It's your confidence that really matters

A business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out; Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He was not able to meet the expectations of his customers and his competitors were slowly increasing their market share and pushing him backwards in the race for supremacy. So, he sat on a park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

 

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I believe I can help you."

He asked the man his name, wrote out a cheque, and pushed it into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a cheque for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, who was then, one of the richest men in the world!

"I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed cheque in his locker. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed cheque. At the agreed upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the cheque and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

"I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller." And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he'd been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

So, it's your confidence that really matters when it comes to facing challenges in life. But the props and support we receive through the people who motivate us, help in accelerating and strengthening our mind to overcome these challenges.

Each one of us has several Strengths as well as Weaknesses. We have several Opportunities available to come up to higher levels of excellence and success. But, in this process, we have to face several Challenges and try to overcome them. So, please make an effort to transform your Weaknesses into Strengths so that, with added strength, you are able to convert your Challenges into Opportunities and achieve higher levels of success in life.

Source: e-mail from Kusumita