In high school, we had a very strict teacher who really disciplined our minds. She would simply not accept slipshod work from us. She hated seeing people capable of more who were giving less. She believed in exacting from her students as much as she could because she told us that life would be even more exacting than she was.

Once when she felt that the whole class was in some sort of a sulk because of her tight rein, she gave us the example of a piece of Metal one could easily find in a junk heap, She said that if the piece of metal were pounded and passed through the fire, one could possibly make horseshoes out of that metal and that metal turned into horseshoes would, therefore, appreciate in value. If you pounded it and beat it some more and again passed it through fire, one could maybe make springs out of the metal and the value of that metal would go up even higher.

The point she was trying to show us, of course, was that the more she pounded on the lessons we had to learn, the more she passed us through the fire of her discipline, the more valuable we would become as human beings. For we would have Learned hard work and discipline would know the difference between "puwede na" work and work we could be proud of.

In the beginning of the school year, we all hated her, but at the end, we all learned to respect and love her, because she was not afraid to be unpopular. She set out to teach us. She was not running in a popularity contest, and teach us she did.

In our offices, farms, shops, and factories, I wonder how many workers are content to deliver "puwede na" work, because nothing more is expected of them or because they are not challenged to do their best. You see, most people are decent and reasonable, and truly want to find meaning in their lives. And those who directly manage and supervise them should not be afraid to challenge them to excellence. They should not be afraid to teach them precision and meticulous attention to detail and not letting up till the work is done as it should be done. Those who manage and directly supervise workers should be teachers too.

When we watch awards ceremonies and see winners collect their trophies, we think they are men and women of talent and genius selected by the gods. We couldn't be more wrong. They are only men and women who learned from someone somewhere, that the Secret of success and achievement, a secret so easily available to everyone, is simply hard work. The old adage is true: "Success is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." Winners are people who learned that early on.