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Rockefeller’s 38 Letters to His Son-Letter 19: Just Be Number One
Dear John:
"A person without ambition will not accomplish great things." This is the secret of success that my friend of the car king, Mr. Henry Ford, confided to me when he came to see me yesterday.
I admire this rich man from Michigan very much. He is a persistent and determined guy. He has almost the same experience as me. He has worked in farming, worked as an apprentice, and started a factory in partnership with others. Through his struggle, he eventually became one of the richest people in the United States in this era.
In my opinion, Mr. Ford is the creator of a new era. No American can completely change the American way of life like him. Look at the cars that go back and forth on the street, you know that I am definitely not here. To compliment him, he made a car from a luxury to a necessity that almost everyone can afford. And the miracle he created also turned him into a billionaire. Of course, he also made my money bag bulge a lot.
A person must have goals or ambitions to live, otherwise, he is like a ship without a rudder, drifting forever, and will only reach the beach of disappointment, failure and frustration. Mr. Ford’s ambition exceeds his height, and he wants to create a world where everyone can enjoy cars. This may seem unimaginable, but he succeeded. He became the master of the global car market and made amazing profits for Ford. In the words of this guy, "It's not making cars, it's printing money." . It is not difficult for me to imagine what Ford is in a good mood with his wealthy pockets and the reputation of "automobile king".
The achievements that Ford has created have proved one of my life credos: wealth is directly proportional to goals. If you have big ambitions and high goals, your mountain of wealth will rise to the sky. If you just want to pass by, then you will have to be a rat generation, or even nothing, even if the wealth is close to you, you will only Will get a little bit of it. Before Ford succeeded, there were many automakers who were much stronger than him, but many of them went bankrupt.
People are created for a purpose. A person is either planning to succeed or planning to fail. This is the experience of my life.
I never seem to lack ambition. Since I was very young, it has always been my impulsive ambition and dream to become the richest person. This seems a bit too big for a poor boy. But I think the goal must be great, because if you want to be successful, there must be stimulation. A great goal can enable you to exert all your strength, and there will be stimulation. Losing the excitement means that there is no strong force to push you forward. Don't make small plans, because it can't inspire the soul. I often remind myself like this.
Of course, the opportunity to be great is not like the swift Nicaragua Falls, but slowly one drop at a time. The difference between greatness and close to greatness is the realization that if you expect greatness, you must work toward your goals every day.
But for a poor boy, how can this great dream become a tangible reality? Should it be achieved by working hard for others? This is a stupid idea.
I believe that working hard for myself will make me rich, but I don’t believe that working hard for others is bound to be successful. Before I lived in Millionaire Street, I discovered that by my side, many poor people are the hardest working people. The reality is so cruel. Regardless of whether employees work hard or not, few people work for their boss to become rich. The salary earned by working for the boss can only keep the employee alive under reasonable expectations. Although the employee may make a lot of money, it is difficult to become rich.
I have always regarded "working hard to get rich" as a lie, and never regarded working for others as a good strategy for accumulating considerable wealth. On the contrary, I am very convinced that working for myself can make me rich. All the actions I take are loyal to my great dream and the various goals that I continue to achieve in order to realize this dream.
When I left school and looked for a job, I set a goal for myself: to go to a first-class company, to be a first-class employee. Because a first-class company will give me first-class experience, shape my first-class ability, let me grow to a first-class insight, and also make me earn a good salary-that is the capital to create my future career, and all of this It is undoubtedly the most solid cornerstone of my road to success.
Of course, working in a big company allows me to think about problems in the way of a big company, which is very important. Therefore, I admire big companies, and I want to go to high-profile companies.
This is destined to make me suffer. I first went to a bank and was very unlucky and was rejected; I went to a railway company again, but I still returned home in grief. The weather at the time seemed to be against me, and the heat was unbearable. But desperately, I kept searching. During that period, looking for a job became my only occupation. At 8 o'clock every morning, I tried my best to dress myself up, and then left my residence to start a new round of appointment interviews. For several weeks, I ran the companies on the list, but I still found nothing.
This looks terrible, doesn't it? But no one can stop you from moving forward. The person who hinders you the most is yourself. You are the only one who can do it forever. I warned myself: if you don't want others to steal your dreams, then you stand up immediately after being knocked down by setbacks. I was not frustrated or discouraged, but the continuous setbacks strengthened my determination. I started from scratch again, running one by one, and some companies even let me run two or three times.
God never abandoned me. This indomitable job hunting journey finally ended in one afternoon six weeks later. On September 26, 1855, I was hired by the Hewitt-Tuttle Company.
This day seems to determine everything in my future. To this day, whenever I ask myself what would happen if I didn't get the job, I often trembled all over. Because I know what was returned to me from that job, and what will happen to me without it. Therefore, I have celebrated September 26th as a "big birthday" all my life, and I have more emotions for this day than my birthday.
When writes here, I am moved by myself.
A person is functionally like a bicycle. Unless you move up and forward towards the target, you will stagger and fall. Three years later, I left the Hewitt-Tuttle company with abilities and self-confidence that surpassed ordinary people, and co-founded Clark-Rockefeller with Mr. Clark, and started the history of working for myself.
Stupid hard work may still get nothing after all kinds of hard work, but if you think of working hard for your boss as a ladder to serve yourself one day, it is undoubtedly the beginning of wealth creation. The feeling of being your own boss is so great, it's beyond words. Of course, I can’t always be immersed in the pride of being a trading agent at the age of 18. I warned myself: "Your future depends on the days that pass by. Your end of life is the richest man in the United States. Where are you? It’s still far, far away, you have to continue to work hard for yourself."
Being the richest person is the basis for my efforts and the strength to spur myself. In the past few decades, I have always been a believer in the pursuit of excellence. The one sentence I most often motivates myself is: For me, second place is no different from last place. If you understand it, you will think that it is not surprising that I ruled the oil industry as the indisputable king.
Each of us lives in hope, but I live more in the achievement of goals. My goal in life is to be the number one. This is also the life plan that I try to make and abide by. All my efforts and actions are loyal to my life goals and life rules.
God gives us smart minds and strong muscles, not to make us losers, but to make us great winners. Today, some twenty years ago, the Federal Court disbanded our happy family, but whenever I think of the achievements I have created, I get excited.
A great life is the process of conquering excellence. We must move forward to this goal, not afraid of pain, resolute, and be prepared to fall on the long road.
love your father
March 15, 1931
Rockefeller famous quote:
1. Wealth is proportional to goal.
2. A person is either planning to succeed or planning to fail.
3. For me, second place is no different from last place.
(责任编辑：立暖) |