The 8 Step Formula - Zig Ziglar
There are a lot of “Top 10 ways to become....” or “Three simple steps to.....” type claims made aren’t there?
Do you sometimes wonder which one of them is right? Are they all right to a greater or lesser extent? Or where did the data came from that allowed whoever put those lists together to do it?
One man, with an absolutely iconic name, who spent a little over 8 decades on the planet created an “8 Step Formula”. That man was Zig Ziglar.
From door to door salesman to globally recognised trainer, author and speaker Zig was one of a kind. I never met him, or saw him, in person. For years though I listened to his audio recordings, read his books and in more recent times have pored over video clips of him as he so eloquently, and uniquely, spelled out a combination of wisdom, life lessons and humour. The 8 Step Formula was, and is, an absolute favourite.
So why the “8 Step Formula”? Why not 10, or 3?
I don’t know.
What I am aware of is that in Chinese culture, one of the oldest and largest cultures on the planet, the number 8 is synonymous with wealth and success. In China, it is customary to regard even numbers as being more auspicious than odd ones. So, gifts are given in even numbers for the celebration of all occasions.
No. 8 has long been regarded as the luckiest number in Chinese culture. With pronunciation of 'Ba' in Chinese, no. 8 sounds similar to the word 'Fa', which means to make a fortune. It contains meanings of prosperity, success and high social status too, so business people favour it. In some areas of China, people prefer to pay much more money for a telephone number with 8 in it. They also favour residences on the eighth floor of buildings.
There may be no rhyme or reason to all that. The essence of my take on it is that the number 8 is associated with good things.
Why the emphasis on the Number 8 in this post? Toddy Talks is 8 years old this month. Time certainly flies!!! Thank you for the support along the way.
8 observations you may find useful
In keeping with the “Eight” theme here are 8 observations from the past 8 years - you might find some of them useful:
- Life has its Ups and its Downs. That’s life. Both give you the opportunity to appreciate the other. You will have both.
- The noisy minority has an increasing ability to air their view. They will. And that’s it - their view. There are others too.
- There are a lot of very good people in this world.
- The depth of talent across, and within, different industries is quite remarkable. Embrace it.
- There are always more ways than one to reach an outcome. 5+4 and 6+3 both equal 9.
- Google isn’t always right - but it’s not short of answers!
- “Your” vs “You’re” and “there” vs “their” is, potentially, frustrating. Let alone “invite” vs “invitation”! (Just needed to say that) Autocorrect and spell check have a lot to answer for.
- If you do what feels right - it’ll probably be ok.
- (No 7 was a bit flippant). Despite all the technology available to us the best, and most effective, interactions between us still take place in person.
There is also the phrase “ Talent of 8 buckets” used to speak highly of a person who has a wide range of knowledge or extraordinary talents. Perhaps that’s you!
Cheers
Toddy
