Everyone has a dream. Very few people reach it. In my book I explain why with a story about six people who were each given a pot of milk by a wealthy merchant. Read it slowly, because one of these six may be you.
The plan was the same for all of them. Make curds from the milk and sell them. Use that money to buy bananas and sell those. Grow the business every day until they could buy a strong pair of bullocks to plough their fields. Simple. Yet only one of the six got the bullocks.
Pawan lost his capital
Pawan was so busy dreaming about driving his bullocks through the field that he picked up a stick and started acting it out. The stick hit the pot. The milk poured out. He was left with the job of cleaning up the mess. His dream was fine. He just did not protect what he needed to build it. Whatever your pot of milk is, your money, your goodwill, your time, handle it carefully.
Teja had no commitment
Teja kept the milk safe and sold the curds. But then he started worrying. Bananas stay fresh only a couple of days. People may not have money. People may not want bananas. So he said, "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush," and kept his money for a rainy day. He preferred never failing to trying. The book says there is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested, you do it when it is convenient. When you are committed, you accept no excuses, only results.
Ashok could not change
Ashok was bold. He decorated his cart with streamers and made limericks to sell bananas. It worked. Then a disease destroyed the banana plantations. Bananas became costly and nobody bought them. Ashok could not imagine selling anything else. His cart and his songs were all about bananas, so he stopped his business. Flexibility is what he lacked. Circumstances change over ten years, and your dream may need a new shape.
Vamsi gave up too early
Vamsi switched from bananas to apples and then to vegetables whenever he had to. But after two years he counted his savings and decided he would need twenty years to afford the bullocks. So he stopped. He did not think of a loan, extra income, or cash crops on his land. Perseverance was missing. The book quotes H. Ross Perot, who said most people quit on the one-yard line.
Ibrahim lost his nerve
Ibrahim did everything right for years. Then a lorry hit his pushcart. The fruits were destroyed and he was hospitalised. When he came out, another vendor had taken his market. He was too tired to begin again. What he lacked was courage. A cat that has fallen once in hot water is afraid even of cold water. And that is how a single accident can end a good dream.
Riyaz kept the engine running
Riyaz had the same accident. From the hospital bed the next morning, he called his wife and told her to see that the show goes on. Borrow if needed, buy the fruit, take the cart to the same lanes. "We have already lost one day and if we delay any more, someone else will capture the market." She pawned her little jewellery and did it. When Riyaz came home after two weeks, he had gained a partner who now knew all the tricks of the trade.
Riyaz bought the bullocks. When they were not ploughing, they worked the mill that extracts oil. In the end they helped him build his dream house.
The five things Riyaz had
- He took care of his capital.
- He stayed committed to his dream.
- He was flexible when things changed.
- He persevered over a long time.
- He was fearless in front of obstacles.
The book says a solid combination of these five is necessary to realise a dream, and it is what separates winners from "wanna-bes". I like one line in the chapter. When the road ahead is bad, pause for a while, but keep the engine on. Do not switch it off.
What to do today
Write down one dream. Under it, write the five names: capital, commitment, flexibility, perseverance, courage. Give yourself a mark out of ten for each. Be honest. You will find one or two that are low. Those are your Teja or Ashok or Ibrahim.
Now choose just the lowest one and write one action. If it is commitment, put a photograph of your dream where you can see it every morning. The book tells of Raju, who wanted a real estate business. He made a 3D model of his future office and hung pictures in his bedroom. Whenever he felt his commitment waver, he looked at them. If it is courage, write down what you will do the day your own lorry hits your cart.
Because it will hit. In every dream, some day a lorry comes. The question is only whether you have already decided what to do.
This is one chapter from my book Simply the Best.
