Inspiring words from Jack Ma
For the new generation of today, Jack Ma, the founder and owner of Alibaba is an inspirational speaker. And he speaks the truth, which means it hurts. But sometimes to prod one into action, hurting is the only way ahead.
In one of the most recent speeches, he begins with a smack, saying, “You are poor because you have no ambition.”
He then goes on to narrate his experience when he first mooted the idea of Alibaba, something which resonates with most of us, the only difference being he trudged ahead and decided to take the risk.
Recounting, Jack Ma says, “Before I founded Alibaba, I invited 24 friends to my house to discuss the business opportunity. After discussing for a full two hours, they were still confused — I have to say that I may not have put myself across in a clear manner manner then. The verdict: 23 out of the 24 people in the room told me to drop the idea, for a multitude of reasons, such as: ‘you do not know anything about the internet, and more prominently, you do not have the start-up capital for this’ etc etc.
There was only one friend (who was working in a bank then) who told me, “If you want to do it, just try it. If things don’t work out the way you expected it to, you can always revert back to what you were doing before.” I pondered upon this for one night, and by the next morning, I decided I would do it anyway, even if all of the 24 people opposed the idea.”
He continues, “When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest driving force for me then was not my confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this: “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” You have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back to what you were doing before.”
Jack Ma listed down four reasons why people lose out in life:
- Being myopic to opportunity
- Looking down on opportunities
- Lacking understanding
- Failing to act quickly enough