She Drew the Line!

 

by Zig Ziglar

Chances are pretty good you’ve never heard of Dr. June McCarroll, but she is truly one of the women who left their “mark” on the world. She was born in Nebraska and was a general practitioner who lived in California. Interestingly enough, her claim to fame lies outside the world of medicine. An accident was the trigger that got her thinking about making our highways safer. Her car was sideswiped and she determined to do something about cars that crowded others off the road.

As she was driving along a road that bulged down its center, she noticed that the bulge helped to keep motorists on their own side of the road. This gave her an idea and she started trying to persuade the town council to “paint a line down the middle of the road” to set an example and “lead the nation in public safety.” She got the typical bureaucratic response that her idea was ingenious but impractical. However, Dr. McCarroll was one of these people who will not take no for an answer so she took her idea to the local women’s club. The vote was unanimous in support of the project. Despite this fact, as the old saying goes, some minds are like concrete – all mixed up and permanently set, so she continued to face bureaucratic stubbornness for seven long years before her idea was implemented.

C. N. Hamilton was a staunch local supporter of Dr. McCarroll’s concept and when he became a member of the California Highway Commission in 1924 he convinced the Commission to approve the painting of a five-mile-long experimental center line on Route 99. An additional test strip was also painted. Accidents on both stretches diminished dramatically and soon the entire state boasted “McCarroll lines” on its highways. Most of the world has since followed suit.

Message: When you conceive an idea in which you fervently believe, go after that idea – especially if people you respect believe it’s a good one. Hang in there and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Put A Little “Fizz” In Your Life

You may notice, I really do love the late Zig Ziglar! I'm glad his son, Tom still sends out his dad's email!

Put A Little “Fizz” In Your Life

By Zig Ziglar

Coca-Cola is the best-known product in the world today, but had it not been for a couple of “little things,” it might have died shortly after its birth.
The formula for Coca-Cola was discovered in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia, by a 50-year-old pharmacist named John Pemberton.  He was fascinated by the soda fountain in his store and the large number of drinks it offered the customers.  Because he was both creative and curious, he decided to develop a syrup that would be different and thirst-quenching.  While working in the back room of his pharmacy, he combined a mixture of cola nut extract, sugar, caffeine, decocainized coca leaves and vegetable extract.  To this day, the exact formula remains one of the most carefully-guarded secrets in the world.
The drink was relatively popular, but a few months later an assistant served a customer Coca-Cola mixed with soda water.  That little “fizz” was the “lucky touch” that caused an explosion in the popularity of the drink.  However, there was one other factor involved.  Pemberton’s partner, Frank Robinson, was the creative artistic talent that produced the elegant writing of the name Coca-Cola.  That design is the one they’re still using today.
“So what?” might be the question on your mind because you’ve “heard that story before.”  Here’s the “what.”  Is there a possibility that under your very eyes are simple “little things” that with a little tinkering could turn into something big?  Is there a better, faster, cheaper way of doing a mundane task that would make a big difference?  Could be.  It certainly would behoove each of us to keep our eyes and our minds open to that possibility.  Who knows – maybe if you put a little “fizz” in what you do you will find another Coca-Cola in your soda fountain.  Think about it and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Our New Year Beginning!

Happy New Years from GladCasting University! We believe that if we put the Lord first in our lives, we can and should be prosperous in our lives. We will be focusing on a series of blogs chronicling the progress toward prosperity of at least one family. If you wish to share your Journey to Prosperity, please email us with your information!

In Loving Memory of Zig Ziglar 1926-2012

Finishing Well

By Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, there is a strong movement today in America to instill ethical behavior in the home, school and business environments.  While I applaud the trend, I believe it’s putting the cart before the horse.  The horse, in my opinion, is integrity.  Integrity is who you are, a measurement of your character and, consequently, the determining factor in your behavior.  Ethics are the result of our integrity.  It’s true that people of integrity will occasionally do unethical things.  However, it will be a rare occasion because, according to Dr. Joyce Brothers, you cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.
Question: Do integrity and ethics work in our society of today?  Well, according to an article in Forbes Magazine and reported by Seth Godin, it works for CEO John Teets of the Dial Corporation.  I know Mr. Teets personally and I believe he epitomizes what we’re talking about.  According to Forbes, he is the opposite of the cold-hearted CEO, ensconced in an isolated executive suite.  Personal tragedies and early obstacles have made him deeply spiritual.  His Horatio Alger-like rise from mean circumstances has deepened his humanity rather than snuffed it out.  He is generous; he takes a keen personal interest in the people who work for him.  He demonstrates that commerce and religion are not incompatible and, in fact, that religion can help an executive be more sensitive to the needs of others, which is the essence of business—fulfilling the needs and desires of customers in an ethical manner.
Message: The good guys and the good gals really do win.  They not only live well, they finish well.  They have more of the things money will buy and all of the things that money won’t buy.  So wake up, America!  Let’s take one step back and build some integrity in our young people.  The ethics will naturally follow.  Think about it.  Live with integrity and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!