Tom Ziglar, like his father Zig, is very upbeat and optimistic. He almost seems to never have a bad day. The book is not just filled with advice and stories, but asks the reader to participate in the process of changing their life for the better. Had a lot of religious references and inferences for what was labeled as a Business and Self-Improvement book.

Zig Ziglar is an excellent motivator and this little book is no exception to that. The premise of Choose to Win is simple...our mindset makes all the difference in what we are able to accomplish in life. If you are looking for an inspiring motivation booster, this is a great choice. I gave it 4/5 stars because while I enjoyed it, I found it to be a bit repetitive at times.

As a fan of Zig Ziglar I was looking forward to reading some new content from his son, but I found this to mostly be a reworked novel of concepts I learned through the years listening to Zig's talks. Still valuable information and definitely worth a refresher, but nothing new.

I love the message, hate the delivery. Choose To Win focuses on goal setting, being intentional, and leaving a legacy. Unfortunately, the book is filled with fluff, exaggerated examples, up-selling & cross-promotion. Tom is a self-help guru by osmosis. He recycles his father's advice and quotes newer books as well. Because he tries to have a broad approach, the book lacks a specific focus and becomes repetitive within the various topics. The same advice is given when talking about mental, physical, financial, and so on. To get anything out of this book, take your time when reading and keep a journal handy. But my advice, get a different book.

This has been given to me by NetGalley.

Book: “Choose to Win: Transform Your Life, One Simple Choice at a Time” Tom Ziglar, Harper Collins, 2019

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available: March 5, 2019

Tom Ziglar is the son of Zig Ziglar, an influential speaker over 40 years time. Tom has essentially followed in his father's footsteps. He has written a book called “Choose to Win.” In it, he recounts the Wheel of Life which Zig Ziglar has used but not exclusively to him. I heard of the psychological concept about 20 to 30 years ago and many people have used it to balance life's priorities and seven areas of life from the mental, the spiritual, the physical, the family, the financial, the personal and the career. The seven spokes are evaluated based on how well you are doing in each area. If you are well balanced in all areas, your spokes and tire pressure will be the same and all inflated to a good height level.

He reviews the areas in quite a bit of detail with individual chapters. He, however, repeats the same thing at the end of each chapter and so it is repetitive. He essentially says to replace a bad habit with a good habit. The premise of the book is basically this which to me is not a novel concept and is only common sense. I do not know how this is a new and exciting concept. Of course, you change a bad habit with a good habit and of course, you do it in incremental baby steps. Tom says you should do something for 66 days, but I have heard of 28 days, one month and so forth as other optimal times to make a habit habitual. James Clear agrees with Tom Ziglar but according to the Phillipa Lally's study, it can take anywhere from 18 days to 254 days to form a habit depending upon a number of factors.

The other predominant concept in the book is to leave a legacy behind because you are already are either intentionally or not. This reminds me of another book I reviewed which deals in entirely with leaving a legacy by Terrie Davoll Hudson called “Leave a Legacy that Counts: Create One at Any Age.” It is quite a bit shorter but the messages between these two authors are similar.

Finally, the steps necessary to fulfilling a goal are as follows:

“Step 1 – Identify your goals
Step 2 – My benefits to reaching this goal
Step 3 – Major obstacles and mountains to climb to reach this goal
Step 4 – Skills and knowledge required to to reach this goal
Step 5 – Individuals, groups, companies and organizations to work with to reach this goal
Step 6 – Plan of action to reach this goal
Step 7 – Completion Date”

Overall, this book has some good information in it. I found it heart-warming to hear of the last few days of Zig Ziglar's life from the family perspective. As well, Tom Ziglar asks some very good questions throughout the book to help the reader along and has some good tips added in.

His trust and belief in God and Jesus Christ is paramount and not so different than the spiritual books I normally review.

I give the book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I have changed my mind since and now give the book a 3.75 based on the very good questions he asks.

Tags: Business, Self-improvement, Self-development.Individual, Goals, mental, spiritual, physical, family, financial, personal, career, legacy, Tom Ziglar, Zig Ziglar, Attitude, Effort, Skill, Transformation, Religious, God, Jesus Christ, Bible, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

I never want to give a self-help or motivational book too low a review, since it may click with someone who really needs it. even if that person wasn't me. That said, this one wasn't my favorite. First of all, 4-6 pages of blurbs in the front of a book are often an indicator of a not-so-great book. Then the author goes into talking about his loving, supportive parents, including his famous motivational speaker father. That's great for him, but can someone born into such good circumstances really be qualified to tell people who weren't how to "choose to win"? Aha, Tom Ziglar already has an answer for you: that's defeatist thinking to think you have it worse than him or anyone else. So what's the solution? Habits. Break the bad ones, start some better ones, and you're on your way.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital ARC!

I enjoyed the message this book was conveying but I did not enjoy the delivery at first. Tom Ziglar made a lot of references to his father in the beginning, almost as though boasting at all his opportunities as the son of a great motivator. Once I got used to his way of delivering the message, I was able to absorb the message better. I learned some things about goal setting and how to replace bad habits with good ones. 3.5 stars.
For those that are not religious, there is a decent amount of religion in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

July 20, 2019
Choose to Win-Tom Ziglar

I received this free from Net Galley for the purpose of review.

Ziglar, a name most would be familiar with who have ever attended a sales conference or motivational meeting in the United States and in some foreign countries.

Tom is the son of Zig Ziglar, a well known sales and motivational speaker. Tom has continued the family business and the book is probably the easiest to read and offers true help for anyone looking to make some changes in their life or learn a more foundational basis for project of leaving a legacy.

Choosing to win is a choice and the process does not happen overnight. Tom takes you through multiple exercises that help to start the plan and actually implement the plan to win. Not to be confused "win" as being only monetary or competitive but more importantly to win in your spiritual, personal and business world.

I especially enjoyed the well organized sections/disciplines to forge ahead to a winning and purposeful life.

Read the book, be challenged to truly look at your personal desires, dreams and plans with the goal of actually at the end of the journey be satisfied that you have left quite a legacy.

Comments

Choose to Win by Tom Ziglar helps to break down how to achieve your goals and plan how to put them in place. Using his 3 step approach and his 7 point plan, help to set out goals and any problems which come your way as you follow them. This is easy to read and well structured and is highly recommended.

The subtitle says it all: Transform your life one simple choice at a time. The author will guide you with one choice at a time and help you improve your life. Of course, in the end, it all depends on us following thru with the advice, but we need good and helpful advice to follow in order to have good results too, and this book has plenty of helpful insights.

The content is very easy to read and follow. Broken down into pieces, so you can take small action and not fall overwhelmed.

So simple, but so brilliant. "Choose to win" is more than a self-help book, more than a business book, is a "chose wisely" book.

The 3 sections of this book are divided as follows:
Section 1 - It starts with why:
What is your why?
What is your plan?
Goals
Desires, hope, and grit.
Section 2 - The 7 choices plan:
Mental
Spiritual
Physical
Family
Financial
Personal
Career
Section 3 - When do I start?
The perfect start
Choose to live a life of purpose.

Besides all the advice and insights, this book main message is that our choices are what makes our past, present, and future. This book can help you make good choices, be a guide to adopt good habits and provide motivation to become your best self.

Highly recommended!

This book presents well known advice in an easy to read and impactful way. The chapters are well organised and you can work through all the questions and prompts for a deeper more thoughtful experience. Winning is a choice and Tom gives you a set of tools to help make it possible. A good, memorable but easy read. Thank you

Honest and in-depth advice for reaching your full potential. This advice is presented in easy to follow language that can be broken up and applied in pieces at a time.