Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar is a bestselling author and one of the most well-loved motivational speakers in the world.

Yet he grew in poverty. Zig was number 10 of 12 children. And to make things worse, his father died when he was 6 years old. 

And life was very hard. 

As a small child, he had to work. He worked in a grocery store from 4:30 in the morning to 11:00 near midnight everyday. In case you can’t do the math, that’s an 18-hour workday. For a kid!

Fast forward a few years later, poverty still followed him.

When Zig got married, he applied as a salesman. 

But for the first two years, he couldn’t sell his products.

So he had to sell his furniture just so he and his wife could eat. When his daughter was born, the hospital bill was $64. He didn’t even have $64—and had to go out and sell something so he could take his family home.

It was these hardships that fueled his desire to succeed in life. 

And succeed, he did. In one year, he became the number one salesman of his company. And later on, he set up his own company and became very successful in life.

The wooden bowl...

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in- law, 

and a four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, 

his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. 

The family ate together nightly at the dinner table. But the 

elderly grandfather' s shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult.

Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.

When he grasped the glass often milk spilled on the tablecloth. 

The son and daughter-in- law became irritated with the mess. 

"We must do something about grandfather, " said the son. 

I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor. 

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, 

grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner 

at the dinner table. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, 

his food was served in a wooden bowl. 

Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather' s direction, 

he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone. Still, the only words 

the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork 

or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing 

with wood scraps on the floor. 

He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, 

the boy responded,

"Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food 

from when I grow up."

The four-year-old smiled and went back to work. 

The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. 

Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, 

both knew what must be done. 

That evening the husband took grandfather' s hand and gently led him 

back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. 

And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer 

when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled. 

Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes ever observe, 

their ears ever listen, and their minds ever process the messages they absorb. 

If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere for family members, 

they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives. 

Lesson from the Story:

The wise parent realizes that every day that building blocks 

are being laid for the child's future.

Road to SUCCESS

“I have found the road to success no easy matter” said the businessman.”
I started at the bottom. I worked twelve hours a day.
I sweated. I fought. I took abuse.
I did things I did not approve of. But I kept right on climbing the ladder.
“And now of course, you are a success? Prompted the interviewer.
No I wouldn’t say that” replied the businessman with a laugh.”
just quote me as saying that
I have become expert at climbing ladders.

*******
“My boy said the businessman executive,
there are two things that are vitally necessary
if you are to succeed in the business”.
What are they dad?
“Honesty and sagacity”.
“What is honesty?
“Always-no matter what happens nor how adversely it may effect you always
keep your word once you have given it.
And sagacity
Never give your word.

***************
Once Einstein was asked for the secret of his success. He said, if A is success in life,
I should say that the formula for success is A equals x plus y plus z, with x standing
for work and y for play but what is z?
That is keeping your mouth shut.

***************

DON'T CHANGE THE WORLD

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country.

When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony.

He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.

Definitely, this would need thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?”

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.

From waiter to an IAS Officer

If you don't succeed the first time, try, try and try again

K Jayaganesh's story is similar. He failed the civil service examination six times but never lost heart. The seventh time -- his last chance -- he passed with a rank of 156 and has been selected for the Indian Administrative Service.

Jayaganesh's story is inspiring not because he did not lose heart but also because he comes from a very poor background in a village in Tamil Nadu, and though he studied to be an engineer, he worked at odd jobs, even as a waiter for a short while, to realise his dream of becoming an IAS officer.

Read on for Jayaganesh's inspiring achievement, in his own words:

Childhood in a remote village

I was born and brought up in a small village called Vinavamangalam in Vellore district. My father Krishnan, who had studied up to the tenth standard, worked as a supervisor in a leather factory. My mother was a housewife. I am the eldest in the family and have two sisters and a brother. I studied up to the 8th standard in the village school and completed my schooling in a nearby town.

I was quite good at studies and always stood first. Coming from a poor family, I had only one ambition in life -- to get a job as fast as I could and help my father in running the family. My father got Rs 4,500 as salary and he had to take care of the education of four children and run the family, which you know is very difficult.

So, after my 10th standard, I joined a polytechnic college because I was told I would get a job the moment I passed out from there. When I passed out with 91 per cent, there was a chance for me to get entry to a government engineering college on merit. So I decided to join the Thanthai Periyar Government Engineering College to study mechanical engineering. My father supported my desire to study further.

Even while doing engineering, my ambition was still to get a job. If you look at my background, you will understand why I didn't have any big ambitions. Most of my friends in the village had studied only up to the 10th standard, and many did not even complete school. They worked as auto drivers or coolies or masons. I was the only one among my friends who went to college.

I understood the importance of education because of my parents. My father was the only one in his family to have completed school, so he knew the value of education. My parents saw to it that we children studied well.

In search of a job

Four days after I completed my engineering in 2000, I went to Bangalore in search of a job and I one without much difficulty. My salary was Rs 2,500 at a company that reconditioned tools.

It was in Bangalore that I started thinking about my village and my friends. I wondered sadly why none of them studied and worked in good companies. Because they had no education, they always remained poor. There was not enough money to buy even proper food. There was no opportunity there; the only place they could work was the tannery in the nearby town. If they didn't get work at the tannery, they worked as auto drivers or coolies. In short, there was no one in my village to guide the young generation.

I thought would I be able to help my villagers in any way?

Getting interested in the civil service examination

Till then, I had not even heard of something called the civil services examination. It was only after I went to Bangalore and saw the world that I was exposed to many things. I came to know that a collector in a small place could do a lot. At that moment, I decided that I wanted to be an IAS officer.

I resigned and went home to prepare for the examination. I never thought resigning was risky because I had the confidence and knew I would do well.

My father also supported me wholeheartedly. He had just got a bonus of Rs 6,500 and he gave me that money to buy study material. I sat in my village and studied from the notes I received by post from Chennai.

Failed attempts

In my first two attempts, I could not even clear the preliminary examination. I had no idea how to prepare for the exam, what subjects to opt for and how to study. There was nobody to guide me.

I had taken mechanical engineering as my main subject. That's when I met Uma Surya in Vellore. He was also preparing for the examination. He told me that if I took sociology as an option, it would be easy.

Even with sociology as the main subject, I failed in the third attempt. But I was not disappointed. I knew why I was failing. I didn't have proper guidance. I started reading newspapers only after I started preparing for the examination! So you can imagine from what kind of background I came from.

To Chennai for coaching

When I came to know about the government coaching centre (external link) in Chennai, I wrote the entrance examination and was selected. We were given accommodation and training.

Because I got tips from those who passed out, I passed the preliminary in my fourth attempt. We were given free accommodation and food only till we wrote the main examination. After that, we had to move out. I didn't want to go back to the village but staying in Chennai also was expensive.

I tried to get a job as an engineer but my efforts turned futile. I then decided to look for a part time job so that I would have time to study.

Working as a waiter in Chennai

I got a job as a billing clerk for computer billing in the canteen at Sathyam Cinemas. I also worked as the server during the interval. It never bothered me that I, a mechanical engineer, preparing for the civil services, had to work as a server. I had only one aim -- to stay on in Chennai to pass the examination.

Attending the interview in Delhi

After I got the job at the Sathyam Cinemas, I was called for the interview. As counselling was my hobby, a lot of questions were asked about counselling. I was not very fluent in English but I managed to convey whatever I wanted to. Perhaps I did not articulate well. I failed in the interview.

Preliminary again, the 5th time

Once again, I started from the beginning. Surprisingly, I failed in the preliminary itself. On analysis, I felt I did not concentrate on studies as I was working at Sathyam Cinemas.

I quit the job and joined a private firm to teach sociology to those preparing for the UPSC examinations. While I learnt the other subjects there, I taught sociology. Many friends of mine in Chennai helped me both financially and otherwise while I prepared for the examination.

Sixth attempt

I passed both the preliminary and the main in the sixth attempt but failed at the interview stage.

While preparing for the interview, I had written an examination to be an officer with the Intelligence Bureau and I was selected. I was in a dilemma whether to accept the job. I felt if I joined the IB, once again, my preparation to be an IAS officer would get affected. So, I decided not to join and started preparing for one last time.

Last attempt

I had to give the last preliminary just a few days after the previous interview. I was confused and scared. Finally, I decided to take the last chance and write the examination. Like I had hoped, I passed both the preliminary and the main.

The interview was in April, 2008 at Delhi. I was asked about Tamil Nadu, Kamaraj, Periyar, Tamil as a classical language, the link between politics and Tamil cinema etc. I was upset since I did not wish the interviewers at the start and they did not respond when I said thanks at the end. Both the incidents went on playing in my mind. I just prayed to God and walked back.

The day the results were out

I was extremely tense that day. I would know whether my dreams would be realised or not. I used to tell God, please let me pass if you feel I am worthy of it.

I went to a playground and sat there meditating for a while. Then, I started thinking what I should do if I passed and what I should do if I didn't.

I had only one dream for the last seven years and that was to be an IAS officer.

156th rank

Finally when the results came, I couldn't believe myself. I had secured the 156th rank out of more than 700 selected candidates. It's a top rank and I am sure to get into the IAS.

I felt like I had a won a war that had been going on for many years. I felt free and relieved.

The first thing I did was call my friends in Chennai and then my parents to convey the good news.

Warm welcome in the village

The reception I got in my village was unbelievable. All my friends, and the entire village, were waiting for me when I alighted from the bus. They garlanded me, burst crackers, played music and took me around the village on their shoulders. The entire village came to my house to wish me. That was when I saw unity among my villagers. It was a defining moment for me.

What I want to do

I worked really hard without losing faith in myself to realise my dream. My real work starts now. I want to try hard to eradicate poverty and spread the message of education to all people. Education is the best tool to eradicate poverty. I want Tamil Nadu.

1) not to lose hope- After failing five times he still sat for the exam the sixth time.

2) Tremendous self belief- Any ordinary person would have grabbed the chance to become become the IB offcier after the 5th attempt but Jayaganesh wanted to be a civil servant.

3) Passion- Jayaganesh did not hesitate to work as a waiter inspie of being a mech. engineer in his quest for the final goal.

You must not be scared of dying

There was once an old wise man who live on top of a mountain. (I don’t know why the wise men always like to stay on top of mountains.)

Whenever the villagers had a problem, they would climb up the mountain and ask the old man for advice.

“Wise man,” he asked, “What makes a man truly great?”

One day a young man decided to climb up and ask the old man a question.

The old man looked at him and said, “Do you sincerely want to know?”

“Yes, yes!” the young man replied the wise man.

“Well,” the wise old man said to him, “Let me tell you in the form of a story”

There was once a Greek man who suffered from a deadly disease. Knowing that he will die soon, he was the first to join the army when his country was in a battle with the enemy.

Hoping to die in battle, he would fight in the front line, exposing himself without any worry for his life. Eventually they won the battle and he was still alive. His general was so impressed with his bravery which contributed much to the victory.

The general decided to promote him and award him with medals of bravery and honor. On the day of presentation, he was looking very down and sad. Curiously, the general asked him the reason why and was told of his deadly disease. “How could I let such a brave soldier die?”, the general thought.

So the general hired the best physician and finally cured the soldier. But from that day onwards, the once valiant soldier was no longer seen at the front. He would always avoid danger and tries his best to avoid danger and protect his life.

“Young man”, he wise man said, “if you want to be truly great, you must not be scared of dying, you must be daring.

perfection

A gentleman was once visiting a temple under construction. In the temple premises, he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he saw, just a few meters away, another identical idol was lying. Surprised he asked the sculptor, do you need two statutes of the same idol. No said the sculptor. We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.

The gentleman examined the statue. No apparent damage was visible. Where the damage is asked the gentleman. There is a scratch on the nose of the idol. Where are you going to keep the idol? The sculptor replied that it will be installed on a pillar 20 feet high. When the idol will be 20 feet away from the eyes of the beholder, who is going to know that there is scratch on the nose? The gentleman asked. The sculptor looked at the gentleman, smiled and said, “The God knows it and I know it ”.

The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. Excellence is a drive from Inside not Outside.