Would You Have Kept Going?

By Natasha Althoff-Kelley

A doctor by the name of Judah Folkman kept in his archives an article printed in the New York Times written by two physics professors explaining how it would never be possible for aeroplanes to fly. Three months later the Wright brothers soared through the air at Kitty Hawk.

Folkman had proposed in 1970 an idea that conflicted with what scientists at the time knew. He proposed that tumours generated new blood vessels to feed themselves and grow. He was ridiculed, and met with hostility and told that his study was futile science. At a research convention, when he showed his ideas half the audience walked out. For two decades he kept going, despite everyone else's opinions and reactions.

My question is: Would you have kept going? Today he has helped over 100,000 cancer patients from his research and he is considered to be a leader in the fight to cure cancer.

Michael Jordan was cut from the varsity basketball team in his first year at high school.

My question is: Would you have kept going? Michael did double the practice of every other player on the team and went on to become the best basketball player of all time.

Colonel Sanders, the father of legendary fast food chain KFC was broke, with only a small house and an old car to his name. He was 65 years old. He decided to sell his chicken recipe to restaurants for free in return for a small percentage on the chicken sold. He was rejected over 1000 times.

My question is: Would you have kept going? He got 1009 rejections to his proposal before he got his first 'yes'. With that one success Colonel Hartland Sanders changed the eating habits of the whole world with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

Bruce Lee studied and mastered kung fu but all he really wanted was to be an actor. He obtained some small roles in TV and film but thought his big break had arrived when he heard there was to be a new TV series called "Kung Fu" and they were looking for a new star. He had a successful screen test but in the end the role was given to David Carradine.

My question is: Would you have kept going? He was offered and starred in many film roles after that and his reputation as an actor and his skills in the martial arts made him a household name.

Fred Smith was a student at Yale studying economics. He wrote a paper disagreeing with his professor about air-freight through passenger planes, and instead proposed having separate planes dedicated to mail and not people. The professor gave him a low grade.

Fred was not discouraged and went out to tell others of his idea and to get investors. He was met with disinterest. However his passion and his courage to his convictions served him well and he raised $91 million on his untested idea.

FEDEX was born and in the first few years the losses amounted to millions of dollars. The investors wanted to remove Fred and get someone else to take over the company.

My question is: Would you have kept going? Fred did not lose faith, he worked night and day to solve the operational problems and that resulted in $75 million revenue with $3.6 million profits. Today FEDEX is a multi-million dollar company.

W. Mitchell was a good looking 28 year old on top of the world! He had finally saved enough money for his dream motorbike and life was good. A traffic accident left him with a crushed elbow and pelvis and burns to 75% of his body. His face was burned beyond recognition and his fingers and thumbs had been burnt off leaving him with two stumps where his hands used to be.

My question is: Would you have kept going? After 6 months of rehabilitation he came across an idea for a stove company. He thought to himself 'hmmm I know a bit about fire' so he co-founded Vermont casting Inc which became Vermont's second largest employer. With the profits he was making he bought himself a personal aeroplane and despite the physical barrier of having no hands, he learnt to fly.

Mitchell thought he was on top of the world again. Life was good and he had achieved so much.

However on a routine flight to San Francisco - a flight Mitchell had made many times before - the plane malfunctioned and crashed. There were four others in the plane and they all walked out. Everyone except for Mitchell. He had crushed his twelfth thoracic vertebrae and he would never be able to use his legs again. He needed a wheelchair.

My question is: Would you have kept going? He says about the accidents: 'Before my accidents, there were ten thousands things I could do. I could spend the rest of my life dwelling on the one thousands that I had lost, but I instead chose to focus on the nine thousands I still had left'.

Mitchell is still a director of the board to a number of companies, and is a successful businessman. He is also a co-founding chairman of a $65 million company.

What is the point of these stories I am telling you? Whatever you take out of these stories is the message you are ready to hear right now. To me the theme of this article is persistence. I go. Until. No buts, maybes, excuses, could of, would of, should of. Just I do. Until.