Born to Win: Find Your Success Code

by Zig Ziglar

When you have the hope that things can change and a plan to make that change possible, then you can take action.

Lots of people say they heard I have retired! I always exclaim, “You heard wrong! You should have heard I was ‘re-fired.’ I’m not going to ease up, let up, shut up, or give up until I’m taken up. As a matter of fact, I’m just getting warmed up.”

“You were born to win, but to be the winner you were born to be, you have to plan to win and prepare to win. Then and only then can you expect to win.”

Twenty-four-hour champions continually equip themselves to win!

But I also know that to be the winner you were born to be, you have to plan to win and prepare to win before you can expect to win. There are a lot of things that have to happen before you can change the world!

man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.

Psychologists will tell you in a New York minute (which, for your information, is thirty-two seconds) that you invariably and inevitably move toward the strongest impression in your mind. The impressions that are most vivid in your mind are the things you want to do. That’s why desire is so powerful and plays a big role in planning. If you really want to do something, it means that it’s something you are going to think about most of the time. When you constantly think about something, you talk about it all the time and you get lots of new ideas about how to make it happen.

Desire is created when something happens in your life that suddenly changes the way you see yourself in relationship to your future.

The fact is that you can have lots of good ideas and you can be exposed to many great opportunities, but if you don’t do something about them, they might as well be non-existent.

Those two qualities are commitment and perseverance. You need commitment to produce the focus and consistency you need to keep your eye on the target. Then you need perseverance to make it over the rough spots and setbacks you will most certainly experience along your journey to success.

I think the information we now have at our fingertips is astounding, and information is a key ingredient in being informed and equipped with the knowledge we need for success. But the level of information in this day and time is far more than any one person can possibly handle and process. You might say we live in a time of “information overload.” The result of information overload is usually distraction, and it dilutes your focus and takes you off your game.

Information overload has the same effect. It can cause us to take our eye off the small things we need to consistently do in order to get the results we need. Commitment is about binding ourselves to a specific course of action.

When tough times happen, we have to persevere through those difficulties and keep pressing on to our ultimate goal and vision. When we get knocked down, we have to get back up and keep on fighting . . . we must stay focused and remember our greatest victories are still ahead.

Much about success is just the result of simply the ability to follow up, follow through, and finish what we started. You’re not beaten by being knocked down. You’re only beaten if you stay down.

Fear is the fatal killer of desire. Fear of failure is a big part of the reason why people procrastinate and avoid putting their plans in writing.

I’ve always agreed with what I heard my friend and fellow speaker Joe Sabah say: “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you do have to start to be great.”

This means you have to be before you can do, and do before you can have.

Let me ask you a question. What is your definition of success? And do you know what success is and what it isn’t? Most people think of success in terms of power or recognition or the accumulation of money and material things. They also try to define it with one sentence or capture it with one central idea. True success has more components than one sentence or idea can contain.

WHAT SUCCESS IS: Success is knowing that you did a great job when you close the door to your office at the end of each workday and head for home. Success is having a home and people to love who love you in return. Success is having the financial security to meet your obligations each month and the knowledge that you have provided that security for your family in the event of your demise. Success is having the kind of faith that lets you know where to turn when there seems to be no place to turn. Success is having an interest or hobby that gives you joy and peace. Success is knowing who you are, and Whose you are. Success is taking good care of you and waking up healthy each day. Success is slipping under the covers at the end of the day and realizing with gratitude that, “It just doesn’t get much better than this!”

WHAT SUCCESS ISN’T: Success isn’t missing dinner with the family several times a week because of working excessively. Success isn’t rushing home from work and hiding out with the TV thinking, “After the day I’ve had, I need my space!” Success isn’t about how to make more money when you already have more money than you can spend. Success isn’t about going to church and ignoring everything you hear. Success isn’t all work and no play. Success isn’t about being so busy that you live on unhealthy fast food, served to you through little windows. Success isn’t spending mental energy worrying about late projects, being home on time, your health, missing your child’s school play, being able to pay your bills, or finding joy in your life. Success isn’t texting while you drive to catch up on your overloaded schedule.

There are six characteristics that comprise the foundation stones of your life and your success. The six characteristics are honesty, character, faith, integrity, love, and loyalty.

A human being goes through life thinking and doing. Then they usually do what they think about most of the time. I want to remind you that you were born to win. I also want to remind you that you are what you are and where you are because of what’s gone into your mind, but you can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.

Your thinking drives your choices. Choices determine the action you take, and action produces the results of your life. You can only think in ways consistent with the information you have in your mind. So to change what you do, you have to change the way you think, and to think differently, you need to change what goes into your mind.

the real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job;

It truly pays to watch closely what and how you think. Our thinking really does drive our character. Frank Outlaw expressed the power of our thoughts this way: Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny!

Our character is formed by who we think we are and the standards and principles we embrace in our minds as truth.

If you buy a lawn mower or a car, you get written instructions about what it takes to make the equipment work best and how to make it last a long time. God’s instruction manual (the Holy Bible) does exactly the same thing. If you believe you are a spiritual creature, there are spiritual principles that govern the “equipment” you are attempting to operate.

“He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known.” —Proverbs 10:9

If you want to know what the status of your own integrity is, just do some serious soul-searching, and that begins by taking a look at your heart, your motives, and the reasons you do everything you do.

People who are loyal are loyal to the commitments they make, and they keep their promises. They are loyal to the principles they embrace, and they are loyal to the people who fill their lives. A person who is loyal does not talk behind the backs of those he follows, and a loyal person sincerely wishes the best for others. In one sense, loyalty is an expression of love, because it requires some selflessness.

America’s foremost business philosopher Jim Rohn said, “It’s not the direction of the wind, but the setting of the sails that really matters.”

SIX REASONS TO SET GOALS Goals bring the future into the present, and the present is the only time we can take action. Setting goals makes it possible to do something today to create the future you want. If you don’t plan your time, someone else will help you waste it. People get twice as much done on the day before they go on vacation, because they plan (set goals) and prioritize what they intend to do. Thought: if you lived every day like it was the day before vacation, how much would you be able to increase the total productivity of your life? Goal setters make more money than people who don’t set goals. When Dave Jensen was the Chief Administrative Officer at UCLA in 1992, he conducted a study on goal setting. He learned that people with a balanced goals program earned an average of $7,411 per month. In 2011, those numbers showed earnings of $11,632.73 per month. Dave discovered that individuals without a goals program earned an average of $3,397 per month, or $5,332.13 in 2011 dollars and cents. That’s over $6,000 more a month! Those with goals programs were also happier and healthier and got along better with the folks at home. Goals keep you focused on the things that really matter and help you avoid wasting time on things that are unproductive. Focus helps you change from being a “wandering generality” to being a “meaningful specific.” Setting goals gives direction and purpose to all that you do. Goals are the links in the chain that connect activity to accomplishm...

It is better to set goals and have direction than to not have goals and wander around in confusion.

In this case, reaching my goal may not have changed the world but it surely did change my world.

The fact is that diminished effort will produce diminished results, and it’s human nature to let down a little the longer we do something.

I never forget the value and purpose of what I do, and that is what keeps me going . . . I love what I do.

Value and purpose are about understanding the specific benefits you will help people receive if they receive what you have for them. Three men were busy at the same task, and a passerby stopped and asked each of the men what they were doing. The first man said, “I am cutting stone.” The second man said, “I am earning my living.” The third man said, “I am building a cathedral.” All three of the men were involved in cutting stone. The first man saw no purpose or value in what he was doing, and my guess is that his days were long and tedious. He probably went home tired and exhausted every night and dreaded going to work each day. The second man had a different perspective. He saw cutting the stones as a means to earn a living and probably had a better attitude than the first man. However, the value and purpose he saw in his effort was merely about getting his paycheck. I imagine this man spent a lot of time thinking about other jobs he might be able to get and probably found his work boring and repetitive. The third man knew he was cutting stone, and he knew he was earning a paycheck, but he also saw value and purpose in his work that transcended those basic realities. The third man was building a cathedral that would be used by people. The cathedral would be a spiritual and social center where men and women could come to worship and fellowship together. That church, when completed, would give people hope and help them live better lives. What do you think the third man’s att...

Here it is: why did you create your vision? Think about it: why did you create your vision? What was your motivating force for creating your vision in the first place?

Literally, if you prepare in advance to succeed by practicing, everything can be improved.

Practice doesn’t just make perfect. Practice also creates competence, confidence, clarity, certainty, and success.

If you ask someone to be your mentor and they aren’t able to mentor you, they will let you know. They will be honored that you asked and, in most cases, will agree to give you enough advice to get you headed in the right direction.

This is why Jim Rohn said, “Everyone should have at least six mentors.”

YOU + God = Enough

“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

“When you do the things you need to do, when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do, when you want to do them.”

Share your “give-up” goals (give up smoking, being rude, procrastination, being late, eating too much, etc.) with many people. Chances are excellent they are going to encourage you. Share your “go up” goals (be #1 producer, write a book, graduate with honors and be the class valedictorian, etc.) only with those rare people you strongly feel will give you support and encouragement.

Become a team player. Learn to work with a team, such as your family, corporate associates, etc. Remember, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Remember that what you get by reaching your destination is not nearly so important as what you will become by reaching your goals, because what you will become is the winner you were born to be.

IF YOU WANT TO REACH YOUR GOAL, YOU MUST FIRST SEE THE REACHING IN YOUR OWN MIND BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY ARRIVE AT YOUR GOAL.