Healthy Growth of Adolescents 6 Commercial Tree

Author: Su Chunli, Yu Xinyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: How Successful People Are Made
As the saying goes, life is never smooth sailing, and misfortunes often befall us. No one can avoid setbacks and failures in their lifetime. How we face adversity, or the level of our Adversity Quotient (AQ), is, from the perspective of successology, the dividing line between success and failure. Successology teaches us that on the scale of success, the weight of AQ is far more significant than IQ and EQ. Only EQ and IQ can make one talented, but only AQ can break through and achieve great things! All success stems from a strong AQ; high AQ equals great success!
The American automotive industry superstar, Lee Iacocca, became a hero in the hearts of the American people with his remarkable talent and glorious achievements. However, no entrepreneur in the world has faced as many ups and downs as Iacocca. After several fluctuations, he rose from an unknown salesman to the CEO of Ford Motor Company, only to be kicked out of the company by Ford’s chairman and plummeted from the pinnacle of power to the depths. Yet, his ambition remained undiminished, and he rose from adversity to become the president of Chrysler Motor Company, saving the company from the brink of collapse and miraculously reviving it to become the third-largest auto company in the U.S. His relentless spirit of turning defeat into victory and fighting against adversity won people’s admiration. During a time of great trial, Iacocca encouraged himself: "I must stay strong and keep fighting. I cannot leave it to fate—I must fight against destiny. I must turn pain into strength and strive to achieve something." As the master of American successology, Napoleon Hill said, "Before the goddess of luck bestows upon you the crown of success, she often tests you severely with adversity to see if your perseverance and courage are enough."
When Bill Gates was interviewed by one of the world’s top eight financial media outlets, The Financial Times, he said, "I have experienced despair and weakness. Every time Microsoft took off, the difficulties and obstacles it faced grew larger—technical challenges, attacks from competitors, and accusations from the government. If I had not ultimately overcome despair and weakness with courage and perseverance, I would have likely been drowned in the waves of market competition." Indeed, to this day, the Microsoft monopoly case, which has lasted nearly five years, continues to haunt Gates. For Gates, the possibility of being submerged in the stormy waves of market competition is far greater than the opportunities he faces.
Wang Huiyao, Chairman of the Canadian Aga International Group, Chairman of the America-Europe-Asia International Business Consulting Company, and CEO of China Project Network, said in an interview with reporters, "1993 was the most difficult time in my business career, but compared to the hardships I faced as a child, it was nothing. From 1958, when I was born, until 1977, when I finally entered university, my life seemed to be a continuous downward spiral, falling from one valley into another deeper one. Despite my constant struggle, it felt as if I were stuck in a swamp—the harder I struggled, the deeper I sank. I remember the hardest time was when I was sent to the countryside for the Cultural Revolution. During the day, I did work that could tire an ox, and at night, I slept in a leaky thatched hut. It wasn’t until 1977, when I entered university, that my fate took a turn for the better. It was the hardships I endured in my youth and early adulthood that laid a strong foundation for my willpower. I realized that ‘struggling’ had become part of my blood. Since entering university, I encountered one challenge after another, but I never stopped. Like the mythical Chao Fu chasing the sun, I have always been pursuing something. Fortunately, the difficulties I faced after entering the business world were quickly overcome. Because after calm reflection, I found my core competitiveness."
"I didn’t bow my head in defeat again in the mirror of adversity but instead actively sought change and gained new life." People with high AQ often display extraordinary courage and perseverance when facing difficulties, persistently shaping themselves into well-rounded individuals. Conversely, those with low AQ often shrink away, give up halfway, and ultimately fail.
Gus Vitar, the CEO of Coca-Cola, is also a person with high AQ. This famous Cuban left his family in a hurry 40 years ago to escape Cuba and came to the U.S. with only $40 and 100 shares of Coca-Cola. Yet, this same Cuban was able to lead Coca-Cola 40 years later, growing the company’s stock by seven times by the time he retired! The entire value of Coca-Cola increased by 30 times! When summarizing his success story, Vitar said, "Even if a person reaches the brink of despair, as long as they have firm belief and a determination to win, they still have a chance for success." Gus Vitar is a representative of high AQ—he has experienced countless hardships in his life but has overcome them all time and again.
Toyota Motor Company, one of today’s three giants in the global automotive industry (alongside General Motors, Volkswagen, and Toyota), has achieved such remarkable success due in part to the high AQ of its founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. In the 1920s, Kiichiro Toyoda chose the automotive industry. After studying in the U.S., he returned to Nagoya, Japan, to experiment, but failed. Determined to persevere, Toyoda analyzed the reasons for his failure. At the time, the backward industry could not produce engines. To overcome this challenge, he began designing and manufacturing his own engines. With engines in hand, he started producing cars. From 1933 to 1936, he produced trucks and buses. When launched into the market, they faced poor reception due to high fuel consumption, loud noise, and slow speed. Faced with this failure once again, Toyoda decided to persevere.
Japan’s war of aggression against the outside world began, and the military needed a large number of military trucks. This presented an opportunity for Toyoda. He started producing military trucks. In 1938, the U.S. produced 3.5 million cars annually, while Japan could only produce a few thousand. In 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally, ending the war, and Toyoda had to stop producing military trucks. At the time, Japan’s economy was depressed, and civilian cars were hard to sell, pushing Toyota to the brink of bankruptcy. Faced with this setback once again, Toyoda still decided to persevere. It wasn’t until the Korean War broke out in 1950 and the U.S. purchased trucks from Japan that Toyoda seized another opportunity for prosperity.
In the 1960s, Toyota began tentatively entering the U.S. market. But their first attempt was a disaster. The Crown car was underpowered and could not even handle U.S. highways. Should they stop? Should they abandon the entire plan? Toyota decided to persevere. They said, even if only the company name was registered in the U.S., it would suffice. As long as they sold 50 or 100 cars, it would be enough to establish a foothold. This persistence lasted for seven years. It took Toyota seven years to finally launch a car that was a success in the U.S. market. Today, Toyota has gone through 80 years of history. During these long years, at every moment when persistence was required, if they had given up, one of the three giants of the global automotive industry would not have been Toyota.
Looking at others, Welch suffered from stuttering from a young age and worked as a golf caddie, paperboy, and shoe salesman. Rockefeller went hungry and wore ragged clothes in his childhood and started his business with $1,000 at the age of 18. When Panasonic’s founder, Konosuke Matsushita, was10 years old, he left home to become an apprentice. His entire life was marked by poor health, and when he started Panasonic, he had only three employees and less than 100 yuan in startup capital. Toyota faced bankruptcy multiple times. Li Ka-shing dropped out of school at the age of 14 after his father’s early death and worked as a tea house waiter, a watch apprentice, and a street vendor. Ho Hung-tung worked as a coal miner, blacksmith, dynamite worker, and airport laborer, and for most of his life, he was hindered and suppressed by the British colonial government in Hong Kong. Wang Yung-ching failed in his attempt to start a brick factory and lost everything in his timber business. They all walked through life like "the vast and majestic Wumen Mountain, rolling like mud balls," and this is the AQ of successful people—this is how successful people are made!
AQ changes destiny! Activate your AQ, and the next successful person could really be you! P117-120