Progress Is Born With The Feet Of An Ant.

Progress Is Born With The Feet Of An Ant.

Progress is born with the feet of an ant, but by the time youth reaches its feet, its feet are as big as an elephant's.

I graduated in 2014. It was 2016, and I had wasted the last two years trying to figure out what to do. I lacked the funds to pursue an MPhil. So I started applying for jobs. I had zero self-confidence and was so scared of interviews. In many interviews, I did not appear. I spent my days aimlessly and nights being restless. Something was missing, and I was experiencing bipolar, anxiety, and depression.

One day when I was having a very tough day, Ryma contacted me and asked me to join her at a party. I told her I couldn't because I had a social phobia. She insisted, and I agreed that I would sit in her room alone. She agreed, and we met at 6 pm at her place. She owned whole flour in Bahria Apartments. When I reached her home, there were many people; I avoided them and made my way to her room. She saw me approaching her room down the hallway. She followed me with some snacks and drinks. She promised to meet me at 8 o'clock.

I laid down on her bed, grabbed a book from her nightstand, and started to read. She came back to the room at 9. After some raw conversation, she asked me about my social phobia. I told her that I was clueless about my future. I couldn't leave my parents' house, although I was 20 by then because I was not allowed to do so until I was married. I could not get any job because of interview fear with zero self-confidence. In our society, whether the girls are graduated, they still can't be confident because of their poor upbringing. 

Ryma was quiet all the time while I was speaking. She asked me if I wanted to hear a story when I finished. I nodded, and she started her O'log.

He was born with the destiny of a laborer, but he changed his fate with his vision, hard work, and honesty. In 2007, he rose to the fourth-richest position in the world. In the Swedish village of Agonnaryd, he was born in 1926. He was named at the age of three. His name had two parts Ingvar and Kamprad. His parents worked in a farmhouse in Elmtaryd. His parents forced him to work at age five, but he decided to go into business rather than being a laborer.

He started selling matches at the age of eleven. He used to take matchboxes and sell them on his bicycle. He did this for six months, then one day, he realized that he could buy matches in bulk from the city. He could then sell those matches to the village shopkeepers and hawkers and earn more profit.

Ingvar went to Stock-home the next day and bought matches wholesale, which he sold at a small profit. The following year, he added fish, Christmas trees, cards, flower seeds, ballpoint pens, and pencils to his line of merchandise in addition to matches. He used to buy all these items in bulk and later sell them to the village shopkeepers.

When he turned 17, his father gave him some money. With this small amount of money, he founded a company that changed the lifestyle of the entire world in the days to come. With this money, Ingvar started making furniture that was light in weight but bright in color. Everyone thought his idea would fail because heavy wooden furniture was in vogue then. 

At that time, furniture was regarded as a product that was not in demand in Europe. Even furniture stores and showrooms had not started till then. People once made furniture, and this furniture supported them for three generations. 

People used to make furniture for their needs from Carpenters, but Ingvar decided to turn furniture into a business. He believed that in the coming days, migration would start all over the world. People will move out of their hometowns for employment, so transporting heavy furniture will become problematic during this migration. 

He believed that shortly the pressure of population on big cities would increase, as a result of which the size of houses and flats would be smaller. So, people need small size furniture for tiny houses. He thought the future would be the era of colors; everything would be colored in the coming days. So, keeping all these possibilities in mind, he founded the first furniture company in Europe named IKEA.  

"IKEA" was a meaningless word, combining four letters I, K, E, and A. He took four letters from his name and his village. 'I' represented his name Ingvar, the K referred to Kamprad, E belonged to the farmhouse Elmtaryd, where he grew up, and A was the first letter of his native village Agunnaryd. When Ingvar named his company "IKEA," people thought the name of his company, like his business, was meaningless. So, this corporation and its business will no longer exist in a few months. But Ingvar proved all the people's perceptions to be false in the coming days.

He made furniture small in size, light in weight, and bright in color; this furniture became the world's lifestyle in the days to come. He changed the psychology and lifestyle of the world. "IKEA" became the largest company in Europe twenty years later. His Success resulted from his vision, hard work, and honesty. He had realized the change of times. He realized that the age of small and efficient things is coming, so in the future, only things that are small in size, light in weight, and wide in use will succeed.

In 1980, he gave another spin to the business, starting to manufacture all home appliances. He is currently making everything from small spoons used in the kitchen to bathtubs used in the bathrooms. His business is spread from Europe to America and Dubai to New Zealand in 34 major countries. His stores have daily sales of $900 million. And today, it is said that there is hardly a house in Europe that does not have some piece of "IKEA."

In March 2007, Forbes International declared this laborer's son as the fourth richest person in the world. While in June 2015, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index named him the eighth richest person in the world. He currently has $43 billion in his account, and his wealth is increasing daily.

Ingvar Kamprad is fascinating; he lives an elementary life despite being a billionaire. He uses a fifteen-year-old valve car, drives his car, and always travels in economy class of the aircraft. He has ordered all "IKEA" employees to use both sides of the paper. He always eats in cheap restaurants. If he is near his factory or office at lunchtime, he always eats in the cafeteria of "IKEA" And feels happy to save two or three dollars, pounds, marks, or crowns. But he is also a very generous person. 

He has set up a charity called the INGKA Foundation. He has done charity of 36 billion dollars so far through this institution. According to the world-famous magazine Economist, Ingvar spends more money than Bill Gates on public welfare. But he does not publicize all his charity work, so the world is unaware of his charity and welfare works.  

If Ingvar Kamprad's character is studied, he appears to be "miserly generous" On the one hand, he does not allow any of his workers to waste a pencil; he even fires his MD for wasting a second sheet of paper. While on the other hand, he gives away billions and trillions of dollars to charity, he may be the only person of his kind in the world at the moment.

In an interview, he said no job-oriented person can be wealthy. "A man's economic life begins when he starts his business. His second point was even more interesting; he said, "Success and progress have nothing to do with education. He said, "If education could make you wealthy, then all the professors in the world would be billionaires today."  

He said that middle-educated people have continuously developed the world. These people understand the value of time, so instead of getting degrees, they start businesses during their student years. So their Success takes them from the college or university to the store, factory or market." He said he never went to college, but currently, 30 thousand highly educated men and women are working in his company. These educated people were much better than him in vision, knowledge, and mind, but there was one flaw: they did not dare to quit their jobs. They lack confidence in themselves and their abilities." He said, "If a man can work for others, he can work for himself too. All it takes is a little courage."  

He told the world's youth, "Progress is born with the feet of an ant, but by the time youth reaches its feet, its feet are as big as an elephant's." He said, "There is an alternative to everything in the world, but there is no shortcut to hard work." He said, "No chemical process in the world can turn iron into gold, but human hands are the power that can turn any metal into gold."  

He said, "There is no shelter in the world for the idle people, while the whole world is open to the working people. He said, "A talented person's talent is his passport." Ingvar said, "The way forward is found by those who know how to walk," All we need is to have the skill to walk.

Ryma stopped. I said Ryma, I have no investment, and my self-confidence is trash. Ryma said you ignored the real point of the story. Ingvar said you only have to learn how to walk. Start walking; your feet will find the way. I looked her in the eyes helplessly. She said Ingvar realized what kind of furniture would be in demand in the future. You, too, can discover the prominent trends in the upcoming days. Initiate an idea, work hard on that, and Success will be yours.

I was not as visionary as Ingvar. I was not clever at all. I realized the prominent trends of the future world when it was 2020 and Covid-19 happened. Then when all the marketing went online I realized it was polishing one’s skills. After Covid-19, working online no longer required a degree, and the freelance industry opened up new professional horizons. The future world from 2016 has proved to be a world of skills. 

Those skilled in computer languages, IT, and Marketing especially rocked. I was none of them. I worked hard in schools, newspapers, and hospitals. I was never satisfied until I quit my job and started learning content writing. I am writing online content for two websites earning a lot less than in my previous job, but I am happy and satisfied. I started working on my own toward progress.

On a silent day, Ryma appeared from nowhere, winked at me, and whispered, “relying on one’s own is the best thing one can do for themselves and this is the only thing no one would ever regret” I replied, “I have learned to walk. I am working towards progress. My progress has the feet of an ant. But I know that by the time youth reaches its feet, its feet will as big as an elephant's.”

0 comments

Leave a comment