and that makes you more willing to create the plan you need to win.
DESIRE IS THE MOTHER OF MOTIVATION
In my first book, See You at the Top, I said, “Desire is the ingredient that changes the hot water of mediocrity to the steam of outstanding success.” What this means is that desire is the catalyst that enables a person with average ability to compete and win against others with more natural talent. You see, my friend, being a winner is much different from having the potential to win. Everyone has the potential; it’s what you do with that potential that really matters. Nothing is more inspiring than a person with seemingly mediocre talent rising against the odds to become a champion by way of hard work, effort, and perseverance toward their goals. Obviously, raw talent is important, but the difference-maker between first and the rest of the pack is usually desire.
I’ve spent my life studying, thinking, teaching, living, and sharing motivation. I’ve learned why some people do better than others. As a matter of fact, I’ve now written thirty books on the subject that have been translated into forty different languages and dialects, and I’ve spoken to thousands of audiences in front of millions of people. The Ziglar team has created more than fifty audio programs and hundreds of customized audio presentations through the years. I’m grateful that I have been able to see so many lives transformed through these various methods of communication. My core philosophy on winning and motivation is summed up by saying that you were born to win, but in order to be the winner you were born to be, you have to plan to win and prepare to win before you can expect to win. The playing field of life is not level, and for you to compete in the game of life, you need an equalizer of some kind. In the old West, the equalizer was the six-shooter. It enabled a little guy to chop a bigger man down to size.
Desire is also an equalizer—and nowadays is highly encouraged over a six-shooter! Desire creates an edge. Desire produces the energy to get out of bed when you don’t feel like it. Desire gives you the power to run the last one hundred yards of a marathon when you think even one more step is impossible! Desire gives you the will to do the tough things your competition may not be willing to do. Desire is the mother of motivation because it is where motivation is born. Desire will pull you across the finish line and give you victory!
There are two questions you might ask at this point: how is desire created, and what does it have to do with planning to win? Since I’m here to help you with the hard ones, I’m going to answer both of those questions in this chapter.
DESIRE IS BORN WITH VISION
To understand how desire connects with planning, you have to understand how desire is created. Desire is created when something happens in your life that suddenly changes the way you see yourself in relationship to your future. We all have moments in our lives that are turning points—crossroads where something happens that can shape the direction of our future. Some of these turning points can be dramatic, and others may be subtle. I want to encourage you to be looking for these turning points and seeking out your purpose and passion as you engage in the planning, preparing, and expecting to win process.
I vividly remember the exact day one of these turning points happened in my professional life. I was one of twelve children raised by a single, widowed mother in Yazoo City, Mississippi, during the Great Depression. We struggled and worked hard to make ends meet, and although we never had a lot of “extra” things, we always had what we needed. When I was a young boy I worked around our little home doing chores, and when I was nine I got a job at a grocery store in town. At that point in my life, I saw myself as a little guy from a little town who would always live in Yazoo City. That type of thinking was the result of my experience growing up. I had no idea that other possibilities might exist for me. I entertained the idea of owning my own store, or meat market to be exact, but I never really felt over-the-top excited about it. I wasn’t excited about it because it was not my vision—it was just an idea that was presented to me by my boss as a possibility. You might say I was a wandering generality instead of a meaningful specific. I was wandering around with no direction and no plan to win.
After I grew up and married my beautiful Redhead, Jean Abernathy (whom I call “Sugar Baby”), I got a job as a door-to-door salesman in the cookware industry. The first two-and-a-half years I sold a lot—I sold our furniture, our china and silver, the dog… just kidding. But it was no joking matter that we struggled financially and were in hot water all the time. One cold, snowy morning I went to a meeting where Mr. P. C. Merrell, the divisional supervisor from Tennessee, took an interest in me. Mr. Merrell said, “Zig, you have the ability to be a great one.” Frankly, I’d never heard words like that. As a child raised during the Depression, the emphasis was on survival—not being “great.” Now here was a man for whom I had the utmost respect, a man who was my hero, a man of integrity, and he was emphatic that he really believed I could be the best cookware salesman in the country. But he also had some constructive criticism. He said, “You know, Zig, I’ve been watching you for twoand-a-half years and I have never seen such a waste.” (Now, friends, that will get your attention!) Somewhat startled, I asked what he meant. He explained, “You have a lot of ability. You could be a great one and maybe even become a national champion.” Naturally, I was flattered, but a little skeptical, so I asked if he really meant it. He assured me, “Zig, there is no doubt in my mind if you really went to work on an organized schedule and started believing in yourself, you could go all the way to the top.”
Mr. Merrell’s words gave me hope that I could change and caused me to believe for the first time in my life that maybe I did have more to offer than I’d ever realized. Looking back, Mr. Merrell’s words helped me make the decisions that changed my life. I turned his words over and over in my mind and got more excited by the minute. On that day, for the first time in my life, I suddenly had a clear vision of a future I really wanted, and I also noticed that something else was building inside of me. It was desire… the desire to make it happen started to build! Mr. Merrell planted a seed when he told me I could be great at something, and I believed him. My vision of my future started to change immediately, and I wanted that new future. As my desire grew, I became sick and tired of being sick and tired. I wanted to change, and more important, I felt empowered to turn that new vision into reality. I took immediate action.
You may be reading this book and thinking, “Zig, I don’t have a Mr. Merrell in my life.” Yes, you do. I am your Mr. Merrell. I honestly believe I have felt your feelings, I’ve walked in your shoes. You have made some mistakes, and you may not be where you want to be, but that has nothing to do with your future. I’ll say it again and again: you can start from where you are with what you’ve got and go to where it is you want to go.
Yes, you were literally born to win. My goal is to give you new hope in this game of life and turn that new hope into a brilliant new picture for your future. I want you to know that when you prepare yourself, you can expect success.
Many decades have passed since Mr. Merrell’s empowering words gave me a new vision for my life and the powerful desire to become what he said I could be. Looking back, I see that even though we may have a vision and a strong desire to attain it, seeing the end of it is not always possible. We can only see so far, because our experience limits us. But I also learned that we should embrace the vision and fuel our desire. As we work with purpose and pursue our passion, we will be able to see farther, and when we get there we’ll be able to see farther again!
In my case, I first had a vision of becoming a national sales champion, and I accomplished that in a few short years. In the process of accomplishing that goal, I developed another vision that was even more powerful. I wanted to become a public speaker. That turned out pretty well, too.
COMMITMENT AND PERSEVERANCE ARE POWERED BY DESIRE
If
