…what Zig was espousing. And the absolute truth is, when you work to see the good in things, when you have gratitude -- bad things happen…less. And if they do happen, they just don’t carry the weight they used to.
Zig’s next point…is on not just knowing things, but thinking and dwelling on how we can USE the knowledge we have.
Folks, the absolute best analogy I have of this…goes again back to a Biblical reference. If you don’t believe in the Bible and Christianity, I know you are intelligent enough to fully get the gist here. There are many people who believe there is value in believing in Jesus Christ. And the truth is…Satan believes in Jesus Christ, too. He knows more tangibly than any of us…of Christ’s existence. The point is whether we FOLLOW Christ and do what He says, though. This is not a Biblical, theological, or doctrinal soap box. I’m expounding on a point.
We ravenously devour new knowledge as a culture. We listen to the same seeds of knowledge in a million colors, voices, translations, and perspectives. But as Solomon in the Bible said, there is nothing new under the sun. Knowing something is 100% irrelevant if we don’t do something with it.
What can we…what do we…do with the knowledge we have? You have given to this point (if you’re listening) so many minutes of your precious life, to listen. What will you DO with what you’ve heard? Or is it just positive entertainment?
As to Zig’s testimony of not listening to any info while you are walking...again, go with the point. Call it time to think deeply. Meditation. Whatever. Where does it happen for you? Walking? Running? Swimming? In the shower? Driving? Riding a bike? Sitting alone in the closet or the woods? Sitting in the middle of Grand Central Station, with the details drowned out in the chaos? When you go to sleep or wake up? Mowing the yard? (Which my wife loves to do -- and I loathe.)
There isn’t a right answer, because the point is…first, taking a thought captive. Then, wherever it’s most conducive to your thoughts, gathering and gaining clarity. My 20-year-old daughter said it’s in a study room in our house. My 21-year-old son said it’s in the shower or in bed as he’s going to sleep. For me, it’s when I wake from sleep in the middle of the night or in the morning…but more so when I specifically and intentionally take a certain question on a run. But I can run and think of nothing, too.
My oldest son again said, “It’s where I can work or do something active without having to think much about it. It can be mindless.” So what is it for you? Try it when taking a thought captive. Or contemplating a decision you need to make. My brother has been known go for a drive in his car.
Just think about your day. When I am actively at work, I don’t come up with many creative thoughts. I’m fulfilling tasks. At home, I don’t come up with many creative thoughts. I’m fulfilling tasks. It’s in the margins of…as my son said…where I don’t have to be producing and thinking on tasks and can freely focus and dwell on an idea or decision.
Intentionality. Margin.
As Zig says, we need to think more. But I’m going to clarify that…as most of us would say…we’re thinking all day! Yes, and air traffic controllers are thinking like mad, non-stop. But they are fulfilling tasks and needs. It’s not critical thinking in a focused effort to find a creative or life-changing idea, solution, or epiphany.
We have brilliance in us, folks! We just need to give it a fighting chance!
Zig next hits on…flea training. One of his most famous analogies --False Evidence Appearing Real.
But, folks, we really do…believe in the fear. As a kid, I was afraid of the dark. Authentically...Terrified. Why? I saw TV and movies I shouldn’t have. My mind believed them enough to be terrified. Big Foot and the Elephant Man and Freddy Krueger.
They weren’t real.
But then later, folks, I feared things that were…real. The possibility of losing my marriage. Financial ruin.
So whether there is truth or not, we put limits on ourselves for many reasons. And we limit ourselves in areas where others with no more ability than ours…exceed.
Zig talks about Roger Bannister and how he broke the four-minute mile. And what an absolute hero and rock star and celebrity he was.
Most of us can’t accept we could be that amazing. But folks, a four-minute mile for you or me might be…being on time instead of staying up too late, zoning out on TV shows or movies. It might be…not drinking too much. It might be…not looking at porn. It might be…not shopping for a month. It might be not overeating, or eating without throwing it back up. It might be letting your kids go and not being so controlling and overbearing. It might be…being kind to your spouse who has acted hatefully. It might be doing the right thing at work when you feel like everyone else is being dishonest.
Be the world record-breaker in your life. For every woman or man who does something extraordinary in their lives that the world knows about, 1,000 do something that nobody knows about except them. And it changes their lives and the lives of untold numbers of people they impact.
Thanks…inspiring your true performance.