Born to Win – Find your success code By Zig and Tom Ziglar : A Book Review

By Jolly Mokorosi

Zig Ziglar famously said that people say that motivation does not last and then quickly pointed out that neither does bathing but you still do it!

There is a great deal more of that kind of talk in this little treasure by this famous father and son duo. This is not a long book but it is punctuated with so much motivation. I felt like I was sitting at the feet of a favorite older person. You feel the wisdom of age coming through at so many turns and there are several quotable quotes. To tell the truth I picked up this book so that I may boost my motivation, drive and get some direction. I was feeling under motivated and this book did not disappoint. It calls for back to basics. I find that in order to move forward I sometimes need to go back to where I started and I would have struggled to find a more suitable companion to do that with.

Cover_Ziglar_BTW-2

Although not an overtly Christian book the authors leave no doubt that faith is critical and the foundation of their faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The book is divided into 3 sections. Part one looks at planning to win. Part two helps you prepare to win. Finally Part three covers expecting to win.

The Best Bits

The best bits looked at the wheel of life and focused on much introspection in the middle part of the book. Questions around knowing your purpose and vision are asked as well as a clear look at what success looks like in the context of our lives.

Usually as we review we look at the good, the bad and the ugly. There really is not much in the way of bad or ugly in this book. My only gripe was the last part of the book did not transition well from the rest of the book but was still useful. It is evident that this book has had the benefit of several revisions over a number of decades. I really was pleasantly surprised that the book was so up-to-date for a book that had its origins over forty ago. There were a number of areas where we did not necessarily see eye to eye but I expect that in every book that I read (unless I wrote it).

Quotable quotes include:

“..demigods have yes men, but statesmen, have advisors. In other words, despots never take advice from anyone and anyone foolhardy enough to give truthful advice to such a leader is likely to find himself put to death for his troubles. By contract a statesman or leader is someone who seeks out wise counsel from others.”

“Character is about the sum total of a person, and it is the result of the habits a person builds on a daily basis.”

“Talking is sharing but listening is caring.”

“Everyone should have at least 6 mentors.”

“Character allows you to make the right choices in life when things are tough and when temptation comes.”

“One of the reasons marriage commitments fail so frequently is because the husband and wife do not understand what it takes to have a great marriage. THey do not plan for or understand the sacrifices each must make for the other to enable a long-lasting relationship.”

“The only thing worse than training employees and loosing them is to not train them and keep them!”

“YOU + God = Enough.”

“Never make a promise without a plan.”

If you are looking for some motivation, especially if you need to go back to basics this is a great book to read. There are some time-honoured truths in there.

This book is for you if…

  • You need a mid year boost or want to start the year with a bang
  • You feel a little tired and under motivated
  • You want to get back to the basics
  • You need a little challenge

I would rate the book an 8 out of 10. It is definitely applicable to anyone who picks it up.

Read this book too? Got any good books you can recommend? Leave us a comment.

2 Comments
  1. Thank you for this book advice. Zig Ziggler has been a favorite of mine for a number of years. In fact, I saw him in person on several times. He was exceptional.

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