Michael Loynd’s recently published book, The Watermen: The Birth of American Swimming and One Young Man’s Fight to Capture Olympic Gold, tells the story of the first American swimming champion, Charles Daniels. It’s a story with classes that go far beyond swimming, some of which are detailed below.
If you had known Charley in his youth, you have an idea that he would end up winning Olympic gold because:
However, Charley overcame those obstacles to the greatness of swimming:
The story of Charles Daniels follows a trend probably as old as humanity: an outsider who overcomes obstacles and great opportunities to achieve ordinary success. What can we learn from Charley’s story that can be applied to our lives?
The opening sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina states that “satisfied families are all the same; each and every circle of dissatisfied relatives is dissatisfied in their own way. “, affection and mutual respect, effective communication, etc. The absence of one or more of those attributes leads to unhappiness. Another way of thinking about it is that some stars have to align to be satisfied.
A similar perception applies to good fortune (regardless of its definition) in investments, businesses or careers: good fortune, other people do not have unusual characteristics. Reading The Waterman reminded me of what I learned from mentoring wealthy families: it’s not so much your starting point, yet what you do with what you have leads to good fortune.
Specifically, here’s what we can know from the story of Charles Daniels:
1. Follow the hobby, not the money. Being an amateur swimmer in the early twentieth century yielded nothing. In fact, he hindered good fortune because of the hours of daily education it required. Unlike the fashionable times, there are no promises of lucrative corporate sponsorships after his career as a swimmer. Charley sold insurance between the Olympics to make ends meet. His hobby led him to be a wonderful swimmer, not the financial rewards.
Following their passions is a common characteristic of self-taught wealthy Americans: their purposes are not typically non-monetary. They need to make their own gap in the Universo. Su wealth is a result and not a purpose in itself. Research in The Wealth Elite: A groundbreaking study on the psychology of the super-rich confirms this conclusion: “Very few [successful entrepreneurs] set themselves the express purpose of one day adapting to billionaires. “. “
2. La perseverance and perseverance are crucial. In addition to overcoming difficult circumstances, Charley faced demanding situations that seemed insurmountable. For example, about a year before his first Olympic gold medal, he surpassed through competition in Europe. He didn’t give up. He kept an eye on his long-term purpose and continued to work.
As Calvin Coolidge said, “Nothing in the world can actualize perseverance. Talent won’t; nothing is less unusual than talented men who fail. Genius will not; genius without reward is almost a proverb. Education will not; the global is complete. “of abandoned sages. Only perseverance and determination are omnipotent. The slogan “Press” has solved and will solve the disorders of the human race.
All the success that other people I know (and I know many) have had a hard time in their businesses and in their lives. There is no simple path. Success requires perseverance.
3. Innovate through trial and error. One of the main reasons Charley had the good fortune he had is that he developed an incredible swimming style. He didn’t just do what everyone else was doing. He watched what they were doing and added his own touch of discovery after countless hours of trial and error. .
Doing the same thing in the same way as everyone else makes the festival fierce and makes good fortune complicated and depends on luck. On the contrary, finding a better way to do anything tips the scales in your favor. For Charles Daniels, his path required failure after failure after failure. He did not perceive the blow described through the press as “crawling on water. “Thus, paradoxically, good fortune calls for acceptance of failure. Or, as John F. saying, failing a lot can be very successful. “