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Opinions of Saturday, 31 January 2009

Columnist: Tengey, Samuel

Success and Failure

Email: samuel@strategicresourcers.co.uk URL: http://www.strategicresourcers.com

Success and failure are not pre-programmed features of humankind; they come to be acquired through attitudes, personal habits and discipline developed through life. Wealth and possessions are inheritable but even so the right attitudes are required to maintain and sustain them. Thus it is no mystery that a prince can die a pauper while an heir to great wealth can end up begging for daily survival. Success is not a thing we get through inheritance; it is a thing we do, a thing we make, a thing we acquire and keep through discipline. There is hardly necessary connection between being born into a rich family and ending up successful; little necessary connection between being born into a poor family and becoming a failure. While poverty might be inevitable failure is surely optional.

It is possible for one to be born into a wealthy and successful family; it is impossible for one to be born wealthy and success. The corollary is that being born into poverty is possible, not so with being born poor. Again whereas it is possible to be born into a failed family……Thus although luck might play a role in becoming successful, we tend to have no control over luck, because we do not determine the family into which we get born, our nationality, race, ethnicity, etc. A great deal of success however is a function of a number of factors at the core of which are the way we think and the attitudes we develop throughout the space of life.

These issues form the content of my blog. In this lesson, however I focus on ‘thinking and attitude’ as crucial determinants of success and failure. Irrespective of our social and economic background or standing, we all, every one of us, have a brain and 24 hours-what I call the common original resources. I suggest, with few noble exceptions such as those born with brain damages, success is determined by how we make use of the brain and the 24 hours. Expressed differently, how we exercise our brain and by what our brain becomes exercised; and how we utilize the 24hours as well as what consumes the 24 hours are crucial factors that distinguish successful people from unsuccessful people. How much we earn in an hour depends on how much we do in an hour with our brains; the difference between the guy who earns £6 per hour and one earning £50 per hour is knowledge. The decision on whether to spend the time acquiring knowledge rather than fun is yours but how much fun you can buy by working in an hour is determined by how much knowledge you have trained your brain to acquire. In the current era of knowledge economy it is no longer required to work physically hard to be rich but to work smartly and intelligently by making the best use of your brain in applying the knowledge gained to solving problems. Contact www.strategicresourcers.com for more