The Resilient Mind - GOALS: the major key to success - Zig Ziglar

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Zig Ziglar was a best-selling American author and speaker who uplifted millions with his motivational message. One of his infamous lecture "See You At The Top" talks about why a positive mental attitude is critical for your success. Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Now⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Resilient Mind Podcast. In this episode, you will be listening to Goals, the major key to success with Zig Ziglar. Get access to the Mental Mastery Program and other exclusive episodes by becoming a subscriber. Enjoy. Wow, what enthusiasm. My goodness alive. I've read something the other day you're going to be enormously intrigued with. Read where every third person was either remarkable. remarkably handsome are amazingly beautiful.

Now what I'd like to get you to do is look directly at the person on your left. No, left. Now look directly at the person on your right. And if it ain't either one of them, well, that ought to get us off to a good start here. Just as a matter of curiosity, how many of you have ever either heard me speak before or else this is your first time? Can I see your hands? Okay.

Hey, we're with it here tonight. That's great. The name Howard Hill will probably ring a bell in the minds of some of you, but not all of you. Howard Hill was a good Alabama boy. He was an archer. Many people said he was the greatest of all time. He entered 287 archery tournaments. He placed first 287 times. As a youngster, I've seen newsreels of Howard Hill. I've seen him where they were filming him killing a Cape Buffalo, the toughest of all game animals to bring down with a bowing arrow. He killed a bull elephant.

He killed a large shark under about 15 feet of water. As a youngster, I've seen newsreels where from 50 feet he would shoot at a bull's eye and split it precisely in the center. And then he would take his second arrow, and with the second arrow, he would split the first one. An amazing demonstration of skill. Now, I have never shot the bow in error professionally,

but I am an instructor par excellence. I think that's French, which means I'm really good. But I'm not absolutely certain of that. As a matter of fact, I am so good as an instructor of archery that I could spend 20 minutes with any man or woman in this audience this evening and provided your eyesight is normal

and your health is good, at the end of 20 minutes, I would have you hitting the bullseye more consistently than Howard Hill could have hit it the best day of his life. Provided we had, of course, first, blindfolded Howard Hill. And then turn him around a couple of times

so you would have no idea in which, direction he was facing and you kind of snickering you say, well, Zekla, that's the sillest thing I've ever heard. Why, of course, we could chew better than him because how in the world could a man hit a target he could not even see? That's a pretty good question. Here's one even better. How can you hit a target you don't even have? The question, my friends, is do you have your targets? Have you clearly identified what it is that you want in Have you set a date as to when you expect to get it? Have you identified the obstacles you must overcome in order to get there?

Have you identified the people, the groups, organizations you need to work with in order to get there? Have you spelled out what it is you need to know to reach your objective? Have you developed a plan of action and have you written it down as to what's in it for me? Why do you want to reach the goal in the first? in the first place. You see, the problem with most people is there what we call a wandering generality in life. But the truth is you can never achieve greatness unless you become a meaningful specific. You see the basic problem is most people when they're working on their job they get to thinking, you know, I really ought to be

spending time at home with my family. And then when they're at home with the family get to thinking you really ought to be out there working for my family. And so when they're out there working for their family, their mind is back home. And when they're back home, their mind is back out there in the field. And then they tell everybody, well, I don't ever have time to do anything. No wonder you're always traveling. You see, the basic problem is not lack of time. It is lack of direction. We all have exactly the same amount of time, whether we're a millionaire or a pauper. All of us have 24 hours every single day. The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, we must have goals if we're going to do anything.

Goals do a lot of things. For example, they enable you to chase the blues away. I've never known anybody who was truly depressed, who had specific and long-range goals. And what goals do is they create activity, and you see, activity as you work towards reaching them, creates the very excitement which you need in order to accomplish or reach your objectives.

The psychologists put it this way. Logic will not change and emotion, but action will. And as you get busy working towards these dreams of yours, and yes, you absolutely must have your dreams, ladies and gentlemen, and what we're going to do is look at the ways you build a foundation underneath those dreams. Several years ago, they did an experiment with a number of college students, and in this particular experiment, they let them go to sleep,

and they hooked these brain machines up to them. With these brain machines, they could determine precisely within a matter of seconds when the student went to sleep. Then they could tell when that student started to dream. And as the student would start to dream, they would awaken him or her. And then they'd let them go back to sleep, and that is no problem. But when they started to dream, they would awaken them again. And with those brainwave machines, they can tell exactly when they start to dream. At the end of one night of this kind of treatment, many of the students were nervous and nervous.

fidgety. At the end of two nights of this kind of treatment where they had a reasonable amount of sleep but no dreaming, they became very irritable and very short and very cross. At the end of just three nights of a reasonable amount of sleep, but no dreaming, they could tell that some of them were headed for some psychological difficulties, and so what they did was they aborted the experiment. Now about 24 hours later, most of the students were back to normal. Within a week, all of the had returned 100%. But the experiment proved something very conclusively, and that's this. When you're asleep, ladies and gentlemen, you need your dreams. I'm here to tell you that when you're wide awake, you also need your dreams. You must have your goals. You'll never make it

as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful, specific. If you're going to work tomorrow, because that's what you did yesterday, you're not going to be as good tomorrow as you will. were yesterday because now you're two days older and no closer to the goal which you do not have. You can't make it as a wandering generality. Most people understand you've got to become a meaningful specific. It reminds me of an experiment done some little while ago by Jean-Henry Fabre, the great French naturalist. He took a number of processionary caterpillars so named because they follow each other in a procession. And he lined them around a flower pot until they formed a never-ending circle.

And they started going round and round 24 hours that first day. And then they went the next day and the next, and by about the third of the fourth day, he put some pine needles into the center of that flower pot. That's the food of the processionary caterpillar. They kept going round and round, seven full days and seven full nights. They went round and round until they literally dropped dead from starvation. and exhaustion.

With an abundance of food, less than six inches away, they had starved to death because they confused activity with accomplishment. You've got some friends that are in the same shape. They're busy, busy, be you all the time. They're going, going, going, going, and they're here, and they're there, and they're somewhere else. But they never really accomplish anything because they don't have those specific, clearly identifiable objectives.

you've got to have those goals. Now that you know why it's important to have goals, take the next few minutes to prepare a dream sheet, write down everything you've ever wanted to do or be or have. Now, don't be judgmental. Let your mind run free. Here's a guide to help organize this dream sheet. As you write down one idea, it will trigger others,

no matter how far-fetched are seemingly, unrealistic, be sure to write down everything. Begin with travel and vacations where you want to go and how you're going to get there. Your automobile, the kind, the color, all of the options, the house, the size of it, the style, and all of the extras, the money, savings, investments, your career, the salary, the increase, the raises, and all the benefits which go with it. your promotions, the children and your family, the education, activities, the shared time, friendship, the respect, the helping of others, your health, your body weight, the exercise,

your religion, your church involvement, your religious study, and your mind. Education, reading, recall. Now, if other things come to mind, you add them to your list. Take your time to complete this list, and when you're finished, set it aside for 24 to 48 hours. At that point, get out your dream sheet again, and after each item, write why. Now, this is crucial. If you cannot clearly articulate in one sentence why you want to be, do, or have what you included on your list, it is not something you're serious about. So, take it off.

We'll get back to this later. Yet the truth of the matter is, 97% of the people in our great land never really set their goals in the proper light in the way that you're going to be taught during the course of this program, 97%. And one of the major reasons is because of a little thing called fear. Now, you spell fear, obviously, F-E-A-R. And that really is an acrostic for false. evidence appearing real. But if it appears real, ladies and gentlemen, it's real. For example,

I could take this handkerchief and my finger and rob the bank in your town in all probability. All I'd have to do is put the handkerchief over my face, put my finger in my pocket, and walk up to the taller in my meanest voice say, give me your money. And chances are superb that they would give me the money. The evidence would be false, but it would appear real, and because of that, they would give me the money. A young Cuban hijacked an airplane to Cuba with a bar soap. He took it to the captain of the aircraft, and he said, let's go to Cuba. I've got a bomb in here, though the evidence was false, it appeared real, and they went to Cuba. You see, the truth of the matter is a lot of people collect a great deal of false.

evidence and the net result is they never set the goals. Now, let me assure you, there's a certain amount of danger in setting goals. For example, next Monday morning, I get on an aircraft in Dallas, Texas, going into Atlanta, Georgia at 845. Now, I've got sense enough to know that when I get on that airplane, there's a certain amount of danger when I get aboard that aircraft, because some airplanes are coming down faster than they go up. And I'll tell you, when those airplanes come down faster than they go up, there's danger for me, but there's more danger for the airplane. You see, when an airplane comes down faster than it goes up, you just about can't hardly trade those dudes in at any price. I mean, their market value is gone.

See, there's danger for the airplane, but there's more danger for the airplane if it stays on the ground. Did you realize that according to the engineers, an airplane will wear out faster sitting on the ground than it will wear out? flying in the heavens, it'll rust out on the ground, it'll wear out in the heavens, not nearly as fast in the air as it'll rust out on the ground. Besides, airplanes are built to fly. You get on a ship, there's danger it might sink, but there's more danger for the ship if it stays at anchor in the harbor.

Experts tell me that it will collect barnacles and become unseaworthy, faster in the harbor than it will if it sails the high seas. and besides that's what ships are built for. Now, there's a certain amount of danger in setting your goals because, you see, you might not reach those goals. But, folks, there's danger if you don't set the goals. You see, man in nature are 180 degrees apart. We use up nature's natural resources by using them up.

But we use up man's natural resources by not using them at all. Oliver Wendell Holmes expressed it very eloquently when he said, The tragedy in America is truly that we waste our natural resources, but one of infinitely greater tragedy is the fact that we waste our human resources by not using what we've got. And the average person goes to their grave with their music still in them. What a shame.

You gotta have goals, ladies and gentlemen. I want to talk a little bit about goals on the line of how do you lose 37 pounds and write a book. I'm just going to kind of give you that as an example. For 24 years of my adult life, by choice, I weighed well over 200 pounds. I say by choice because, you see, I have never accidentally eaten anything. I mean, it's always been deliberate. And when I choose to eat too much today, I have chosen to weigh too much tomorrow. You can choose to set goals and realize your potential, or you can choose not to set them.

Now, if you choose not to set them, you've got to understand that the consequences are not going to be good down the road. For 24 years, I was going to lose that way. As a matter of fact, in 24 years, I lost several thousand pounds of weight. How many of you already know exactly what I'm talking about? But it wasn't until I wrote it down, put a date on it, listed the obstacles I had to overcome, identified the people, the groups, organizations I needed to work with, spelled out a plan of action, set that time limit in there, and identified all of the benefits to me. It was only when I did that that the goal became a reality, and I lost the weight.

For 10 or 15 years, I was going to write a book. You know anybody who's going to do just a whole lot of things, folks? I was going to write a book. But it wasn't until I got busy writing the book and writing the plans first before the book ever materialized. Yale University, 1953, did a study of their graduating seniors. They discovered that only 3% of them had taken all six. of the steps you need to take in setting your goals. Another 10% had taken part of the steps,

but the majority, 87%, beyond graduating from college and becoming a professor or a preacher or a doctor or whatever, very few of the other 87% had taken any of the steps in setting those goals. Now, 1973, 20 years later, they did another study of these graduating seniors. and in the area which you can measure, which is in your career and in your finances, the 3% who had taken all seven steps, that is, they had written down, clearly identified exactly what they wanted, they had put the date on when they expected to get there, they had identified the obstacles they had to overcome, they had spelled out the people, the groups, organizations they had to work with, that identified what they needed to know,

they had developed a plan of action, and they had written it down, why do I want to get there? These 3% had accomplished more than the 97% combined who had not set those goals. Now, if it sound like I'm trying to sell you on having goals, how many of you are getting close already? How many of you are becoming convinced right quick,

like, that you need to have those goals? There's no question about it. The immortal J.C. Penny, many, many years ago, said, give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I'll give you a man who will make history. But give me a man without a gold, and I'll give you a stock clerk. Now, the interesting thing is golds do not care who has them. Let me give you a classic example of the way they work.

In 1950, a war-torn, devastated Japan, a nation which had lost an incredibly high percentage of its young men. Their cities were in ruins. They had been bombed out. But in 1950, they got together, they meaning industry and government, got together and set a goal. The goal was, we're going to be the number one nation in the world during the 1950s in the production of textiles. In 1959, ladies and gentlemen, they accomplished that objective. In 1960, they set another goal. We're going to be the number one nation in the world in the production of steel.

Now, when you understand there's no iron ore in Japan of any significance, there's no coal of any significance, There's no coal of any significance there. We're going to be the number one nation in the world and the production of steel. It seemed like an absurd goal. And yet, they reached their objectives. They had taken all of the steps. In 1970, the Japanese set another goal.

They said during the 70s, we'll be the number one nation in the world in the production of automobiles. They missed it, folks, one year. It took them until 1980. In 1980, they set another goal. And this time, their goal was, we're going to be the number one nation,

in the world and the production of computers and electronics, and they're working very, very hard to reach their goals. Yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, you absolutely must have those goals. You've got to write them down. You've got to put a date on it. You've got to identify those obstacles. You've got to identify the people, the groups you need to work with. You've got to find out what it is you need to know.

You've got to develop a plan of action, and you've got to write it down what's in it for me. Now, that's a formula that I have just given you, pure and simple. Now, if I were to ask you what three times three was, there is that a person here who could not instantly answer it. But if I were to ask you what is 5,128 times 2,165, odds are enormous that very few of you could pop out the answer that quickly. But if I were to say to you, get your pencil and paper out,

figure it out, then all of you could figure it out. Why? you know the formula. Now you see, if you know the formula, it really doesn't make any difference, ladies and gentlemen, what the goal really is. When I started to write the book, I took precisely the same steps that I'm talking about. I wrote down the objective. I wrote down the time I completed or expected to complete the book. I identified the obstacles there. And yes, I know this is repetitious. It's the mother of learning. I wrote out and identified. the people, the groups, organizations I needed to work with, I devised a plan of action to do it,

I spelled out what I needed to know, and I wrote it all down, what's in it for me. I think most of us would like to be part of that successful group of people with goals, but few of us take the time to sit down and write out our plan for life. The truth is, most of us just don't know how to go about doing it. So here are seven steps to help you start setting goals. First, you've got to identify the goal. Next, you need to set a deadline for achievement. Number three, you need to list the obstacles to overcome.

Number four, you need to identify the people and groups to work with. Number five, you need to list the skills and the knowledge required to reach your goal. Number six, you need to develop a plan of action, and number seven, you need to list the benefits. What's in it for me? These are the seven steps you must take to set your goals. The truth of the matter is, you see, there are seven types of goals, but the formula works exactly the same, whether it's a social goal, a mental goal, a physical goal. Doesn't make it a difference what kind of goal is.

Let me kind of alert you and give you a simple example of why we need to be alerted to why we need some of our goals. For example, is there anybody here who has a race horse worth in excess of a million dollars? Can I see your hands? Okay? Now, if you did have a thoroughbred horse worth in excess of a million dollars, would you keep him up half the night, letting him drink coffee and booze and smoke cigarettes and eat junk food? Now, chances are you'd say, Zegla, that's crazy, of course. Now, how about a $10 dog?

Would you treat him that way? $5. kit? What about a billion dollar body? See, we need goals identified to take care of our physical body. We need family goals. We need career goals. We need spiritual goals. And yes, we also, ladies and gentlemen, need financial goals. Before going any further, it's time to take a personal inventory, kind of a check-up from the neck up to see how you're performing in various areas. of your life. As each area appears on the screen, evaluate yourself on a scale of one to five, five being excellent. Begin with a physical area of your life. Rate yourself on appearance,

medical checkups, exercise programs, weight control, and nutrition. The next area is the family, your listening habits, your forgiving attitude, of being a good role model, time together, supportive of others, respectful and loving. Financial, earnings, your savings and investments. Budget, adequate insurance, charge accounts. Social, your sense of humor, your listening habits, your self-confidence, your manners, and caring. The spiritual, the inner peace, the sense of purpose, prayer, religious study, belief in God. Mental, imagination, attitude, continuing education, reading, and curiosity. Career, job satisfaction, effectiveness, job training,

understanding the job, the purpose, and your competence. Now, review your performance in all seven areas and determine which areas need improvement. We will use this evaluation later in the program to help you set your goals. Now, goals have certain characteristics. For example, we need some big goals and some multiple goals. We need more than one goal.

If you just have one goal, you'll end up being a warped individual. Now, if you only have one goal, chances are good. You're going to reach it if you really work at it as we've been talking about. But you don't want to be warped. You need the balance that we're talking about. I'd set the goal of losing the 37 pounds. Now, that is a big goal. You need big goals.

big goals force you to reach in and utilize the potential which is there. I love the story of old gentleman Jim Corbett, the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Corby was out doing his road work one morning, and he saw a fisherman who was just having a field day. I mean, he was pulling in the big ones and he was pulling in the little ones. And Corbett noticed that as he was running past, the fisherman was putting the little fish in his creel, and he was throwing the big ones back in. He couldn't resist it. He walked over to him or ran over to him and said,

Mr. He said, I've seen a lot of fishermen in my lifetime. But I believe you're the first one I've ever seen who threw the big fish back and who kept the little ones. Now, honey, where would you do a thing like that? And the fisherman sadly shook his head. And he said, man, I hate to do it. But he said, I don't really have any choice. I have to throw the big ones back because, you see, all I've got is just this little old biddy frying pan.

Now, before you laugh too, Brody, let me point out. he's talking to you and about you. And he's talking about me. So many times we get the big goal, the big idea of the big dream, something that would make a big difference not only in our lives but otherwise, and no sooner do we get this big goal and say, oh, no, Lord, don't give me such a big one. All I got is just this little old bitty frying pen.

Give me a little one, just a little one. Don't make me stretch. Besides, you know, if the gold was any good, if the idea was any good, somebody else would already thought about it. Just give me a little one. Folks, you've got to have some big goals in life, because it's the big goals which really make you reach in and use the resources which are at your disposal. And the resources you have are awesome. Emerson was absolutely right. When he said, what lies behind us and what lies in front of us pales in significance when compared to what lies within us. you've got within you the capacity to reach some of those big goals.

Now, you need to follow the steps we're talking about because that makes them sensible and sound and logical, but we need some dreams. We need some big goals. One of my goals was to lose 37 pounds because I was sick and tired of being sick and tired in a nutshell. And one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life was to discipline myself to get on that exercise program,

requiring the jogging and requiring the dieting. Up until then, you see, my idea of exercise had been simply to fill the tub, take a bath, pull the plug, and fight the current. I mean, you know, that was it. And anyway, you cut it, folks, that really is not much of an exercise program. And I finally got on it,

and I went to work to lose that weight. Now, it took 10 months. That was a big goal. It was a goal which made a definite difference in my life. Writing the book was a big goal. It made a definite difference in my life. Now, you've got to have some long-range goals as well, ladies and gentlemen. Now, I don't want to be negative.

Matter of fact, I'd be like the little boy who came home to school one day and said, Dad, I'm afraid I flunked the Rhythmatic test. His dad said, son, that's negative. Be positive. He said, Dad, I'm positive. I flunked that Rhythmic test. Now, I'm absolutely positive, folks, that you're going to have some difficulties in your life.

In front of you, ladies and gentlemen, there is trouble. Some of friends of yours are going to disappoint you. Your employer or employees are going to disappoint you. There's going to be some setbacks and reversals that you absolutely cannot understand. There are going to be things happen in your future that will frustrate you, flabbergast you, amaze you, disgust you, and everything else.

And that's the reason you've got to have long-range good. goals. You see if you've got those specific long-range goals, ladies and gentlemen, and then when things don't go exactly your way, you will treat the setbacks as a pebble on the beach. If you don't have those goals, you'll treat it as if it were the whole ocean front. You've got to have long-range goals. And the reason you need long-range goals is because the long-range goals help you to deal with and overcome those short-range things. The rule is very simple. You go as far as you can see, and then when you get there, you'll always be able to see further. I set my goal to lose 37 pounds in 10 months. That was my objective. And as I looked at it, 37 pounds in 10 months, I knew, and I knew in my own mind that I could reach that goal of losing 37 pounds in the 10 months.

But we've got to break things down. Like when I get aboard that aircraft in Dallas going to Atlanta, you see, for the first 20 minutes, we'll be headed straight towards Atlanta. But after 20 minutes, we'll no longer be going to Atlanta. Don't know where we'll be going, but he won't be Atlanta, Georgia. Because the direction of the wind will change, the velocity will change. The gravitational pull of the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars will all blow that airplane off the course.

And so the captain of the aircraft will turn the aircraft around, fly back to Dallas, land, and start over. Just saying if you're paying attention, how many of you, how many of you know perfectly good and well he's not going to do that? He's going to make a different heading. Is he not, he's going to change the course? You see, when you have those long-range goals,

a lot of times things happen to you. Well, you don't abandon the goal. As my younger brother, Judge Ziegler says, you don't change your decision to go. You simply change your direction. in order to get there. See, we can't always predict what's going to be out there. When I set the goal of losing the 37 pounds in 10 months,

I broke it into 10 parts. 10 months I was going to do it. That's 3.7ths pounds per month. Now, folks, I knew I could lose 3 and 7 tenths pounds a month. You see, that's less than a pound a week. I knew, and I knew that I knew that I could lose 3 and 7 tenths pounds a month. As a matter of fact, I was so certain that I could that I didn't even bother to get started the first 28 days.

I mean, if you know exactly what I'm talking about, I mean, listen, man, the contest is six months. Why get all exercised about it the first week? Or, but mom, school just started. We've got nine more months. Why should I knuckle down and study now? Oh, look, I've got all week to get the correspondence out, boss man or boss lady. Why should I have hustled so hard today?

But, you know, time marches on. 28 days, and then I realized what was happening. I was raised in a little town of Yazoo City, Mississippi. Now, I know that a lot of folks go around the country trying to impress people by claiming to be from Yazoo City. But I really am. Now, when I was a boy, during the Depression, we lived next door to some rich folks.

I knew they were rich for two reasons. Number one, they had a cook. Number two, the cook had something to cook. And during the Depression, that was a sure sign of wealth. I was over there for lunch one day as I tried to be every day. And I don't misunderstand that. Even though there was a depression on, we certainly had plenty to eat at my house. I know we had plenty because if they ever passed my plates for seconds,

they always tell me, no, you've had plenty. So I know we had plenty. Now, the cook brought the biscuits out, and this is not an exaggeration. Those biscuits were not as thick as my wristwatch. And I looked at it for a moment. I said, Maude, what in the world happened to your biscuits? She reared back, gave a big old time of laugh, and said, well, I'll tell you about those biscuits. She said they squatted to rise.

But she said they just got cooked in the squat. You know anybody that's getting cooked in the squat? You know anybody who's going to do something just as soon as, or they're half of mind to do such and such things? You ever have anybody say, well, you know, wait till the kids get out of school and then I'll really get involved in this project. We've got so many things going on right now. Wait until they're out of school. Wait a little summer time comes, and then I'll really get out of school. really get busy.

The kids get out of school. You know what they say then? Well, you know, I didn't realize if they got to take the kids somewhere every day. I had more time when they were in school, waiting to get back in school, and then I'll really get busy. Kids get back in school, you know what, they say then?

Well, you know, for the first time in 19 years, dear old Central High has finally got a winning football team, and you got to support their kids there. Wait after the football season is over, then I'll really get busy. Football season, then, you know what they say then? Well, here it is Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's, and people don't want to be bothered with this sort of thing this time of year.

Wait after the first of the year. man then I'll really get busy. After the first year you know what they say? Well it's the weather. Did you ever see weather like this in Chicago or San Francisco or Dallas or wherever? Wait a little weather settles down and then I'll really get busy. Oh I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I've lost interest in it but that's not the way I do they. Let me let me take the way I do things now. Here's the way I am. See the way I do things is I get everything organized. I get it lined up. I have everything in just such and such order. And then, man, once I get it all put together, that's when I really get after. I mean, that's just the way.

I've always been that way. Do things that way. I know some of these other folks are head of me right now, but you just wait, I'll catch them. But this weather, it is just so horrible. Wait until it clears up. And the weather clears up, you know what, they say then? Well, here it is. It's Easter time. And Easter time, you know, that's a family time, and we always spend a lot of time together. And you said so yourself. The family is extremely important, do you? You do the work. for the family and if you can't spend some time with them you might as well not do all the work I mean wait till after Easter's over then I'll really get busy and then after you see you know what they say at long last we've got some beautiful weather and I

have a hit a golf ball or wet a hook and I don't know when man I got to have some R and R and I got to have some rest and relaxation and you know you said if you can't work all the time I mean an individual needs some time with themselves wait till I relax a little bit and man then I really get after it and finally they get after a little bit you know or when they have the fun and relaxation, then they say, well, it's almost time for the kids to get out of school. And that's where we came in. As we'd say down home, folks, you can put this in your pipe and smoke it, because it's the truth. The people who wait for Aunt Matilda to move out, or John to get on the day shift,

or the new models to come out, or the new mayor to come in, or for the new advertising campaign to get started. The people who wait on the new senator in Washington are, in until inflation slows or the rate of interest come down, the people who wait for changes to take place out there before they do the changing in here are flat going to end up getting cooked in the squat. The rule is simple. You do it now. You do it now.

When I analyzed what I had to do, when I wrote it down and understood my objective, that all I had to do was lose 1 and 29, 1 and 29 hundreds ounces per day. Then 10 months later, to the inch, to the ounce, and to the day, I had lost the weight. The truth of the matter is, in writing the book, it's a 384-page book. It's entitled See You at the Top. We've sold in excess of a million 500,000 copies.

I wrote 1.26-pages a day for 10 months. You see, to reach your goals, ladies and gentlemen, it does not involve monumental undertakings every day of your life. But what it does involve is a lot of commitment, a lot of decision, and working on it in a relentless, steady, committed basis. You've got to do something every day. When I broke it down into that specific thing, you see, goals are got to be specific. You can't make it as a wandering generality.

You absolutely must become a meaningful specific. You can take the hottest day the world has ever seen. Take the most powerful magnifying glass you can buy in any store and hold that magnifying glass over a pile of newspaper clip and is on that hottest day and you'll never start a fire. If you keep the glass moving. But the moment you hold that glass still, harness the power of the sun, multiply it through the glass and boom, you've got a fire.

You've got to have specific goals. My goal was specific. Write the book by July 4th. lose the weight at the same time to the inch, to the ounce, and to the day, it all came to pass. You've got to have those specific goals. During this program, we've asked you to prepare a dream sheet and a self-evaluation sheet. Look at your self-evaluation sheet and determine which areas need improvement. Set some specific goals for these areas.

Now take your dream sheet and itemize only those things which you've done. truly want to achieve. Combine these items with those from the self-evaluation sheet, and you will have a comprehensive list of your major goals. From this new list, select at least two goals you will work on every day. It will be easier to select these goals if you remember that for each goal, you must answer yes to these five questions. Number one, is it really my goal? Two, is it morally right and fair? Number three, are my short-range goals consistent with my long-range goals? Number four, can I commit myself emotionally to complete the project?

And number five, can I visualize myself reaching this goal? For each goal you plan to work on daily, set a deadline for achievement, list the obstacles you need to overcome, identify the people in groups you need to work with, List the necessary skills and knowledge. Develop a plan of action and list the benefits you will receive. Then periodically re-evaluate each of your goals. When one goal is reached, replace it immediately with another. Your emphasis on certain goals may change,

so it is critical to review your goals list regularly. Now, the question often comes with all of us. If we want to reach our goals, how do you go about it? Do you share your goals with other people? That possible is the most often asked questions of all to me. How and who do you share your goals with? And the rule is basically fairly simple. If it's a give-up goal, you share it with everybody. If it's a go-up goal, you share it only with those people whom you love and trust and whom you know are going to be supportive of you. Now, for example, a give-up goal, if I'm going to give up eating too much or drinking too much, if I'm going to give up smoking, if I'm going to give up cussing, if I'm going to give up being mean and nasty and ornery, any of the give-up goals like that, I want to share it with other people because others are supportive and they will encourage you in that.

But for example, if you're a salesperson and your goal is to be the number one sales lady in the organization or the number one salesman in the organization, and you go to another one of the sales ladies and say, hey, I'm going to be number one sales lady in this whole organization, this whole year. And that lady's objective was to do the same thing. Do you think she's going to say to you, yeah, you can sure do it when all the time she's wanting to do it? Uh-uh. But if you go home and tell your husband or your wife, yes indeed, I'm going to be number one this year. You'll get the encouragement and the support there, which is so extremely important.

Yes, you really have to have that understanding of goals. If they're give up goals, share them with everybody. If they're go-up goals, share them only with the people whom you know will give you the support. Want to reach your goals? You've got to make a commitment. Now, one of the basic problems in life is so many people do not make commitments. When I was losing that weight, one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life, was continue to deny myself the food which I so dearly love, especially the sweets.

And it was really tough to get involved in all of that jogging. But I had made a commitment. And because the commitment was made, I really decided I was going to stay with it. I had another commitment. When I wrote the book, one of the first things I put in there was that I weighed 165 pounds and that I had a 34-inch waistline. I had it typeset. Now, at the time I put that in there, I weighed 202 pounds and had a 41-inch waistline.

Now, the reason that's important is very simply this. I could not get a publisher to publish the book initially for me. Later, it was no trouble. But initially, I could not. I had to publish the book myself. And in there, I decided to order 25,000 copies. A friend said, if you sell 25,000 copies, you got yourself a bestseller. So I ordered 25,000 copies of the book.

Now, let me tell you something about books. The first copy costs you more than the next 24,999. And those 24,999 ain't cheap. I'm talking about a whole bunch of money. Now, I made a financial commitment to buy those books. I also had written in there that I weighed 165 pounds. Now, let me tell you something about human nature. If I tell you one lie and you catch me in it,

from here on in everything I say, you're going to put a question mark after it. If you tell me a lie and I catch in it from here on in everything you say to me, I'm going to put a question mark in it. In my book, I wrote a weight 165 pounds. I had 25,000 copies of the book. Now, you can imagine what would happen if I had not lost the weight. Now, I got a warehouse full of books, sent away 165, and I come waddling out at 202. And your next question would be, I wonder what else he lied to me about.

Friends, I made a commitment there. There is no question about it. You got to make a commitment. And you got to understand something which is extremely important, and that is that you're vocabulary makes a great deal of difference in your success in life. I got to apologize for those people who've heard me do this. But for years, I went around the country and with a strained expression on my face and pain in my voice, I'd say, you gotta pay the price. Sound like a dying calf in a snowstorm. And what a bunch of baloney that was. I'll never forget nine months of

hating jogging and hating joggers. How many of you hate joggers? Can I see your end? Okay? For nine months, I really hated those joggers. You know, every time I saw one, he's jumping up and down and saying, man, it makes you feel so good. It gives you so much energy. And there I was, hating and hurting. Every step I was taking and fussing about it, too. And then that day in Portland, Oregon, never forget it, if I lived to be 150. Beautiful spring day. Temperature of about 78 degrees. It was high noon. I was running on Portland, Portland State University campus had a seminar at four o'clock. This was high noon. And as I was running out there that day, I noticed a lot of the students were laying on blankets. Some were reading, some were studying, some recording, some were snoozing. And here comes old Ziegler, running by. Sweat running down my back, sweat running down my legs. And all of a sudden it hit me that for the first time I was really enjoying running. I was having a ball. And that day I changed my vocabulary.

The truth is, folks, you don't pay the price for good health. You enjoy the benefits of good health. You don't pay the price for setting goals. You pay the price for not setting those goals. You enjoy the benefits of reaching those goals. You don't pay the price for a good marriage. You pay the price for a poor one. You enjoy the benefits of the good one.

You don't pay the price for good health. You pay the price for poor health. You enjoy the benefits of good health. Yes, your vocabulary really does make a great deal of difference as to whether or not you reach your goals or not. We definitely need to keep it positive because you see the mind takes whatever picture you paint in it and goes to work to complete that picture.

I want to emphasize that what you get, by reaching your goals is not nearly as important as what you become by reaching them. The attitudes, knowledge, and skills, and habits developed by people with goals are of infinite value in the tomorrows of their lives. With goals, you can more fully realize your maximum potential because goals enable you to know, be, do, and have more. Use your mind and talents fully. Have more purpose and direction in life. Make better decisions. Be more organized and effective.

Do more for yourself and others. Have greater confidence and self-worth. Feel more fulfilled. Be more enthusiastic and motivated. And yes, accomplish some uncommon projects. Want to reach your goals? You've got to know how to train fleas. Now, just as a matter of curiosity,

how many of you in this audience do not know how to train? fleas. Can I see your hands, please? Boy, it looks like I got to you just in time. And I know you heard the one about the two fleas at the bottom of the hill and one of them said, well, do we walk or take a dog? Well, anyhow, you train fleas by putting them in a jar and you put the top on the jar, and those fleas will jump up and they'll hit that top over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. and you watch them jump for a long period of time, and they'll keep on jumping and hitting and jumping and hitting, and you watch them, and then all of a sudden you'll notice

that even though they continue to jump, they will no longer be hitting the top, literal truth. Then you can take the top off, and they'll jump and jump and jump and jump and jump and jump, but they cannot, I repeat, they cannot jump out. And the reason they cannot jump out is because they've been conditioned to jump just so high. And once they've conditioned themselves to jump just so high,

And once they've conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that's all there is. There ain't no more. Man is precisely the same way. He starts out in life to climb the mountain, to write the book, to break the record, to do something with his life. And along the way, he bumps his head, he stubs his toe, and he becomes what I call a sny-op. Now, a s-n-op, and that is spelled S-N-I-O-P, is a person who is susceptible to the negative influence. of other people. Classic example that everybody will instantly recognize is the four-minute mile. For years and years and years,

athletes the world over had tried to run a mile in four minutes. But because they were sniops, they could not do it. The coach had taken his watch out and said, man, there ain't no way you can do it in four minutes. Maybe 402, maybe 405, but not four minutes. The doctors had put their stethoscope on the athlete's heart and said, a four-minute mile, you've got to be kidding. Man, nobody will ever do that.

heart will come right out of the body. It is impossible, and nobody could run a four-minute mile until a fleet trainer named Roger Bannister came along and ran a mile in less than four minutes. When Bannister ran the mile in less than four minutes, athletes the world over started running miles in less than four minutes. Landy of Australia did it less than six weeks later. I was in New Zealand last year, and the man over there, Thompson, I believe is his name, though please don't home into that, had just run his 100th four-minute or sub-four-minute mile. A 37-year-old man ran a mile in less than four minutes. There have been four or five races where eight young men all broke the four-minute barrier in the same race. Now, what am I saying with all this? I'm saying that

Roger Bannister got something started. And I'm also going to tell you that Roger Bannister understood more about gold-setting than just about anybody you will ever know. He's a He didn't just train superbly and go run a sub four-minute mile. Yes, he trained extraordinarily hard, but he measured his stride. He timed himself for the 100, the 220, the 440. He had pacer's who paced him for the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter. He did it as scientifically and as carefully as any gold setter I've ever seen in my life. Yes, Roger Bannister is a flea trainer.

What's a flea trainer? A flea trainer is a person who's driven from within. They're not influenced by the SNI-OPS and the negative people in life. A flea-trainer is an individual who jumps out of the jar. A flea-trainer understands that you can get everything in life you want if you'll just help enough other people get what they want. Flea trainers don't tell others where to get off. Flea trainers show them how to get on.

Flea-trainers don't try to see through other people. Flea-trainingers see. other people through. I want to reach your goal, ladies and gentlemen. You absolutely must become a fleet trainer. And you've got to build a winning attitude. We could talk three days, three weeks, three months about building winning attitudes.

Harvard University did an exhaustive study on it. Discover that 85% of the reason that people get jobs and get ahead in those jobs is because they have the right mental attitude. The Cox Report, involving well over a thousand corporate executives, these men and women were asked the question, how important do you think your attitude is

in accomplishing your objectives of becoming corporate executives? 49% of these men and women said that their attitudes were extremely significant. 46.5% said they were significant. In other words, 95.5% of these more than 1,000 executives said their attitude. were significant or extremely significant. To reach your goals, yes indeed, you absolutely must have the right mental attitude. And ladies and gentlemen, let me say,

without any hesitation at all, if you're going to reach your goals, you've got to get other people involved. You simply cannot reach major objectives entirely on your own. You've got to understand that influence other people, people have, and the help they can give you will play a major role in what you do. When I was a small boy down in Yazoo City, Mississippi, I never shall forget there was an abandoned section

of the railroad track, and as boys will do, we often went down there, and one of our little games was to see how far we could walk on that railroad track without falling off. And we'd take a few steps, and we'd fall, and we'd take a few steps, and we would fall. Had we only understood that two of us could simply have gotten parallel with each other, reached across the rails, and held hands that we could have literally gone indefinitely without falling off. When business, when management and labor, understand that they're on the same side, when husbands and wives and children understand that they're on the same side, when employer and employee understand that they both have the same objectives, when they begin to work,

together, that's when everybody really benefits the most. You look at the Super Bowl teams every year, and by and large you're going to have the Super Bowl team that number one had major objectives, that was it. And incidental, did you realize that they spend over 3,000 hours each team preparing for that specific event? Did you realize that the average American spends infinitely more time, planning a vacation than they do planning their lives? Did you realize that more people spend more time planning the wedding than they do the marriage? You see, we need, ladies and gentlemen, we need those specific objectives, and we need to work together on these things if we really are going to work at our maximum

and the most people benefit the most. You need to work together. There's a matter of curiosity, how many of you've ever seen a flock of Canadian geese? overhead. Can I see your hands? Okay? If you have, you will notice three things about those Canadian geese. Number one, they always fly in a V formation. Number two, if you will notice them, one leg of the V is always longer than the other leg of the V. And number three, if you follow them carefully enough and long enough, you'll notice there's a considerable amount of confusion in the flock. Now, just as a matter of curiosity, how many of you have ever wondered why one leg of the V is always longer than the other one? Can I see your hands, please?

Well, let me explain that the longer leg is longer because it has more geese in it. You know, I don't know why, but that silly thing just really grabs me. I can't wait. I can't wait to get to that particular one, okay? Now, the reason there's confusion in the flock is that periodically they change the leadership of the flock of geese. Now, the reason they fly in a V-formation is because in wind tunnel test, they've discovered that the flock of geese can fly 63% further than the individual goose could fly. What they do, the lead goose in fighting the headwind creates a partial vacuum. off either wing and those other geese are flying in a partial vacuum. He grows tired very easily or more quickly than the others and so they replace leadership real often to give the leader a rest. But by

working together, they can fly 63% further. In reaching your objectives, yes indeed, you really do need to work with other people. If you're going to reach your goals, ladies and gentlemen, you've got to get in shape. Now, I want to end. emphasize something here, which I believe is enormously important. In order to reach all of our goals, we need to get in shape spiritually, because that is a very definite factor in our life. We have spiritual goals, but we need spiritual help a lot of times to reach all of the other goals. It requires study. It requires prayer. It requires involvement there. We need to get in shape physically, ladies and gentlemen, because I don't care what your objective is.

I can share this with you without any reservation. When I got in shape physically, I was able to do a lot more things with my career because the energy level increased rather dramatically. I have far more energy now than I had when I was 25 years old. They tell me, the psychologists do, for example, that when I make a one-hour presentation, but I burn more raw energy than a laboring man does in a 10-hour day.

So when I do six and eight hours a day or even three or four hours in a day or even one hour in a day, I have burned some energy. As you can tell, I speak at about 280 words a minute with gust up to about 550. I mean, you know, I burn some energy. I move it on out. Now, you also need to understand that if you're going to reach your goals, you've got to become attentive to the details in your life. A lot of little things that many people overlook and you need to become aware. on a daily basis of what you're doing towards those goals.

Now I'm not trying to get you to be as detailed-oriented as the executive vice president of our company. I mean, he proof reads the X-ROTs copies. I don't think, you know, that's what we're talking about. But it is the little things that make the big difference. You call a girl a kitten, for example, and she'll love you. Call her a cat. You see, you got a problem there.

You can say she's a vision, you score all kind of points. Call her a sight. You're in bad trouble. It's one thing to tell a young lady that she looks like the first day of spring. It's another thing to tell her she looks like the last day of a long, hard winter. I mean, there is a difference. It's the little things. Fellas, if you look at your wife and say, you know, honey, when I look into your eyes, the wheels of time just stand still. That's beautiful. That's portrait. That's motivating. That's exciting. But can you imagine what would happen if you were to look at her and say, you know, honey, you got a face that's stop a clock. It's the little things. If this watch of mine were four hours wrong, I wouldn't have any trouble with it. I can tell you, so if my watch is four hours wrong, but if it's four minutes wrong, I'm in trouble.

For example, tomorrow morning I catch a flight at 8.20. Now, if my watch is four minutes wrong, and I get there at 824, see what the problem of me? I made a deal with the airlines that, you know, if I was not there when they got ready to go, that they were just to go ahead without me. And I found out last year that they live up to their end of the agreement. I found out also it's easier to catch those dudes before they leave the ground. All of that to say, it's the little things that make a big difference.

If you want to reach your goals, ladies and gentlemen, not only must you be detailed-oriented, looking after the little things, but you also must literally be able to see the reaching. When I had my physical examination at the Cooper Clinic preparatory to losing the weight and getting on the exercise program, one of the things I did over there, and this is kind of ugly,

but I had not read Anne Leonard's at the time, and I'll use it as my excuse, although I really knew better. You know, Anne says you're not supposed to steal pages out of other folks' magazines. There was a magazine at Dr. Cooper. office. It was an old magazine now. And there was a picture in it advertising jockey shorts. Now, I don't know if you folks read the jockey short ads or not. But if you don't read

the jockey short edge the next time you see one, you ought at least look at a picture. You'll find out in a hurry they don't put jockey shorts on fat boys. I mean, they just don't. At least they don't have a good year. Now, I took that picture of that fellow in those jockey shorts and I hung it up in my bathroom, and I said, now there's my hero. That's the way I'm going to be. That's the way I am going to look. Well, the next morning at 5.30, the opportunity clock sounded off.

Negative people call them alarm clocks. You know, the opportunity, I mean, if you can hear it, that gives you an opportunity to get up and go. You know what I mean. Opportunity clock sounded off. I rolled out of bed, put on my fancy running outfit. I just got and hit the front door and ran a block, literally. Did better the next day I ran a block.

and a mailbox. Did better than that the next day I ran a block in two mailboxes. I'll never forget what happened. And finally one day I ran a half a mile, then a mile, then two miles, then three, then four, then five. But every time I went in the bathroom, ladies and gentlemen, I saw the picture of that guy in the jockey shorts. That became my goal right there.

I visualized myself as looking just like that guy right there. I'm going to look like this man in the jockey shorts. The truth of the matter is we really do need to have a clearly defined target. We need to be able to literally see ourselves as reaching that objective. For many, many years before I ever succeeded, quote, on the platform as a speaker, it was my dream to do exactly that. I cannot begin to tell you the tens of thousands of speeches I made in my mind, in order to reach that particular goal.

I visualized every speech imaginable. And the beautiful thing about imagination, you see, is you can visualize any kind of speech and any kind of response you want. In these speeches, which I made in my mind, and boy, do I ever wish we could have recorded just one of them? You're talking about speeches. You've heard about speakers having folks rolling in the aisles.

I had them rolling up and down the steps. You heard about standing ovation? My average standing ovation was 11? minutes in my dreams. I mean, listen, I never made a mistake in the speech I had in mind to mind. The audience sat there with incredible rapture and attention. I mean, as if they could not believe that a mere mortal could utter such incredible words of wisdom. I mean, the beautiful thing about the imagination is, you see, you can make it absolutely just right. You've got to have your dreams. But let me tell you something, folks. Be careful about your dreams. Be very

careful. Because you see, when you dream those dreams, when you write them down, when you put a date on it, when you list the obstacles which you have to overcome in order to get there, when you identify the people, the groups, and the organizations you need to work with in order to get there, when you spell out what you've got to know in order to reach your objectives, when you devise that plan of action, that game plan to get there, and when you write it down what's in it for me, when you do all of those things, ladies and gentlemen, and follow some of these other steps that we're talking about and are still talking about,

you're going to be reaching some of those objectives. I can honestly look you in the eye and say that virtually every major objective I've ever said in my life has been reached. And I honestly believe that the rest of them will be reached. When you follow the steps with firm conviction, when you've made your commitment, when you do all the things we're talking about, things are going to happen in your life.

Now, if you'll notice I've not even hinted throughout, this entire presentation that it is easy because it is not. As a matter of fact, I'm absolutely convinced that life is tough. But the point is you've got to be tough on yourself. And when you're tough on yourself, then life is going to be infinitely easier on you. I can tell you it's fun. I can tell you it's exciting. I can tell you it's rewarding. And I can tell you that when you follow all of the steps we're talking about, that all the goals we've been talking about, the physical, the mental, the spiritual, the social, the career goals, the financial goals, they all come to pass. You see, the interesting thing is, as we look at our goals, there's no such

thing as an individual goal. When I set the goal, for example, of writing that book, only that one in 2600s pages a day, little did I realize that it would have such a bearing on my social, You'll be amazed at the people that invite me to a free dinner now since I wrote a book. I mean, it affected my social life, but you know what? It also affected my family life because I had to do a lot of research to put it together. It improved our relationship. It improved my spiritual life because, again, I had to do some research there. It definitely improved my physical life because I tied it in.

Had a dramatic impact on my career. Had an impact in every phase of my life. of my life, your goals are going to do the same thing. There's no such thing as an isolated goal. They're all tied in to so many of your other goals. In order to reach your goals, we need to be able to visualize all of them. Many years ago, in the days of the sailing ship, there was a young sailor who was out at sea for the first time, and he was ordered aloft to trim the sails because a squall was coming up. And as he started to climb up, he made the mistake of looking down. And the roll of the ship and the turbulence of the sea combined to cause him to become nauseated,

and he started to lose his balance and fall. An older sailor underneath shouted up at the young man, look up, son, look up! And the young sailor looked up and immediately regained his balance. You see, the message is very clear. When the outlook isn't good, Try the uplook. It's always good. And when things don't look good, look to make absolutely certain that you're not facing in the wrong direction.

As Helen Keller so eloquently put it, when you're looking at the sun, you won't see the shadows. And when you're looking towards your objectives, which you've set, you won't be seeing so many of the obstacles as you reach towards those goals. Many years ago, as some of you know, the great Houdini was in his heyday.

Some people said that Houdini was the greatest magician who ever lived. He was also the master locksmith. He made the boast that he could get out of any jail cell in the world. If you'd let him walk in that jail cell with a street clothes on, he would be out in less than an hour. A small town of the British Isles built a new jail. They were tremendously proud of it, but they didn't believe Houdini or anybody else could get out of their jail.

And so they challenged him to come give it a try. There's a lot of publicity, a lot of money involved. Houdini liked both of those things, so he accepted the challenge. There was a lot of the publicity going in. The drums were beating, the bugles were blaring, and Houdini strode triumphantly into the jail cell. They closed the door behind him. Houdini took his coat off and secreted in his belt was a 10-inch piece of steel.

Very tough, very flexible, very durable. And he went to work on the lock. At the end of 30 minutes, the confident, even arrogant expression on Houdini's face had disappeared. At the end of an hour, he was absolutely bathed in perspiration. At the end of two hours, he actually collapsed and fell against the door, which opened, because it had never been locked. Anywhere, except in Houdini's own mind. which meant very simpler that it was locked more securely than if every locksmith in Britain

had put their best locks on the door. I got to tell you, folks, there are a lot of people who can stop you temporarily. But I'm also going to look you right in the eye and tell you that you are the only one who can stop you on a permanent basis. And I've got an idea as you digest what we've been covering

in this hour together, that you're not going to let anybody else stop you on reaching those worthwhile goals, and you're certainly not going to stop yourself. But let me say this. What you get by reaching your goals is not nearly as important as what you will become by reaching the goal that many people said you would not make when you started out. I close with this. by these ideas, follow these suggestions, adopt these procedures as your very own, follow them right through to completion, and I'll definitely see you.

And yes, I really do mean you at the top. Thank you for tuning into this episode. If you're enjoying the content, you can access exclusive material by becoming a subscriber. Continue strengthening your mind by listening to our other episodes.