SEE YOU AT THE TOP

by Zig Ziglar

  THE CLEAN DESK

  There probably isn’t a person who will read these pages who hasn’t gone into a business office and seen a desk buried with work. It is covered with everything from yesterday’s newspaper to today’s emergencies to last year’s tax returns and next month’s budget projections. You and the owner of the desk both make the same comment, “You can always tell a busy person . . . ”

  You can also tell something about the earned income of the person behind the desk. Almost without exception, if the desk is piled high and cluttered, we have a person who has an earned income of less than $60,000 a year. Some notable exceptions would be authors, salesmen, sales managers, and entrepreneurs who do their thinking and planning away from their desk. Now, a clean desk does not necessarily mean a big income, but the overwhelming majority of the people who earn in excess of $100,000 a year will have a clean desk.

  Here’s why. Many times you’ve been at your cluttered desk with several things to do. You were busily working on one project when your vision “picked up” a stray piece of paper on the desk and you inadvertently reached for it. Instead of focusing your mind on the problem at hand, you dissipated your concentration into several areas. You were dealing with a dozen different problems—and not really concentrating on any of them.

  Now, focus is really your capacity to center or concentrate on a specific subject. So, take everything off the desk and get it out of sight. Since it’s impossible to do more than one thing at a time, place your projects on the desk—one at a time. Three things will immediately happen. First, the instant the desk is clean, you will feel better psychologically. Second, not only will you be able to do a better job, but you’ll be able to work considerably faster. Third, you’ll be able to find what you need, when you need it, which means a tremendous savings in time for you.

  When you leave a clean desk in the evening, you leave a completed day’s work. Psychologically you feel you’ve accomplished something— you finished a project instead of feeling you left a project. There is a difference. When you start the next day you feel you have a fresh start instead of going back to the same old thing. When you finish and file your work instead of picking it up and putting it down and picking it up and putting it down again, you can turn out more and better work. The sense of relief of staying “caught up” is fun. To know you’re doing more and being more is also fun. It has a built-in positive reward.

  WARNING

  Since the subconscious mind accepts without question what we “feed it” and has a perfect memory, many things can be detrimental to us when we leave our minds open to everything. For example, much of the music being played today advocates the use of drugs, violence, “free love,” trial marriages, and “doing your own thing,” regardless of how it might affect others. When this kind of irresponsible garbage is “dumped” with a rhythmic beat into an open mind, the results can be disastrous. The Manson case is a tragic example. Charles Manson’s motivation for the sadistic murders of Sharon Tate and her friends was planted in his mind by the message in a Beatles recording. This is one of the major reasons no one should go to sleep with the radio playing. You can’t sleep as well, and you literally leave your mind open as a catchall for every wild idea that is broadcast.

  This could account, in part, for some of the unpredictable behavior of some people, and explains why some “open” minds should be “closed for repairs.” Much of what I’m saying about sleeping with the radio on, etc., is just common sense. Common sense tells us it isn’t wise to turn our minds over to anyone other than possibly a trained and trusted professional who we consciously want to counsel us in spiritual, psychological, or personal growth.

  USE THE SUBCONSCIOUS

  Since the subconscious mind never sleeps, we have extra learning and motivation time while our conscious minds are asleep. Let me give you a simple personal experience that illustrates this use of the subconscious mind. One of our daughters had a bed-wetting problem that concerned us, so we were thrilled to learn about “sleep teaching” and the subconscious mind. We decided to try an experiment. After she fell asleep, either her mother or I would kneel by her side and say, “You are a pretty little girl and we love you very much. Everybody loves you because you are so pleasant, cheerful, and happy. We love you because you only sleep in a warm, dry bed. You always sleep in a warm, dry bed. If you should need to use the bathroom, you’ll wake up in plenty of time.”

  Note: My wife had almost complete responsibility for looking after our children much of the time, and all the responsibility from about

  3:00 p.m. until a little after midnight when I returned home from my cookware demonstrations. In fairness to her and because I wanted my children to know they had a father they could call when they had a need, I had told them to call me when they awoke in the middle of the night. When we first started the sleep teaching process I was home and, as a test, I quietly told my daughter after she was sound asleep that if she awoke and needed to use the bathroom she was to call her mother. Sure enough about 1:00 a.m., loud and clear, I heard “Mommy—Mommy!” I got so tickled I could not have ignored her call if I had wanted to. Message: It really does work.

  You must not give a negative instruction in such a situation. Always talk in terms of the positive. We reinforced this during the day when our daughter was in listening range. We would casually say how pleased and proud we were of her, etc. This was positive reinforcement to the conscious mind for the positive instruction she was taking directly into the subconscious mind. Results were dramatic. In just ten days she stopped wetting the bed and only had one or two “accidents” the rest of her childhood.

  THE STEPS ARE EASY

  The deliberate use of the subconscious mind is an exciting possibility for you, and the benefits are almost unlimited. There are six steps or prerequisites necessary to deliberately use the subconscious mind on a daily basis. First, you should know that everything you’ve ever seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, or thought about has become a permanent part of you. It’s in the computer, stored and waiting for you to use. This computer of yours can take isolated facts acquired over a period of many years and tie them together in a marvelous manner. You can have solutions to problems and answers to questions that will astound you, especially the first few times it happens.

  Second, you should know that the subconscious mind responds to stimuli, not pressure. You can’t “demand” an answer by a specific time. That won’t work. You can stimulate the subconscious into further activity by listening to recorded educational and motivational material. The more forcefully, enthusiastically, and humorously any new personal growth material is injected into the mind, the more usable it is. Best of all, the more new material you add, the more usable the information you already have will become.

  Third, you should remember you can fool or mislead the subconscious mind. If you put the wrong thoughts or information in, the subconscious mind will respond. That’s why it’s so important to be careful about the books you select and read, the company you keep, as well as the TV programs and movies you watch. If you put negative stuff in, you’ll get negative feedback. Computer people call it “Gi-Go”: Garbage In—Garbage Out. That’s one of the major reasons I object to much of the TV programming. When we see a hero or heroine in difficulty, we tend to identify with them. We often acquire the same problems we observe day after day, just as others do. Did you know, for example, that nearly two-thirds of the medical students acquire symptoms of the disease they are studying? This is called “identification” in psychology.

  Fourth, “Don’t take your problems to bed with you” is erroneous advice because that’s the place to solve many of your problems. Here’s how. When you lie down at night, relax and get perfectly still. Then think about the happy experiences of the day and put all disagreeable experiences aside. For those of us who have the extra benefit of believing in Almighty God, we can redirect this step and simply say, “Lord, I know You have the answer, so I’m going to turn the question over t
o You. Now that it’s in Your hands, I’ll patiently await Your solution.”

  That’s called faith, and it’s your reaction to God’s ability. During such a quiet moment at Valley Forge, George Washington found the strength to lead this country to freedom. During another quiet moment at Gethsemane, Christ found the strength for his awful ordeal.

  As you lie there, listen and reflect on all of the blessings that are yours. A quiet confidence will come over you as you listen for words and seek strength that will enable you to succeed and be happy in the game of life. This procedure will enable you to slip stress-free into your deepest sleep. Your security is almost total. Negativisms don’t exist, so your creative or subconscious mind is free to “do its thing.” And as Dr. Robert Schuller says, this tranquillity produces creativity.

  Fifth, expect positive benefits and positive answers to any questions you might have. Remember, good things happen to people who expect good things.

  Sixth, you should have a pen and pad, or better yet, a cassette recorder at your bedside. Many times your subconscious mind will work so swiftly and effectively that you will wake up in the middle of the night with a fabulous idea or a solution to a problem. Regardless of how wide awake you might be when the idea or solution comes to you, odds are you won’t remember it the next day. By recording the thought or idea, you assure yourself of returning to a deep and restful sleep because you know when you awaken the idea or solution will be instantly available to you. For this reason, it is IMPERATIVE that you have a pen and pad or cassette recorder next to your bedside for immediate use. After all, you woke up for a reason; don’t blow it by trying to get five more minutes of sleep.

  As you follow these steps, you’ll be amazed at how fast you get answers to questions. Just as significant is the fact that as you get results, your confidence will grow. This will give you more results, which gives more confidence ad infinitum.

  SEGMENT SIX

  Work

  Purpose:

  I. To sell the idea “there ain’t no free lunch.”

  II. To clarify the difference between “paying the price” and “enjoying the price.”

  III. To introduce you to a new attitude as it relates to your job or profession.

  IV. To explain why you must put something in life before you can get anything out.

  CHAPTER 20

  Workers Are Winners

  FREE LUNCH

  Many years ago, a wise old king called his wise men together and gave them a commission. “I want you to compile for me the ‘wisdom of the ages.’ Put it in book form so we can leave it to posterity.” The wise men left their king and worked for a long period of time. They finally returned with twelve volumes and proudly proclaimed that this truly was the “wisdom of the ages.” The king looked at the twelve volumes and said, “Gentlemen, I’m certain this is the wisdom of the ages and contains the knowledge we should leave to mankind. However, it is so long, I fear the people won’t read it. Condense it.”

  Again, the wise men worked long and hard before they returned with only one volume. The king, however, knew that it was still too lengthy so he commanded them to further condense their work. The wise men reduced the volume to a chapter, then to a page, next to a paragraph and finally to a sentence. When the wise old king saw the sentence, he was absolutely elated. “Gentlemen,” he said, “this is truly the wisdom of the ages, and as soon as all men everywhere learn this truth, then most of our problems will be solved.” The sentence simply said, “There ain’t no free lunch”—and there “ain’t.”

  It’s ironic (or is it hypocritical), that responsible people agree with the “No Free Lunch,” and “You Can’t Get Something for Nothing” philosophy, but often vote for legalized gambling, horse racing, dog racing, and state lotteries. No wonder young people are confused about what Mother and Dad really do believe. A wise man observed that the Success Family has Work as the father and Integrity as the mother. If you can get along with the “parents” you won’t have any trouble with the rest of the family. Work is the foundation of all business, the source of all prosperity, and the parent of all genius.

  Work can do more to advance youth than his own parents, be they ever so wealthy. It is represented in the humblest savings and has laid the foundation of every fortune. It is the salt that gives life its savor, but it must be loved before it can bestow its greatest blessing and achieve its greatest ends.

  When loved, work makes life sweet, purposeful, and fruitful.

  (Anonymous)

  THE CONCRETE MIND

  Let me urge you to keep an open mind as we explore the importance of work. As you probably know, some people’s minds are like concrete— all mixed up and permanently set. Yet we know the mind is like a parachute, functional only when it is open. We also know you can send a message 24,830 miles around the world in less than a second, but it often takes years to penetrate the last 1/4 inch of skull surrounding the mind.

  Many times I’ve see people sincerely motivated and enthused about a philosophy that promises them more in the ball game of life. They listen attentively to the beauty, happiness, joys, and benefits that go with having the right mental attitude, a healthy self-image, setting goals, and all the positive aspects of the philosophy. Unfortunately, many times the practical application of the philosophy goes in one ear and out the other. I would like to stress the fact that the most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won’t work—if you won’t. A wise man expressed it well, “Education covers a lot of ground, but it won’t cultivate any of it.”

  Unfortunately, too many people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job. They’re like this old boy down home. When asked how long he had been working for his company, his reply was a classic, “Ever since they threatened to fire me.” Someone asked an employer how many people he had working for him and he said, “About half of them.”

  Isn’t it amazing the number of people who show up for work and then avoid it like the plague!

  WORK—ALMOST A CURE-ALL

  The wise old king hit the nail on the head. When men learn that if they want to occupy their places in the sun they’ll have to expect some blisters, much will have been accomplished. Work is the price we enjoy to travel the highways of success. We can best guard against losing our shirts by keeping our sleeves rolled up. Many people believe success is dependent upon the glands, and they’re right if they’re referring to the “sweat glands.” America was built by people who worked and pulled on the oars, not by those who rested on the oars.

  It doesn’t matter how smooth and easy the going might be, there are some who’ll lag behind. By the same token, no matter how tough the going might be, there are those who will forge ahead. To quote the oldie, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” The chairman of the board of one of America’s major rubber companies stated that work should be fun. Will Rogers made the observation that “In order to succeed, you must know what you are doing, like what you are doing, and believe in what you are doing.” According to H. M. Greenberg’s psychological evaluation of over 180,000 people, nearly 80% reluctantly go to work every day. They simply don’t like what they do. That is tragic. It’s a small wonder we have second-rate performances and often third-rate merchandise.

  I’m often astonished at the number of people who respond to questions about their work in a completely negative vein. Ask someone how he is doing and he will probably say, “Considering it’s Monday, I don’t guess it’s too bad.” Or “Fine, since it’s Friday.” It’s an unfortunate fact that nearly 80% of the timepieces are used to tell people when to quit work. Small wonder that more workers are known as “eager leavers” than “eager beavers.”

  Recently, while speaking in Las Vegas, I was told on good authority that one of the casinos is large enough to enclose two full-size football fields. Hundreds of devices exist in the mammoth room to separate a patron from his money. In this casino, as in all the other gambling establishments in Las Vegas, you can’t find a single c
lock. No, not one. The reason is obvious. People gamble for a variety of reasons, and initially they enjoy gambling. They become so engrossed in the game they are totally oblivious to time. Obviously, the owners of the casinos don’t want clocks to remind the gamblers of time. As a result, many people gamble until they’ve lost everything they have or until they almost literally go to sleep at the tables. I’m convinced that if gamblers became that engrossed in their careers, they could acquire the material goods and satisfy their psychological needs, which they never can satisfy at the gambling table.

  WORK IS AN ATTITUDE

  When I entered the business world, I often heard speakers elaborate on the enormous sacrifices involved in climbing to the top. Later, after I became a speaker, I frequently repeated these sentiments. However, as the years passed, I realized that most of the men and women who were moving to the top were not “paying a price.” They worked hard because they truly enjoyed their careers and the work involved. The top people in any field get involved in what they are doing, become engrossed, dig in, and their success comes because they love what they’re doing. They choose to spend those hours at their work. They have a job, but more importantly, the job has them. In short, they have a tremendous attitude, which often changes a job from drudgery to pure joy. That is one reason I’ve emphasized the importance of having the right mental attitude.

  Several years ago when I was on a speaking tour of Australia, I met a young man named John Nevin who had that right mental attitude about what he was doing. He was in love with life, his family, and with his job. He not only had a “job” selling World Book Encyclopedia, but the job had him, which meant that his progress was fast and inevitable. In short order he moved from a “part timer” (his regular job was delivering milk) to Managing Director of Field Enterprises for Australia. John went on to become the second non-American to be elected to the Board of Field Enterprises, USA. He is financially secure and grateful that he is living and working in a country that believes in the free enterprise system.