Is overcoming our lack and our excuses easy? Nope. Is it simple. Well…yes. It is. But truth - black and white - is often simple. But not remotely easy. It’s dramatically hard! Get some classic Zig, then some real-life breaking down with Kevin.
Inspiring minds want to know…and this is why you are here. Welcome to Ziglar Show 396, and today we have…Zig. Unplugged, raw, real and…life-changing. His topic is hope, and he’s getting to the roots of what true hope is -- and it’s not…hope in what we can’t control. A primary root of true hope, which fuels everything good in our lives, comes from what we CAN…control. This is our focal point today.
We know the story of the boy who cried wolf. I don’t want to be him. Every show can’t be the best. So…this one is not the best. But…doggone, it doesn’t stink. The focal points in this show are, well…the crux of success. The simple and ultimate decisions that are left to nobody but us. Let’s do this:
Zig is with us today from a classic recording, talking on hope. We either have it and there is possibility, or we don’t have it, and all is lost.
Before we dive in, 15 seconds to thank Urban Dapper Club for their support of this show. As Father’s Day approaches, put a twist on the traditional tie, and get your dad a trendy, handmade tie, handpicked by a stylist and shipped right to your door. Ziglar listeners can try Urban Dapper Club now by going to urbandapperclub.com/ZIGLAR and using promo code ZIGLAR. That's u-r-b-a-n-d-a-p-p-e-r-c-l-u-b dot com slash ZIGLAR, and use promo code ZIGLAR!
As of this recording, it’s summertime. The dog-days of summer. Generally, a time when we just…exist. Kids are out of school, vacations possibly happening, and work is maintained. Sooner than we can imagine, fall will be upon us. Back to school and all that effort, then before you know it…BAM. Holidays. Then the New Year.
So…what’s going to change? Chances are one of two things will happen:
- nothing. That’s the easy one
- a significant change for the better will happen in your life because of one decision. A decision to invest in upping your game.
Go check out ZiglarCertified.com if you’re game for a something big, or ziglar.com/livetowin for also something big, but a smaller beginning step.
OK, if you’re ready to get inspired and equipped, here I give you…Zig. Then we’ll crack it open. Enjoy:
Zig leads off with a quote we need to get real with:
Wherever you are…is no further from where you are to where you want to go than it is for anybody else.
Folks, do you really believe that? Because at face value, I do not. This podcast, that I’m so honored to host, generally sits in the top 5-15 of all business podcasts, and in the top 150-200 of all podcasts on the planet. I’m incredibly proud of that. So I was watching a fellow peer podcaster who is doing big things through his podcast, do some things I want to emulate. He was talking about all he had going on and some personal disciplines he had nailed.
Well, I got irked, in my own little world. I thought, “Yeah, that’s great for you. You’re young, you have no kids…nothing but yourself to get dialed in. I cooked for 11 people last night…I had 10 beds being slept in (I get to share a bed with my bride, you know). But my personal time is extremely limited between family, work, the general maintenance of home and life. The demands on my time and money are very high.”
Then, of course, I got disgusted with myself, as I know better. I GOT to cook for and house 11 people. I’m the wealthiest man on the planet. But more than that, I’m mainly where I am by choice. So do I let my choice handicap the vision I feel called and convicted to pursue?
Notice I said…mainly. I’m not where I am 100% by choice, and I don’t believe anyone is. We all have things that have happened to us. Many of you listening have had things happen that are so far past what I can even imagine.
That said, for you, for me, for those who have had things worse happen to them…do we let those things handicap us?
Everyone…everyone has viable excuses. Either we are hungry enough to overcome them or we are not.
Zig’s statement again, “Wherever you are…is no further from where you are to where you want to go than it is for anybody else.” Maybe that’s not wholly true, but I’ll tell you what is…there is somebody doing more, with less. That is for sure. That convicts me. How about you?
How does that set with you? Let me know…shoot me an email at [email protected]. Seriously. Be real. Does that inspire you? Convict you? Got a story about how you changed your paradigm? Angered by some of this? Let me know…[email protected]
Now, Zig does say, “…where we are to where we want to be…” our path may be steeper and more difficult than someone else’s.
Have you ever seen a movie, a worthy movie, about someone who had an…easy path? Seriously. We love stories of people who had it hard, and overcame it to do something valiant.
But in our own lives we just don’t see it with that valor and expectation. We are so inclined to see hardship and problems and our own “steeper paths” as a blight and a curse and we are victims. And we become less instead of more. Weaker instead of stronger.
So there it is, eh? The gauntlet is laid down. We have all had things happen TO us. We’ll have something happen to us today! And tomorrow. Are we normal and real and human, and we become less because of them?
Or…are we so arrogant and odd and weird and abnormal and…aware…that we make a decision? We strike a new belief. And we let what happened and what happens to us…strengthen us. Make us into something…more.
We want it to be something bigger that chooses the outcome and makes the decision for us. We want something dramatic and epic and cataclysmic and extraterrestrial.
But it’s not. It’s seldom like the movie. In real life it’s usually…simple and humble. Massively life-altering, but simple, and all up to us…to make the decision. That’s what makes it so hard. It’s all up to us. Nobody will know about the decision but us. But the world will know and feel the outcome…if we choose to be strengthened. It will create legacy - that kind of responsibility and power and control to do something should make us yell from a mountaintop. But truth is…it scares the hell out of us - which…isn’t that great a depiction. I don’t much want any hell in me. So…better to do something big and bold and scary that scares it right out and takes me to a new level - and decide to be strong and strengthened by the hardships I have to deal with.
Zig talks about Laurie Magers, his famous assistant for decades. And how she only finished 10th grade. But she outshined everyone. She had the degreed people working for her.
Folks…I’m younger than Zig’s youngest kid…Tom Ziglar. And guess what? Every show like this that I write becomes a blog at Ziglar.com. Guess who we submit it to for editing and cleaning? Laurie Magers. I’m beyond honored to work closely with Laurie today.
I also appreciate her background. I finished high school…barely. I was an incredibly poor student and academic. But I was getting educated in other ways. In business and life and athletics and from…Zig. Brian Tracy. Dale Carnegie.
It’s often said these days that no matter how much formal schooling one has had, that following it you get a job and…stop learning. Sure, you learn how to do your job and grow in it. But truly pursuing more personal development, and understanding and ability in and of ourselves, outside of mere specific job application…we stop.
But I love the reality that…it’s not the case with you! You are here, listening to the Ziglar Show instead of some mind bubblegum, because you are going after more.
Zig cited a quote by Eric Hoffer:
“In times of change, the learner shall inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped for the world that no longer exists.”
I had to read that a couple times. The learner…the one actively, continually learning…inherits the earth. Inherits opportunity. Is able to overcome and progress and succeed. The learner is an active term...
…while the “learned” is merely a noun. You learn something, now you know it and you are learned in it. This is where so many stop. They go forth based on that learnedness, and, ultimately…fade out. We see this with businesses that don’t grow and adapt.
But that’s not you. You are here, as I am, because we are learners!
Zig digs further into his entreatment that we can be more. He says,
“It’s not what your mommy and daddy did, it’s what you do. It’s who you are…”
and
“If you don’t like who you are and where you are…you are not stuck.
You CAN grow, you CAN change.”
It starts with the next decision. Then the next. That only you can make.
If you can grasp these simple statements…you are done!
Done settling
- done suffering
- done despairing
- done waiting
- done numbing
- done addicting
- done minimizing
- done complaining
- done excusing
- done…being less. Time to be fully…you.
That’s where I found the title of today’s show. Wouldn’t you like to be done with…being less? Done letting another day pass not being released to flourish and be what you feel you just might…be capable of?
In Zig’s cab driver story…he loves to use those underdog stories -- which is what Zig came from! -- because it gives us a paradigm shift and permission by helping us see, “If that guy can do that…I can, too.”
- which brings us back to taking away our excuses
- there is always somebody who has had it worse, and done more
- we can let that be shaming, or…freeing! Empowering!
- “I don’t have to be limited and imprisoned by all my lack”
But to increase…to gain…to progress, we must have:
- Self-control
- Maturity
- Delayed gratification
Interesting, as we are addicted to immediate pleasures that ruin our future health…
…but we delay our glory, hoping we can reap it in later years.
But…not you. Not the Ziglar audience. You are here to pursue health and well-being and truth. To make wise decisions. Long-term decisions.
Again, if this piqued some ideas, questions, thoughts, feelings…share with me at [email protected].
And thanks for being here with me…inspiring our true performance. Can’t wait to be back with you in the next…Ziglar Show.