Perseverance Pays Off Big Time

“I had been through life when I was the laughingstock in whatever business I was in, auto parts or what have you. You have to stay in it and success comes. It’s a story of perseverance.” Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, knows what he’s talking about. The first five years of his seasons as an owner, the team was 17 wins with 67 losses, including 2-14 in his inaugural season. The team was stuck.

Khan knew about hard times but also knew about getting unstuck. He was born in Lahore, Pakistan to a family involved in construction. With $500 in his pocket, he moved to the United States in 1967 at age 16 to get his college education. On arrival, he spent his first night at a $2/night room at the University Y-YMCA, and his first job was washing dishes for $1.20 an hour.

While attending school, he worked at Flex-N-Gate, an automotive manufacturing company. In 1978, Shahid started Bumper Works, which made car bumpers and customized pickup trucks and body shop repairs. In 1980, he bought Flex-N-Gate from his former employer and grew the company so it eventually supplied bumpers to the Big Three Automakers. The company has grown in sales from $17 million to an estimated $10 billion in 2010.

He is living unstuck. And so have the Jaguars. His team won in the playoffs and has a good chance of ending up in the Super Bowl this February. When the team won their game, he said, “What a feeling. It’s unbelievable . . . To win it and win it the way we did today [is] mind-blowing.” Yes, it’s been a long time coming. But well worth the perseverance it took. It paid off big time.

I’m taking his example to heart. As a hypnotherapist and small business owner, I work at improving my practice every day. New techniques continually pop up and new ways to help my clients unfold. And I’m having fun! Just as Shahid Khan is enjoying the fruits of his hard work, he continues to expand his horizons. I want to follow in his footsteps and live unstuck. You too? #Unstuck Living

In order to succeed, we must first believe we can.

—Nikos Kazantzakis