Since I have been in sales and management I have heard and seen quotes by Zig Ziglar daily without having a clue who this guy was.  This weekend as I was tweeting a Zig Ziglar quote on Twitter my curiosity got the best of me, so i decided to do some research on this man.

Zig Ziglar defines the phrase “self-made man” and shows that a little daily motivation can go a long way!  Zig was born Hilary Hinton Ziglar 86 years ago in a small town in Alabama.  Being one of 12 children Zig had to grow up quickly when his father passed away when he was only six years old.  Zig Ziglar had a great number of sales jobs but before that he was a military man who served in WWII.  At the age of 17 Zig was sent off to serve in the Navy for two years and when he returned he met his young wife and they married the year after.

Fast forward almost 70 years later and Zig Ziglar has published over ten motivational books, has spoken at thousands of events and his quotes on success are used daily to motivate and inspire others.  Here are some of his most memorable quotes that I read often to keep me inspired.

• “Money won’t make you happy… but everybody wants to find out for themselves.”
•  ”A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
• “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” 
• “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
• “People who have good relationships at home are more effective in the marketplace.”
• “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”
• “Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”
• “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.
• “Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.”
• “Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands.”
• “Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.”
• “When you are tough on yourself, life is going to be infinitely easier on you.”
• “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. 
• “You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure.”
• “You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see yourself.”
• “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”
• “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
• “If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.”
• “If you want to reach a goal, you must “see the reaching” in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.”
• “It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”
• “It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference.”
• “Little men with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.”
• “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.”
• “A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
• “A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.”
• “Building a better you is the first step to building a better America.”
• “Every choice you make has an end result.”
• “Every obnoxious act is a cry for help.”
• “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”
• “Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.”
• “I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.”
• “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”
• “If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.”
• “If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.”