Ode to Zig Ziglar, We will miss you.

Zig Ziglar passed away Wednesday (11/28/12) and while there are many things you can think of regarding Zig Ziglar, when I hear and think about him the name first thing that comes to mind is impact! Mr. Zigler had a profound impact on my life. He introduced me to motivation and positive self esteem.  Many people are tweeting and posting quotes and memories of zig ziglar.  This Blog post is my "large Tweet" to share my favorite story from Zig that I heard at the very first seminar I attended of his.

Zig told a this story about motivation as he was leading into a very strong sermon if you will about how important is to stay motivated in your life and it doesn't really matter the source of the motivation but the outcome. I'll paraphrase as best I can...

So the story went something like this:

There was a wealthy oil man in Texas and he had a beautiful daughter.  His daughter was of an age that he felt it was appropriate for suitors to bid for her hand in marriage.  And the Oil Man was very protective of his daughter. He felt there really wasn't any one good enough to have her hand in marriage .  So he hosted very large party and invited the most eligible bachelors from all over .  And during this party people mingled while having a good time.  They were wondering what was the catch  for this party.  At the appropriate time the wealthy Oil Man brought everyone out to the pool.  It was a very long pool.  And the pool was full of Alligators.  

 All of the eligible bachelors were told to wait at one end of the pool and the Oil man with his daughter was at the other end.  He proceeded to make an announcement: "the first suitor willing and able to jump in the water and swim across this pool filled with alligators will have my daughter's hand in marriage.  And not only would you be getting my daughter's hand in marriage but you will be getting first rights to all of this ...  My estate and wealth. No sooner had he finished his sentence when he heard a splash.  He turned around quickly and was surprised to see a young man swimming as fast as he possibly could to get to the other end.  Almost as fast as he had heard the splash, he was looking at this wet and out of breath young man standing in front of him.  The oilman was surprised and shook the young man's hand. He then asked him what was his motivation for jumping into the pool full of alligators and swimming across?  Was it his daughter's hand was it the wealth?  Young man still out of breath responded , "I just want to know the who the of a gun is that pushed me in " 

I laugh to this day just thinking about the story.   Motivation comes from the most unlikely places.

Zig Ziglar your presence will be missed however your legacy goes on !

Stay Positive My Friend - your career depends upon it.

Be very careful about the things that you focus on. The human brain is an incredibly powerful engine with an auto compass. In fact whether you realize it or not, when you think about things your brain is listening... 

So just as your thinking about successfully completing the job or project you are currently on, when you think negatively about a job or project , your mind and body Are adjusting their course to achieve those thoughts. Athletes have long known the impact of positive visualization.  See yourself completing or winning the race, Never see yourself failing, or allowing obstacles to prevent you from succeeding.  See yourself overcoming those obstacles to achieve your goals.  If you allow the negative thoughts to creep in, your brain will start to take you in a different direction, which will most likely be away from your successful completion of your goals.  

So in the words of the most interesting Man in the world ... "Stay positive my friend" !