Dear John,

My jaw dropped when he said it.

I was just a few years out of college and I had just wrapped up a breezy round of golf with dad.

“Believe it or not, it’s true,” dad said with a smile, as he eased back in his chair sitting directly across from me.

We were enjoying lunch in the late fall weather on the patio at dad’s home course.

I had never known my father to quit anything, but that day, on that patio, I would learn just how much perseverance Dad actually had.

“I seriously entertained the idea of packing it all in, but I had a true believer on my side and it changed everything...”

This memory popped into my mind recently.

You see, we’ve been reorganizing our archives here at Ziglar HQ, and a new discovery sparked this story and got me thinking about what a truly incredible journey Dad had.

Over the next couple of days, I’d like to pass along the story he shared with me that day.

You see, when my family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1968- Dad was moving us there for the sole purpose of being a motivational speaker with an upstart company he had partnered with.

Well, those plans quickly fell through as the company didn’t last, so Dad was left scrambling a bit.

As anyone with bills to pay and a family to feed knows, the pressure began to mount...quickly...

And one day, he received an invitation.

It came from an acquaintance by the name of Mary Kay Ash, who had a flourishing Dallas-based cosmetics company ( Mary Kay ) that was not yet a decade old.

She had seen dad speak and was thoroughly impressed with his message, so she invited him to speak to her entire organization of distributors.

Not only that, she recommended that all of her beauty consultants hire him for a full day of training.

The only problem? Dad did not have a program that lasted an entire day (yet!).

Dad created the full day program, presented it many times, and discovered it was the perfect outline for his next book.

However, after dozens of trainings and starting his book journey, he began having massive stomach pains and became very ill.

He went to the doctor but, they couldn’t figure out what it was... so they sent him home.

Still in pain, he ended up back at the doctors office.

Eventually they discovered that his gallbladder had ruptured and toxic fluid was filling his body. He was extremely close to death and didn't even realize it.

On Friday, I’ll finish this story, and explain how dad’s perseverance turned what seemed to be a massive roadblock into an opportunity of a lifetime.

But in the meantime, I’d like us to spend some time thinking about how we can follow in Mary Kay Ash’s footsteps. Who are the people in our lives who NEED our unwavering support?

How can we express our belief in them and set them up for success?

She did that for Dad, and I know he was endlessly grateful.

And so am I.

Choose to Win!

Tom Ziglar

Proud Son of Zig Ziglar