Management Lessons from a 500 rupee note

 It happened some years ago but I can recall the evening like
 it happened just last week. I was in an audience listening
 to a motivational guru.
 The speaker whipped out his wallet and pulled out a five
 hundred-rupee note. Holding it up, he asked, "Who wants
 this five hundred rupee note?"  

 Lots of hands went up, including mine.
 A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout
 "Me!" "Me!"    

 I began to wonder who the lucky one would be who the speaker
 would choose.
 And I also secretly wondered - and I am sure others did too
 why he would simply give away five hundred rupees.

 Even as the shouts of "I want it" grew louder, I
 noticed a young woman running down the aisle. She ran up
 onto the stage, went up to the speaker, and grabbed the five
 hundred-rupee note from his hand. "Well done, young
 lady," said the speaker into the microphone.

 "Most of us just wait for good things to happen.
 That's of no use. You've got to make things
 happen."
 The speaker's words have stayed with me ever since.
 'Simply thinking about doing something is of no
 use'

 Our lives are like that. We all see opportunities around us.
 We all want the good things. But the problem is we don't
 take action. We all want the five hundred rupee notes on
 offer. But we don't make the move. We look at it
 longingly Get up, and do something about it. Don't worry
 about what other people might think. Take action.


 Several years later, it was another day, another time. And
 another motivational guru. As I watched him pull out a five
 hundred rupee note and hold it up for all to see, I thought
 I knew what he was going to do next. But he just asked a
 simple question. "How much is this worth?"

 "Five Hundred rupees!" the crowd yelled in  

 unison.
 "Right," said the speaker. He then took the note
 and crumpled it into a ball and asked "How much is it
 worth now?" "Five Hundred rupees!" screamed
 the audience.

 He then threw the note on the ground, stamped all over it
 and picked up the note and asked one more time: "And
 how much is it worth now?"
 "Five Hundred rupees!" was the response.
 "I want you to remember this," said the speaker.

 "Just because someone crumples it, or stamps on it, the
 value of the note does not diminish."
 We should all be like the five hundred rupee note.
 In our lives, there will be times when we feel crushed,
 stamped over, beaten. But never let your self-worth
 diminish. Just because someone chooses to crush you - that
 doesn't change your worth one bit

 Don't allow your self-worth to diminish because someone
 says something nasty - or does something dirty - to you.