No Soccer Team? Then Reach the Top in Basketball

In elementary school I lived for soccer — but my junior high school had no soccer club. A moment where sulking would be understandable. Instead, I started basketball and practiced relentlessly: mornings, evenings, holidays. By ninth grade I made the prefectural select team and played at nationals. That became the template for my life.

You rarely get to choose your environment — but you always choose whether to sulk in it or aim for its summit. If your sport isn't there, become the best at the sport that is. The boy who switched courts now stands, with his companions, on Nasdaq.

What do you work for?