← Your daily dose of motivation
189 quotes, page 2 of 7For everybody: work, effort and keeping going
Lines for the early start, the long shift and the tenth application with no reply.
We say who really said each one, and where the credit is uncertain we tell you. Every card is ours to share.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
Often attributed to Jim Rohn. Shared everywhere as his; we could not trace it to a talk or a book of his.
The first week in a new job runs on excitement. Every week after that runs on routine.
“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily.”
Zig Ziglar
One good line, read before the shift. That is what these cards are for.
“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.”
Zig Ziglar
Nobody else can send your application. Nobody else can turn up to your interview.
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
Zig Ziglar
Employers can teach the job. They cannot teach the willingness, so they hire it.
“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”
Zig Ziglar
"Any job" is hard to find. "A forklift job within 30 minutes of home" is easy to search for.
“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”
Zig Ziglar
Half an hour a day with a clear target beats a whole weekend of scrolling adverts.
“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution.”
Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog! (2001)
Five minutes with the map before a multi-drop run saves an hour of turning round.
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you.”
Brian Tracy
A short thank-you email after an interview is rare, and remembered.
“No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch.”
Brian Tracy
Ask the person who has done the job for ten years. Most are glad to be asked.
“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”
John C. Maxwell
New system, new site, new manager: the people who learn it first become the people others ask.
“Dreams don't work unless you do.”
Often attributed to John C. Maxwell. Passed round with his name; we could not find where he first said it.
The dream job still starts with an application sent tonight.
“Begin with the end in mind.”
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)
Read the job advert first, then write the CV to answer it, not the other way round.
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.”
Dale Carnegie, as widely quoted
Nervous about the phone call? Make it in the first five minutes, before the nerves win.
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Attributed to Seneca. The idea is often credited to him, but this wording is modern and is not in his letters.
Have the CV ready before the advert appears, and you are first in the inbox when it does.
“While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Letter 1
The course, the licence, the move: the best week to start was last week. The next best is this one.
“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13
The interview is almost never as hard as the night before it.
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
An hour on the bus is an hour for an online course on the phone.
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5. Translations differ a little; this is the common modern one.
No experience? Then the first job is the one that gives it to you, so take it seriously.
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 10
Do not tell the interviewer you are reliable. Have a reference that says so.
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 12
An honest CV gets you a job you can keep.
“People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion, 5
A rejection is information, not a verdict on you.
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Epictetus, Discourses, Book 3
Name the job you want, then list the three things it needs that you do not have yet.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Often attributed to Confucius. It is not in the Analects; the earliest printings in English are from the 20th century.
One application a day is 365 a year. Slow and steady finds work.
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Oliver Goldsmith, The Citizen of the World (1762). Usually credited to Confucius. Goldsmith wrote it, presenting it as a Confucian saying.
Lost the job? Plenty of good careers started the Monday after.
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
Often attributed to Confucius. There is no source in his writings; it is a modern saying.
A career change is a hundred small steps. Take the first one today.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
A proverb, often called Chinese. Its origin is uncertain; the earliest printings are from the 1980s.
Never too late for the HGV licence, the apprenticeship or the first CV.
“Rome was not built in a day.”
Proverb, recorded in medieval French and by John Heywood (1546)
Nobody is a team leader in month one. Most are by year three if they keep learning.
“Little by little, one travels far.”
Spanish proverb (Poco a poco se va lejos)
One more skill, one more ticket, one more good reference. It adds up.
“Well done is better than well said.”
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1737)
Interviews matter, but the first month on the job matters more.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. There is no record of him saying it.
Read the company website before the interview. Five minutes, and it shows.
Other sections
- Work and keeping going (189)
- Starting a business (152)
- For leaders (41)
- Working with people (22)
- Mindset and habits (144)
- True stories of people who started small