Shiv Khera, motivational writer, was motivated by Norman Vincent Peale

Motivation is hard to find. But motivational books are everywhere. Every time you travel by train, just before entering, you will see a stall full of books. Shiv Khera’s ‘You can win’ will always be there. This book talks about how to develop a positive attitude towards life. He also asks readers to never lose motivation. But have you ever thought about who motivates motivational speakers like Shiv Khera?

Khera is the author of several famous books; ‘You can win’, ‘Freedom is not free’ and ‘You can achieve more’. He is also famous for his motivational speeches.

In 2021, Khera was one of the speakers at the Bhagavad Gita Summit for Gita Jayanti in Dallas, Texas, USA, along with other notable speakers.

But first he made a name for himself. The motivational speaker had to find motivation.

There is a story here.

At that time, Khera’s daughter was born and he sold his mother’s last jewels to take care of his wife and the newborn.

“I didn’t have much education and I didn’t have money. When my daughter was born, I sold all my mother’s jewelry to take care of her. But after that, I didn’t even have 10 rupees to spend.” Shiv Khera told Aaj Tak Radio.

Then he tried three different jobs and failed. Finally, in 1975, he arrived in Toronto, Canada.

Here he tried to clean vehicles by going house to house.

But little did he know that the moment that would change his life was yet to come.

SALE OF LIFE INSURANCE IN TORONTO, CANADA

He found a job where he would sell life insurance.

“It’s a very difficult job. If you sell anything, from a car to a house, people can see it and will buy it. But in the case of life insurance, you don’t sell anything tangible. People get it after they die. This It’s one of the best things that happened to me. Trying to sell life insurance teaches you a lot,” Khera told Aaj Tak Radio.

“90% of people leave in the first year. Then, when I started selling insurance, something happened,” he added.

They told him that he had not done anything for three months and that they would fire him.

“I told him, brother, I was not an educated man, I am not a doctor, lawyer or anything like that. I got third division in my graduation and had not passed the 10th standard. Do I have a disability? How do you expect performance from me?”

The man became furious after hearing Khera’s response.

“You don’t have any disabilities. You have an attitude problem. Your outlook on life is not very good. People like you ruin your family’s life and your own,” the man told Khera.

He was then told that everyone had chosen a field to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer and doctor, but Khera, who had not chosen a field for himself, had infinite possibilities in front of him.

THE MOTIVATOR WHO MOTIVATED SHIV KHERA ENTERS THE STAGE

Now, with nothing to lose, Khera decided to attend a talk in the evening.

This would be the turning point in Khera’s life. That talk was by Norman Vincent Peale, the author of ‘The Art of Positive Thinking’.

The American author would become the motivator who motivated motivational speaker Khera.

Peale took the stage and told his audience that they seemed calm and content.

Then he followed up with a question: who had a problem?

“Everyone raised their hand,” Khera said. He then asked how many people wanted to get rid of their problems.

He received similar responses.

Then the speaker said, “When I was arriving at the place, I saw a place where people were lying down and had no problems. But how many people wanted to know what that place was?” he asked.

Everyone raised their hands again.

Peale then told the audience about the location.

“It was a cemetery and everyone was comfortable and relaxed there. But who wants to get rid of their problems that way?”

This time no hands were raised.

The lesson had been learned. It was about making peace with what they couldn’t change and gathering strength for what they could.

Peale had changed Shiv Khera’s life forever. Khera had begun to find her way.

Every day he remembers Peale’s lesson in his life. He had been forever moved and motivated. Norman Vincent Peale was the person who motivated Shiv Khera, the man who went on to motivate millions.