Introduction

Zing! is the thing!

Would you hang out with you if you didn’t have to? Is your life beige? Now is the time to fill all aspects of your life with the color of Zing!.

What is “Zing!”?

Zing! is your ability to override competing forces to positively influence others towards a greater social good. Zing! is about influencing others to make the world a better place while maximiZing your potential for a more successful, happier and more productive life. Zing! begins with you and ends with others. Zing! is what you get when you add the letter “z” to the word “charisma” and add an exclamation point. With Zing! you will find yourself more confident in your abilities to achieve your goals. With enhanced confidence comes enhanced opportunity. Regardless of your goals in life, being more influential (or “charizmatic”) allows you to replace the shadows and darkness in your life with light.

No more complaining that you were once again passed up, passed by, overlooked, undervalued, or “screwed over.” No more settling. No more self-defeating language, victim mentality, or boredom. It’s time for a kick in the seat of your pants, a jolt between the ears, and for you to put a bounce back in your step. The insights offered in this book will lead you directly to the light switch; all you have to do is turn it on!

Based on the idea “wherever you go, there you are,” How to Zing! Your Life and Leadership was written to eliminate the various compartments of your life or leadership (i.e. office worker, family member, industry leader, parent, boss, daughter, son, manager, student leader, volunteer, etc.) and replace them with one whole—or complete—human being. To achieve this goal, I merged my own insights with strategies, laws, habits, principles, and tips from the more popular motivational and leadership thinkers today. The result is twenty-one insights towards a more meaningful life and influential style of leadership.

Why do I need Zing!?

You hold in your hand yet another self-help-instructional-how-to book. This one, however, is neither solely about life nor solely about leadership. It’s about Zing!—that thing which happens when you combine your life with your leadership to produce a higher quality product, improve your relationships, and serve a greater good. Despite the “humility is in—charisma is out” tune sung by those feeling the sting of the “it’s all about me” charismatic leader, this book is about charisma. It is about becoming better, wiser, smarter, and more influential—all for the benefit of making the world a better place because you showed up!

How Zing! Works

If you are a by-product of the self-actualized-self-helped-self-managed generation of the 1980s, you might rejuvenate your Zing! potential simply by reading the Table of Contents. However, if you want to know why you need to embark on this journey of self-discovery and make the needed self-improvements, then read each of the twenty-one insights. The first insight appropriately begins with the topic of self-inspection, and the last keeps your feet on the ground with a discussion on humility. Each insight contains an opportunity for assessment (found in Appendix A: Chapter Self-Assessments) and a skill building lesson. The more frequently you practice each lesson, the more it will become part of your personality, and the more influential you will become. As a result of reading this book, you will have the tools you need to accomplish your goals on a daily basis and discover a renewed sense of happiness as you use your time and talents to make this world a better place.

So, do you want happiness?

Is Zing! in your future?