Education Is Important - Zig Ziglar

No responsible person in today’s society would deny the value of an education! The statistical data is overwhelming. There is a direct correlation between the amount of education you have and your income. While there are exceptions to that rule, by and large it holds true.

Suppose your formal education is over, what can you do to continue the growth and learning processes? I’m going to make three suggestions that will make a substantial difference in your growth. Number one, learn one new word every day. Georgetown Medical School conducted a comprehensive study and learned that in 100% of the cases, when the vocabulary went up, I.Q. also went up – no exceptions. Your understanding of what you read and hear is, to a very large degree, determined by your vocabulary, so improve your vocabulary daily. By doing so you improve your understanding of the world and your effectiveness expands. There are many resources available to increase your vocabulary. Here is one online resource: dictionary.com.

Number two, read something of significance every day. Not just novels or news or entertainment, but something related to your job, profession or personal growth. If you are an average reader of 220 words per minute, by reading just 20 minutes a day you will have read twenty 200-page books in a year’s time. That gives you a considerable edge over most people in this country. The typical American reads only two books a year, so your advantage will be pronounced.

Number three, take advantage of all the information on podcasts and downloads during your driving time. Many educational programs are available online and you can learn anything from goal-setting to Chinese art and the Bible. You can take courses in vocabulary-building, financial management, sales training, leadership development and a host of other things.

Think about those three suggestions. Take advantage of what’s available and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

The Power of the Word - Zig Ziglar

Charles Osgood, the “word merchant,” said that “compared to the spoken word, a picture is a pitiful thing, indeed.” C. J. Ducasse said that “to speak of mere words is much like speaking of mere dynamite.” The wisest man who ever lived said, “The right word spoken at the right time is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl.” It has been said that the way people talk is the best indication of how they think, and the most powerful instrument for influencing a person’s thought process is the spoken word.


I have such great respect for the positive and negative power of words that for years I have been careful in private conversation and public presentations to use only “adult language.” Words like “dependable,” “commitment,” “dedication,” “discipline,” “responsibility,” “honor,” “integrity,” etc., and I am particularly careful to use a large number of four-letter words like “good,” “best,” “real,” “fair,” “hope,” “love,” etc.

The negative influence of words has been well-documented. Bill Glass says that over 90% of the men incarcerated in our penal institutions were repeatedly told by their parents, “One of these days you’re going to end up in jail.” Dr. Stephen Arterburn, cofounder of the world-famous Minirth-Meier Clinics, says that clinician Dr. Les Carter has never worked with an abuse situation that didn’t follow a pattern of verbal abuse before physical abuse. Dr. Carter also said that the more a person cusses, the less sensitive to the nature of their own behavior they become.



Yes, those words are important. Be careful of what you say, realizing the inherent power of words.

Don’t lose your marbles! - John C Maxwell

My friend Dwight Bain sent me a story of a ham radio operator who overheard an older gentleman giving advice to a younger man.


“It’s a shame you have to be away from home and family so much,” he said. “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities. You see, one day I sat down and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about 75 years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in his lifetime.

“It took me until I was 55 years old to think about this in any detail,” he continued, “and by that time I had lived through over 2,800 Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”

He went on to explain that he bought 1,000 marbles and put them in a clear plastic container in his favorite work area at home. “Every Saturday since then,” he said, “I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”

Then the older gentleman finished, “Now let me tell you one last thought before I sign off and take my lovely wife out to breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday, then I have been given a little extra time.”

We can’t choose whether we will get any more time, but we can choose what we do with it.

Taken from here

Conviction is the key - Zig Ziglar

The late Mary Crowley frequently commented that one person with a conviction would do more than a hundred who only had an interest. Commitment is the key to staying the course and completing the project. Conviction always precedes commitment.

When we’re convinced as a salesperson that we are selling a marvelous product, our demeanor, body language, voice inflection, facial expressions – everything – communicate to the prospect that we fervently believe we’re offering something of value. Many times the prospect will buy not because of their belief in the product, goods or service, but because of the belief of the salesperson.

Our feelings are transferable. Courage can be and frequently is transferred to the other person. Convictions are the same. The teacher who fervently believes in the message he or she delivers will persuade the student by the very depth of that conviction. One of my favorite Mary Kay Ash quotes is, “Many people have gone a lot farther than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” In short, their confidence, born of someone else’s conviction, had enabled them to “make it.” Conviction comes from knowledge and a “feeling” that what we’re teaching, doing, selling, etc., is absolutely right. When we transfer that conviction to those in our sphere of influence, they and society benefit.

Show me a person with deep convictions and I’ll show you a person who’s made a commitment to deliver those convictions to others. Show me a great leader and I’ll show you a person of deep convictions who is able to attract followers because of those convictions. I’ll also show you a person who is happy in what they’re doing and far more successful than those who do not have those convictions. Buy that idea; develop those convictions; make that commitment and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

from here