The unheard story of the founder of Nike
Sometimes, it’s okay to be foolish in order to make history.
My entire life, I have been fulfilling the crazy ideas.
In fact, history is one long processional of crazy ideas.
Not crazy in the sense you’re thinking, but actually crazy in a different approach I will share with you right here. And after understanding this, I am sure you will make every one of your goals and ideas insane.
Back when I was just 14 years old, I was sure that I was going to be a big-league baseball player but things do not always go as expected.
That dream came to a rude awakening when I got cut from my high school baseball team. I was rejected for the first time professionally.
I cried and cried for weeks until my mom said “ENOUGH!”
For how long will you be crying. If destiny closes one path, 2 others are crafted automatically. You just have to figure out what the nature has for you…
Her words didn’t get into my head until she gave me a suggestion, the life changing suggestion. She said-
So what if you can’t hold a bat, you still have what it takes, the DESIRE. Why don’t you try the track- the athletics.
I thought about it not more than a day and I joined tracks. I trained myself very hard, got a coach, joined every little tournament and competition. The ultimate aim was to get admission in the most prestigious national academy of North America.
My coach always said-
The cowards never started, and the weak died along the way — that leaves us.
Within a few weeks, I won my first award.
In some months, I won regularly at the local level.
After complete dedication of 1.5 years, I got enrolled in my dream academy. But the things were not-so in my favour. I joined the coaching thinking about my past experiences that I was unique and unbeatable.
When I got there, I saw athletes way faster than me. The top running candidates ran upto 17 miles an hour. Watching my seniors competing always gave me goosebumps, They were just so fast.
I got connected to a few runners in the hostel and trained myself harder and harder everyday. To catch up the speed of best players in the academy, I knew I would have to work my ass off.
Days, weeks,…months passed by. I did improve my speed but barely stood in front of some other OG players. I knew there’s something the top players were hiding from the rest because I believed I was working harder than anyone there.
I always thought I am doing literally everything I should but still not able to get the results I desire.
AND that’s when I discovered my first crazy idea!
I thought, running faster, faster, running as if I were chasing a thief who snatched my smartphone and being chased by a mentally disabled street dog at the same time.
When I ran with this insane idea in my head, it was a total success. I was suddenly smiling. Almost laughing. Drenched in sweat, moving as gracefully and effortlessly as I ever had, I saw my Crazy Idea shining up ahead, and it didn’t look all that crazy.
For the next few days, I ran with this thought in my mind.
Then, I switched to some other sick idea. Doing things with this approach got me selected to the top 3 players in the national academy. Everything seemed as simple as it never had been.
I experimented this viewpoint in other aspects of my life. To my surprise, things flowed like butter with ease.
And that was when I decided I will develop a crazy idea of everything I want to achieve in life. With this thought process, I made one of the largest companies of the world, Nike.
Yes, this is a true story story of Phil Knight, the former CEO of Nike.
The path you’ve chosen is rare, it’s painful. It’s risky. The rewards are few and far from guaranteed. When you run around an oval track, or down an empty road, you have no real destination. At least, none that can fully justify the effort.
It’s not just that there’s no finish line; it’s that you define the finish line. It’s all in how you frame it, how you sell it to yourself.
In the conclusion,
I always said this to myself every single day that led me to success and would want you to do the same-
Let everyone else call your idea crazy . . . just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.
This is just the beginning and foundation of Phil Knight success story. There are lot more adventures in his life. If you want to know further about happenings of his life or autobiographies of other business owners, do let me know in comments.
Hope you enjoyed reading.
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