See You At The Top (1975) Zig Ziglar

Having sold two million copies since 1975, See You At The Top was reissued in 2000 as a ‘25^th anniversary edition’. Despite its ‘updating’ though, you may still feel you have been caught in a time warp of the American Christian Right in the 1970s. Ziglar is not the type who will change his views in a hurry, so his views on communism, marijuana and homosexuality, for instance, are still in the new version.

Zig Ziglar has been around a long time and has been a top motivational speaker longer than many of us have been alive. He represents old-fashioned personal development training based on love of God, family and country. See You At The Top is still a magnet for those who simply want the best for their family, to be successful at work and to feel they are free to chart their own course in life. It also offers a reminder of the peace of mind that comes with a solid faith and religious commitment.

Ziglar's classic is filled with stories, analogies and jokes, and has a way of charming you over to its way of thinking. You may not agree with all his political views, but the points he makes about seeking your best are difficult to rebut. Trying to avoid a shallow understanding of success, Ziglar’s recipe for life at the top involves the three dimensions of the physical, the mental and the spiritual. We are the sum total of our habits and influences, he says, so if we ignore one area we will be a phoney.

The book’s mantra is: ‘You can have everything in life if you will just help others to get what they want.’ Ziglar grew up in poverty but his life changed when he realised that Christians did not have to have ‘long faces and short pocket books’. The more you contribute and give through your efforts, the more you can expect to get back in monetary return. Appreciate the multi-million dollar value of your healthy body, he says, and put it to work in service.

See You At The Top is a stop against the culture of instant gratification and a beacon to ward off apathy. It is the sort of book you need if your life is truly and deeply in a mess and you need some black-and-white solutions for dragging yourself up. Though Ziglar is your classic always-positive motivational speaker, he is not afraid of admitting that life is full of ‘lemons’ (difficult experiences). The great art of living, though, is turning ‘lemons into lemonade’, using the difficult times as a lever for getting away from what we will no longer accept. Through integrity, hard work and service, we arrive at a point where we get what we want, rather than having to like what we get.

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"You can have everything in life if you will just help others get what they want."

See You At The Top

Zig Ziglar

Ziglar was born Hilary Hinton Ziglar in Alabama in 1926, one of 12 children. At school in Mississippi in the 1930s, he was nicknamed ‘Zig’. His father died in 1932 in the midst of Depression, leaving the family in financial hardship, but he managed to go to college in Jackson, Mississippi, and the University of South Carolina.

Ziglar spent many years as a cookware salesman in Mississippi, rising to become the second best performer in his national firm. In 1946 he married Jean Abernathy, with whom he would have several children. At age 29 the Dale Carnegie Institute in New York City employed him as an instructor, so beginning his public speaking career. He partly credits his success to reading Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking.

Ziglar has appeared on speaking platforms with the likes of Colin Powell, Norman Vincent Peale, Pat Boone, Ronald Reagan and George Bush Snr., and he has been recognised for his role with youth in drug use avoidance. Other books include Courtship After Marriage, Over The Top and Secrets of Closing the Sale.

Ziglar lives and works in Dallas, Texas, where his Zig Ziglar corporation is based.