In 1938, while he was still in school, a man took everything he owned and invested it in a little workshop where he began to develop his concept of a piston ring. He wanted to sell his work to Toyota Corporation, so he labored day and night, up to his elbows in grease, sleeping in the machine shop, always believing he could produce the result. He even pawned his wife's jewelry to stay in business. But when he finally completed the piston rings and presented them to Toyota, he was told they didn't meet Toyota's standards. He was sent back to school for two years, where he heard the derisive laughter of his instructors and fellow students as they talked about how absurd his designs were.

Finally, after two more years, Toyota gave him the contract he'd dreamed of. His passion and belief paid off because he had known what he wanted, taken action, noticed what was working, and kept changing his approach until he got what he wanted. Then a new problem arose. The Japanese government was gearing up for war, and they refused to give him the concrete that was necessary to build his factory. Did he quit there? No. Did he focus on how unfair this was? Did it mean to him that his dream had died? Absolutely not. Again, he decided to utilize the experience, and developed another strategy. He and his team invented a process for creating their own concrete and then built their factory.

During the war, the factory was bombed twice, destroying major portions of the manufacturing facility. He immediately rallied his team, and they picked up the extra gasoline cans that the U.S. fighters had discarded. He called them "gifts from President Truman" because they provided him with the raw materials he needed for his manufacturing process—materials that were unavailable at the time in Japan. Finally, after surviving all of this, an earthquake levelled his factory. He decided to sell his piston operation to Toyota.

After the war, a tremendous gasoline shortage hit Japan, and he couldn't even drive his car to get food for his family. Finally, in desperation, he attached a small motor to his bicycle. The next thing he knew, his neighbours were asking if he could make one of his "motorized bikes" for them. One after another, they jumped on the bandwagon until he ran out of motors. He decided to build a plant that would manufacture motors for his new invention, but unfortunately he didn't have the capital.

As before, he made the decision to find a way no matter what! His solution was to appeal to the 18,000 bicycle shop owners in Japan by writing them each a personal letter. He told them how they could play a role in revitalizing Japan through the mobility that his invention could provide, and convinced 5,000 of them to advance the capital he needed. Still, his motorbike sold to only the most hard-core bicycle fans because it was too big and bulky. So he made one final adjustment, and created a much lighter, scaled-down version of his motorbike. He christened it "The Super Cub," and it became an "overnight" success, earning him the Emperor's award. Later, he began to export his motorbikes to the baby boomers of Europe and the United States, following up in the seventies with the cars that have become so popular.

Today, the Honda Corporation employs over 100,000 people in both the United States and Japan and is considered one of the biggest car-making empires in Japan, outselling all but Toyota in the United States. It succeeds because one man, Soichiro Honda understood the power of a truly committed decision that is acted upon, no matter what the conditions, on a continuous basis.

Here is a man who clearly made strong decisions to succeed. He had a passion for and belief in what he was doing. He had a great strategy. He took massive action. He kept changing his approach, but still he'd not produced the results that he was committed to. Yet he decided to persevere.

You too can succeed if only you don’t give up too soon. Don’t accept the quit notice life may be handing you. Be persistent and flexible enough to change your approach where and when necessary. I believe you can! I hope you believe you can too!

Be the Best!

Segun Adegoke is a change strategist, life coach and creative thinker who design, develop and implement training interventions for profit and non-profit organizations. He inspires and empowers emerging leaders with relevant knowledge to succeed in their chosen endeavours. He believes that inside every human is a seed of greatness, which if discovered and developed would help the individual live a meaningful and purposeful life of Earth. He is the author of the fast-selling book titled “Finding Meaning In Life – keys to success and fulfilment”. You can contact him at www.apostlenice.com; apostlenice@aol.com or follow him on twitter @apostlenice
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