Once, there was an older man, who was broke, living in a tiny house and owned a beat up car.
He was living off of $99 social security cheque.
At 65 years of age, he decide things had to change.
So he thought about what he had to offer.
His friends raved about his chicken recipe.
He decided that this was his best shot at making a change.
Old man left Kentucky and traveled to different states to try to sell his recipe.
He told restaurant owners that he had a mouthwatering chicken recipe.
He offered the recipe to them for free, just asking for a small percentage on the items sold. Sounds like a good deal, right?
Unfortunately, not to most of the restaurants. He heard NO over 1000 times.
Even after all of those rejections, he didn’t give up.
He believed his chicken recipe was something special.
He got rejected 1009 times before he heard his first yes.
With that one success, Colonel Hart-land Sanders changed the way Americans eat chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken, popularly known as KFC, was born.
Remember, never give up and always believe in yourself in spite of rejection
In Zimbabwe we have the success story of Tawanda Mutyebere of Chicken Slice.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re 20 years old or 70. This article has some powerful points to bring to the table.
1.
You Have to Go Through Failure to Get to Success
In the introduction above, I mentioned that Colonel Sanders was rejected more than 1000 times before successfully selling his KFC recipe.
…1000 times!
Not only that, but I also mentioned that he’d failed at every other career he’d tried to get into.
Sanders tried and failed miserably at all the below careers between the ages of 10 and 40:
•Farming
•Streetcar Conductor
•Lawyer
• Insurance Salesman
•Railroad Fireman
Just goes to show that no matter how much failure you experience in life, there’s always still time to be successful.
For anyone reading this who thinks it’s too late to make something of your life, start re-thinking!
2.
You’re Never too old to Succeed
Colonel Sanders was 75 years old before he finally sold Kentucky Fried Chicken for a cool $2 million. Which would be around about $15 million in the world of today. He remained as the spokesmen for the company after the sale.
But 75 years old… the majority of people, at least 95% give up way earlier in life.
People stop thinking they can be successful even in their 30’s! And yet, the Colonel didn’t think this way, and ended up being the founder and face of a billion dollar brand.
So before you start to think that you can’t achieve your dreams, because you’re 30, 40, 50 years old… stop. You’re never to old to achieve success in life.
3.
The Past Doesn’t Define Your Success
An awesome success lesson that many people need to hear, is the lesson that your past doesn’t define your future success.
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed. It doesn’t matter where you were brought up, or what happened to you earlier on in life.
Your past, does not determine how successful you can become in the future.
Again, look at Sanders. He’d failed at every other career he’d tried… a whole bunch of them! He was in an unhappy marriage and had 3 children at a very young age. For most people that’s when they start to quit on life, and can’t see a way out.
Say No to drugs , No to alcohol abuse
4.
Giving up is the Only Sure Way to Fail
You can fail at a lot of things in life, but the KFC story proves that giving up is the only sure way to fail.
If you’re some like the Colonel, no matter how many times you fail, the possibility of success is still always on the table.
You’re not a failure until you finally stop trying.
So don’t give up. Even if time is passing, you’re slowly getting older and you still can’t quite see the end of the tunnel. It’s never impossible to achieve success.
“Hard work beats all the tonics and vitamins in the world.” – Colonel Sanders
5.
It’s Never too Late to Start Over
It was clear that cooking was the Colonel’s passion, but it wasn’t discovered by himself until later on in his life. He went through a complete range of careers, having to start over from scratch, again, and again.
When you try to succeed at so many different things, it can become exhausting. The start is always the hardest part, and for most people starting all over again at the age of 50, or 60 would be unthinkable.
Yet, it’s never too late, and Colonel Sanders showed this by finally being successful at doing what he loved… in his 70’s!
6.
Take a Risk on Doing What You Love
It’s no secret that following your passion is the key to happiness and success. You know it, I know it, we’ve heard all the stories before.
And yet, the majority of us still don’t go after what we want in life, before age even comes into play. People in their 20’s don’t even pursue their passions a lot of the time.
Maybe it takes a while for most to realize just how important passion is; but the hope is that we help as many as possible to pursue what they want early on.
After all is said and done, a pursued passion will make anyone a successful individual.
7.
Don’t be Afraid to Start Small
Sanders started selling Kentucky Fried Chicken by the side of the road, on a small scale. After selling the recipe, it vastly grew, and franchises were being opened all over the world.
The lesson here is not to be afraid to start small. As long as you get started, and work hard, progression will come.
People often put off starting their own business, website, and such, simply because they don’t think it’s at a big enough scale to launch.
I see plenty of people in the process of “launching” websites, stuck in this process for more than 2 years, because they don’t think it’s quite ready.
Just start! Seriously!
People love progression, and once you start you’ll be able to do so. Putting things off because of perfection is not going to get you anywhere.
Summary
Here’s a quick recap of Colonel Sander’s success lessons:
1.
You have to go through failure to get to success
2.
You’re never too old to succeed
3.
The past doesn’t define your success
4.
Giving up is the only sure way to fail
5.
It’s never too late to start over
6.
Take a risk on doing what you love
7.
Don’t be afraid to start small
If there’s any one point you could take away from this article; for me it would be the fact that it’s never too late, and you’re never too old, to go after your dreams.
How many of Colonel Sanders’ success lessons do you agree with?
Everything is possible
By Coach Luke Moyana
