Customer Reviews

Embrace the Struggle: Living Life on Life's Terms

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

EMBRACE THE STRUGGLE is a most empowering, comforting book! I read it in an afternoon, re-read parts and highlighted quotes to use in the days ahead.

Zig and his daughter, Julie, have written a message which speaks to anyone who is struggling in some way - and who isn't? We can allow events in our lives to overwhelm us, or we can embrace the issue and let God lead us forward. The author's honesty about his head injury and the problems and blessings it has created in his life is a wonderful example for us all. The included stories of others who have faced struggles - health, finances, relationships, family, spiritual - can make us all see the value of facing life's difficulties and unexpected pitfalls with courage, faith, hope, and humor.

His message is spiritual, powerful, and uplifting. "If we accept that the past is the past, yesterday ended last night, and today is a brand-new day, we can have an attitude of hope."

Read this book and be inspired to "live life on life's terms"!

Motivational speakers and leaders of motivational seminars have to project a dynamic spirit of positive thinking and energy, for if they don't they will be out of the business very quickly. The cynical among us wonder if that is just their public persona or whether they keep that positive personality in their personal life when things go bad. Zig Ziglar has been working the motivational speaking circuit for decades to great success. However, in 2007 Ziglar fell down the stairs and suffered a head injury that seriously damaged his short-term memory. It is now so bad that in the course of answering a question, at the end of his answer, he will not be able to remember the original question. This book begins at that point in his life and describes actions that he has taken as well as describing a series of cases where others faced medical adversities, both personal and in their family.
The premise is that major difficulties befall everyone, even highly charged and positive motivational speakers and Ziglar is no exception. Adapting his seminars to a format where he is asked questions rather than reading from notes, Ziglar has continued his business of firing up and energizing crowds. The people, including Ziglar, profiled in this book have suffered from injury, serious illness, addiction and loss, yet they persevere, generally due to their faith in the plan of a higher power. Whether you believe as they do or have no time for the hypotheses of religion, the point that you can face adversity and cope with it remains a powerful one.
Getting paid a great deal to deliver positive speeches are one thing, keeping that positive attitude when your private life is going negative is another. In this book, Ziglar shows that he plays both sides of this boundary very well, even when things go bad for him personally, he manages to keep going, adapting to the changes when he cannot correct them.

I'm torn. On one hand, Zig Ziglar says nothing about Christian perseverance in 200 pages that I disagree with. On the other hand, what he says is slapped together with the hasty discontinuity of Lego blocks. This is his first book since he fell and injured his head two years ago, permanently changing his life. His story is inspirational, but it's also really, really long, and held together with little besides good will.

Ziglar is famed for inspirational talks on salesmanship and Christianity. In a way, for him these go hand in hand, since to be Christian is to sell Christ's message. And boy, does he ever. Helped by his eldest daughter and longtime editor, Ziglar uses his own triumph in the face of traumatic brain injury as a springboard into a motivating series of chapters on how to own your adversity and become a better Christian.

But Ziglar ties these chapters together with only the flimsiest of threads. Each chapter is driven by his or someone else's story of victory against long odds, but often, that's all it is, stories. These tales feel like a long string of altar-call testimonies. I'm glad people beat back addiction, injury, grief, marital strife, and other calamities. But if I wanted everyone to regale me with triumph over tragedy, I'd go listen in on an AA meeting.

Ziglar offers up some motivating Christian witness. But I have a hard time thinking that it's likely to change anybody's mind. I suspect that, if you begin reading with a strong faith in Christ, you'll finish up by praising His name, but if you don't, you won't. Perhaps this book will provide the right reader a much-needed kick in the pants, but I'm afraid it left me cold.

EMBRACE THE STRUGGLE is a 'must read' for anyone, of any age, in any life arena facing a stuggle. Zig Ziglar again inspires a nation with a spirit that shouts out we shall not quit.

What a wonderful example to view a person who is not only saying, but living out...

"I'm not gonna ease up, let up, give up or shut up...until I'm taken up!"

The Ziglar family strength is a model for America. Julie Ziglar Norman is the Co-Author of this book and Tom Ziglar, now CEO of Ziglar Corp. wrote the very touching Foreward.

If you haven't seen the books short video that the family helped produce, go to:
[...]

Whether you are someone whose faced an event that changed your life in an instant, as in a head injury that Zig faced, or perhaps it's a struggling marriage, illness, depression or a son or daughter facing trials, Zig Ziglar will provide encouragement to help you stand strong in 'your storm'. "Living Life on Life's Terms" is a perfect expression of ... "It's not what happens to you that matters... it's how you respond to what happens to you that makes the difference."

Zig Ziglar is an American Icon. He will continue to inspire, encourage and motivate for decades to come. EMBRACE THE STRUGGLE is a continuation of that legacy of service to others.

Book Review: Embracing the Struggle, Living Live on Life's Terms by Zig Ziglar
For over thirty years Zig Ziglar has been known as the top motivational speaker in the country. His massively energetic presence on the stage roused audiences to the peak of excitement while delivering a Christian based message of better ways to live your life. At a Get Motivated seminar last year I heard him discuss how his live changed after a terrible fall caused brain damage.

In Embrace the Struggle, Zig and his daughter Julie discuss how he and others overcome devastating circumstances by embracing their situation and working through it with God's help and love. My own struggles have been significant but are dwarfed in comparison to what others have overcome. Zig lives by example the life he's encouraged others to strive for. If you or a loved one faces struggles, I highly recommend this book as not only a motivation book but as a guideline of how to deal with what seems like insurmountable circumstances. A help for those who struggle.

Living Life on Life's Terms
Zig Ziglar and Julie Ziglar Norman
2009
Howard Books
Non-Fiction/Christian Life

What would you do if you were the "king" of positive thinking and had always been in popular demand as a motivational speaker, and suddenly you find yourself unable to remember past the end of your sentences? What if you could not stand up straight, all due to a head injury sustained in a fall. Would you sit down and say, hey I am eighty two and it is time to retire? Not Zig Ziglar. He works with what he has, and has developed a totally new strategy for speaking and ministering.
This book that he and his daughter co-authored, shares those struggles, along with the struggles of other people they have come into contact with. A book written to show us that bumps in the road are just that, bumps, not roadblocks. We can go on in the midst of trying times.
Definitely a book to read if your in the midst of a struggle, if you think quitting is your only option. An encouraging book, filled with stories of overcomers. 204 pages $23.99 US 4 stars

This book was provided for review purposes only, no cash or payment of any type was received for this review.

Zig Ziglar and Julie Norman Ziglar strip away the fluff and color of dealing with adversity to deliver an inspiring, revealing, honest and transparent message of hope and faith to all who open their hearts as they read each chapter of Embrace the Struggle. Zig continues his legacy of living with integrity by sharing intimate details of the challenges, fears, triumphs and love that he, the Redhead, their family and associates have indeed embraced as a result of his head injury. The experiences of others which are included in this latest Ziglar book connect with the reader on a practical, emotional, financial or spritiual level...perhaps all of the above.

I first saw Zig Ziglar in 1985. At that time Zig was an energetic, articulate, positive and entertaining speaker with a tremendous capacity to reach his audience with a meaningful message. And though his delivery is now slower and made with the assistance of his daughter Julie, Zig's message of encouragement, hope and faith is as relevant today as it ever has been. Without a doubt Embrace the Struggle is his most important book to date. Regardless of whether you are a veteran reader of Zig Ziglar or a first-timer I encourage all to read this book, share it with others and embrace the struggles life sends your way.

Doug Roberts, President, New West Marketing

Summary: From a highly successful career in motivational speaking to a daily struggle overcoming the effects of a head injury, Zig Ziglar's life changed drastically in just minutes when he suffered a traumatic fall down the stairs one fateful night. After years of speaking and writing about the value of having a positive attitude and being thankful, Zig was challenged to put his own words into practice.


In true Ziglar style, filled with optimism and honesty, Zig shares his experience, along with heartening stories from friends, as he seeks to encourage and remind you that life is worth living, even if it's not on our own terms. (synopsis from the book flap)


I have read many of Zig Ziglar's books, even though I am not that much of a non-fiction fan. Mr Ziglar has a way of writing that lends a fiction feel to a non-fiction topic, its truly amazing. This book makes you think, and feel your way through life's problems and helps your reaction to each problem you face turn more and more towards a solution as opposed to just crying about it all. I do give it a four stars because Mr. Ziglar is very religious and this book has a STRONG Christian undercurrent that, as being not Christian, completely turned me off for most of the actual message...but I did read it and I got the point, however heavily saturated, I just substituted my own religious Diety in for his and then it was great.

This book is exactly that ~ Embrace the struggle ( yours) - Another book that you will need your kleenex handy. I so admire Zig Zigler and all his work. He is such an inspiration to me. Staying focused you can achieve anything you so desire in life. A wonderful read. Enjoy.

I am a long time fan of Zig Ziglar, having first discovered his deep insight and wisdom on the art and science of selling, then later discovering that his success in selling was never because of traditional sales techniques or gimmicks.

Indeed, if you explore his vast library of books and seminar CDs you'll discover that his success is due to the fact that his faith in God is at the center of every thing he does.

I didn't hear about his 2007 head injury until I found this book yesterday. When I heard the news I was immediately disturbed as though he was a member of my own family because he has touched many of us like a loving father.

In my case, I have the audio versions of his books because I am a student of what Zig calls "Dashboard University". I love to listen, learn and open my mind whenever I'm driving my car, and in the case of Zig's CDs, I love to hear his books in his own voice to truly get the inflection. As anyone who has heard his voice can attest his delivery is priceless.

In the case of this particular book, another reason I wanted to get the audio version was I wanted to hear his voice as a way to feel better about his condition. Just hearing his voice made me feel better about his condition. Without understanding the effects of his injury I feared I would no longer hear that distinct voice I have grown to love.

His voice and his message are as clear and inspirational as ever. In some chapters he is joined by some of his family members, who share additional insights about the aftermath of his injury in their own words. Unlike the printed version, the audio version also gives us addition insight as to their emotional state because Zig and Julie are not afraid to cry as they read some of the more painful memories. I couldn't help but cry along with them and I'm glad they didn't edit those moments from the recordings because it shows us they are human too.

We all face struggles at some point in our lives and this book helps inspire us to find ways to live and even "Embrace the Struggle". Sometimes those struggles lead to unimaginably great things that God has in store for us or those around us.