The Entrepreneurial Savant

“If I wanted to become a tramp, I would seek information and advice from the most successful tramp I could find. If I wanted to become a failure, I would seek advice from men who had never succeeded. If I wanted to succeed in all things, I would look around me for those who are succeeding and do as they have done.”
-Joseph Marshall Wade*

Mentors come to us in unexpected guises and from unexpected places. Sometimes you will not recognize the great teachers in your life until years later when their message becomes illuminated by your own greater depth of experience. For many of us it is difficult to find teachers but fortunately we have access to the minds and experiences of thousands of interesting persons through biographies, autobiographies and interviews. If you are interested in a subject or wonder how someone gets from here to there in pursuing their vision, read how others did it. The lives of successful and influential people offer a great deal of encouragement and inspiration for your own bumbling quest for success. It is amazing how many others made colossal blunders and went down dead ends before reaching their goals. It turns out these dynamic beings are human after all and we can share their experiences by learning their life stories.
*As quoted in A Treasury of Wall Street Wisdom edited by Harry D. Schultz and Samson Coslow.

No Comments yet »