Einstein's Ability to Risk and Willingness to Be Wrong

ADOPTED FROM JIM ROHN
The early life of Albert Einstein gives us some clues to the great man that he would become. He was never one to dominate conversation to prove his intellect. Even as a child he didn’t talk much. It has been said that he didn’t talk until the age of 3 (there are conflicting accounts on this). However, what is not conflicting is that it took him a little longer to talk than the average child. But, we must remember that Albert Einstein was far from average.
Einstein’s parents hardly coddled their firstborn. They gave him tremendous freedom to roam and grow. This no doubt had a positive outcome on his development. When he was just 4 years old, he was allowed to roam the neighborhood alone. Believe it or not, his parents even encouraged him to cross the street on his own at this young age. They watched the first few times to ensure that he looked both ways, but soon he was on his own doing this.
Now, keep in mind when he was crossing the street he wasn’t dodging Fords, Chevrolets, Mercedes or cars with a lot of horsepower. He was dodging only true horse power! In other words, he was dodging horse-drawn carriages. But, it was still very dangerous for this young child. In our world today, I would not encourage my 4-year-old to roam the neighborhood alone or even allow him near the street. With that being said, the principles of self-reliance and risk that Einstein’s parents implemented in his life are ones that we can perhaps model on a smaller scale. Einstein certainly modeled this behavior with his own son on a smaller scale.
In his late 20s, Einstein moved to Zurich with his first wife, Mileva, and their son. Friedrich Adler was living near Einstein and they became great friends. They would often get together to share ideas. Oftentimes their sons would get rowdy and it would be hard for the two men to talk. Other parents might barge in and tell their sons to be quiet, that they are having a meeting. Not Adler and Einstein. These great thinkers would climb into the attic to carry on their conversation. They allowed their boys to grow and explore even if they were noisy.
His freedom as a child and the freedom he gave his son were in part due to his attitude on failure. He was not afraid to fail. After all, he tackled some of the most perplexing questions of our universe. Many would have shied away from tackling these questions simply because the rate of failure seemed extraordinarily high. However, it is evident that Einstein was not afraid to be wrong or to fail.
When Einstein was 50 years old, reporters were hounding him for an interview during the time in which he was working on a unified field theory. Put into layman’s terms, this meant he was working on a theory that would put the entire universe into a mathematical equation. He had the attention of the world. Reporters parked outside his home in hopes of an interview. Many kept all-night vigils waiting for the story. As a rule, Einstein did not chase the spotlight and dodged the requests often. It was the same in this instance as well. He did, however, allow an interview with one reporter from the New York Times. You see the New York Times was edited by Carr Van Anda, and Van Anda had found an error in one of Einstein’s previous equations. Imagine that! The editor of the New York Times finding an error in the math of Einstein! Don’t you think that Einstein must have been irate that the editor would point this out? He must have been insulted. Actually, on the contrary, Einstein was impressed and that is the reason he allowed an interview to this reporter from the New York Times. You see, Einstein was not afraid to be wrong, and when corrected he was not insulted.
At Princeton, Albert Einstein was more like a kindly uncle. When he arrived in 1935, he was asked what he would require for his study. He replied, “A desk, some pads and a pencil, and a large wastebasket—to hold all of my mistakes.”
Albert Einstein spent his last two decades trying to reconcile quantum physics with relativity. His holy grail—a so-called “Unified Field Theory”—eluded him. He once casually mentioned to a colleague that he was on the verge of his “greatest discovery ever,” before admitting that “it didn’t pan out” just two weeks later.
One day in his twilight years, he received a letter from a 15-year-old girl asking for help with a homework assignment. She soon received a curious reply: a page full of unintelligible diagrams, along with an attempt at consolation: “Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics,” Einstein told her, “I can assure you that mine are much greater!”
The man who was the greatest success at mathematics also failed a lot at them. But that didn’t stop him from moving forward.
Not only was he willing to take risks in math, he also risked when he gambled. While attending a physics symposium in Las Vegas one year, Albert Einstein, to the astonishment of many of his sober-minded colleagues, spent a fair amount of time at the craps and roulette tables.
“Einstein is gambling as if there were no tomorrow,” an eminent physicist remarked one day. “What troubles me,” another replied, “is that he may know something!”
Too often in life, we attempt to spend all our energy demonstrating how we are right instead of accepting constructive criticism and getting better. This was not true of Einstein. Not only was he not afraid of being wrong, he was not afraid of being corrected. Ask yourself honestly: How do you respond when you are corrected? Do you lash out or are you grateful?
If you want to develop the mind of Einstein, you must not be afraid to fail and allow yourself the opportunity to fail. Herman Melville put it this way: “He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great.”
Thomas Edison, when he was constructing the light bulb, built 1,000 prototypes that did not work before he successfully built one that we still use today. A reporter asked Edison how it felt to fail 1,000 times. Edison replied, “You misunderstand. I did not fail 1,000 times. I successfully found 1,000 ways that the light bulb would not work.” Edison, like Einstein, did not view failure the way so many do. They viewed it as acceptable and a way to learn and grow.
The fear of failure could have paralyzed Einstein and Edison, yet it did not. What about you? Are you so paralyzed with fear that you have settled for mediocrity? Don’t allow that to happen. Embrace risk and failure. Learn that it is okay to be wrong, and run headlong into the rewards of risk, as Einstein did.

TOUCHING THE HEAVENLIES

After the long way to freedom,I have been evaluating my life and identified an area that needs maturity. The area of relationship. This is an area that has been a great challege from my childhood. I grew up in a pastor's family, where relationships with the opposite sex, were termed as wickedness. With this perspective being a major player in my habits, I hated wickedness with the whole of my heart. Any day my mind would think of a lady, I would kneel before God and curse my wicked mind. This was not to be so for long. The situation changed when I joined high school and met very able peers who expressed their emotions freely. I termed this as wickedness at first but soon realized that these guys were actually enjoying themselves. In my four years I had become a celebrity in breaking the heart of ladies. I would date a lady, then after going to bed with her,that would be the end of our affair. This habit become my character as I dated many ladies. After leaving high school,I joined college where freedom was guaranteed, I now had numberless affairs that lasted as long as we had not gone to bed. While this continued, I never knew that I was carving my destiny which was obviously not very good. Having left college and already making money, I decided to change for the best by giving my hand in marriage to a virgin girl. This to me would have tamed the wild Kiago. This conditioning worked for 1 year after our wedding. The worst happened when the monister resurfaced from its deserted pit. This time it was double what it used to be. Concurrent relationships made my day. I could not help sleeping out of my matrimonial home. My wife could not believe what I had amounted to. I never went to church, I drank wine in pubs and spent in lodges. My spiritual life was really affected. I could not help but venture into new relationships every dsy. I now want and desire change in my relationships. In the other areas, God has blessed me but in relationships, I need help.
With this mess, I have decided to write a book with the title: "Touching the heavenlies". The masterpiece will reveal all my romantic experiences and the lessons that can be picked from them.

I am still yours faithfully

Kiago

Harness the Power of Your Associations

Jim Rohn says you become an average of the five people you associate with most. The people we spend our time with determine what conversations dominate our attention, and what observations, attitudes and opinions we repetitively are introduced to.
Spend your time with a team of high-achievers and you’ll be inspired to stretch for your next accomplishment, be it in your business, finances or personal agenda. On the converse, hang out with people who are “less than inspired” and you could quickly find yourself stagnant.
Evaluate and shift your associations into 3 categories:
1. Disassociation
There are some people you might need to break away from completely—these are negative, toxic people who infect you with their bad attitude. It’s difficult to ignore someone and their negative influences but doing so will put YOU in control of deciding the quality of life you want to have. Then surround yourself with the people who represent and support that vision.
2. Limited Associations
There are some people who you can spend three hours with, but not three days. Others you can spend three minutes with, but not three hours. Decide how much you can “afford” to be influenced, based on how those people represent themselves.
3. Expanded Associations
Whatever area of your life you want to see improvement in, find someone who represents the success you want, the parenting skills you want, the relationship you want, the lifestyle you want, and spend more time with those people. Join organizations, clubs, businesses and health clubs where these people are and make friends.
Decide who of your friends are the best influences and make more time for them; it’s an investment of time that will prove profitable.

LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

'Freedom is coming tomorrow' is a song that was done in South Africa as its citizen fought tirelesslly from the captivity of their colonial masters. Iam in my office today and thinking about my financial freedom. Your and My freedom are pegged on our daily efforts to be better than we were yesterday. The secret I have on this long walk is forever moving forward amidst obstacles. Have you ever desired something and realized that at first it looked very impossible, then when you achieved it become like play? then keep on desiring big things and you will forever get big results.
My experince this year has been very outstanding. I desired to venture into transport as from June this year, this happened in August when i acquired my first bus. I have come to the conclusion that "You get what you desire"
I Desire financial freedom before I turn forty. This is my financial desire and will pursue it with all have. What do you desire badly and cannot live without it?
I wish you a blessed evening.