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5 Important Lessons Young People Should Learn From John D Rockefeller

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Born on July 8, 1839, John D. Rockefeller
was an American industrialist, philanthropist,
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and the founder of the Standard Oil Company,
a company that dominated the oil industry
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and was the first great United States business
trust.
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Rockefeller also founded the University of
Chicago, General Education Board, Rockefeller
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University and the Rockefeller Foundation.
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Today, he is widely considered as the wealthiest
American of all time and the richest person
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in modern history.
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At the time of his death on May 23, 1937,
Rockefeller was worth about $400 billion in
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today’s currency.
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So how did John D. Rockefeller become this
rich and what can young people learn from
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him?
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In this video, we’ll share with you; 5 important
lessons young people should learn from John
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D. Rockefeller.
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Lesson 1
Find Your Strength and Ambition
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In September 1855, when Rockefeller was just
sixteen years old, he got his first job in
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a small produce commission firm called Hewitt
& Tuttle as an assistant bookkeeper.
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It was here he realized that he enjoyed what
he later recalled as "all the methods and
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systems of the office."
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He found that he was particularly good at
calculating transportation costs, a skill
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that would serve him well later in his career.
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Making 50 cents a day, the full salary for
his first three months' work was $50 (equivalent
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to $1.31 thousand today).
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As a youth, Rockefeller reportedly said that
his two greatest ambitions were to make $100,000
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(equivalent to $2.63 million today) and to
live 100 years.
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He certainly made lots more than that, and
the funniest thing is that he actually lived
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almost to the 100 years he wanted.
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He lived so long that his insurance company
had to pay him the $5 million face value of
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his policy.
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Imagine that.
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Hahahaha…
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The Lesson for young people
Give yourself the chance to find those things
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you excel at and be ambitious.
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Are you an excellent debater able to express
yourself precisely?
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Make it your strength.
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Are you methodical and discreet?
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Your accounts and business will certainly
benefit from that.
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Find that thing that you are good at and let
it make you rich, let your ambitions fuel
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your drive for success as it did for Rockefeller.
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Lesson 2
Outsmart Your Rivals
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One of the ways Rockefeller made his immense
wealth was by monopolizing America’s oil
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market.
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In 1870, Rockefeller conspired with refinery
owners and helped found what became known
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as the Standard Oil Monopoly, a company that
arranged for discounted shipping costs from
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the railroads that transported oil, thereby
monopolizing oil delivery.
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This caused his rival businesses to allow
themselves to be bought by Standard Oil or
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be forced to pay outrageous shipping costs
that would eventually drive them out of business.
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Those who tried to resist were forced to deal
with price wars.
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By 1890, the Rockefeller Company controlled
approximately 90 percent of the petroleum
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production in the US.
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What a man!
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If you are trying to get rich, you may come
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up with business ideas that are already in
practice one way or the other.
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But what can you do to stay on top and be
more successful than others could ever be?
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You may not strive for monopoly as Rockefeller
did but you have to be smarter than your rivals
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and competitors, find ways to have an edge
over them and success is yours to gain.
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Lesson 3
Be Daring and Efficient
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In 1872, Rockefeller bought competing refiners,
improving the efficiency of his operations,
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pressed for discounts on oil shipments, raised
investment pools, and bought out most of his
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rivals.
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But instead of eliminating his competitors
completely, his company added its own pipelines,
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tank cars, and home delivery network.
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He kept oil prices low to stave off his competitors,
made his products affordable to the average
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household, and, to increase market penetration;
he even sold below cost price.
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While his counterparts were still selling
expensive whale oil to only the wealthy customers
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for what they saw as profit, Rockefeller developed
over 300 oil-based products from tar to paint
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to petroleum jelly to chewing gum.
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By the end of the 1870s, Rockefeller’s company
was refining over 90% of the oil in the U.S.
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This endeavor made Rockefeller a millionaire
($1 million is equivalent to $25 million today).
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In an ever competitive market, Rockefeller
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made his money by being clever and so should
you.
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His competitors saw whale oil as the only
possible source for profit but Rockefeller
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decided to try something different.
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He developed other versions of oil that made
him millions of dollars.
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If you can dare to try something different,
you will most definitely succeed.
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Lesson No. 4
Your Environment Will Shape You
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Rockefeller was the second of six children,
born to a father known by his community as
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“Devil Bill,” who preferred a vagabond
existence and was notorious for shady schemes
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but taught John to "trade dishes for platters"
and always get the better part of any deal.
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His favorite saying was, “I cheat my boys
every chance I get.
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I want to make 'em sharp.”
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His mother, a homemaker and a devout Baptist
who was frugal by nature and by necessity
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because of the philandering and constant absence
of her husband, taught her son that "willful
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waste makes woeful want" She encouraged him
to do his share of the regular household chores
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and he earned extra money raising turkeys,
selling potatoes and candy and also lending
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small sums of money to their neighbors.
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This prompted Rockefeller to say later in
life that, “From the beginning, I was trained
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to work, to save, and to give.”
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The lesson for young people
Your environment will determine who you become
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in life.
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If what you see everyone around you doing
or becoming isn’t what you want, you’ll
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do well by changing the people you hang around.
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Lesson 5
Setbacks Can Push You Forward.
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In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that the
Standard Oil Company be dismantled for violation
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of federal anti-trust laws; this ruling would
ordinarily have cost Rockefeller millions
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of dollars as it would have affected his monopoly
and business.
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However, it turned out that each individual
piece of the company was worth much more than
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the whole, as their shares doubled and tripled
in value in the early years, and Rockefeller
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became the nation's first billionaire worth
nearly 2% of the national economy.
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Rockefeller once said this, “Don’t be
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afraid to give up the good, to go for the
great.”
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Standard Oil was doing quite good as a company
but the law that resulted in its dissolution
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led to him becoming even richer.
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If you go through a setback in your quest
for success, know that it's not the end of
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the line.
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That setback would actually open a new path
that would make you rich, if only you can
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fight through.
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In conclusion, if you’re a young person
and you want to be successful and rich in
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life;
Build a solid foundation by learning from
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your parents and teachers.
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Rockefeller’s mother, being a religious
and disciplined woman imbibed in him an attitude
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of hard work and doing good deeds which would
serve him well later in his journey to greatness.
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Discover your strengths and use them to make
you rich.
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There’s a saying by the Joker, a famous
fictitious movie and comic character that
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goes, “If you are good at something, never
do it for free.”
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It's a good advice, isn't it?
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No matter your age, you should be smart.
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Clever people end up the richest.
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Be bold and daring in your endeavors and business
ventures.
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Where others stop short, go the extra mile
and you will surely succeed.
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And lastly, you should know that setbacks
happen to every successful person.
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If it happens to you, be determined to move
forward and let it open the way to your success.
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You can definitely do it.
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