Kid Finds the Trail and Follows
My brother and I were standing in the vestibule after Zig’s speech. We had just took a taxi out to muscle beach to see where Arnold had worked out and now were back at the hotel to gain some knowledge. We had traveled all the way across the country to participate in a seminar given by some marketing and motivational gurus.
Leaning against the wall waiting on the next session here come none other than Zig Ziglar. My brother and I were kind of giddy. We nudged each other saying, here he comes. He was a shorter man and walked with purpose. He came close and I said, ‘Hello Sir.’
He smiled at us and said, ‘Hello Gentlemen, are you guys better than good?’ We responding affirmatively and he smiled, walking on.
We watched him walk away kind of in shock. He’s passed on now but my brother and I both consider it an honor to have spoken with him. I know we’ve listened to enough of his speeches that we can recite many of his unusual little sayings. This man was a self-proclaimed ‘encourager.’ He encouraged millions of people worldwide.
We all need encouragers in our life, whether you get that from a cd or from a live person, it doesn’t matter. You gotta have some positive reinforcement. I know as a kid doing karate in an environment that was less than encouraging I looked to the older guys in the class that took me under their wing and helped me when I had a problem. My main instructor as a child was one of those negative reinforcement types of teachers. You didn’t want to hear your name because if he called it, you were in for some punishment. All human beings respond to negative reinforcement, some rebel and some comply. In my case, I complied as best I could to the demands of a negative re-enforcer.
When I began teaching it didn’t take long to realize people can be just as good when you build them up as when you tear them down, and most of the time even better. I have black belts that are just as good built positively as they were back in the day when they were built from a negative standpoint.
So whatever goal you’re looking to accomplish find you an encourager to aid you along the way. I know it helps…if it’s been done before, there’s someone who has done it and wants to help you do it.
Allow me to help you today improve your quality of life through the training I’ve learned. You don’t have to brave a brand new trail, just find where it starts and follow.
Keep Kicking and God Bless!