Excerpt taken from Zig Ziglar's "Top Performance"

A glowworm does its fishing not in water, but in the air. It spins and lets down fine glutinous threads. When a gnat or other small insect, attracted by the light, collides with one of these strange fishing lines, is caught and held. The glowworm reels in the line and consumes the captive. If its hunger is satisfied, the glowworm puts out its light. Otherwise, it drops another line for another tidbit. The soft light that gives the glowworm its unearthly beauty is not produced by the "contented" glowworm. The scintillating lights come from the glowworms that are hungry and indeed earnest about their fishing.

Unique creatures though they are, these glowworms have qualities in common with human beings. With us, as with them, the full stomach too often brings about a state of complacency that dims desire for accomplishment.

The young man starting out in life is spurred on by powerful "bread and butter" incentives. To be sure of eating regularly, he must pass certain tests. He must be able to master the fundamentals of his business, and to adapt himself to the conditions that make for success in that business. Hungry with desire for life's necessities, he "fishes" in that business in dead earnest, and if he has the right qualities, his "glow" attracts success.

But, after he has met with a measure of success, he faces a different kind of test. Is he still impelled by a strong inner drive to fish hard for the really big stakes?

Many who pass the initial tests are stopped by this secondary test. They stall at the top of the first hill. They are so eager to enjoy the fruits of their success that they are unwilling to put forth the efforts to augment their education, acquire specialized training, or do whatever else may be necessary to reach still greater heights of service and personal advancement.

Excerpt taken from Zig Ziglar's "Top Performance".