Challenging the exam itself | Arun Sharma | TEDxRamjasCollege
A teacher, author, and entrepreneur argues that life requires a structured approach to self-improvement: first identifying audacious, life-defining challenges, recognizing that anything is possible in a lifetime, and finally, diligently working toward those goals. The speaker frames his career journey, from a failed IT franchise to becoming a prolific author, as a sequence of necessary disruptions leading to the realization that intelligence can be trained. He concludes by advocating for this model using historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Roger Federer as examples of those who set and achieved bold, defining goals. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker identity: Teacher, author, entrepreneur. - Audience setting: Implied lecture/talk setting, addressed to a mixed audience including students, corporate executives, and parents. - Speaker's self-description: "I'm a teacher I'm an author I'm an entrepreneur." ## Theses & Positions - Intelligence is not fixed; it can actually be raised for people by changing one's thinking. - Life success requires intentional disruption and proactively setting ambitious goals. - The structure for a successful life involves three sequential principles: 1) Anything is possible in a lifetime; 2) Identifying audacious challenges; and 3) Putting one's head down and working. - Anything will not happen unless you make it happen; it must be actively pursued through challenge. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Intelligence:** Proposed concept; an ability that is not fixed and can be raised through deliberate effort. - **First principle (of life):** Anything is possible in a lifetime. - **Second principle (of life):** Identifying one's audacious challenges. - **Third principle (of life):** Putting one's head down and working diligently. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Teaching mechanism (1990s):** Running a computer franchise to teach specific skills in a one-year course. - **Market Shift Mechanism:** The street price of computers crashing due to imports from China and Taiwan, making institute courses unnecessary. - **Intelligence Raising Demonstration:** Using complex math questions to prove to corporate executives that intelligence could be improved through new thought patterns. - **Personal Recovery:** Paying off a significant bank loan after a business failure, marking a shift from survival mode to agency. - **Second Career Mechanism:** Transitioning from the failed franchise to teaching, which required no capital. - **Authorial Mechanism:** Deciding to write books after establishing success as a teacher, moving from teaching others' skills to documenting universal principles. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Pre-Career:** Speaker started his "C journey" in the final year of engineering. - **1993-95:** Graduating batch from IMB; initial contemplation of career path. - **1990s (The Franchise):** Running the T computer franchise; selling one-year courses for 15-16,000 rupees. - **Mid-90s Market Shift:** Street price of computers dropped to 18,000 rupees due to Chinese/Taiwanese imports. - **Post-Failure (Approx. 24 years old):** Facing a huge bank loan with no income source after the franchise failed. - **Late '96 / Early '96:** Start of the speaker's second journey as a teacher. - **Summer Vacation Periods:** Students who qualified independently, prompting the speaker to question his role. - **Approx. 2-3 years (Late '90s):** Time taken to resolve the concept of raising intelligence. - **~10 years after entrepreneurship start (c. 2006-7):** Period when the speaker disrupted his successful entrepreneurship again. - **2007-8:** Period of retirement from entrepreneurship to focus solely on authorship. - **2013:** Students returned from B-schools urging him to build an excellent organization. ## Named Entities - **IMB:** Educational institution where the speaker studied. - **Bangalore:** Location where the speaker passed out of college. - **T:** Computer education company franchise. - **State Bank of India:** Bank where the speaker paid off his loan. - **MRO:** First publisher that showed interest in his writing. - **Sir:** Title used when addressing students from B-schools. ## Numbers & Data - Graduation batch from IMB: **1993-95**. - Corporate career length mentioned: **20 years**. - Computer course cost (mid-90s): **15-16,000 rupees**. - Crash street price of computer: **18,000 rupees** (due to imports from China and Taiwan). - Speaker's age after first failed business: **24 years old**. - Teacher journey start timeframe: **1996-97 / early 96 late 96**. - Initial course teaching duration: **3-4 months**. - Potential improvement range mentioned: **99.6 percenti to 99.9%**. - Specific ratio comparison: ability to convert **70% Tyler into a 99%**. - Time to resolve intelligence issue: **2-3 years**. - Time frame for multiple lectures: **A week** (including corporate, 2-day training, 4-hour parent-teacher meet). - Student age group: **18 to 24 year old**. - Grade levels at parent-teacher meet: **9th to 12th girls**. - Approximate number of girls in the auditorium (Friday lecture): **1,500 girls**. - Early realization timeframe: **2000 / early 2000 / 2001**. - First book publication timeframe: **2002 / 2003**. - Total books written: **10+ books** (over 12-13 years). - Entrepreneurship disruption 2: Around **2006-7**. - Authorship focus period: **2007-8**. - Total books sold so far: **2.5 to 3 million books**. - Year of B-school student return: **2013**. - Hypothetical future reference: **2045** (Microsoft CEO). ## Tools, Tech & Products - **MS DOS, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint:** Course materials taught in the 1990s. - **Database:** Complex subject taught in a one-year course. - **Computer:** Object that people realized they could use to learn beyond the institute's curriculum. - **Franchise:** The initial computer education franchise. ## Examples & Cases - **The "C journey" start:** Beginning in the final year of engineering. - **Early Career Alternative:** The option of working for 20 years in the corporate sector. - **Franchise Business failure:** The initial venture was based on a product (computer courses) that became obsolete due to market affordability. - **Intellectual Challenge:** Demonstrating to corporate executives that intelligence was malleable by solving seemingly unsolvable math problems. - **Gender Gap Example:** Comparing the belief system of 45-year-old General Managers/VPs (fixed intelligence) versus 13-year-old girls (malleable intelligence). - **Historical Precedent (Gandhi/Federer):** Using historical figures who achieved profound, defining national/sporting goals. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - Alternative Career: Working in the established corporate sector for a predictable trajectory. - Learning Method Trade-off: Paying high fees for institute training vs. independently learning by buying and using a computer. - Business Focus Trade-off: Continuing the franchise vs. pursuing a career change via teaching/authoring. - Leadership Focus Trade-off: Maintaining the profitable entrepreneurship vs. dedicating time to authorship. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The initial franchise was not sustainable because the need it addressed disappeared with technology affordability. - The current understanding of intelligence is limited because the systems for its development are not fully understood by the general public. - The speaker acknowledges that his lecture to the girls on Friday was more prepared than his initial talk to the corporate executives. ## Methodology - **Life Narrative Structuring:** Using personal cycles of failure, pivot, and success (franchise failure $\rightarrow$ teaching $\rightarrow$ authorship) to illustrate principles. - **Rhetorical Questioning:** Employing questions like, "Do you know the Microsoft CEO in 2045?" to force the audience to think outside current paradigms. - **Principle Definition:** Structuring actionable advice into clear, sequential life principles. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - **Principle 1:** Anything is possible in a lifetime. - **Action 1:** Things will not happen unless you make them happen. - **Action 2:** Identify and select audacious, life-defining challenges. - **Action 3:** Put your head down and work with maximum excellence. ## Implications & Consequences - Sticking to conventional career paths or fixed beliefs leads to stagnation. - Accepting the challenge of self-definition forces the individual to define their unique potential. - The consequence of understanding these principles is freedom from external limitations. ## Open Questions - "Do you know the Microsoft Co?" (Used as a springboard to ask about future leaders). - "What are your audacious challenges?" (Directed at the audience for self-reflection). ## Verbatim Moments - *"I had absolutely no evidence created right through my school or my college ever."* - *"I'm a teacher I'm an author I'm an entrepreneur."* - *"My first point of the journey was disruption I just disrupted the whole set future I decided that I want to be an entrepreneur."* - *"The street price of a computer crashed to 18,000 rupees because of the imports from China and taian."* - *"my career is gone your I has blown off and the only thing you have to now look at is that somehow you have to survive and pay this loan off right with no income source..."* - *"I'm first generation entrepreneur."* - *"I could convert the 70% Tyler into a 99%."* - *"Intelligence can actually be raised for people."* - *"I can train him to get to an IAS I could make that happen."* - *"The challenge should be audacious the challenge should be audacious they should be life defining."* - *"The first principle is anything is possible in a lifetime but what do you need to things will not happen unless you make them happen."* - *"The last step is just putting your head down and working like nobody's business."*