Journal 1
Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, in Dearborn, Michigan; he died on April 7, 1947. He grew up working on his family’s farm, but became interested in mechanics after his father gave him a pocket watch, which he took apart and reassembled. At the age of 16, Ford left his home to become a mechanics apprentice in Detroit, where he began learning how to operate steam engines. Henry Ford is most commonly known as the man who enhanced the usage of the assembly line as well as the man who created the Ford Motor Company and introduced the first Model T car.
Henry Ford wrote, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, either way you're right." After a bit of contemplation, I believe this quote means that no matter what you want to do, the outcome will only be what you think it will be. In other words, if someone wanted to do push-ups, they would set a limit and think that that is the highest they can go; if they were to think they couldn’t do anymore, then they wouldn’t be able to. The mind creates this illusion that makes you think you won’t be able to go any further than what you tell yourself you can do. Ford is trying to say that you create the outcome yourself, depending on what you set your mind to. Ford lived by these words when he was growing up and going into mechanics. He was able to go from a farmer to a mechanic just by thinking and believing he could succeed in a different lifestyle. Once he became interested in mechanics, he was able to grow in the field and soon become a very important person, all because he believed he could do great things.
As a high schooler, I was under the impression that the reason I wasn’t getting the best grades was because I wasn’t smart enough to achieve them. One year I decided to take an AP class and I was dreading it; I believed that I would get a bad grade in it because I didn’t think I was smart enough to succeed at a class that I assumed would be difficult. The class was, in fact, rather difficult, so I started doing poorly and my grade dropped with every assignment. It wasn’t until I was told, by my parents, that I was smart enough to succeed in this class, that I actually began to do well. Sadly, it was in the last semester of the yearlong class that I finally changed my attitude. I was able to succeed in raising my grade two letter grades, and all I had to do was realize that I can succeed at anything if I just put my mind to it. I find this to be a good example of this quote; it shows that if you don’t think you can do something, then you can’t, and vice versa, simple as that.
Works Cited:
Biography.com editors. “Henry Ford Biography.” Biography.com. A&E Television Networks, 8 Jul. 2014, Web. 8 Sept. 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/henry-ford-9298747>.