THE NAME HAS BEEN CHAGED NOT THE MESSAGE

Let’s take a walk down Memory Lane;

The year is 1972, The Dow Industrial closed at 1020 for the year, the average cost of a home was $27,550.00, gas was $.55 (55 cents) a gallon, a pair of Wrangler Jeans cost $12.00 and Zig Ziglar published the book Biscuits Fleas and Pump Handles.

I am sure that most of you didn't know any of the above facts and more than likely even less of you has ever heard of Zig’s book Biscuits Fleas and Pump Handles. Well actually I would guess that most of you know it by its more modern name, "See You At The Top".

The original book was named after several of the more popular stories that Zig told in his speeches by the same name, Biscuits (Getting Caught in the Squat), Fleas (How to Become a Flea Trainer), and Pump Handles (You need to put the Work in to get the Rewards out).

I have read "See You At The Top" dozens of times and every time I read it I walk away not only feeling better, but better armed to face the sales world I live in. The book not only gives me the tools I need to help me keep a good attitude, but it gives me the mental strength to face the adversity of the day and keep smiling.

This morning I was helping a friend of mine and fellow sales rep with his elevator speech. As we spoke I reminded him that I had recommended he read "See You At The Top" several months ago. I asked if he had finished it. He told me that he bought it, and he thinks he had finished the first chapter. I called him a real reading machine and gave him a not so kind verbal kick in the seat of the pants and told him to get busy.

I believe that reading is one of the best ways to learn, grow and change. In past posts I have mentioned the name Charlie “Tremendous” Jones. Charlie was a friend of mine who passed away several years ago (2008). Charlie was a well known motivational speaker, author, and business man. He had a saying which he made famous, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read”

Because of the greats like Zig and Charlie I have become an advocate of reading positive motivational and self help books. This morning I recommended to my friend that he start each day with 15 minutes of reading and end each day the same way. I know that no matter what happens in between, 15 minutes in the morning and evening of positive input will overcome any and all negatives of the day (directly out of See You at the Top).

Here is some good news for those of you that say you don’t like to read, just about every great motivational, positive thinking, self help book is available on CD or is downloadable as an mp3 file to your player or phone. That’s right, Charlie would need to change his saying to “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read or listen to”, and I think he would be OK with that.

Lorin