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My toaster went out with a puff of smoke this morning. I felt bad. Because I really wanted toasts and bacon to kick-start my day on a great note.
I stood in my kitchen with a wrap of bacon looking at it with great sadness. But then I noticed something. The expiration date had passed. If it was not for the toaster, I would have spent the rest of the day hugging the porcelain guardian of my bathroom.
The toaster kinda saved my stomach, I guess…
Bad things happen to even the best of us. But what breaks the most can become a motivation trigger unlike any other.
Just in case, I am not talking about my recent toaster story. Even I am not that pretentious. What I am talking about is my chain of thoughts that led me to research something fascinating – the things that seem bad at the start but lead to something awesome in the end. These bad things can even keep your booking calendar filled to the brim.
Wanna look at what I found?
I Do, Now I Don’t
Josh Opperman was having the time of his life. The sun was shining, the birds were singing cheerfully and he was about to marry the most amazing woman in the world…
Or so he thought.
As it turned out, Josh’s fiancée decided she wasn’t ready for something as big as Josh’s heart and she left him. It wasn’t a drama-filled split at the altar like often shown in movies, but you can imagine that it hurt quite a bit nonetheless.
Josh was left alone but he had an engagement ring that he had paid $10K for. At least that’s something. Or so you may think until you find out the jeweler shops were only willing to pay $3,500 for it.
For many that would be a straw that breaks the camel’s back, but not for Josh. The man got a grip on himself and started a website called I do, now I don’t that worked similarly to Craigslist, but for jewelry.
The resource has become a leading global buyer of gold, diamonds and stuff like that and it was even featured in the NYT, CNN, and Fox news. Talk about making that lemonade.
Ultimate Visa
Janet Altamarino had no other thing in mind than exploring the opportunities abroad after graduation. So she chose a Visa processing firm, entrusted it with all of her savings and got ready to move from the Philippines in the nearest future.
Little did she know that faith had prepared a different journey for young Janet. That Visa processing firm had disappeared with a lot of money from a lot of students never to be seen again.
What did Miss Atamarino do? She tried to help other people who ended up in her shoes by. preventing such events from ever happening again. Thus the Ultimate Visa Corporation was born to become the leading consultancy on immigration in all of Philippines.
Under Armor
What can be worse than running around in a sweaty shirt under a jersey? Alas, this is one of the drawbacks of being a professional athlete. You have step above your own self to achieve new goals during practice.
Or do you?
Kevin Plank had a different idea. He was so tired of something as “inconvenient” that he created his own undershirt that stayed dry no matter what.
Fast forward a couple of years and you’ve got a world-known brand on your hands that brings in $4 billion in annual revenue. Yes, you’ve guessed it, this is the story of how Under Armor was born.
Conclusion
When life gives you lemons you always have options. The first one is – you can become as sour. The second one is to make lemonade. And the third is to shove those lemons up life’s bottom and start an awesome business. Which one do you choose?