Welcome to Episode 323 of The Ziglar Show. I’m your proud host, Kevin Miller and my Zig quote for you today is not from Zig. It’s from who Zig quotes in today’s message. John Johnson said, “It’s the size of your hope that’s going to determine how far you’ll go in your life.” And from that, the title of today’s show is pretty hard hitting. It is this…”Your future, your success…equals the size of your hope. You must have more.”
And folks, I’m a branding expert, and I’ve always been a bit irritated at my incredibly normal name. Kevin Miller. I often thought, you know…if I had a name like Zig Ziglar that stood out, I’d have it easier! But I’ll tell you, if Zig is quoting a guy named John Johnson, possibly the most generic name on the planet, well then…there is hope for us all.
Which is a sneak peak into this show. We all have reasons, cop outs if you will, for not doing and being more. Zig is a master at breaking them down because he came from nothing. Nothing. Very, very few of any of you listening, can claim coming from less than what Zig did. So what does that matter to you? Well…keep listening to the show.
SPONSOR
This show is brought to you by Quickbooks. And again, a call out to all of you who, like me…work for yourself! Quickbooks Self-Employed helps separate your business and personal expenses, so you can quickly track what you spent for work, and what you spent on yourself, and takes the guesswork out of estimated federal quarterly taxes. Try QuickBooks Self-Employed and receive fifty percent off at http://www.tryselfemployed.com/ziglar
SUBSCRIBE
In our last show I asked all those who were getting value from The Ziglar Show to take a moment and give us a review and 5-star rating in iTunes. And for your effort, we’d give you a small gift if you’ll just email me at [email protected] and let me know your iTunes name, and provide your mailing address…which you can still do! So many of you took action which is probably why we were sitting at #7 in Top Biz Podcasts, and #82 overall last night as I was prepping for this show. Over 40 of you so far have emailed me to let me know. We’re going to compile them all, then send your gift, so give us a little time.
But thank you!! I’ve sent multiple testimonies on to Tom Ziglar and the whole Ziglar team. I’ve read some to my wife! I also wanted to let you know…to ensure you never miss a show, make sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button on iTunes or wherever you tune in to podcast. Subscribing is the key to not missing a show.
SELFTALK
Also in a recent show we discussed Zig’s life changing self-talk cards, which you can still get at www.ziglar.com/show/SelfTalk. This week I received one that really resonated:
Blake Hudson - "Thank you for issuing the challenge. I have used the cards before but this time I recorded myself. When I listened, I discovered that I was whispering. I did not want my family to hear me talking to myself in the mirror. I recorded it again sitting in my car. The tone of of my voice was greatly improved. I now listen to the recording on the way to and from work and I am working on memorizing it. I have seen an improvement in the way I face the day but there is a constant temptation to slip into old patterns of thinking. A clear proof of the need for daily, sometimes hourly, encouragement…that I am a child of the King.”
Wow. Thank you so much Blake. He and I have traded a handful of email replies, and it’s been a gift. Again, get your’s…totally free: www.ziglar.com/Show/Selftalk
SURVEY
As our podcast listeners increase by over 20,000 per month, and this month we’re on track to grow by almost 50,000! we’re continuing to work on knowing you better. Who you are, what you like and care about and how we can serve you better. If you’re going to make us one of the biggest broadcast channels on the planet, we must do our homework. We want to be as relevant as possible, to YOUR LIFE. Will you take a quick moment and give us your guidance at podsurvey.com/ziglar.
It just takes a moment, and is actually pretty interesting, as it helps you see your own interests in full light, and when you complete the survey, shows you stats on the Ziglar audience, which I’ll share in a later show. Again…go to podsurvey.com/ziglar.
OK folks, here is a 13-minute segment from Zig. If you’re listening while driving or running and working out…you may want to pull over and sit down. I’ve never taken more notes on a Ziglar message. Never. Tom Ziglar is in the studio with me today. We’re going to listen to this…then dive in in a big way. Here you go:
DISCUSSION
As I said, in all the shows I’ve done now, I took more notes in this one than ever. I won’t say it’s Zig’s best message, but it hit my chords for sure. He got real with us. Really…real.
So right off, he asked, “What is winning?”
For most, they want to be
- Happy
- Healthy
- Reasonably prosperous
And in a classic Zig stance, he stated that Christ put a significant focus in his teachings on Physical and Financial well being. And qualified it by saying the Bible most assuredly did NOT say money was the root of all evil. But…the LOVE of money was the root of all evil.
Tom, this is honestly not the focus of today’s show, but it’s one that raises my ire, and since I get to host the show, I get to go off on a tangent. I’m going to wade into some murky waters on this one. Just real quick…we don’t have to spend much time here. But my fellow Christian brethren are so often the most money lovin’ people I’ve ever met. They don’t love it in an exorbitant, big spending way. They love it in a 'devotion to remaining safe and secure and not jeopardizing the norm and their comfort' sort of way. Jesus also talked about those who nicely gave from their abundance, while He gave kudos to the widow who gave everything. Tom, Zig, and now you…make decisions daily in your work that could make or break everything. You are devoted to doing what is right and best for others, even if it jeopardizes the present comfort.
Tom, how do you see people’s devotion to keeping things secure, rob them of greatness?
> Hear Tom's answer in the show as he retells some stories of the Ziglar business that took some big hits after making some hard, ethical choices.
Zig said most all of us are striving for abundance of:
- Money
- Friends
- Peace of mind
- Good family relationships
- Hope that the future will be even better
And he asked, “What part does hope play in all of this?” Followed by, “I believe it’s the basis of everything.”
He quoted John Maxwell, as he’s done before with this very quote, as he was fond of it, “If there’s hope in the future there’s power in the present.”
So I’m going to ask everyone listening. If you are staring at the face of little power, purpose, meaning and joy in the present, is it possibly because you have lost hope in the future? You just don’t see much to look forward to?
Zig said to answer these questions:
- How happy can you be if you have no hope?
- How healthy can you be if you have no hope?
- How prosperous can you be if you have no hope?
- How secure can you be if you have hope?
- How many friends can you accumulate if you’re the kind of person who is always moping and groping and griping and complaining?
- How much peace of mind is there and how are your family relationships if you have no hope?
If you don’t initially think this is you, I’m going to ask you to stop a moment. If your friends and family were interviewed and asked if you’re a hopeful person, how would they answer? What is it they would know you tangibly have great hope in?
Stew on that a bit…get real with yourself.
Tom, as you know and I often reference, I devoted the past 7 years of my vocation to helping people pursue self-employment. What I found out will be a primary basis to my upcoming book. Self-employment is just a vehicle for people to better their lives. And the reason they fail is not due to bad business ideas or plans, it’s primarily due to a lack of clear motive, belief and hope!
Do we even know what hope actually means? Well, as a guy who loves words, here is the definition:
hope - a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
Tom, doesn’t this bring us right around to goals? The definition doesn’t say vaguely, “a desire for good things to happen.” It says certain things to happen.
Tom, would you say that many, probably a majority of people who would say, “Oh yeah, I have hope”, what hope they have is very vague and vanilla and not tangible? And if their hope, as the definitions says…isn’t certain and specific, then there’s no way they’ve done the work to clarify a viable plan of action to get them anywhere?
> Hear Tom's answer in the show
This brings us to our “microwave society” that get’s focused on immediate gratification. Which flies in the face of the true success we all long for and revere!
Zig said, “When you discipline yourself to do the things you need to do, when you need to do them, the day’s going to come when you can do the things you want to do, when you want to do them.”
Who doesn’t want to be the person who has earned freedom? Earned it. We’d all rather hustle and make millions than win millions in the lottery. We all understand that fulfillment, yes?!
I’ve failed more than the average guy. I have the scars to prove it, for better or worse. But I also have some admittedly enviable realities of my life, and often have people, especially guys, say…”Man, I wish I could do or have that.” But then I see…there is no way they’d go to the effort and risk and trial I have. I surely don’t say that to brag. We can all relate to that in some areas. Where people might envy a successful area of our life, but we readily recognize they aren’t ready or willing to make the sacrifices or assert the discipline we have.
Which leads right into Zig’s next statement in today’s message, “The road to the top goes through lots of valleys. You don’t develop champions on a feather bed. There’s got to be the trials and difficulties in order for you to develop the muscles and qualities that’s going to make a big difference in your life.”
I love that! “You don’t develop champions on a feather bed!” Does that resonate with anyone else?! That lights a fire under me and makes me want to shun my pansy comforts and get some true grit!
On that note, let me make some insertions in one of Zig and Tom’s favorite, and profound sayings that Zig cites in today’s message:
- You have to be (the right person) before you can do (the right things).
- You’ve gotta do (the right things) before you can have (what you believe to be right and true and worthwhile).
Zig goes on to say he was married 27 years before he was able to give his wife financial stability and security. He had his lights turned off and telephone disconnected and had to turn a car back in. And this was after a childhood that led him to having to go to work at age five to help support his family.
Folks, possibly my favorite Ziglar book is his book, Zig: The autobiography of Zig Ziglar. It tells the reality of his life. It wasn’t pretty. But it’s why he was able to say in this clip, “I’m qualified to speak into your lives because I’ve walked in your shoes.”
A movie I really appreciate is called, “The Music Within.” In it, a teacher charges a brilliant student to shelve his brilliance and “Go out and live life and earn an opinion.”
Tom, I believe many people listening have put in a lot of hard work. They’ve fought battles. They’ve overcome things that have swallowed other people. They have in fact…earned some opinions. And it’s high time they stood up and led others.
Tom, what are some tipping points you’ve seen people experience that finally get them to stand up and serve and lead in a big way?
> Hear Tom's answer in the show
SPONSOR
Folks, this show again is brought to you by Quickbooks. If you work for yourself, really, check this out. Save up to fifty percent on an entire year of QuickBooks Self-Employed. It helps separate your business and personal expenses, so you can quickly track what you spent for work and what you spent on yourself. For instance, those groceries you bought for your next catering gig won’t get mixed up with the food you bought for the cookout with friends this weekend. QuickBooks Self-Employed also helps take the guesswork out of your estimated quarterly and yearend taxes. And I’ll speak for us self-employed folks. We want to focus on sales and revenue and success. Not taxes!! So come tax time, you know how much money to set aside for Uncle Sam, and how much stays in your pocket. QuickBooks provides you the tools to help you maximize deductions like home-office and mileage. So you keep more of your hard-earned money. Find out what QuickBooks Self-Employed can do for you and receive 50% off at www.TrySelfEmployed.com/Ziglar
As Zig shared, and I led the show off with, John Johnson said, “It’s the size of your hope that’s going to determine how far you’ll go in your life.”
What is the size of your hope? If you died today…what would others testify? What is the size of your hope?
Honestly Tom, this could be a campaign. I recently asked people to download and start reciting Zig’s self-talk cards daily. But what about putting a sign on your bathroom mirror, then car dashboard, and work computer…that boldly asks us all, daily, “What is the size of our hope?”
We could stop there. Maybe we should. But Tom, is this not where the fuel of our life resides? How would you rank it?
> Hear Tom's answer in the show
So to increase hope, as a guy who has benefited from counseling and had to learn you’ve gotta look back at where you’ve come in order to see where you can go, what has eroded our hope?
Zig said, You’ve gotta deal equally with your:
- Personal Life
- Family Life, and your
- Career
You cannot separate them. A point to consider, have you gotten lopsided in your life and lost hope in the big picture? I’m not talking balance, just big picture.
Next, Zig said, “Trial is what strengthens you. OR…defeats you.”
But what about the lack of trial. Tom, I’m seeing more and more people fall into this, just suffering from a lack of trial. What does that result in?
Donald Miller, in his book "A million miles in a thousand years", said, “A good story is made up of a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.
I see more and more people who just don’t want anything significant. But not you who are listening! There are lots of shows to listen to. This show is founded upon the belief that there is more of you to offer. You are more than what you or anyone has experienced yet. You haven’t scratched the surface.
Folks…this is why you are listening. Do you hear me? You are listening because you know it. Deep inside, you know you have more to offer, and you desperately want to offer it.
We’re here together. Let’s do it.
Tom, will you end us with a word from your Dad, and your own word?
> Hear Tom's answer in the show, as he discusses:
You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, endowed with the seeds of greatness, you’re fearfully and wonderfully made, you literally were born to win. But it takes a plan
Thanks for tuning in and spreading the hope. See you in the next show!