I LOVE to SERVE; EVERY DAY!

I LOVE to SERVE; EVERY DAY!

Article by: Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, 2/19/2017

I first heard Zig Ziglar say, “To get everything you want in life; help someone else get what they want!” but it DID NOT include the word “FIRST.”  When Ziglar said it, I immediately wrote it down because I thought it was a profound statement of truth.  I memorized it.  I repeated it.  I wrote it down whenever I could and often. I had it posted above my desk.  I even had it posted on my bathroom mirror. I used it as a reminder to define what I “should” be doing as compared to what I might be doing.

Then I read how Jeffrey Gitomer added a definitive punctuation to the quote with just one word – “FIRST!”  As good as the Ziglar statement was before; it was really special with the addition of just that one word – FIRST!

TO GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN LIFE;

HELP SOMEONE ELSE GET WHAT THEY WANT!

FIRST!

In Gitomer’s book, The Little Gold Book of YES!Attitude, Gitomer lists his DAILY affirmations he uses to maintain a positive SERVING attitude.  One of his affirmation staples is “I love to serve” to which he ads “EVERY DAY!” 

Question:  Do you have a Life Mission Statement?  Do you know why you do whatever it is you do or what you want or should be doing?  What do you hope to achieve?  Do you know?  If not, why not?  The following is a tip from my good friend, author and mentor Joe Tye regarding a Direction-Deflection-Question (DDQ) that he devised.

The DDQ tip:  Ask yourself questions as to your motives regarding what you are about to say or do.  It is one of the most simple of tips yet could make the biggest difference in your life.  If you FIRST create what you believe to be your Life’s Mission, learn to use the DDQ to help keep you on your desired path towards achieving whatever it is you want to achieve.  Here is how it works using Gitomer’s affirmation, “I Love to Serve – EVERY DAY!”

“Is what I am about to say or do consistent with my goal “I love to serve – FIRST!” 

Over 30 years ago I used the Zig Ziglar quote to develop my personal Life Mission Statement which is:

“To help people do what they do, to do it better!”  I have since added Gitomer’s word first to that statement, or,

“To help people do what they do, to do it better – FIRST!”

Therefore, using Joe Tye’s DDQ and my personal Life’s Mission Statement, this is how it works for me:

IS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY OR DO

 LEADING ME TOWARDS MY GOAL

TO HELP PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY DO TO DO IT BETTER; FIRST?

From this point, it gets really easy.  If the answer is YES, you say or do it.  If the answer is NO, you don’t say or do it.  It works every time.  Want to lose weight?  Ask: Is what I am about to eat or drink taking me to my desired weight?  If YES, eat or drink it.  If NO, don’t!

As real life example I will use my duties as a Team Leader (Manager) and Designated Broker for a large real estate office.  I had 105 licensed real estate agents and 5 employees for whom I was responsible.  I could have done like most business organizations and create an organizational chart with the owners being at the top of a pyramid and the agents/employees being at the bottom and yours truly somewhere in between.  You have all seen organizational charts like this before; your company may actually have one very similar - our chart was different.

The Licensed Agents were at the very top of the chart, the owners next to the bottom, I was on the bottom.  Why?  Because without the agents, I had no job/position and the owners had no company and the employees no jobs.  Therefore, when I discovered the Zig Ziglar statement it became obvious that if I truly wanted to achieve great things in my life I was not going to be able to do it by myself; I needed help.  About the same time I attended a Keller Williams Realty International seminar hosted by Gary Keller, where he referred to people as having “wealth builders” in their lives.  Don’t be confused by the term “wealth” because in this definition it not only means “money” it also means those people who lift you up to where YOU want to be in regards to all of your goals including your financial goals.  It was like a lightning bolt!  If I wanted to be responsible for a successful real estate office, there was nothing more important that I could do than to help each and every Licensed Agent become the best they each could become in relationship to their individual goals and desires.  Therefore the AGENTS were the most important people in our organizational chart.  By helping to insure they became the best each one could become, they helped to increase not only the size of our real estate office but they each added to the “bottom line” or “profits” and ultimately the “value” of our real estate office.  Each agent became one of my many wealth builders just as the owners of the company and each company employee became one of my many wealth builders.  Subsequently everyone within our organization became a wealth builder for each other in our company.  That is a roundabout way of defining a win-win situation or organization.  When one wins, we all win.  When one loses or is in trouble, we all rally to support the agent/employee.  It is really that simple.  In my mind, that is a “servant mentality” needed to become successful in any endeavor.

Which affirmation would have a bigger influence on the way you conduct your life.

I have a servant mentality,

or

I LOVE to SERVE; EVERY DAY!

This Nugget consists of lot of words and they are just that - words.  If no one reads them there would be no net gain on my desire to help people to do what they do, to do it better.  But if just one person reads it and takes away my desire to help people and use this Nugget to achieve more of their goals and desires, this Nugget will have achieved its and my goal to help people do whatever they do to do it better.  If it helps you, pass it on.

On a slightly different topic, I am currently reading a book, by Stephen Pressfield titled, Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t; Why that is and what you can do about it.  It really is a fascinating book and I highly encourage everyone to read it because it will help you to become a better communicator and even write better advertisements for your business.  In this case I hope he is wrong and people will want to read my “sh*t”; I believe it could make a difference.