Growing Up Ziglar – A Daughter’s Broken Journey from Heartache to Hope

By Julie Ziglar Norman –

With God, It’s Never Too Late to Be Your Best You

Julie Ziglar Norman often says her dad is the king of “doing life right” and she is the poster child for “doing life wrong.” For over a quarter of a century she lived every day with regret, shame, guilt, and depression. But as the daughter of the motivator’s motivator, Zig Ziglar, Julie knew that she needed to be positive. So she gathered up all of her negative self-talk and buried it deep inside where it wouldn’t ruin the bright and practiced smile she presented to the world.

Julie’s intimate and soul-searching story will move you to laughter and tears as she traces her tangled path from heartache to redemption. From her honest account of overcoming real struggles, you will discover what it means to want what God wants more than you want what you want.  You’ll learn what leads to a closer relationship with Christ and a deeper, more abiding, faith.

With transparency and insight, Julie’s intimate and soul-searching path from heartache to redemption will allow you to discover:

• power to let go of shame and embrace authentic freedom
• courage to live with a new depth of faith and transparency
• hope that God can beautifully redeem even your worst choices
• tools to equip you to make needed changes

Read this excerpt from Chapter One of Growing Up Ziglar:  A Daughter’s Broken Journey from Heartache to Hope:  

The Command I Couldn’t Ignore

That muggy Sunday morning in the waning days of the summer of 2005 started out like so many others.  Six years earlier, my husband Jim and I had moved from the bustling suburbs of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex to the sleepy little town of Alvord, Texas. It had taken some time and lots of visiting, but we’d found a church we loved, and we treasured all thirty of the regular attendees.  We enjoyed knowing, really knowing, everyone in the fellowship, so it didn’t seem unusual when my friend Missy pulled me aside as soon as we walked into the church foyer.

What was unusual was that Missy began telling me about a dream she’d had the night before.  Our church would be considered conservative by most, and what I was about to hear was not an ordinary discussion—even among our most colorful attendees!—but I was riveted in place because I’d just that very week finished a personal Bible study about God speaking to people in Biblical times through dreams.

Missy said she didn’t know what the dream meant, but it was made clear in her dream that she was to tell me, “You are to do the thing you’ve been asked to do, and God can’t use you fully until you’ve done it.”

I could feel my heart pounding, and it seemed to beat faster with every word Missy spoke. I knew immediately to what she was referring, and with an inward groan I recalled the terse conversation with my sister and my refusal to even consider her unthinkable request.  I thanked Missy for telling me and assured her I understood what her dream meant…but I wasn’t about to tell her any of the sordid details.  A distinct feeling of impending doom washed over me.  The doors were about to be flung wide open on the very thing I’d been secretly dreading for over a quarter of a century.  Vivid, unwelcome memories crowded in as my practiced denial fell by the wayside.  My past had finally caught up with me.

I’m Positive I’m Miserable

It is hard for some people to believe that a daughter of motivational icon Zig Ziglar and his famous “Redhead,” Jean Abernathy Ziglar, would have any problems at all. People ask me all the time what it was like “growing up Ziglar.” Then they launch off into guessing how it might have been growing up with the world’s greatest motivator for a father.  They don’t realize that the daddy I grew up with was a traveling salesman.  I’ll admit, he was an extremely optimistic, happy, enthusiastic salesman, and he was teaching positive thinking (at home and in the sales field)  by the time I was a teenager, but he was not famous or even very well known on the national level until I was about 18 years old.

In our family home, negative words like stupid, dumb, idiot, and hate, or any hurtful combination of words, were not allowed.   I’m quite sure my little friends thought I was from a different planet when I’d say someone was “less than bright,” or “not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”

If I was sick and you asked how I felt, I wouldn’t say I felt bad—no, I’d say I felt “less than good.”  If I sprained my wrist and you tried to comfort me, I’d tell you all about how grateful I was because a sprained wrist is so much better than a broken arm.  Nothing got credit for being what it was and negative attitudes were discussed and adjusted.   While I am truly grateful that I learned how to minimize problems instead of maximize them, when the bigger, tougher issues of life began to happen, I put them behind me so quickly I never fully processed or even acknowledged what had happened.  I just moved on and hoped for the best.

I was taught to look for the good in everything, but trying to find a way to express negative feelings with positive words could get pretty frustrating at times. It was in one of those moments during my teen years that I proclaimed I would one day write a book titled I’m Positive I’m Miserable.  I had no way of knowing that I’d ultimately have more than enough material to fill several volumes under that title.

When Dad’s speaking career began to take off, it took off in a big way, especially in our hometown of Dallas, Texas, thanks in large part to the endorsement and support of the late Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics.  When Dad’s notoriety increased, I became acutely aware of trying to protect his public image.  I had a lot of challenges as a teenager and young adult, and I realized I was making choices that weren’t consistent with what Dad was teaching.  I never wanted to cause him embarrassment, so I did my best to keep people from finding out he was my father.  When that wasn’t possible, I found myself living life with two faces.  On the outside I was positive.  On the inside I was miserable.

By the time my friend Missy told me about her dream, I was fifty years old and at a point in life where I had made great progress toward being more positive than miserable—at least in the areas I was willing to face.  I shouldn’t have been surprised that God wanted me to dig into my past and deal with the hurts and shame that survived just below the everyday conscious level.  I had experienced firsthand that God doesn’t want us to settle for less than His best in our relationships.  I was about to learn the full extent of God’s handiwork, the intricate details that had been set in motion years before, and the length He goes to draw us into an intimate relationship with Him.

What is being said about Julie’s book, Growing Up Ziglar?

No one can tell you who you are. It doesn’t matter who your parents are or where you come from; you’re the only one who gets to decide who you’re going to be. Few people can demonstrate that better than Julie Ziglar Norman. The daughter of one of America’s most well-known and loved motivators, Julie found God where most of us do: somewhere in between the lofty ideal we’re told about and the big mess we often make of our lives.

Dave Ramsey
New York Times best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio host

Julie Ziglar’s masterful memoir will take you on a journey beneath the surface and underneath the shadow of her famous father’s larger-than-life persona. With frank honesty, her story shows the love and support she found there as well as the pressure she spent her life trying to ease. Her personal revelations will not only allow you to see inside the Ziglar family but will give you insight into your own. You’ll leave these pages and Julie’s story with a more clear view of yourself, your loved ones and, most importantly, your God.

Priscilla Shirer
Bible teacher and Author

“Julie Ziglar Norman continues the family legacy of sharing answers for those who are searching for the truth.   In Growing Up Ziglar: A Daughter’s Broken Path from Heartache to Hope, Julie’s own search for truth will inspire and enlighten you.  Her hard earned words contain a clarity and purpose that is surely welcome in today’s world.”

Andy Andrews
New York Times bestselling author of The Noticer & The Traveler’s Gift

“In this extremely raw and transparent recording of the powerful story of experience and lessons of Julie Ziglar Norman, you will see that deep down, we all go through valleys.  I rarely endorse books, but because I truly believe that many will be transformed through this one…I say…read it.”

Nick Vujicic
Evangelist

Practical, honest, powerful!  This is a very good book.  The insights of Julie Ziglar Norman are an empowering dose of genuine responsibility and truth for all Believers.  Readers will be challenged to move through personal facades toward the bedrock of what separates us from Christ. Then each is encouraged to choose His freedom.  Julie states “My desire is for you to KNOW HIM . . . and to know His word for YOU.  It’s time to get real and get right with God.”

Kim Meeder
Founder of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, Best-selling author, Speaker

JULIE ZIGLAR NORMAN is the daughter of motivational icon Zig Ziglar and worked for twenty years as his personal editor. With a background in sales and business management, she has become a dynamic international transformational speaker. Her lively, surprisingly transparent keynote addresses to both corporate and faith based audiences have made her a crowd favorite.  Julie lives in Texas with her husband, Jim, and continues the Ziglar legacy of encouragement through The Ziglar Women Conferences.  For more information go to ziglarwomen.com.  If you are interested in having Julie give a keynote address at your upcoming conference she is represented exclusively by Ambassador Speakers Bureau.  Contact Gloria Leyda at 877-425-4700 ext. 235, or www.ambassadorspeakers.com.

Julie’s story has helped thousands of women experience God’s grace and forgiveness more profoundly. Are you ready for a journey of hope?