Wednesday, October 22, 2008 The winning edge By Henrylito D. Tacio Regarding Henry
THE true story you are going to read was written by Suzanne Chazin and appeared in the world's most popular magazine, Reader's Digest:
"What do I do now?" Jerry Richardson asked as he paced his kitchen floor at three in the morning. To many Americans, the 24-year-old professional footballer for the Baltimore Colts had the most glamorous job a young man could ask for in 1961.
But Richardson was struggling to support a pregnant wife and two children on US$970 a year. The US$250-a-year pay rise that he'd asked for had been turned down.
Richardson knew what other players would tell him: stay on the team – that was the safe road. And yet, on the field, he was used to taking risks. Now, it was time to apply the same strategy off the playing field.
The footballer quit and brought his family to his birthplace in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In his mind, he wanted to be in the business, which he would manage himself. When an old university friend invited him to help buy a hamburger stand, he took the plunge.
"The tough job that tests your mettle and spirit is like the grain of sand that gives an oyster a stomach ache," someone once said. "After a time, it may become a pearl."
Now, Richardson faced 12-hour days cooking hamburger and waiting on impatient customers. Before opening, he scrubbed stoves and mopped floors. For all his hard work, Richardson took home just US$417 a month.
"Lots of people limit their possibilities by giving up easily," Norman Vincent Peale wrote. "Never tell yourself this is too much for me. It's no use. I can't go on. If you do you're licked, and by your own licking, too. Keep believing and keep on keeping on."
Though tired and frustrated, Richardson refused to give up.˙ Instead, with the same methodical discipline he'd learned on the football field, he focused on making his restaurant efficient, his employees friendly, his prices affordable.
As business boomed, Richardson and his partner bought more franchises, and he continued to work hard. And it came to pass that he became the head of one of the largest food-service companies in the United States. "I couldn't have got to where I am without working hard and taking risks," he disclosed.
Richardson never quit; he persisted on what he had dreamed for. "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence," American president Calvin Coolidge said. "Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve, the problems of the human race."
In other words, your key for personal success is persistence. If at first you fail, try and try again -- until you succeed.
Let me tell you the story about one of America's most outstanding failures.
In 1831, he failed in business. In 1832, he was defeated for legislature. In 1833, he again failed in business. In 1834, he was elected to the Legislature. In 1838, the was defeated for Speaker; in 1840 defeated for Elector; in 1843 defeated for Congress; in 1846 elected to Congress; in 1855 defeated for Senate; in 1856 defeated for Vice-President; in 1858 defeated for Senate; in 1860 elected to the President of the United States. His name? Abraham Lincoln.
"He who has never failed has never tried," said Emmett LeCompte. "The greatest failure is the failure to try," William A. Ward pointed out. W.A. Clarke added: "Failure is the line of least persistence."
Thomas Alva Edison tried more than 200 different substances in attempting to find a filament for his incandescent bulb. Someone once said to him: "You have failed more than 200 times; why don't you give up?"
Edison's answer was not surprising at all. "Not at all," he told him frankly. "I have already discovered more than 200 things that will not work. I will soon find one that will."
Again, here's what William A. Ward said: "From failure can come valuable experience; from experience -- wisdom; from wisdom -- mutual trust; from mutual trust -- cooperation; from cooperation -- united effort; from united effort -- success."
Don't let problems defeat you from pursuing your dream. A biologist one day observed an ant carrying a piece of straw which seemed a big burden for it. The ant came to a crack in the earth, which was too wide for it to cross. It stood for a time, as though pondering the situation. The in puts the straw across the crack and walked it as a span. "What a lesson for us!" the impressed biologist said. "The burden can become the bridge for progress."
Of course, hardships and troubles are always part of game. But don't let them get you. Robert W. Young ponders: "No one should surrender to trouble, letting it crush him. At the same time, no one should resent trouble as though it were an intruder. Trouble is a natural part of life. Consequently, it is wise to accept trouble and bear it without complaining."
