It’s a great day! If you’ve ever called me, you know that’s something I say every time I answer the phone…
“It’s a great day, this is Danny Smith.”
I started saying that in 1991 because Zig Ziglar told me to. Seriously, he pointed at me and said “if you want things to change, you need to change and it might start with something as simple as the way you answer the phone.”
Ok, I’ll admit that I was one of 40,000 in the Hoosier Dome but I swear he pointed RIGHT AT ME. He really did.
The early 90s were a tough years, but that’s not the only “tough” time I’ve had. How about you, have you had some tough times? I expect we all have. Thankfully, I listened to Zig that morning. He and a few other people have made a positive impact on me over the years. And most of those people I really didn’t know except for hearing them speak, or reading what they wrote.
Prior to hearing Zig that morning, I’m not sure I had thought about changing. Yes, I wanted things to change; better job, more money, providing better for my family, being happy(ier). I mean………isn’t that enough? Probably not.
There’s always something deeper going on and it took listening to other people to start realizing I needed to change. It took selecting people I didn’t know and paying attention to them for me to really start living.
Ziglar also said “Danny, you’re going to be the same 5 years from now as you are right now except for what you listen to, what you watch, the people you associate with and what you read.” Ok, he didn’t say “Danny” but I know he meant me. Think about being different 5 years from now.....if you believe Zig it all had to do with reading, listening, watching and associating.
I believed him and since I’d always been a reader, I just needed to start reading different materials…….and I did. Now, I had never listened much to radio or tapes (maybe because I’d totaled a car at 17 while reaching down to change the track on an 8-track?), but I wanted to change, so I listened to tapes I got from a couple of organizations Zig recommended.
Hanging out with new people didn’t work out so well for a long time but I started reading even more than I had been and that helped me stop hanging out with some of my old friends so much. Plus, some of that reading included biographies…that’s hanging with new people to some extent. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that my friends and colleagues were a bad influence, but it worked out pretty well for the changing thing.
In 1995, some changes started coming about in my work and I wasn't handling them very well. One new person that had come into my life encouraged me to get some things down on paper. Those “things” are what I now call my Values, Purpose, Vision and Goals.
That led into a plan and over the years, wow…almost 20 years, and life has been much better since. Not that it hasn’t been tough, sometimes REAL tough, but I’ve been grounded because of all the “purposeful” activities I’d engage in. I wasn’t grounded prior to that time. You could say much of my thoughts and activities could be easily blown around.
Being grounded in our purpose makes a bit difference. I’m turning 60 in 3 months and I’m more focused on my purpose, vision and goals than ever. But....I’ve learned to think differently about purpose, vision and goals. The path I’ve been on, the people I’ve been learning from these past few years, it’s not just about purpose, vision and goals…but a different mindset.
If you’d allow me, I’d like to share some thoughts about purpose, vision and goals. My teaching partner, John Griffin and I are holding a conference call tonight, Monday, and maybe one other time this month, but definitely tonight. I’m inviting you to listen to the call and then ask us any questions you might have.
The call is a lesson we teach on Purpose, Vision and Goals and there’s no charge. I’m very careful about goal setting and actually don’t like it much. I’m ok with very short-term goal setting, but that’s it. And it wasn’t until a Paul Martinelli came into my life 2 years ago that I would even TALK about goal setting. You see, I think our culture tends to spin these terms around too easily; vision, life plans, mission, purpose and ESPECIALLY goal setting.
It’s interesting that we don’t hear much about defining values though. Isn’t that interesting to you also?
This lesson is part of a series John and I teach called the Empowerment Mentoring series. This is a lesson series we teach 2x per month and we’ll tell you about that also.
Who else will be on the call? The person I’ve found to really engage in these lessons is male, in his 50s or 60s and wants to dig deeper. There are a few in the program that don’t fit that gender and age “niche” but they’re all feeling the need to dig deeper.
If this fits you or someone you know [First Name], please join John and me Monday night.
Click here to register and receive the Teleconference information.
I hope you can make it.
Have a great week!
Danny
512-773-6528
DannyLSmith.com
“It’s a great day, this is Danny Smith.”
I started saying that in 1991 because Zig Ziglar told me to. Seriously, he pointed at me and said “if you want things to change, you need to change and it might start with something as simple as the way you answer the phone.”
Ok, I’ll admit that I was one of 40,000 in the Hoosier Dome but I swear he pointed RIGHT AT ME. He really did.
The early 90s were a tough years, but that’s not the only “tough” time I’ve had. How about you, have you had some tough times? I expect we all have. Thankfully, I listened to Zig that morning. He and a few other people have made a positive impact on me over the years. And most of those people I really didn’t know except for hearing them speak, or reading what they wrote.
Prior to hearing Zig that morning, I’m not sure I had thought about changing. Yes, I wanted things to change; better job, more money, providing better for my family, being happy(ier). I mean………isn’t that enough? Probably not.
There’s always something deeper going on and it took listening to other people to start realizing I needed to change. It took selecting people I didn’t know and paying attention to them for me to really start living.
Ziglar also said “Danny, you’re going to be the same 5 years from now as you are right now except for what you listen to, what you watch, the people you associate with and what you read.” Ok, he didn’t say “Danny” but I know he meant me. Think about being different 5 years from now.....if you believe Zig it all had to do with reading, listening, watching and associating.
I believed him and since I’d always been a reader, I just needed to start reading different materials…….and I did. Now, I had never listened much to radio or tapes (maybe because I’d totaled a car at 17 while reaching down to change the track on an 8-track?), but I wanted to change, so I listened to tapes I got from a couple of organizations Zig recommended.
Hanging out with new people didn’t work out so well for a long time but I started reading even more than I had been and that helped me stop hanging out with some of my old friends so much. Plus, some of that reading included biographies…that’s hanging with new people to some extent. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that my friends and colleagues were a bad influence, but it worked out pretty well for the changing thing.
In 1995, some changes started coming about in my work and I wasn't handling them very well. One new person that had come into my life encouraged me to get some things down on paper. Those “things” are what I now call my Values, Purpose, Vision and Goals.
That led into a plan and over the years, wow…almost 20 years, and life has been much better since. Not that it hasn’t been tough, sometimes REAL tough, but I’ve been grounded because of all the “purposeful” activities I’d engage in. I wasn’t grounded prior to that time. You could say much of my thoughts and activities could be easily blown around.
Being grounded in our purpose makes a bit difference. I’m turning 60 in 3 months and I’m more focused on my purpose, vision and goals than ever. But....I’ve learned to think differently about purpose, vision and goals. The path I’ve been on, the people I’ve been learning from these past few years, it’s not just about purpose, vision and goals…but a different mindset.
If you’d allow me, I’d like to share some thoughts about purpose, vision and goals. My teaching partner, John Griffin and I are holding a conference call tonight, Monday, and maybe one other time this month, but definitely tonight. I’m inviting you to listen to the call and then ask us any questions you might have.
The call is a lesson we teach on Purpose, Vision and Goals and there’s no charge. I’m very careful about goal setting and actually don’t like it much. I’m ok with very short-term goal setting, but that’s it. And it wasn’t until a Paul Martinelli came into my life 2 years ago that I would even TALK about goal setting. You see, I think our culture tends to spin these terms around too easily; vision, life plans, mission, purpose and ESPECIALLY goal setting.
It’s interesting that we don’t hear much about defining values though. Isn’t that interesting to you also?
This lesson is part of a series John and I teach called the Empowerment Mentoring series. This is a lesson series we teach 2x per month and we’ll tell you about that also.
Who else will be on the call? The person I’ve found to really engage in these lessons is male, in his 50s or 60s and wants to dig deeper. There are a few in the program that don’t fit that gender and age “niche” but they’re all feeling the need to dig deeper.
If this fits you or someone you know [First Name], please join John and me Monday night.
Click here to register and receive the Teleconference information.
I hope you can make it.
Have a great week!
Danny
512-773-6528
DannyLSmith.com
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