Two dollars.
That’s what I paid for a thrift-store copy of See You at the Top. I love books, so I picked it up the way I pick up most books, just to see. When I opened the cover, Zig Ziglar’s signature was inside.
Somewhere along the line, Zig held that book in his hands and signed it for someone. I’ll never know who. But it found its way to a thrift store shelf in Oklahoma, and then to me. It felt like he’d signed it for me.
Zig was born a hundred years ago today, November 6, 1926. He has been one of those voices for as long as I can remember. His quotes, his seminars, his books.
A couple of nights ago I started listening to a program of his I’d never heard before. It was like visiting with an old friend.
He didn’t have it figured out young
I heard him say he was 47 before he could take care of his family the way he wanted to. He’d been in sales for over twenty years. Making ends meet, but not making the progress he wanted.
I’m 48.
We’re fine. I like my work. But I’m not done, and I don’t think I’m supposed to be.
Zig didn’t have everything figured out young. That gives me some grace about where I am.
He owned it
Zig used to tell crowds until he was in his 40s he had been overweight on purpose. They’d laugh, and he’d ask what was so funny. He then said nobody had ever made him eat anything.
It’s a joke, but it’s also the whole lesson. The moment he took total responsibility for it, he could change it. He started jogging in his forties, switched to walking later, and liked to brag that his resting heart rate was 48.
Success in his career and discipline with his body both came later in life, and both started with the same move: owning it.
I’m 48 and I walk daily and am back under a barbell three days a week with my son. Nobody’s making me do that either.
He loved his wife out loud
Zig was devoted to his wife, Jean. He called her “the Redhead,” and you could hear how much he enjoyed her every time he told a story about her.
My favorite: they were looking at a house he didn’t think they could afford, and she sold him on it using his own sales principles. He bought the house. Then he decided to work a little harder to make sure it was worth it.
The signature
Zig was a man of faith and a man of principle. He motivated people, and he was honest. My warning meter never went off listening to him, and that’s rare enough that I notice.
In a lot of ways he’s been a role model for me. I’ve always wanted to be a Zig for people: to speak and write in a way that gives hope, points people back to God, and reminds them they can make choices that make them better.
Zig signed that book for someone he’d never see again. Decades later, it found me for two dollars.
