There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.
Creditors were closing in on him, and suppliers were demanding payment. As he sat on the park bench he wondered if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.
He looked up to see an older man standing in front of him: “I can see that something is troubling you,” the man said, and the executive began unloading his business woes. The older man said, “I believe I can help you."
He asked the discouraged man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand, saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly six months from o on today, and you can pay me back at that time.”
The older man turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come. The business executive was in shock when he read the amount: $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world at that time.
“I can erase my money worries in an instant!” the executive thought. But while he continued to work out a plan for saving his business, he put the uncashed check in his drawer. Just knowing it was there gave him strength.
With renewed optimism, he was able to negotiate better deals and payment terms. He closed several big sales and within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.
Six months later he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the older man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up, grabbed the older man by the arm and began leading him away.
“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.”
The executive just stood there, stunned! For the past six months he’d been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.
Suddenly he realized, 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 what he wanted.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF . . . . your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.