What an infestation of bed bugs can teach you. There’s a story behind that. This is your daily message from Chad number 652 to help you upgrade your thinking so you can tell yourself a better story today, because the most powerful story in the world is the story you tell yourself. This message is dedicated to Chung Mong-koo.

One of the craziest, most inspiring stories I’ve ever heard is the founder of Hyundai, Chung Ju-yung. Chung’s journey from extreme poverty (where his family had to eat tree bark in winter to survive) to becoming the richest man in Korea as the founder of Hyundai is remarkable. His biography “Born of This Land” tells Chung’s story of his persistence through repeated catastrophes. Chung would build businesses that would succeed, only to have them destroyed by forces beyond his control – Japanese occupation, the Korean War, government takeovers, and natural disasters. Each time, Chung would start again from scratch, applying the lessons learned from his failures.

There’s a powerful story about bedbugs that is one of the most memorable lessons about persistence and problem-solving. The bedbug story symbolizes one of many hardships Chung overcame through determination and adaptability – key traits that defined his approach to business throughout his life. When Chung was working as a laborer after losing one of his early businesses, he stayed in a bunkhouse that was infested with bedbugs. The infestation was so severe that it was nearly impossible for anyone to sleep.

Here’s the story in Chung’s own words: “The bunkhouse where I slept as a laborer was teeming with so many bedbugs that it was almost impossible to fall asleep. Some of the other workers tried to think of ways to avoid the bedbugs. But even when they slept on top of dining tables, they were still bitten as the parasites could climb up the legs of the tables.”

The workers then developed what they thought was an ingenious solution – placing steel pots filled with water under each leg of the tables to create a barrier the bugs couldn’t cross. This worked, but only temporarily. After just two days, the bedbugs were biting them again despite this obstacle.

Confused by how the bugs were getting past their water barrier, Chung and his fellow workers decided to stay awake one night to observe what was happening. What they discovered shocked them. Chung remembered, “The bedbugs were climbing the walls and dropping from the ceiling on to our bodies. To this day, I cannot forget the shiver down my spine that I felt back then.”

This experience became one of Chung’s formative lessons about how determination and creativity can overcome obstacles. The bedbugs demonstrated a level of problem-solving that Chung found both terrifying and inspiring – they found an alternative path when their usual route was blocked.

If bed bugs can be that persistent, why can’t you? Take a lesson from the bed bugs. Seek alternatives. Keep on keeping on. Stay determined. You can overcome every obstacle.

Do you have a story of persistence? You can email at fromchadsmith@gmail.com. You can find these messages on YouTube by searching @fromchad. You can read the transcript of this message and hundreds of others at fromchad.com.