Thursday, March 7, 2013

Zig Ziglar's 10 Quotes That Can Change Your Life, And I

Zig Ziglar, the well known motivational speaker and author of many books on Sales and Personal Development died late last year. Forbes published these 10 Quotes That Can Change Your Life. I like them and have a mostly humorous response to them…

10) “Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”
True but if you do it often it can become am unwelcome cousin...

9) “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”
Quite possible, although God has a penchant for calling such saintly souls home early...

8 ) “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.”
Indeed, Marine cadets get their motivation hourly. Too old for that. Off to the shower then...

7) “There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic.”
Probably true. But critical thinking and critique allows one to reside at a 76th floor apartment with steady supply of water and power. Or fly almost anywhere on the globe safely, or talk to anyone on the globe with a cell phone. Engineering is critical thinking and critique of proposed plans and solutions. I guess Zig was no engineer so he’s fully excused.

6) “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”
Including men? I never get emotional buying pants. Or yoghurt. I guess he’s talking about luxuries…

5) “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”
Spot on. Cures mild depression on contact.

4) “If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.”
Sweet, but becomes increasingly difficult past the third grade...

3) “A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
Sorry, here I much prefer Murphy's more precisely estimated position: The first 90% of reaching a tough goal takes 90% of your time. The last 10% of reaching a tough goal takes another 90% of your time.

2) “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
Yes but this assumes that there is some aptitude to work along with a nice attitude.
All the smiles in the world cannot lift someone with a minimal skillset.
Actually Zig’s three components of success are Will, Skill, Refill. Spot on!

1) “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”
This is typically quoted only by people who have actually achieved it!
Of course if I dream about BBQ chicken for dinner, chances are that I'll achieve having it.