Mr. John Gokongwei’s life story of being a millionaire of from rags to riches tells us to simply never give up hope. Due to an unforeseen life changing event when he was young lad, he began working at the age of 13 by selling in the market and traveling to different places in the country to sell and trade. From that he became wealthy and the owner of the J.G. Summit Holdings Inc. His story has important points that caught my attention which one must not miss reading.
If you want to be rich someday, ask yourself, “What can I do?” you should do things on your own and strive for the betterment of your future life. The major key of becoming a wealthy and successful person is to get a hold of yourself and best start working and earn money. Mr.Gokongwei taught this to his children, “to start working while you’re still young.” I think, through that you have a higher chance of success in the future since you will learn a lot about the business world.
Do not be afraid of taking risks. Have faith in your abilities especially when you have bright ideas that people could need and, of course, have properly looked into the possible outcomes of your decisions. Mr. Gokongwei took risks with Sun Cellular (a mobile phone network) and C2 (a health drink), and he was pretty much successful with both. It’s probably because it met the needs of the people. Being indecisive will not help you, so practice being firm with your decisions with the sense of flexibility.
It’s a top priority to be aware of the current wants and needs of people, particularly those who belong to your target market. Do not get easily carried away by the new trends because the bubble might burst too quickly. Have some caution with your action. However it’s up to your level of risk tolerance or appetite for risk. Whatever the outcome, you learn something new every day. Learn to play your cards right even when the cards aren’t that good.
Mr.Gokongwei’s life story is quite amazing and inspiring. There is a lot to say, but one thing I admire is his courage to do traveling, in a small boat, and selling at a young age especially at that time when World War II just ended. He was definitely a determined soul. I wonder what I can do. Well, for now I have to do my best in college and maybe find the best imaginable way to become successful and wealthy now and for the near future.
