In November of 2011, I celebrated the sixty-fourth anniversary of my twenty-first birthday, and I’m still busier than a one-armed man calling on twin sisters! I’m still working on new books and encouraging people everywhere I go. I love every minute of it. Lots of people say they heard I have retired! I always exclaim, “You heard wrong! You should have heard I was ‘re-fired.’ I’m not going to ease up, let up, shut up, or give up until I’m taken up. As a matter of fact, I’m just getting warmed up.”
However, when you get to be my age, you think back over your life and consider how effective you may have been and what you did that made the biggest difference in people’s lives. For me that is an easy answer. In my own life, my conversion to Christ and my marriage made the biggest difference for me. As for the things I did that had the greatest impact on the lives of others, the first is providing audio products for people to listen to in their cars. I’ve always been an advocate of “Automobile University,” and through the years I’ve received hundreds of pounds of mail from people telling me how they take me with them every day in their daily commute and on business trips. I’m always tickled that I can go just about anywhere and very few people recognize my face, but when I open my mouth and start talking, heads turn, and often I’m asked if I am Zig Ziglar. My voice is distinctive, and when you combine it with my Yazoo City, Mississippi, accent, well, it’s not really stepping out on a limb when folks guess that it’s me.
The second effective thing I’ve done is a three-day seminar I offered several times a year for more than thirty years. Originally, the seminar was called “The Richer Life Course,” but eventually it became known as simply “Born to Win.” Through the years I’ve come to know thousands of people whose lives were transformed materially and spiritually as a result of participating in the Born to Win experience.
Possibly you, my friend, have contributed to the stack of mail I’ve gotten these past forty-plus years. I am so grateful for folks like you who have shared what has been most important and significant to them. As I previously mentioned, the Born to Win seminar and my audio products head the lists, but why have they been so effective? What was being taught in those activities that has had such a powerful impact on people’s lives? The answer to that question is in the words I’ve used to describe the Born to Win experience:“You were born to win, but to be the winner you were born to be, you have to plan to win and prepare to win. Then and only then can you expect to win.” The “Ziglar Gold” is found in principles and techniques I have taught people that show them how to plan, prepare, and expect to win. This may not sound earth-shaking, but you must understand that these skills and attitudes have the power to transform your life.
My own life was transformed by these principles more than fifty years ago by some tough comments made by one of my mentors, my area sales supervisor, Mr. P. C. Merrell. I will share more of my experience with Mr. Merrell later in the book. However, through his instruction and lots of mentoring from others, I learned the power of planning, preparing, and expecting to win. When I learned how to plan each day and set specific goals, I became more focused on the things that really make a difference. When I learned how to prepare myself and equip myself with the tools and skills I needed to be successful, I was able to execute my plans and turn them into winning results. Finally, when I learned how to expect success, it all came together and transformed my life and the life of my family. All this to say that Ziglar Gold is captured when you acquire the skill set needed to plan, pr
