Even though I live in Perth, the boom city of Australia, there is starting, ever so slowly, a feeling that times are getting tougher. Each day as the price of petrol inches towards $2.00 a litre it seems that the good times may be coming to an end. And people around me are starting to indicate things are getting just a little be more difficult.

And as I sit here writing this edition of The Maverick Spirit I feel much the same about what is going on in the wider world… we need a purpose to make us appreciate that times aren’t tough -  they are just different.

I can recall one of my first mentors, by way of books and audio programs was Zig Ziglar whose famous saying is: “You can have whatever you want in this world as long as you help enough people achieve whatever it is that they want.”

I recall spending time with Zig and his wife “The Redhead” way back in the early 1980’s at Fremantle Fisherman’s Harbour and being inspired to make something of my life.

Zig is now 82 and has just released his 25th book. His message is just as inspiring in “Better than Good” his greeting to people he meets and the title of his new book.

I have been reading about the Power of Purpose and the Power of One. And Zig has a way with words as he sets out why it is a positive to feel that things could be better.  He writes that if you didn’t care it wouldn’t be worth going on.

Think about the awesome power of one person, who could just be you, who could change the way history unfolds. Here are a couple of examples of where one person changed history:

In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England
In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of German
In 1845, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment
In 1875, on vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic
In 1942, one vote saved the Selective Service System just twelve weeks before Pearl Harbour was attacked

And unfortunately, in 1923 one vote gave Adolph Hitler control of the Nazi Party of Germany.

Combine this awesome Power of One with a Power of Purpose and you can achieve anything.

Christopher Wren designed the magnificent St Paul’s Cathedral in London and one day ventured onto the building site. As he wandered around the artisans and stonecutters he asked one of the workmen: “What are you doing?” The man replied “I am cutting a piece of stone.”

Wren approached another man and asked the same question: The second man replied, “I am earning five shillings two pence a day.”

Wren continued on and asked a third man: “What are you doing?” to which the man replied:

“I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build a magnificent cathedral to the glory of God.”

Maybe that stone mason didn’t live to see St Paul’s completed – it took 33 years – but he saw his purpose and that was to create a masterpiece.

I challenge you to think of yourself as an important “one” with a powerful “purpose.”

And 30 years on from my first exposure to the wisdom of this quirky American supersalesman, I am still being inspired by the words of Zig Ziglar.