Get Motivated! Series: Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker extraordinaire
Get Motivated!: Attitude is Everything

It seems fitting that Zig Ziglar is the last featured speaker in my Get Motivated! series because his message focuses on how your attitude affects so much in your life. Coming on the heels of last week’s ranty blog and then my later blog following an abrupt change of attitude, I know exactly what he means.

Before the conference, I’d heard the name Zig Ziglar…but with a name like that I always thought he was a rock star or a magician rather than an evangelical Christian and motivational speaker. As a lead-in to his introduction, they showed a few videos of him in action and the words that come to mind are energy and charisma. Even on a video he commanded the audience’s attention with his vigor as he moved around the stage.

Sadly, age takes its toll even on such a dynamic individual. At 82 years old, Ziglar now does his famous talks in an interview-style format - conducted by his daughter Julie – due to a recent stroke that left him with vertigo. Despite being limited to sitting in a chair and having to ask his daughter once or twice to repeat the question, his humor, charisma and positive attitude were still quite evident. Some of his words of wisdom:

*Attitude is Everything: According to Ziglar, “It’s your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.” The power of positive thinking can get you so much further than anything else so don’t act like a victim. If you don’t like something, figure out what you’re going to do about it and then do it. The way you handle adversity reflects on your character and people notice.

*Show Gratitude: At Ziglar’s office headquarters, there is a “Wall of Gratitude” with pictures of 26 people who’ve helped him and influenced him throughout this life. Everyone needs help along the way, just remember to pass on your gratitude by helping others.

*Motivation can be Habit Forming: Treat motivation just like bathing and eating…in other words, practice motivating yourself on a daily basis and it will soon become habit.

*Christianity and the “real world”: Ziglar still reads the Bible and the newspaper every single day in order to “balance what’s out there with what’s ‘in here’ [his heart].” A lot of media is dedicated to telling you what you need to do to have it all, but Ziglar firmly believes “you can have everything you want in your life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

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