Photo Zig Ziglar, who wrote more than two dozen books with total sales well into the millions. Credit Ziglar, Inc., via Associated Press

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude. Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile and a grateful heart. There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.

Be grateful. Believe. Try.

Zig Ziglar said so, over and over and over, and he made a fine living doing it. For more than 40 years he traveled the nation and the world as a motivational speaker, stirring corporate groups with his distinctive blend of sound-bite optimism, country wit, Christian faith and good-natured nudging for people to see the bright side of life. The Ziglar Way, he called it.

When I leave, Mr. Ziglar said in an interview late in his life, we want to be sure to leave all of the messages that we can.

Mr. Ziglar, who died on Wednesday in Plano, Tex., at 86, left many, many messages. He reached people through more than two dozen books with total sales well into the millions; through his children, who have helped run his company; through cassette tapes and later podcasts; and of course through his personal presentations. At his busiest, he said, he spoke 150 times a year, and well into his 70s he was speaking 60 times a year. His fee was $50,000 a speech, plus expenses.

He had a formula: Prepare extensively every time, be funny (Every seven to nine minutes Ill have them laughing), and frequently reinforce the broader message (I make certain that every five minutes Im giving them a concept, an idea, a process, a hope builder).

He told a story about a woman in Alabama who he said was bitter about her job and angry with her co-workers. He advised her to write down whatever positives she could thing of the solid paycheck, the benefits, the vacation time and then stare into the mirror and say how much she loved her job. Six weeks later, he ran into her again.

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Zig Ziglar, 86, Motivational Speaker and Author - The New ...