I just came across a story about Harland Sanders’s life experience, and it’s definitely worth thinking about. His early years were incredibly tough—his father died when he was 6, and from a very young age he had to take care of his siblings, and he was forced to drop out of school in seventh grade. After that, over the next several decades, he took on countless jobs—from farm laborer, to streetcar driver, to railway worker, to an insurance salesman—almost every position ended in failure. To be honest, anyone else would have given up a long time ago.

But the turning point came when he was in his 40s. He started cooking at a gas station, preparing meals specifically for travelers passing through. His fried chicken recipe gradually became well-known, and people began to love his skills. This was the first time he felt like he had something truly valuable.

However, fate played another trick on him. At age 65, the government built a new road that bypassed his restaurant directly. Business collapsed overnight. All he had left was a $105 Social Security check. At that age, most people would choose to accept their fate, retire, and slowly fade away. But Harland Sanders was different.

He made a crazy decision—he drove around with his fried chicken secret recipe and knocked on restaurant doors one by one. He offered the recipe for free, only asking for a small share of the sales revenue. He slept in his car, and he was rejected again and again. The first time, the tenth time, the hundredth time… until he was rejected 1009 times. Yes, more than a thousand “no’s.”

But on the 1010th time, someone finally said “yes.” With just that one “yes,” everything ignited. Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) was born. By the time he was 70, KFC was already spread across the United States. In 1964, Harland Sanders sold the company for $2 million, but his face and name would forever become symbols of the brand. Today, KFC has more than 25,000 stores in 145 countries worldwide, becoming a multi-billion-dollar empire.

This story makes me think of one question: when does it become “too late”? If a person can create such a miracle at 65—holding only $105 and after countless failures—then what reason is there for us to shrink back in the face of hardship?

The next time you want to give up, remember Harland Sanders—the man who turned a “last chance” into a global legend.