Tag / positive mental attitude

by Nathan Coumbe

Who’s your Zig Ziglar?

Zig Ziglar (a native of my very own Mississippi) is practically the grandfather of all motivational speakers. 

He spent years of his life giving incredible speeches on stage. But he also recorded dozens of audio programs to help people change their mindsets and learn his signature theme:

“You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

Seth Godin used Zig Ziglar as a mentor when he started off as a book packager in the 1980s. He had multiple Zig Ziglar audio programs that he listened to on repeat for 3+ hours a day. And it helped him overcome 900 rejections in a row!

Seth is a huge advocate for listening to the same people over and over again as often as you can.

But it’s not necessarily because “positive thinking” can help you get everything you want in life.

Instead, it’s to help you rewire your self-talk so you can…

  • Be more effective in your daily life, 
  • Overcome obstacles and setbacks
  • Be positive when the bad stuff inevitably happens

His advice: find someone who speaks to you in the right way and listen to their messages over and over again… Until you come to believe it yourself. 

Seth Godin is MY Zig Ziglar. 

  • I’ve listened to all of his podcast episodes (200+) at least twice, if not more
  • I’ve watched all his TED talks multiple times 
  • I’ve tried to find every podcast he’s ever been a guest on
  • AND I own just about every one of his books

I wonder: who’s your Zig Ziglar?

Who is someone whose message resonated so much with you that you can’t get enough of them? 

If you’ve found someone like that—in a podcast, audiobook, TED talk, or YouTube channel—I urge you to put them on repeat and rewire your self-talk. 

And if you haven’t, find someone who could do that for you… Seth Godin. Zig Ziglar. Buddha. Tony Robbins. Robert Kiyosaki. Jesus.

The “who” doesn’t matter all that much.

Just find someone and adopt them as a mentor from afar.

by Nathan Coumbe

The weeds don’t need your help

If you leave a garden unattended, weeds will grow in abundance.

They do best when left alone. They don’t need any nurturing, nutrients, watering, or attention from you. They’ll grow just fine on their own.

But if you want a garden full of beautiful flowers or delicious fruits and vegetables, you must be intentional.

You must dig, plant, water, fertilize, nurture… And rip up the weeds by the root!

The same is true for the thoughts in your head, the story you’re telling yourself on a daily basis.

The negative thoughts are weeds.

“I can’t…”

“They won’t let me…”

“This won’t work…”

“I’ve failed before so why should I try again?”

“I’m not good enough…”

These thoughts will spring up naturally and strangle the garden of your mind if you sit idly. And they’ll take over without any action on your part.

So, just like with the garden in your backyard, you must be intentional and put in the difficult, caring work. Rip out the weedy thoughts by the roots. Replace them with the good stuff, whatever that is for you.

Positive mental attitudes, affirmations, visualizations… Or my favorite: someone else’s encouraging words playing on repeat in your head. (I’d recommend starting here.)

Whatever you want to grow in your mind, treat it with the same care and attention you would with a beautiful garden of your own.