Success is 99 percent failure!

Like most other countries, Japan was hit badly by the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1938, Soichiro was still in school, when he started a little workshop, developing the concept of the piston ring. His plan was to sell the idea to Toyota. He labored night and day, even slept in the workshop. He was married by now, and pawned his wife's jewelry for working capital. Finally, came the day he completed his piston ring and he eagerly took a working sample to Toyota. But he was told that the rings did not meet their standards! Soichiro went back to school and suffered ridicule. Was this the end point for Soichiro ?  ------  No!

 He refused to give up. Rather than focusing on his failure, he continued working towards his goal. Then, after two more years of struggle and redesign, he won a contract with Toyota. With the contract in hand, Soichiro needed to build a factory to supply Toyota, but building materials were in short supply due to war. Still he would not quit! 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 the factory was bombed twice and steel became unavailable, too. Was this the end of the road for Soichiro ? -----   No! 

He started collecting surplus gasoline cans discarded by US fighters. He called them "Gifts from President Truman." It became the new raw material for his rebuilt manufacturing process. Finally, an earthquake destroyed the factory. Did he felt defeated? ------  No!
After the war, an extreme gasoline shortage forced people to walk or use bicycles. A novel idea flashed in his mind. Soichiro attached a tiny lawn mower engine to his bicycle. He went on rides with his motorized bicycle. He found that other people were interested in his strange new idea. Sadly he didn‟t have money to produce and supply to the market need. 

Did he blame the situation?  ------ No!

Rather than giving up, Soichiro dug deep and sought out a way to get the finance he needed to continue with his project. He wrote an inspiring letter to 18,000 bicycle shop owners which asked them to help him revitalize Japan through innovation.A huge number of the shop owners he wrote to responded by giving Soichiro  what little money they could to help him. Soichiro battled away with several redesigns before finally producing the Super Cub‟ which became an overnight success. By 1963, Soichiro Company  was the top-selling brand of motorcycles in the United States

Now As you might guessing Soichiro company's name , It's  " HONDA!" Yes you read it right Honda Motors......!!  Soichiro Honda is his full name!

HONDA now employs more than 100,000 people in the USA and Japan and it is now the leading brand in two wheelers and cars. Despite suffering more failures than most of us will see in a lifetime, Soichiro  persisted and never once allowed himself to give up on his dreams.

Soichiro Honda once said: “Many people dream of success. I believe that success can be achieved only through repeated failure and self-analysis. Success is only one percent of your work, and the rest – bold overcoming of obstacles. If you are not afraid of them, success will come to you itself”. Today’s prosperity of Honda Motor Co., Inc. proves the truth of its founder. 

 “Success is 99 percent failure!” is the famous quote of Soichiro Honda. It is not considered as a preaching, but it is revered as the essence of his life story. 

Man Is The Master Of His Own Fate !

Long ago (around 600-500 BC), there lived a great scholar and astrologer  by name Pani, on the banks of the river Indus. Pani's wife delivered a healthy son.The son came to be known as Panini, the offspring of Pani.

One day, a great scholar, astrologer and palmist visited Pani. He was a  great friend of Pani. Pani and his family treated the great man courteously. He was served the best food and was treated with the best services. After lunch, the great man called the child Panini and asked him to sit with him. Panini readily agreed and sat with the great man.

The great man looked at the right palm of the child. He sat there gazing  at the palm for several minutes. The expression on his face changed  from that of cheerfulness to that of concern. Looking at this change, Pani inquired the great man about what was bothering him.

The great man looked at Pani with pitiful eyes and said "Oh Pani! My  friend! You are such a renowned scholar and people around the world come to you for advice. Alas! Fate has it that this child of yours will remain illiterate. He has no education line on his palm."

Pani asked his friend- "Please forgive me. I am not saying this because I doubt your expertise, but would it be possible that you haven't checked my son's palm correctly?"

The great man looked at Pani, whose eyes tried to hold their grief back, and said "My friend! I have checked the boy's palm thoroughly, not once but twice and there is no education line here. He is bound to remain illiterate."
Pani could no longer hold his grief. He closed his eyes and muttered under his breath "If the lord wishes it to be so, so be it!"
Panini, who was listening to the conversation, gently asked the great man "Sir, could you please tell me where on my palm would the education line be, if it had been?"

The great man showed the child the location of the education line on his  own palm. He felt sympathetic towards the child, who was so well  mannered and soft spoken.

The child ran out of the house and returned back in a few minutes. He held out his right palm and asked the great man "Will I be a scholar  now? Will I be able to uphold my father's name?"

The great man and Pani looked at the child's hand and were shocked.  Blood was oozing out of the palm and where there had to be the education  line, there was a deep line which was etched with a sharp stone. The  two men had no words.

As he grew up, Panini was educated by his father and Pani was astonished  by his son's insatiable quest for knowledge.

Panini is believed to have formulated the rules of Sanskrit morphology,  syntax and semantics in fourteen verses, and called them Maheshwara Sutrani.

These Sutras are also known as Aṣṭādhyāyī, meaning eight chapters, the foundational text of the grammatical branch of the Vedanga. 

Forget all the reasons why it won't happen and believe in the only reason why it will. Afterall, man is the master of his own fate.

With self-confidence & Perseverance, you can never, never give up...!

I had an opportunity to interact with the readers of a famous Magazine. It was a two-day program. At the end of the program, a young man asked me:
'Swamiji! I am a postgraduate. It is more than ten years since I completed my studies. So far, I have not received even a single interview card from the employment exchange. So, I am working as a cashier in a restaurant.

This job has no connection whatsoever with my educational qualifications. Last month, there was a shortage of cash at the counter. I do not know how it happened. The shame of being accused loomed large in my mind.
I thought I could pawn one of my wife's jewelry and replace the missing amount. But my wife refused. I asked my mother. She only fired me, but did nothing to help me! In this world, my own mother and wife were not ready to save my honor!'
I told him, ‘Leave alone the fact that your mother and wife not trust you. Do you trust yourself? Think deeply! You lack the confidence to take risks in life. So, you are stuck in a job that you dislike. Since you dislike your job, you are unable to do it with full involvement. Because of this, you are not able to remember how that money was missing! So, your problem is not your wife or mother. It is you, yourself ! Lack of self-confidence is your problem. First try to overcome it.'
Reflect on this.
A person from New York visited my ashram and asked, 'Swamiji, I am so depressed because my wife left me the moment I reached USA. Now I am divorced. I am 29 years and feel my whole life is wasted.'
hen asked for the reason, he said, 'Who will marry me, as I am already 29 years old?'

I told him, 'Even cockroaches have multiple partners in life. Are you less than a cockroach to feel that you cannot get another woman in your life?'

Just see how poor was his self-esteem. It is a fact that his wife had left him. Poor self-confidence is killing his life. But he has to develop self-confidence so as to get a partner, as he is still 29 years young. In order to foster growth of self-confidence, three qualities are absolutely essential.

Firstly, we should never give into worries, sadness and self-pity. Instead learn to feel good and build self-esteem.

Secondly, we should learn new skills. If we do not acquire new skills, we cannot develop self-confidence!

What I mean by skill is, expertise in some field, which is of interest to us. It could be carpentry, gardening, painting, cooking, plumbing…. Select any field, learn it and train yourself in it!

Finally, the ability to take on responsibility and be accountable.

You, would have seen some employees in Government Service. When you ask them a question, they will never give a definite answer of 'Yes' or 'No.' Their replies are either vague or incomplete. If an issue is to be resolved, they will listen to the whole narration, only to say at the end, 'Well, why don't you go directly to the higher official and tell everything?' This behavior is dubbed as 'cautiousness'. They would pat themselves with pride for having such a sense of cautiousness'!

This is definitely not cautiousness ... it is just passing the buck! Passing on the responsibility to someone else. It is a very disgusting thing to do. Persons with self-confidence take responsibility on themselves.

Look at the history of successful people.

There are many who have succeeded in life, without education, money and why, even arms or legs! There are such achievers; but no person has succeeded without self-confidence.

In Olympics, why do only a few countries win gold medals repeatedly? Many reasons can be given for this-availability of training facilities, professional coaching, basic infrastructure... but there is one very important reason. This is known as sports psychology. The Russians discovered it, but it has been well understood and developed by the Americans.

Sports psychology indicates that heightened physical activity is not sufficient to win any competition; but mental toughness is also required. That is to say, when an athlete is participating in a race, even if he thinks just for a moment that he might lose, it is enough to make him lose. He would not be able to perform with his full strength in the race after such a thought has entered his mind. So, not only while participating, but also while practicing, he must tell himself repeatedly with a strong belief- 'I am going to win!'

Go on playing the mental video of you winning and position yourself powerfully. This is known as 'Mental Rehearsal'.

Recently one of my students asked, 'Swamiji! I am not like others. I did not depend on a government job; I invested all my money in business. I faced a huge loss and now I am broke. Tell me how I can fill myself with self confidence ?'

There were umpteen failures in the life of this person .

When he was 7 years old, his family was forced out of home on a legal dispute.

At 9, his mother died.

At 22, he lost his job as a clerk.

At 25, he was defeated in a legislature election.

At 27, he had nervous breakdown.

At 28, he lost his beloved.

At 30, he lost the election for the post of a speaker.

At 35, he lost the Congress election.

At 46, he lost the Senatorial elections- around the same time he lost his son.

At 47, he lost the Vice Presidential elections.

These failures could not shake his self-confidence!

At 52, he became the President of USA. And he is Abraham Lincoln. So, please do not allow the past to damage your self-confidence!

The essence of one of the letters I received goes like this, `Swamiji, I will be completing 35 years of age. I have changed many jobs such as an insurance agent, a cosmetics salesman, a field representative.... When I look back, I spent more money than I earned. I have become very depressed. What shall I do now?' Anything material, money, car, house, position, etc. can be gifted to another, but there is only one thing that cannot be gifted to someone on a silver platter 'Success.' One can achieve it only if one works hard with smartness. I think it would be appropriate to share the life history of Colonel Sanders.

The fast food outlet of KFC has made its appearance in many Indian cities too. There are hundreds of such outlets all over the world. The yearly income of this fast food chain runs into several millions of dollars. The person who laid the foundation for this successful chain was one Colonel Sanders.

At an age when he should have been enjoying the relaxed lifestyle of a retired person-at sixty three-he could not live his life without a goal. He was neither a Harvard graduate nor came from a very rich family. He knew how to fry chicken that was juicy inside and crisp outside. He took the recipe and approached many restaurants. Several hoteliers turned him away, without even reading his recipe! But did not lose heart. He did not give up his efforts. He went to many cities and gave his recipe to other hoteliers. Aged as he was, he climbed the steps of many, many restaurants. The total number of restaurants he approached was 1,006!

He was the personification of perseverance. For two long years, he continued his relentless efforts and finally one hotelier evinced some interest in his recipe. The rest is history.

Today, the world over, Kentucky Fried Chicken- KFC is famous! Attitude is more important than mere dry facts. Colonel Sanders had an attitude of 'I can' rather than 'I can't'.
‘Cans’ create Success, 'Cants' create Failure.
Sir Winston Churchill had delivered a number of energizing orations. Once he was invited to deliver a speech to a youthful audience. He spoke only one sentence. That sentence today has become a quotation used by many others. He said -
‘Never, never, never give up !'
-- Swami sukhabodhananda.

Why Walk ? When You Can Fly !

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from Arabia . They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.  

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch. Having tried everything else, the king thought to himself, "May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer." 

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."

 The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, " It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.

So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight…..!!!!!

Don't Lie to Yourself.....!

This is a story about realizing one's potential...and about what tends to hold us all back from realizing our potential.It was the spring of 1982 and I was coaching girls' track in a small southern Iowa town. There was a young discus thrower on the team, Jill, a sophomore who had tremendous potential.

At the end of our workout the Friday before the Monday district track meet, Jill came to me and asked if she could come to the school on Sunday after lunch for a little extra workout. I said, "Sure." We would meet at 1:00 and go through a 40-45 minute workout.

I knew why Jill wanted the extra fine tuning. The year before, as only a freshman, she had placed second in the discus at the district meet and narrowly missed going to the state meet in Des Moines.

This young lady had won every discus event, in every varsity meet as both a freshman and sophomore, except that district event the year before! And, her throws in competition had always been between 106' 1" and 110' 10". Very consistent. Very good for so young.

But, something began to bother me. Something that I didn't know how to fix until it hit me that sunny Sunday in 1982.

What bothered me was why this young athlete couldn't seem to get the discus two more inches to 111 feet? Only two more little inches...why? I began to wonder if it was more a psychological barrier rather than a physical one. But, what to do about it? I had encouraged the socks off that girl that year...110' 10" was the best she could do...twice!

I decided to try something I had never done to one of my athletes before. I decided to deceive Jill. I decided to LIE!

Jill went through her usual drills. Then, I said, "Why don't you throw five or six good ones for me to measure?" She agreed and proceeded to let some good throws rip, but none were farther than what she had already thrown. I could just tell, even though the markings on the discus area had pretty well been washed off by some recent rains.

But, I didn't tell Jill. As a matter of fact, when we measured them I made sure Jill had the "zero" end of the measuring tape. And, Jill also threw one of her best throws away from the rest of her tosses, which helped with my little scheme, too. As we were measuring, the throws were in her usual range --- 108 to 110 feet. But, as I was walking toward the final one I yelled out to her, "I really think this one is farther!"

It wasn't. It was around 110' 6". But, it was now or never. I still had the tape between my thumb and index finger as I jumped up, pumped my fist into the air, and screamed out, "You've got to see this!!!"

Jill, thinking that this was a personal best, jumped wildly into the air in excitement. As she did, I pulled some more tape through my fingers. I had no idea how much. I just hoped it would be over 111 feet. I didn't even look at the tape until Jill made it to where I was standing. When she looked at the tape, it was the first time I had, too.

There it was, right at the end of my thumb, 112' 2"! Jill went crazy. I just hoped it would work.

The next afternoon, at districts, Jill won with a personal best toss of 114' 10"!!! Just 24 hours after I had "lied" to her. Just 24 hours after she had actually thrown 110' 6". But, now she had ACTUALLY thrown the discus four feet further than she had ever thrown it before without any practice in between our extra session the day before and the meet. But, unbelievably, the story doesn't end here.

Eleven days later we were at the Drake intramural field where the State discus event was to be held. It was a terrible weather day raining fairly heavily. The discus ring was wet. The officials even had to use towels to constantly dry it for the athletes. Jill came into the event with the 8th best throw in the districts.

Her goals were simple: break the school record of 115' 1" and place in the top six to score at least one point for herself, her teammates, and the school. (Jill was the only qualifier from our school that year).

You get 3 throws in the prelims and the top eight qualify for 3 more in the finals. Jill didn't need 6 throws, or even 3 throws that day. On her second throw in the preliminaries she uncorked a toss like she had never had before. The discus sliced through the heavy, rainy air and splashed down. The officials marked it. Then, they measured it. 118' 1"! Amazing!!! But, the most amazing part of the story was that it held up...Jill won the state title by three inches!

She would go on her junior year to place second at State and again win the state meet her senior year. She would throw the discus in college, eventually having a personal best over 135 feet!

I know she got better coaching in college. But what changed in the 12 days from that Sunday afternoon, when I tricked her until the state meet? Not her technique, not her workouts, not her strength level, not her build.

The entire change occurred between her ears and in her heart. She believed that she had broken through. She believed that she was better than 110 feet 10 inches.

After that state meet her sophomore year, her parents took her and my wife and I out for a steak feast in Des Moines. While we were eating dinner I told everyone what I had done 12 days earlier. As I told the story, Jill's mouth dropped open further and further. When I finished, Jill got mad! That's right! She got mad at me and said, "I can't believe that you would lie to me like that."

For a brief moment I felt bad. Then, I looked up at her. Looked her right in the eyes and said, "Jill, take one more look at that medal around your neck. Now you answer me this. Was I lying to you or were you lying to yourself for two years?"

I wonder how many people go through life lying to themselves about their potential and their ability to reach their dreams. I would venture a guess that 90%-95% of us do. Most of us are like Jill. We set our own barriers in our minds. We lie to ourselves.

When someone tries to encourage us, we usually respond with some negative answer. Psychologist, Shad Helmstetter, says that 70% of our self-talk is negative. (Self-talk is what we say to ourselves about ourselves). I agree, and I know Jill would agree too.

Don't lie to yourself, learn to take control of your mind. God gave each of us tremendous abilities and talents. I believe those talents are there to be exploited. You can do it...no one can do that for you. Start it right away.