SEE YOU AT THE TOP

by Zig Ziglar

  Professor Suzuki maintains that virtually anything can be learned by the same method. Looks like he just eliminated another series of “Loser’s Limps” for a lot of people, doesn’t it?

  From cover to cover of See You at the Top I’ve stressed that your rewards in life are due more to your behavior than to your birth. Also, your behavior is tremendously influenced by your associates and by what you put in or allow to be put into your mind. The next incident emphasizes this in an intriguing way.

  WHAT—NO STUTTERERS?

  Several years ago a scientist working with two tribes of American Indians noticed that not one of the full-blooded Indians stuttered. Being a scientist, he wondered if this was a coincidence or if it was characteristic of Indians. His interest and curiosity led him to study every Indian tribe living on a reservation in America. He didn’t find a single Indian who stuttered, so he studied their languages and discovered why none of the Indians stuttered. They don’t have a word, or even a substitute word, for “stutter.” Obviously, if there isn’t a word for stutter, it would be impossible for an Indian to stutter.

  You might grin and feel that information interesting. But, so what? Let’s pursue it a step further. We know that words paint pictures in the mind and that the mind thinks in pictures. For example, if you read or hear the words “fail,” “can’t,” “liar,” or “dumb,” your mind completes the pictures that have been painted by the words. Now, if there is no word for stutter, the mind can’t visualize or paint a picture of a stutter. Results: no stuttering.

  The International Paper Company has statistical evidence supporting their claim that the bigger a person’s vocabulary, the bigger the income. I’m convinced you can build your income, and your enjoyment, and change your life, by changing your vocabulary. Take the word “hate” and remove it from your vocabulary. Don’t see it, think it, or read it. Write, feel, see, and dream the word “love” in its place. Take the word “prejudice” out of your vocabulary. Don’t see, think, or say the word “prejudice.” In its place put “understand.” Take the word “negative” and substitute the word “positive.” Obviously, the list of words to be removed and replaced can be virtually endless—as will be the benefits that follow. Your mind acts on what you feed it. Change your mental diet and eliminate the negative input. You will first reduce, then virtually eliminate, the negative output.

  WHAT AND WHEN DO YOU EAT—MENTALLY?

  By now you should be completely convinced that what you put in your mind is terribly important to you and your future. So the question is, obviously, “How do I feed my mind—when do I find time to eat those mental meals when I’m already running just to stay even?” Let me answer by asking if you heard about the woodcutter whose production kept going down because he didn’t take time to sharpen his axe?

  Think about this: The average man spends over $200 per year, and more time than he’ll admit, dressing up the “outside” of the head (shaves, haircuts, gook, etc.). Nobody knows what the average woman spends doing the same thing. (Personally, I don’t want to know what the Redhead spends!) Question: Doesn’t it make sense to spend at least that much time and money dressing up the “inside” of the head?

  In my judgment, the greatest educational, motivational tool at our disposal today is the cassette player. I value cassette education and motivation so highly that if I had to choose between a compact car with a cassette deck and CD player, or a new Cadillac without those educational tools, I would choose the compact car for my personal use. Strong statement, yes—but not nearly as strong and helpful as cassette education and motivation can be. I do not personally know a self-made millionaire who does not have and use one for motivation and education.

  The range of material available is as endless as the times and places you can use them. A humorous, motivational, educational, or religious message will speed up housework and remove much of the drudgery. You can get ideas and inspiration while shaving, dressing, or applying makeup. You can transform “dead” time you normally spend fighting traffic to “live” time getting the motivation and education that will give you the mental and emotional edge in today’s competitive world.

  BEST OF ALL

  The good news is that your drive to work can be the most significant part of your day—if you plug in your motivational tapes and listen as you drive. The average American spends over 400 hours each year in an automobile, and if you’re in sales you can increase that to as much as 600 hours each year. You can significantly increase your education in “Automobile University.” For example, a University of California study reveals that a person living in a metropolis area could acquire the equivalent of two years of college in three years of normal driving time by listening to cassette recordings. Total usable time you would invest, if you listen while driving, would be almost zero. I might point out that the automobile itself depreciates from the moment you buy it in virtually every case. However, it can be an incredible investment if you turn it into the university it really is designed to become.

  Listening to inspirational material, as well as informative, educational material (and they can and should be the same), can greatly increase your information and the inspiration to get the job done more effectively. Actually, if you have a 20-minute drive to work and the recordings you listen to have been produced before live audiences, the impact in your mind is substantial not only for the information you receive, but the fact is the brain is flooded with many neurotransmitters and you will literally arrive at work not only better informed, but more energized as a result.

  Of all the things I recommend, I believe listening to tapes on your way to work, as well as on your way back home, will have the most impact of virtually anything you can do. As a group, the people who regularly listen to the right cassette recordings are the happiest, best adjusted, most excited group I know. Now combine this with a sound reading program and you are really in business. The rule is—when you are moving—listen. When you are seated—read. This literally saturates your mind with the optimistic outlook on life. It also gives you an excellent overall education and a set of values and attitudes that will be tremendously helpful in your life.

  Reading requires planning, so you might need a new set of reminders to acquire the habit of reading. The standard “explanation” most people give is they don’t have “time.” Obviously, time availability varies, but to say you don’t have “time” to feed your mind is just another “Loser’s Limp.” We do what we have to do and we do what we want to do. Now if we will make time for what we should do (read good literature), we will soon reduce the list of things we have to do.

  Suggestions: Don’t borrow or lend books. Buy them as often as possible and build a library you have personalized with markings for future reference. Keep good reading material in strategic spots around home. (1) By your bed. (2) In the bathroom. (3) Standing up on top of the TV. (4) By your favorite chair. (5) In a quiet spot where you can isolate yourself.

  HERE’S WHAT THE SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO

  Alan Bean (U.S. Navy captain and NASA astronaut) is a man I’m privileged to know on a personal basis. He, too, listens to motivational recordings regularly. Captain Bean, one of the first men to walk on the moon, was the commander of the second sky lab space station mission. He was also involved with the Russian cosmonauts in the joint U.S./Russian space effort.

  Recognizing the critical importance of self-image, goal-setting, proper mental attitude, etc., Captain Bean listened to motivational recordings in his car on his way to work at NASA. I’m naturally pleased that he and his fellow astronauts selected some of my recordings as part of the program they listened to during their 59-day extended flight in space. These recordings covered much of the material you’re reading in this book. I hope you don’t consider it a bad pun when I say this proves that this material is “out of this world.” To show you just how keenly Alan Bean feels about these concepts, he volunteered his rather limited time and offered some invaluable suggestions for this book so all of you might r
eceive additional benefits in your life.

  Let me point out that all astronauts, after every conceivable test known to man, were selected with more care than any group ever chosen for any purpose since the beginning of recorded history. Each one had to have a strong, healthy self-image. Each one had to have the right mental attitude, including mental toughness, discipline, determination, and a super-positive mental attitude. Could you imagine a negative thinker aboard the space capsule wondering if he was going to get back to earth? Each one had to have all these qualities before he was selected for the space program. Obviously, they had to maintain those qualities in order to stay in the program. In addition to their lives being at stake, these men carry national pride and honor. The pressures on them are tremendous.

  World Wide Distributors is the largest distributor of housewares in Canada. At their convention in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the general manager told me that 17 of his top 19 sales people, including his top eleven, listened every day to motivational and sales training recordings. He emphasized they don’t listen because they are the best, they are the best because they listen. As a matter of fact, sales managers and corporate executives everywhere assure me that their top people, almost without exception, listen and read on a regular basis.

  The point I so urgently want to make is this: Men and women who need this kind of motivation less than anyone else on Planet Earth are the ones who seek it, and use it the most. I’m convinced this is the reason they are where they are. For a long time they have been doing the things I’m now urging you to do. The reason is apparently a simple one. The drive that takes men to the top is a drive that thrives on constant nourishment and reinforcement. Men who reach the pinnacle of success in their present professions invariably recognize the fact that there is plenty of room at the top, but not enough room to sit down. They also understand that the mind, like the body, must be constantly nourished. They know if it is important to regularly feed their bodies from the neck down, it makes even more sense to feed them from the neck up. They understand that nourishment must be physical, mental, and spiritual.

  THIS IS AN ILLUSION

  Many people have the erroneous concept that they do not “need” to listen to cassette recordings or read inspirational books except when they are “down” or depressed. The “need” when you are “down” is more obvious, and the benefits can be substantial, but the total long-range benefits could be greater if you listen or read when you are emotionally “up.” The reason is two-fold. When you are “down,” you are more likely to either “grab at straws” and end up with the wrong straw, or take the opposite approach and summarily reject many valuable ideas. When you are down in the dumps, you are more likely to be concentrating on the problem instead of the solution.

  When you are emotionally up and riding high, your optimism and ambition are working overtime. Your imagination is in high gear and you are considerably more responsive to positive suggestions of your capability. You are solution-conscious instead of problem-conscious, so you are more responsive to good ideas and you are far more likely to “act” on these new ideas. That’s when you will raise your performance level considerably. Your attitude, enthusiasm, spirit of cooperation, and value to your employer will pole vault upward. That, my friend, is when you get those raises and promotions.

  Sandy Breighner, one of the most dynamic and completely motivated people I know, reinforces this thought and makes an additional contribution. Sandy, who sells sales training and motivational programs to many individuals and major corporations, points out that a person can often read a book or listen to a tape series and derive so much benefit they move to a higher level of understanding and awareness. From this new level, the person who reads or listens again to the same material will “hear” or “see” things he or she completely missed the first time. This “moves” him or her to a still higher level of understanding and accomplishment. This is the reason any success-minded person should build his own “success” library for ready reference which leads to constant growth.

  This should not be construed to mean you should not seek motivational help when you are down. I just want to make certain you understand that motivational books and recordings can serve as a stepping stone to get you out of the dumps, as a step ladder to get you off mediocrity row, or as an unencumbered escalator to help take you to the top. Initially, you might have to “force” yourself to read and listen on a daily basis, but after you have done it for a time, you’ll discover three things: you’ll enjoy it, you’ll learn from it, and you’ll begin to instinctively and subconsciously take action on what you are reading and learning. Again, those who feed themselves motivational material regularly are the ones who benefit the most.

  In the next two chapters I go into considerable detail concerning both good and bad habits. I’m now discussing a good habit and, as you’ll see, initially it’s necessary to force yourself to take action on this good habit; force yourself to associate with the right people; force yourself to follow the “hand slapping,” “go light” routines; force yourself to listen to the recordings. Do this for 21 days and the habit you “grabbed” will grab you.

  ONLY FOR THOSE SERIOUS ABOUT SUCCESS

  Realistically, the early morning hand slapping bit is not something you will continue as a way of life. Initially, however, it generates instant enthusiasm and produces dramatic results that provide the encouragement you need at the time you probably need it the most. It conditions and prepares your mind for an awakening experience that will give you a richer and more exciting way of life if you give it the full 21-day trial. Now let’s take a look at the best way to continue to grow mentally, physically, and spiritually.

  After arising (with or without hand slapping) and before any negative thoughts or input enter your mind (no newspapers, radio, or TV), go to a quiet “success” spot in your home for your first mental snack. Select an inspirational self-help book (the Bible is an excellent choice) and read 10 to 15 minutes, or listen to an inspirational tape. Next, take a 15minute walk or jog and make a mental note of the good things you observe. Then devote a few minutes to an exercise program prescribed by your doctor and designed to fill a time slot and not to challenge you to do “X” number of anything. Now. Before you rush off with a full head and an empty stomach, eat a nourishing breakfast so you will have the energy to use the good stuff you just fed your mind. Starting your day— every day—with the right kind of mental, spiritual, and physical breakfast will guarantee you a full and rewarding day—and life.

  Yes, I’m fully aware that I am asking you to get up early to do these things. Yes, I know you are already busy and pushed for time, and yes, I know it takes money for books and cassette recordings. However, the time will be returned in the form of greater energy, enthusiasm, and stamina, and possibly several extra years of life. The investment in books and tapes will bring greater earnings plus an infinitely richer and more rewarding life. Actually, I’m suggesting that you invest time and money to make certain you enjoy a richer, fuller, and more rewarding life on a permanent basis.

  CHAPTER 17

  Habits and Attitudes

  FIRST YOU GET THE HABIT

  When you choose a habit, you often choose the end result of that habit. Good habits are difficult to acquire, but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to acquire, but difficult to live with. Almost without exception, bad habits come slowly and pleasantly and, in most instances, the habit has you before you’re aware you have the habit. As a rule, there’s little or no pain involved, although we often find people who learn to smoke or drink or get hooked on drugs, despite the fact they suffered discomfort in the early stages of acquiring these habits.

  Let’s look at smoking, which psychologist Murray Banks contends is a sure sign of a poor self-image. You probably recall taking that first cigarette to be “one of the gang.” Your entire body rebelled and said, “No, No.” However, you “forced” your body to accept the cigarette. You were determined to show your peer group you could be a
“big” boy or girl and smoke like they did. Remember how proud you were the first time you blew a smoke ring and then blew a smoke ring through a smoke ring? How thrilled you were the first time you inhaled without choking? How “sophisticated” you felt when you learned to talk with smoke coming out of your mouth at the same time? And weren’t you excited when you could “casually” do all of these things without revealing you were a newcomer to the “coffin tack” club?

  >Wouldn’t it be nice if you could put cigarettes away as easily as you picked them up? Incidentally, if you are even casually concerned about the effects of smoking you will be pleased to know there is a clinic in Dallas that has tested over 27,000 people for 11 years on a new type cigarette which is half filter and half tobacco. There has not been a single case of cancer. Unfortunately there have been an awful lot of hernias. (Yes, Cindy, that’s a joke.)

  To show you the maturity, or lack of it, behind the thinking that goes with smoking, some authorities estimate that less than 5% of the smokers in America acquired the habit after age 22. This indicates that thinking, mature people who observe smokers for any length of time won’t take up the habit. It’s also significant that 21,000,000 adults and over 100,000 doctors have quit smoking since the link was established between cigarettes and lung cancer.