Inspirational Quotes by Marty Nemko (American Career Coach)

The desire to be right usually trumps the desire for truth.
—Marty Nemko
Topics: Equality

Why do so many people prefer a silly, manipulative, games-playing, selfish hottie over an ugly, intense, honest, kind person?
—Marty Nemko

Talking too much is a career killer. Keep all utterances to <45 seconds &, in dialogue, speak a bit LESS than 50% of the time.
—Marty Nemko

In your desire to stand out from the horde, beware of hyping yourself, your ideas, or taking inappropriately extreme positions.
—Marty Nemko

What skill of yours has given you the must success? Use it more.
—Marty Nemko
Topics: Failure

Far better than a course is self-study + a tutor to get you past your trouble spots.
—Marty Nemko

If you want to lock in a new attitude or behavior, say and/or write that and why. Then keep paraphrasing, NOT reading it.
—Marty Nemko

Teamwork is deified. Don’t forget the pluses of individualism: more motivation, bolder/less compromised solutions, speed.
—Marty Nemko

Where at all ethically possible, we must give others hope. Without it, a person figuratively or even literally dies.
—Marty Nemko

Don’t give up prematurely. Your continued efforts will iterate, improve based on lessons learned from your past failures.
—Marty Nemko

Don’t confuse tact with cowardice. Sometimes, it’s wise to speak up boldly.
—Marty Nemko

If you relentlessly pursue a big goal with laser-beam focus, you will likely like your life and be a most worthy person.
—Marty Nemko

Ever get tired of being nice? Tempted to throw caution to the wind and say what you really think? If deserved, even yell?
—Marty Nemko

Telling people I can’t lose weight may make me eat more—to prove myself right. Perhaps if I told people, “‘I’m gonna lose 20.”
—Marty Nemko
Topics: Leaders, Leadership

If someone smiles at you with pursed lips, they’re generally forcing the smile—either because they’re shy or don’t like you.
—Marty Nemko

I even take care to tear-off single sheets of toilet paper. Because I’m cheap? No. Because it’ll help the environment? No. I just think wasting is wrong.
—Marty Nemko

School can give a false sense of confidence or of loserhood. Too often, school success does not predict life success.
—Marty Nemko

Whatever bad awaits, don’t let it spoil the present moment.
—Marty Nemko
Topics: Information

If possible, slightly under-schedule yourself. That gives you the time to make your work higher-quality.
—Marty Nemko

A desire to “give back” needn’t imply giving to the neediest. It could mean giving to those with the most potential to benefit.
—Marty Nemko

It’s hard to change people’s work style: aggressive vs passive, hardworking vs moderate. So it may be wise to praise their status-quo.
—Marty Nemko

Before making an argument, ask a likely opponent to lay out the counterargument. Your argument can then incorporate that.
—Marty Nemko

We hear stories of persistence rewarded yet for each of those, hundreds have pressed on only to end up broken and/or broke.
—Marty Nemko

If your self-esteem is low, perhaps focus on finding work you can succeed at. Real self-esteem comes from accomplishment.
—Marty Nemko

In managing & parenting, praise when you can, & when you can’t, try invoking guilt, e.g., “I know you’re better than this.”
—Marty Nemko

If you have a clearly good idea, to avoid getting talked out of it, get input only on how to better execute it.
—Marty Nemko

To boost self-esteem: accept you’re flawed like everyone, do what you’re good at, & accomplish: Even little wins boost self-esteem.
—Marty Nemko

The most powerful motivator may not be fear—people go back to bad habits after a heart attack. Could it be proving themselves right?
—Marty Nemko
Topics: Politics

How feeble are we that we’re swayed more by dubious flattery than by valid suggestions.
—Marty Nemko

I used to think most people are intrinsically motivated to work hard. But I’m finding that many if not most people need monitoring.
—Marty Nemko

The pursuit of happiness is often the pursuit of emptiness. Far wiser is the pursuit of contribution.
—Marty Nemko

Far more of life’s pleasures are in the process than in the outcome. Be in the moment.
—Marty Nemko

The double standard: If a statement favors redistribution, it gets praised. If favoring meritocracy, it’s usually censored &/or censured.
—Marty Nemko

Facing our parents’ aging forces us to confront our own mortality. It reminds us to appreciate and live each moment wisely.
—Marty Nemko

Some people are nice as a way of compensating for their not being good.
—Marty Nemko

Be tough where you must be, kind where you can be.
—Marty Nemko

Might you be wise to focus more on self-acceptance than self-improvement? That might even motivate you to self-improve.
—Marty Nemko

You’ll likely learn more of enduring value from an hour of wise googling than from any course.
—Marty Nemko
Topics: Learning, Education

If you’ve been beaten up in Rounds 1-9, it’s hard to come out for Round 10.
—Marty Nemko

Everyone needs hope, often desperately. Look for honest ways to give it.
—Marty Nemko

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