by Jenny Hansen

Back in a previous iteration of my career, I was in sales. We call that “The Dark Time” at my house. Sales was a terrible job for me and I needed a TON of pick-me-up every day.

Why did I hate it? Besides the crappy boss, the endless hours and all the paperwork?

I’m a trainer and a writer, both in equal measure. In fact, writing is easier if I teach often and teaching is better if I write often. I love to interact, to watch people learn, to see the light bulb go on. And I love to tell stories.

My life got a lot better when I realized this and left that sales job behind me.

It takes a lot of motivation to keep doing a job you hate and the guy who could keep me hopped up was Zig Ziglar, one of the greatest motivators of all time. He passed late last year, and he is sorely missed.

Zig was ALL about people, as the best sales and motivational people are, and he could keep me fired up. He still keeps me fired up.

This was the Zig advice that got me out of bed this last week while I fought the flu:

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

Another of my fave motivators, Harvey Mackay, put out the following collection of Zig quotes in one of his newsletters. I’m positive the quotes below will help perk you up as you prepare for your weekend.

As Ziglar said, “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

Ziglar realized the important truth: in order to educate, you need to entertain. And he knew that stories and thought-provoking quotes could be great teachers, which is why he collected them and wrote them down.

On marriage:

• “Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they are on the same side.”

On success:

• “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”
• “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”
• “Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission.”

On failure:

• “Failing is an event, not a person. Yesterday ended last night.”
• “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24-hour days.”
• “If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.”

On character:

• “Every choice you make has an end result.”
• “If you go out looking for friends, you’re going to find they are very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.”
• “It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”

And my absolute favorite Zig quote EVER:

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

Who is your favorite motivational person? What quote helps you keep going when you want to quit? Be sure to tweet them to me!

~ Jenny

 

About Jenny Hansen

By day, Jenny provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. By night she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction and short stories. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.

When she’s not at her personal blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at or at Writers In The Storm. Jenny also writes the Risky Baby Business posts at More Cowbell, a series that focuses on babies, new parents and high-risk pregnancy.

© 2013 Jenny Hansen. All content on this page is protected by copyright. If you would like to use any part of this, please contact me at the above links to request permission.