Kenyan javelin champion Julius Yego taught himself to throw by watching YouTube videos, with no coach or facilities. He went from a 75-meter throw in 2010 to winning world championship gold at 92 meters in 2015. Success isn't about having resources, it's about being resourceful with what you have.
Good morning, Believe Nation! Today's message is "Be Resourceful." Over to you, Julius Yego.
By then, nowhere in Kenya you can have a place for javelin training. I didn't have any coach. I was doing training alone. I saw it as like life was going against me. It was the lowest point of my life. But I didn't give up. Something came into my mind to watch the YouTube videos. I could go to the cyber, look at the great javelin throwers, see what they do in their normal training, and I would come and practice the following day. When you don't have the facilities, you try on yourself to improvise what you have. The past few years when I was doing the training alone, it's a big challenge. But now I have partners, we train together. It makes the training easy and enjoyable. It's fun. I like being with them. The videos of these guys really helped me a lot. In 2010, I throw 75. After that, I keep watching those videos. In 2011, I won the All-African Games. It was the first time that Kenya was winning a gold medal in javelin. In 2012, when I threw it 181, I screamed because I couldn't believe that I was making the Olympic finals. For the first time, somebody in the finals from Kenya and Africa as well. I didn't stop from there. In 2014, it was a big thing. I won gold for the first time in Commonwealth Games. 2015 is a special year for me. The World Championships, 92 meters, you know, a big throw and winning a gold medal. I will never forget that forever. Now I'm the world champion. It's like a dream.
I love this video because entrepreneurship is all about not how many resources you have, but how resourceful you can be. You never have enough resources. You never have the right family, right connections, or enough money or whatever. It's about what you do with what you have. And too many people complain. Too many people complain that because they don't come from the right family, or because, you know, they're an immigrant, or because, you know, whatever excuse that's coming to your head. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, I can't be successful because what? Whatever that reason is, typically what people do is they blame somebody else, right? You blame your government, you blame your parents, you blame your school, you blame your bank, you blame investors, you blame everybody else except you, 'cause it's never your fault, 'cause you're great, 'cause you're doing everything right, you're amazing. It's somebody else's fault. And until you accept that responsibility, you're never gonna grow. You're never gonna get to where you wanna be. It's always about what you do with the resources that you have instead of thinking that you need to have these insane resources. You look at Julius. You look at this clip. Here's a guy who had every excuse in the world for not to be successful, right? He's coming from Africa, never had a successful javelin program there ever. He has no money, he can't buy the best gear, he doesn't have coaches, there's no training program there. What does he do? He doesn't have a training facility, he doesn't have friends who support him, believe in him at the start. What does he do? He watches YouTube videos. He uses what he has that's available to him. He has an internet connection, so he goes to YouTube and he learns how to be a great javelin thrower, eventually working his way up to becoming the world champion. He coulda complained, he coulda sat back, he coulda hated his life, he coulda blamed the world for why he is not successful, but instead, he bet on himself, he invested in himself, and he became a world champion. Whatever position you're at right now, wherever you are right now in your business, you have more resources than Julius had when he was starting up, period. So you have no excuse for not becoming the world champion at what you do. There's no reason, it's just you. And it will never happen until you accept the responsibility, until you believe that you are not where you wanna be because of you. Nobody else's fault. People paying so much attention to the election, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will not save your business. It doesn't matter who becomes president. It won't have an impact on your company. I'm still gonna go get mine. You can still go get yours. Neither of them are gonna come in and work your business and get you sales. That's on you. Stop blaming other people and start being resourceful. Because if Julius can work up from where he was to become a world champion, you have no reason in the world why you can't do the same thing in your business. So the question of the day today is, I'm curious what you feel like the resources that you're missing. What's the reason you're telling yourself that you can't be successful? Who are you blaming, or what resource is missing right now that you feel is holding you back? Release it. Leave it in the comments below. Release it. Take responsibility. I'm going to join in the discussion, so leave that comment below. Thank you guys so much for watching. Have an amazing day. Continue to believe, and I'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.
