The following
motivational story about Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Company.
The message of
this story is to never give up on achieving you dreams no matter how many
challenges you might face during the process.
"Let me give you a great example of a man who understood the power of a
real decision, someone who, once he decided, would not give up.
His name is
Soichiro Honda: founder of the Honda Corporation, the make of Honda cars and
motorcycles.
Mr. Honda never
allowed tragedy, problems, challenges, or the twists and turns of circumstances
to get in his way.
In fact, he often
decided to see some of the biggest obstacles in his way as mere hurdles in the
race to reach his goals.
In 1938, Mr. Honda was a poor student who had a dream of designing a piston
ring that he would sell to any manufacture for Toyota Corporation.
Every day he
would go to school, and all night long he would work on his design, up to his
elbows in grease.
He spent what
little money he had on his project, and it still wasn't finished. Finally, he
hocked his wife's jewellery to continue.
After years of effort he finally designed the piston ring he was sure Toyota
would buy. When he took it to them, they rejected it.
He was sent back
to school to suffer the humiliation of his teachers' and friends' telling him
what an idiot he was for designing such a ridiculous gadget.
Was he frustrated? You bet. Was he broke? Yes. Did he give up?
No way.
Instead, he spent the next two years continuing to find ways to make the piston
ring better.
He had the key
formula to success:
1. He decided what he wanted.
2. He took action.
3. He noticed whether it was working or not,
and when things weren't working out,
4. He kept changing his approach. He was
flexible in the way he went about things.
Finally, after two more years, he refined his design, and Toyota actually
bought it!
In order to build his piston factory, Mr. Honda needed concrete, but Japanese
Government was gearing up for World War II, so none was available.
Once again, it
looked as if his dream would die.
It seemed no one would help him. Again, did he quit? Absolutely not.
He had decided to build this factory.
Since giving up
was not an option, he got together a group of his friends, and for weeks they
worked around the clock trying different approaches until they found a new way
to manufacture concrete.
He build his factory and was finally able to produce his piston rings.
"But wait, there's more..."
The story doesn't end here...
During the war, the United States bombed his factory, destroying most of
it.
Instead of
feeling defeated, he rallied all his employees. He said, "Quickly! Run
outside and watch those planes.
What they'll do
is drop their fuel cans out of the sky. We need to find out where they drop
them and get those cans, because they contain the raw materials we need for our
manufacturing process!"
These were
materials they couldn't get anywhere in Japan. Mr. Honda found a way to use
whatever life gave him.
Finally, an
earthquake levelled his factory and he was forced to sell his piston operation
to Toyota.
But God never closes a door without opening another one, so we need to stay
alert to see whatever new opportunities life presents us...
When the war ended, Japan was in total turmoil. Resources were scarce in all
part of the country gasoline was rationed and, in some cases, nearly impossible
to find and Mr. Honda couldn't even get enough gas to drive his car to the
market to buy food for his family.
But instead of feeling defeated or helpless, he made a new decision. He
decided he would not settle for this quality of life.
He asked himself
a very powerful question: "How else can I feed my family? How can I use
things I already have to find a way to get there?"
He noticed a little motor he had, one that was the size and type to drive a
traditional lawn mower, and he got the idea of hooking it up to his bicycle.
In that moment,
the first motorized bike was created. He drove it to and from the market, and
pretty soon his friends were asking him to make some for them, too.
Shortly thereafter, he'd made so many "motorbikes" that he ran out of
motors, so decided to build a new factory to manufacture his own.
But he had no
money, and Japan was torn apart. How would he do it?
Instead of giving up and saying, "There's no way," he came up with
a brilliant idea.
He decided to
write a letter to every single bicycle - shop owner in Japan, telling them that
he thought he had the solution for getting Japan moving again, that his
motorbike would be cheap and would help people get what they needed to go. Then
he asked them to invest.
Of the 18,000
bicycle - shop owners who received a letter, 3,000 gave Mr. Honda money,
and he manufactured his first shipment.
And then he was a
success, right? Wrong! The motorbike was too big and bulky, and very few
Japanese bought it.
So once again, he noticed what wasn't working, and instead of giving up, he
changed his approach again.
He decided to
strip his motorbike down and make it much lighter and smaller.
He called it The Cub, and it became an "overnight success," winning
Honda the Emperor's Award.
Everyone looked
at him and thought how "lucky" he was to have come up with this idea.
Was he lucky? Maybe, if L.U.C.K. means Labour under Correct Knowledge.
Today, Mr. Honda's company is one of the most successful in the world. Honda
Corporation now employs over 100,000 people and outsells all but Toyota cars in
the U.S. - all because Mr. Honda never gave up.
He never let
problems or circumstances get in his way.
He decided that
there is always a way to succeed if you're really committed."
