I heard Zig Ziglar speak several times and when he came to Madison I requested an interview. He declined an in-person interview but agreed to a phone interview from his hotel room, where he was working on a writing project.
Zig was a motivational speaker, quite possibly the best ever. We talked about his motivational philosophy and his faith in Christ. I don’t remember a lot of what we talked about but I pressed him on one question.
He had said, “the harder you are on yourself, the easier life goes for you.” I was curious how he came up with that. He said, “Well look at an athlete, the harder he practices, the better he performs.”
Does that apply to other areas of life? Human nature usually entices us to take the easy path. Ever since that conversation I’ve tried to be more open to challenges.
There’s lots of additional wisdom in Zig’s many books, what you would expect from a true motivator. Baptist Press had a good story on Zig’s legacy.