“You have got to be hungry. Be ready to give what it takes. Give your 100%”. By Rajappan Easwaran

For the 20th time I am listening to the same motivational speech and I could prompt every word that was spoken. Every time I listened, it gave me a new perspective and fresh boost of energy. Every day I was listening to a minimum of two hours of motivational speeches. Reading was another habit I worked hard to bring into my routine. Having neck pain, sitting for an hour reading 15 to 20 pages was a nightmare. But I won’t stop, as I wanted to become a speaker.

I had to keep expanding my waking hours and shorten the sleeping time. It was agonizing to rise at 5am to take that walk and do that work out. Listening to every word of the speech, my eyes tend to droop. It was 11.30pm; I was tired and weary after a long day at work. My shoulders hurt. After a brief doze in front of the laptop, I would wake up and straighten myself or get up and walk as I listened. Sometimes sipping hot coffee would keep me awake.

This rigmalore continued. Many times I thought if I had given more efforts on my academics I would have fared better in life. Although I was working hard on myself, it was not helping me to become a speaker. Due to less sleep and continuous mind focus, I was getting tired too easily. Work was increasing in the office. It became very tough to balance my work and other commitments.

One year passed. I got used to the tough routine and my zones were expanded. But I was still not a speaker except for small club talks. I was not reaching anywhere closer to my passion. One evening as I was sharing some positive messages with a few speech club members, one friend suggested that I should conduct a seminar. In an instant I cancelled the idea. I was not ready even though I had a wealth of information and great determination to share. I did not believe in my heart that I could be a real speaker. I got my first lesson that without getting one’s feet wet, one cannot learn how to swim. In order to become a speaker, I have to face a large crowd and keep inspiring for two hours. After an hour I sent a message to my friend that I am ready to do it. Once the idea was deposited in my mind I got ready mentally and released a poster, posted in social media and sent this to over 30 friends and acquaintances. I fixed a date and my friend assisted me in making a draft speech.

The Skill of a sculptor is shown in the statue he has carved, not in the years of hard work he undertook. I just plunged into this challenge. 32 people attended my first seminar on “winning techniques”. It was a big success. In the next 20 days I conducted the second seminar and over 25 people attended this time. The third seminar also followed after a few weeks. People are now asking me for more. Currently I am working on a bigger event.

If I had not taken the action to speak in real life, I would have just remained a presenter to small and familiar crowds. It was the easiest thing to speak in front of a big crowd, but the hardest thing was to believe that I can do it. There is a sea of difference between willing to do and doing itself. The worth of an arrow is seen only when it is shot, not when it is in the quiver. A friend of mine kept saying for over 15 years that he wanted to start a business. He never acted on it and the idea disappeared as he grew older. The scriptures say, “Judge a tree by the fruit it bears, not the fruit it talks about”.

A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are made for. Without taking the first step to show up and face the odds, a person will not grow. Just a small step is more than enough to take a great leap eventually. Passing out of engineering college with top grades does not make the person an engineer until he builds a bridge for real. A plan is only a plan until it becomes an action.

Show up first and the rest will follow. Excuses and hesitations will never help in going to the next level. Worse, it may take us a step back.

General comfort levels of the majority are:

• No time…
• Not prepared…
• Never done this before…
• What’s the use…?
• I’m like this only…
• I don’t feel like it…
• Next time…
• It’s very hard… I don’t know.
• Very busy…
• I’m not in the mood…
• What others will think…
• Wish I had…

Very few have the following excuse-

“Only winning makes me worth this life till the end and beyond. Take that first difficult step that will lead you to your greatness.”