This time of year, many people around the world celebrate renewal, rebirth, and transformation. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn digs into his book Zen of Zinn Daily to say, “you can do better. Here’s how.”
Rob Artigo: Ray, as we record this, it’s March 31st, 2026. Your new book, Zen of Zinn Daily, compiles the best of your entries in Zen of Zinn One, Two, and Three. It’s a great series. The entries are daily entries, 366 days, because you include the Leap Year day as well. So for those people who are born on Leap Year day, you can celebrate your birthday and read the book at the same time.
You also then expand on your thoughts from those earlier versions of the book. You have really great little comments about that. Let me read this from page 45 of Zen of Zinn Daily for March 31st. It says, “Can you do better? Can you be better? This is a choice. It is your decision and yours alone. Do not be a victim. Be an advocate for good. Take control of your life.”
So here’s your response to that original quote. “This time of year, many people around the world celebrate renewal, rebirth, and transformation. Sometimes we renew completely to refresh our minds and bodies. Other times, we give or accept a new life, and yet other times we transform those areas of our lives that stand in the way of growth and potential.”
So Ray, the prompt declares that becoming better is a daily choice and rejects victimhood. How does this mindset separate effective leaders from those who stall in tough times?
Ray Zinn: Well, let me talk about the saying that I like to quote. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow’s a mystery. Today’s the present. That’s why they call it a gift.”
Ray Zinn Cont: So we can’t do anything about yesterday. We can’t do anything about tomorrow. We can only work on what we have today. If you focus on doing your best today, not worrying about tomorrow or yesterday, do your best today, you’re going to have a successful life.
So focusing on what you can do now is better than focusing on what you did or what you’re going to do. I think the key here, can you do better, yes, but you can’t do better yesterday. You can’t do better tomorrow. All you can do is better today.
So it’s do it today, not tomorrow or yesterday. And I think that’s the key for this podcast is to focus on the present, not the past or the future.
Rob Artigo: Well, looking at the response, which came after the original quote, it highlights renewal, rebirth, and transformation. So in your experience at Micrel, how did you apply this idea of transforming obstacles into growth for yourself and your teams?
Ray Zinn: Right behind you is my book, Tough Things First. I focus on doing the tough things. Get those out of the way. The tough things yesterday and the tough things tomorrow are not going to help you today.
So you focus on what you can do, focus on those tough things that are nagging at you, that you can get out of the way, and do that first thing every day. Identify those. When you get up in the morning, identify the ones that have to get done first. And those are the bad ones. Those are the tough ones.
Eat that ugly frog first thing, as they say. The focus should be finding out what you don’t want to do. It’s called loving the things you hate. And that’s another one of my favorite sayings is loving the difficult things. That’s what makes you a disciplined person, because discipline is doing what you don’t like doing, that’s the things you hate, and doing them well.
Find out what’s nagging at you, what’s giving you heartburn, and learn to love those. Learn to get those out of the way. If you can love the things that are nagging at you, that are bugging you, it’s like Waldo Emerson said, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier. Not that the nature of the task changes, but our ability to perform it becomes easier.”
In other words, don’t give up, keep trying, persisting. And that’s the key. That’s what March 31st in our Zen of Zinn Daily focuses on is doing the tough things, persisting, doing those, and getting them out of the way.
Rob Artigo: Yeah, and I think that our listeners deserve to hear that once again. Briefly reiterate this. I want to ask you this question. What is the tough thing that they should do to stop being a victim, take control, and truly advocate for good in their lives and organizations right now?
Ray Zinn: Well, again, it’s not being afraid to face those trials, those tribulations, those challenges. Persist in overcoming them. You become a victim when you don’t accept, or at least validate, that these are the things that need to be done.
We don’t like change, and so we tend to ignore it, and so therefore we procrastinate. We put things off. Don’t procrastinate. Do them now. Get them out of the way. You’ll be happier, you’ll be more successful.
Rob Artigo: Join the conversation at toughthingsfirst.com. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Follow Ray Zinn on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and of course, pick up Ray’s books Tough Things First, The Essential Leader: 10 Skills, Attributes, and Fundamentals That Make Up the Essential Leader, and, as you know, the Zen of Zinn series One, Two, and Three.
And, as we read here, it includes the new book Zen of Zinn Daily. Pick them up and enjoy them. Thanks, Ray.
Ray Zinn: Thanks, Rob.
