Winning is a Choice (Here’s How To Do It!) with Tom Ziglar

My guest is Tom Ziglar. Among many things, Tom is the proud son of Zig Ziglar. He's also a bestselling author and international speaker. Listen To The Podcast: Resources: Interview: Mitch Matthews: Tom is also now the CEO of the Ziglar Corporation. Tom joined the Ziglar Corporation in 1987, but he started at the bottom. In fact, he started in the warehouse and routed through sales that went on to management then moved into leadership. He also speaks around the world and hosts the wildly popular Ziglar Show podcast. So you should check that out. He carries on that Ziglar philosophy. "You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want." I love that. That was a life-changing quote for me. His new book coming out is called Choose to Win: Transform your Life, One Simple Choice at a Time. When I heard about it, I knew I wanted to have Tom on the show because he's the real deal and he's all about getting you strategies that actually work. So let's get to this. Tom Ziglar, welcome to Dream, Think, Do buddy. Tom Ziglar: Oh man. Mitch, thanks for having me. Mitch Matthews: Absolutely, this is an honor, my friend. I've been following you for a while in a good way, not in a restraining order kind of way. Tom Ziglar: Are you stalking me? Mitch Matthews: Yeah, in a positive stalker kind of way. So yeah, take that however you want. I love it. I'm sure you get questions like this a bajillion times over, so I apologize, but I just have to ask, what was it like to grow up in the Ziglar household? Tom Ziglar: I'll tell you, it was amazing. I tell people all the time as good as dad was on stage, he was even better off stage. He was just ... When you think of, gosh, what would be the ultimate earthly father. Mitch Matthews: Right. Tom Ziglar: I think Zig Ziglar would be that. And then my mom, the redhead- Mitch Matthews: The redhead. Yes. Tom Ziglar: Dad said he never would have heard of Zig Ziglar if I hadn't been for the redhead. And so just to grow up in that family and Dad was always ... He never put the pressure on. He never said you're going to be in sales or you're going to be a speaker. He always said, hey, whatever you want to do, whatever your passion is, whatever your why is just ... I want you to pursue it with 100% effort and 100% integrity. And so, when you're raising kids, I mean what better message could you have than two parents who set the example. They're always there to talk and then they're behind you 100% as long as you're doing it with integrity and effort. I mean that's ... You can't ask for more than that. Mitch Matthews: That's a beautiful thing. It is amazing and it's ... I've had some other folks that had famous parents and it's interesting how that's not always the case. Sometimes that outer appearance is wonderful, amazing, but when they get home, they're a different person. So that's not surprising, but it's beautiful to hear. Well, one of the things I wondered about too was, what was that conversation like when you're deciding, hey, I think I want to come and work for Zig ... the Ziglar Corporation. What does that ... what does that conversation look like? Tom Ziglar: Well, I'll tell you what, it was pretty simple. I played golf in college and my goal was to be a professional PGA golfer and I graduated from college and I needed money to support my golf habit and I needed flexibility. Mitch Matthews: Yeah. Tom Ziglar: And dad was behind that 100%. And so I started off in the warehouse working [inaudible 00:04:49] depending on the time of year, 25 to 35 hours just there packing boxes and doing production work. And then I was playing golf 40 to 50 hours of practice and playing. So I had the flexibility, which is great to have that flexibility. And then I realized that those guys out there are really good after about a year and some injuries and I thought, you know what? Golf's not my future.