Is your career not going the way you want? Perhaps you don't have the extra cash for those essential luxuries you know you need? Is toxic news sapping your motivation? Well consider the story of Poon Lim, a sailor who survived alone on a raft for 133 days.

Lim should have been doomed, but he never gave up, despite battling the scorching sun, dehydration, hunger, and missing two opportunities for rescue. After each setback he formulated a new plan, and pressed on. Poon Lim's real-life experience makes Tom Hanks "Castaway" character look like a joke. If after reading Lim's remarkable story you aren't inspired to take on the world, you will at least have a greater appreciation for sushi.