
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. ~Maya Angelou
Good ideas, along with silly stuff and nerdy stuff.
Wisdom from the mind of the great inventor, Thomas Alva Edison:
- Opportunity is missed by most people, because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
- To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
- To have a great idea, have a lot of them.
- The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.
- Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.
- The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.
- I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.
- The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and the cause and prevention of disease.
Beautiful stuff and also sad news.
I always worked hard, because I recognized from a young age it was one of the only things I could control. I did karate as a kid at the Jewish Community Center, and when I started I was the worst of 25 Jewish kids who were afraid of getting picked on. Then just because everyone else quit, three years later I was at the top of the class. That was always tangible: Just by not stopping I became the best one. ~ Seth Rogen, quoted in This Week.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
What does it take to become a successful author or artist or musician or actor? Must you have talent?
The top two definitions of talent on Dictionary.com are “a special natural ability or aptitude” and “a capacity for achievement and success.” People think of talent as an affinity you’re born with. You’re either artistic or you’re not. You have a knack for learning foreign languages, or you don’t. You’re a natural athlete, or you’ll always be chosen last for stickball. The first thing you write will immediately be snapped up by a publisher, or nothing penned by you will ever see light of day.
Fortunately, the reality is a lot more positive.
Success in any field of endeavor can be achieved by a number of approaches in combination. In general, SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO THE FOLLOWING THINGS:
Does talent play any role in success? Of course. But there are many talented adults who still live in their parents’ basements. Talent doesn’t guarantee excellence.
Anna Chui says, “To call someone ‘talented’ can also be an act of rudeness. It implies that the person did not have to rely on their own hard work to achieve success, which belittles their efforts and shows an ignorance of how personal growth and development really happens behind the scenes. Calling someone talented also lets yourself off the hook and gives you permission to be lazy – after all, if someone else is talented and you are not, why even bother trying to achieve a similar level of success?”
So don’t worry whether you have talent. Follow your dream, but be willing to work strategically and hard.
Now it’s your turn. Is there a strategy to success you would recommend that I haven’t listed above? Share in the comments below.
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