U.S. motivational speaker Zig Ziglar died today at the age of 86. The Associated Press cites Zigler’s executive assistant as stating he succumbed pneumonia in a hospital in Plano, Texas, where his company was based.
Zigler, the self-styled “King of Motivation,” began a popular motivational speaking company after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was best known as a speaker and trainer for corporate seminars who motivated people to improve their lives and careers through what became known as “The Ziglar Way.” Ziglar and his company promoted the “way” using a three step process: “will”, “skill”, and “refill.” The programs were designed to give customers the “will” to change their lives, the “skill” to accomplish that change, and the “refill” – a constant stream of new motivational materials that would keep them on track.
The Ziglar company is using Ziglar’s Facebook page as a place for people to leave condolences and memories of Ziglar. The page contains a short message about Ziglar’s death:
Zig Ziglar passed from this world today after a short bout with pneumonia. Though his time on earth has ended, he is speaking with Jesus now in his heavenly home. The angels in heaven are rejoicing and his family is celebrating a life well lived.
If Zig has impacted your life or you want to leave a message to the family, please leave your remarks on his FaceBook page. Don’t worry about being too specific or long. Take as much space as you want…the family wants to know.
In conjunction with his motivational speaking, Ziglar authored dozens of sales and motivational books, 10 of which appeared on best-sellar lists. Some of his most popular books include Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale, See You at the Top, and Over the Top.
In addition to the facebook condolences, people have been sharing their favorite Ziglar quotes over Twitter:
My Zig Ziglar passed. Favorite quote: You can have anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want in life!
Love this short interview w #ZigZiglar “…100% of our life is based on our relationships in 1 way or another.” Enjoy: http://t.co/xYZ5mxzY
“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” — Zig Ziglar
“#Positivethinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” Zig Ziglar’s #optimism lives on.
“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.” — Zig Ziglar
“Be helpful. When you see a person without a smile, give them yours.” -Zig Ziglar