4 posts tagged “quotes”

I have had a few posts on charactertics around facing adversity, challenges and playing David like 300, I Like It Rough and then my last post recently on (Pride), Determination and Resilience.

You can imagine how excited I was to read an article by Melinda Beck, from The Wall Street Journal, here on how some very successful household names had to face failure before they became what they are today. The article to me was a "Celebration of Failure"!

• J.K. Rowling's first book about a boy wizard named Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury, a small London publishing house, picked it up.
• Twenty-seven publishers rejected Theodor Seuss (Dr. Seuss) Geisel's first book, "To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street."
• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team sophomore year.
• Decca Records turned down a contract with the Beatles, saying "Groups of guitars are on their way out."
• Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor who said "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

Here are some snippets that I want to make a note to self:

What makes some people rebound from defeats and go on to greatness while others throw in the towel? Psychologists call it "self-efficacy," the unshakable belief some people have that they have what it takes to succeed.

I only think that a few people rebound and most throw in the towel.

Where does such determination come from? In some cases it's inborn optimism -- akin to the kind of resilience that enables some children to emerge unscathed from extreme poverty, tragedy or abuse. Self-efficacy can also be acquired by mastering a task; by modeling the behavior of others who have succeeded; and from what Prof. Bandura calls "verbal persuasion" -- getting effective encouragement that is tied to achievement, rather than empty praise.

Some quotes:

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. That's why I succeed," - Michael Jordan
"I didn't fail 1,000 times," he told a reporter. "The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." - Thomas Edison
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." - Winston Churchill

Two big failures I have faced personally are:

1. My application for a student visa to study for my MS during my first attempt (1995) to follow my dream to the US, was rejected twice in 2 days. I could not apply for another two years as it was mandatory after 2 consecutive rejections. [I finally applied again in 1999 and made it]
   
2. My 3 years of being "vocationally challenged" during the downturn after the dot-com days. That enabled me to discover social networking online (starting with LinkedIn where I eventually went to work) since I was living it off-line. My LinkedIn profile only details those days since I value my achievements then as one of the best
   

Finally, as Henry Ford said: "Whether you think that you can or you can't, you're right."

Imagine: The Pursuit IS Happyness

I am a big proponent of personal (and corporate) kaizen - continuous improvement.

It got sparked off after I landed in the US. The personal growth I experienced (and still do) through it is very very enriching. The US was a new fertile ground wide open for me to sow and reap. It comes through lots and lots of questions, voracious reading and surrounding myself with people more experienced than me, surrounding myself with people with diverse backgrounds that include teenagers to help me with what it is "sick" and what is "phat" and making them feel comfortable to give me constructive feedback anytime.

Two quotes that are integrated in everything I do every day are:

• He not busy being born is busy dying - Bob Dylan

• The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.  - Alvin Toffler

Every one has a different motivation to do what they do - and each of those actions have innumerous potential "collateral successes" [more on that later] and "failures" associated with it.

Keep learning and maybe you will get to lose the 'L'

Imagine: L Earn

Another excellent book this year for me and it tied in really well with one of my favorite tag lines associated to one of my favorite movies - Braveheart. The tag line - "Every man dies, not every man really lives"!

Here are a few of paras, by Morrie in his last few days, that I highlighted in the book:

Chapter: The Second Tuesday
Sometimes you can not believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too - even when you are in the dark. Even when you are falling."

Chapter: The Fourth Tuesday - We Talk About Death
"The truth is, Mitch" he said, "once you learn how to die, you learn how to live"

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

From the time I envisioned coming to the US in 1991 to my first startup that I am working on currently, I have become addicted to challenges. I dislike it when it comes too easy and here is why:

• The value and appreciation is directly proportionate to the effort to achieve it
• Your personal growth is directly proportional to the effort as well
• One has to think differently and be creative
• One will tend to meet people who help you selflessly
• One will develop long term relationships
• One learns a lot about themselves and people around them
• One develops a better sense of purpose
  
• It is a great opportunity to bond better with people who are regularly around you
• You learn to leverage existing resources - what you have
  
• You learn "whether you think you can or can not, you are right" [Henry Ford}

• One is encouraged to dream
  
• One learns that conventional wisdom is limiting
  
• One will never get the opportunity to fail and if you don't, you will probably never learn
• It is a humbling experience
  
• You learn that you will not go anywhere by blaming circumstances - it is you who has to deliver and face the consequences eventually
• You learn that attitude is probably your biggest trump card
• Finally, the adrenalin rush of achieving the 'impossible' is addictive

What do you think? Did I miss out anything?

Imagine: "The size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight" [Mark Twain]