Have you ever been in a situation where the odds seemed insurmountable against you? Have you ever felt that things were so hopeless and impossible that there was no point in fighting anymore? Well, here is a powerful lesson we can learn from a simple animal- a Zebra. In this documentary, the Zebra is caught by a lioness. The Lioness has bitten the Zebra on the neck and is choking the life out of it. There are multiple open wounds and the blood is gushing out. I guess most people in the Zebra’s position would simply give up and let fate take its course. What are the chances of a Zebra being able to over power a lioness and escape from its grasp?

What is so amazing and inspiring is that the Zebra refuses to give up without fighting to its very last breath. It refuses to cave in to impossible odds. It holds on to its life, masters up its last ounce of strength and flips the lioness on its back. The Zebra then uses all its might to hold the lioness down, attempting to drown it in the river. Out of breath and strength, the lioness relents and the Zebra kicks away and escapes. In the end, the stronger animal is the one that finally gives up the chase.

Sometimes in life and in business, it is not always the strongest or smartest who prevails in the end. It is the one who has more fighting spirit and more ‘heart’. In fact, a weakness that many successful people and companies have is that over time, they lose their hunger and become emotionally weak. So, if you are ever in a situation where your competitor seems to have all the advantage; more money, better looks, more resources, more experience etc… Do not count yourself out. As long as you have the most important ingredient; fighting spirit and heart, you will prevail in the end. If you want it more badly than they want it, you will get it. And if you happen to be the leader in your field, do not ever allow success drive you to complacency.

I remember that when I was a struggling first time author at the age of 24, no publisher or bookstores would give me a chance. Major bookstores would not display my book and international publishers would not invest in my book because they thought that I lacked the credibility, experience and talent. They preferred to market books by international authors with years of track record. I guess at the time, I felt like the Zebra in an industry of lions. Despite no body wanting to invest, distribute or even promote my book initially (i.e. my first book ‘I Am Gifted, So Are You!’), I hanged on to the dream that ONE DAY, I will be a best selling author. The one advantage I had amongst all the competing books was that I was HUNGRY for success and I would fight and do whatever it took to get my books on the best-sellers list.

With this ‘Never Say Die’ spirit, I went around the whole of Singapore doing free talks to promote my book at schools and bookshops like Borders, Kinokuniya, Popular, MPH etc… I remember myself doing 5-6 free talks every single week for 6 months. I believe I hold the record for an author doing the most number of talks. All that work paid off! in 6 months, my book was ranked #1 on the MPH best-sellers list and hit the National best-sellers list for 8 consecutive years. Have you got your own personal story about how you triumphed over a stronger opponent in your business, sports, relationships, career? Share it HERE!