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Zig Ziglar: The Art of Being, Doing and Having

Written by: Zig Ziglar

Article Overview: One of my favorite phrases is, "You've got to be before you can do and do before you can have." In short, you have to be a person of character and do the right things, and then you can have the things you really want. To make the "be, do have" theory valid, look at some examples in your own life.

Zig Ziglar: The Art of Being, Doing and Having

Zig On… The Art of Being, Doing and Having
One of my favorite phrases is, "You've got to be before you can do and do before you can have." In short, you have to be a person of character and do the right things, and then you can have the things you really want. To make the "be, do have" theory valid, look at some examples in your own life.
1. Draw two vertical lines to make three columns on a sheet of paper.
2. At the top of the left-hand column, write BE; in the middle column, write DO; and over in the last column, write HAVE.
3. In the right-hand column list all the things you really want in life, whether it's an education, good family relationships, a beautiful new home, a luxury automobile, a trip around the world, to lose weight--you name it.
4. Work your way down the center column identifying the things that you have to do in order to have the things listed in the right-hand column. As an example, let's say you want a successful marriage. To do so, you must be willing to share your innermost thoughts and concerns with your mate. You must carry more than your share of the workload, encourage your mate when he or she is down, and defend your mate against criticism. You need to remember special occasions. Be particularly helpful when your mate is having a bad day or is not feeling well, or has had a tough day at work. Apply the philosophy that "you can have everything you want out of this marriage if you just help your mate get what he or she wants." Everybody's list varies because each of us has unique needs, beliefs, and interests. However, the formula remains the same.
5. Go to the left-hand column and identify what you have to BE in order to DO so that you can HAVE. To have a successful marriage, some of the things that you must be are faithful, attentive, loving, caring, helpful, empathetic, encouraging, persistent, committed, kind, thoughtful, considerate, and responsible. Not having all these qualities at this moment is okay, because they're all skills, and skills can be developed.
You can use this basic formula for whatever it is you want to have. Look at what you have to do in order to accomplish your objectives, and then examine yourself and determine what kind of person you have to BE in order to DO so that you can HAVE.
This article is adapted from Zig's best-selling book Success for Dummies.

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Article Tags: center column, education, empathetic, family relationships, having a bad day, innermost thoughts, left hand column, luxury automobile, marriage, mate, middle column, philosophy, phrases, special occasions, successful marriage, tough day, trip around the world, vertical lines, workload



Related Forum Posts
Re: What is the best Business book you have ever read? - Zig Ziglar inspires me both in the area of business and personal. When ever I think I can't do something, I just read all or a portion of it again. It's a timeless book or knowledge.
Submitting Articles - Hi John - I have over 950 contributing authors to my website right now. Some of them are bigger names like Donald Trump, Zig Ziglar, and Tom Peters but most of them are business coaches, marketing consultants, human resources experts, etc. They write articles for my site and we expose them as experts to our entrepreneurial community!
Re: What can You Learn from a Jobless and Homeless Woman? - Alan, I definitely agree that a person needs all of those things. I think for me, it was the positive attitude that was the most important. If I woke up with a "defeated" attitude, I knew I had to do something to snap me out of it quickly. Either read a few chapters from a Zig Ziglar book or the Bible. I'm sure everyone has their own little routine.
Re: We are more richer today than the generations before us - Ok, David's post is going to make me look as dumb as a post, but I'm posting anyway. LOL To put it in more simple terms, as Zig Ziglar said, "Garbage in = garbage out". Think positive things, be around positive people, read positive books and you'll be a positive person with great things happening in your life. I'm positive of that. Hang around losers, whine a lot, think about all the bad in your life and you'll have a really seemingly long, poor life. 'Nuff said.
Re: How To Pick Keywords To Rank For - [quote="MichelleJ":14o0ofp0]That is very true Alan. What is the saying the more people you help the more you will get of what you want. There is some great advice in this thread about SEO. Thanks guys this will be a big help to a lot of people, I am sure. MichelleJ[/quote:14o0ofp0] Hi Michelle, Yes, there is a very similar quote to that by Zig Ziglar. I'm a firm believer in it, and I enjoy helping others out. I've received an enormous amount of help and advice from others, so I feel that it's my responsibility to do my part and give back by helping others as well. It's kind of like paying back to the community, and I certainly have no problem with that.


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