Get better or get beaten..!!

But it ain’t about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward..!! (Rocky) Its how much pain you can take to learn & prepare yourself to go that extra mile further to be in those elite cum legend group of people. So, keep moving forward..irrespective what is happening with you while doing it and that’s how winning is done.

I can tell you from my own experience (although it's not great, but still) that things NEVER EVER always go according to plan. 80% of the goals you set and plans you make will never go the way you want. Things will screw up and obstacles will appear that will knock you down. It’s all part of the game of life. 

Whenever we see people achieve great things, it is easy to think that they had lesser problems and lesser obstacles than we have and then that their brilliance, luck or talent gave them super human abilities to sail through life easily. That everything always goes according to plan.

No..I have seen & found that..not only in my life but in others too. especially, there were many times in my life when I did get hit hard and felt that I had problems I could never solve. There were times when I felt that life was unfair and too painful to live. What kept me going forward was that I knew that no matter how bad, every problem will not last forever. Every recession will end. Dawn always breaks after the darkest hour. It was this belief that allowed me to keep getting up and now I have started enjoying it more and more. :)

I would like to share two very interesting and demonstrative real stories here from which I learnt alot. First one is about my ideal Sachin Tendulkar. In the world of cricket, people thinks that this guy is just genius and not only play strokes which are in book but also made few of his own patents. Most of the people know him because of his number of centuries and records but let me tell you that this guy did not become a cricketer by born directly. He shrugged and prepared himself that hard way where he can break any nuts with his bat for all day long. At the age of 14, Sachin played for 55 days without a break, his schedule was like 2 hours practice, then a game whole day then again 2 hours net practice. He did that consecutively for 55 days, many times he even fell down asleep on dining table itself. He used to play cricket almost more than 12 hours a day which made him so good that he can score on any pitch and against any damn bowler.

Now also, if you see him every time he fails and his critics try to run over him, he never gives up. He always bounce back strongly and clear his critics doubts again & again..& again..~~! he is doing this since last more than 21 years now. He is still having same attitude, passion and learning keenness to get over again for this game.

Another story, I would like to share with you all is about Honda Motor Corporation, one of the most successful automakers from Japan. Again what made Honda a success was that its founder, Soichiro Honda was able to take the hardest hits and still get up and move forward.

In 1938, while Soichiro was still in school, when he started a workshop to develop the piston ring that he hoped he could sell to Toyota. He worked 7 days a week, even sleeping in his workshop at times. When money ran out with no success, he pawned his wife’s jewelry for working capital.

Finally, came the day he completed his piston ring and was able to sell it to Toyota. However, he was told that the rings did not meet their standards! Soichiro went back to school for 2 years to improve his invention only to suffer ridicule when the engineers saw his design.

Soichiro Honda

He refused to quit. After two more years of struggle and improvement, he successful won the contract with Toyota. He needed to build a factory to supply Toyota. Unfortunately, his timing was bad. At this time, the Japanese government was gearing up for war and needed all the concrete for the war effort, so he could not get the concrete necessary to build his factory. Instead of giving up, he invented a new concrete-making process that enabled him to build the factory. With the factory now built, he was ready for production, but again, his luck was bad. His factory was bombed twice by American war planes and steel became unavailable, too. Instead of giving up, he started collecting surplus gasoline cans discarded by US fighters “Gifts from President Truman,” he called them, which became the new raw materials for his rebuilt manufacturing process. Again, his timing was bad. An earthquake hit and his factory was destroyed the third time.

After the war, an extreme gasoline shortage forced people to walk or use bicycles. Soichiro saw this opportunity and built a tiny engine and attached it to his bicycle. His neighbors wanted one, and although he tried, materials could not be found and he was unable to supply the demand. He also didn’t have the money to build another factory to make these ‘motorbikes’.

He still didn’t quit. He wrote letters to 18,000 bicycles shop owners and asked them to pay him in advance so he could build his factory to sell them his newly invented motorbikes. Unfortunately, the first models were too bulky to work well, so he continued to develop and adapt, until finally, ‘The Super Cub’ became a success and took Japan by storm. With success in Japan, Honda began exporting his bicycle engines to Europe and America.

This was how the Honda Motor Corporation was formed. Was that the end of his problems? Nope! As he ran Honda, it went into lots of financial problems. Honda also went nearly bankrupt for five times, only to be turned around just in time. Everytime he took a hit, Soichiro would just get up, learn from his mistakes and keep moving forward.

Today, Honda Corporation employs over 100,000 people in the USA and Japan, and is one of the world’s largest automobile companies. Honda’s excellent engineering and clever marketing even resulted in Honda motorcycles out-selling Triumph and Harley-Davidson in their respective home markets.

So, the greater the success you want in life, the bigger the hits you got to be willing to take. There is a price for everything..!!  However big talent you have, it does not matter..what matters on this earth is that attitude which tells you however worst the situation is, just accept it and keep moving forward, and it will make sure that you reach there right at the top. :)

I truly believe that to prove your worth as GOLD one needs to pass the test of furnace. However more the pain you get now, always consider that it is preparing you for your better future. :)