All You Need To Achieve Your Dream

John Bunyan, Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi have probably just these two things in common:

1. they were initially certified as not qualified for what they achieved (their dream), and
2. more than any skill or talent they had, they relied most on their passion.

image: michaelhyatt.com

John Bunyan was born to a poor family and didn't do much schooling, yet he wrote one of the most popular books in the world. A book that has never gone out of print since its publishing in the 1600s. It was not his first nor only book. He didn't let his poor education or lack of success with his first books hinder him. He kept his passion burning and it was what got him the success he achieved.

Henry Ford was raised on the farm and his father wanted him to become a farmer, to take over the family business. But Henry Ford preferred to pursue his passion for gadgets and he started from the bottom as an apprentice to a machinist rather than take up the role of the MD of his father's business. And even when he was 32 years old and already holding the position of a Chief Engineer at a leading engineering firm, he kept his passion burning. He took the money he had saved and started, part-time, a car manufacturing business. Six years later he resigned from his comfortable job and went full-time into his passion. Two years later the company failed. But he didn't give up. He started another one and failed again. Then he started a third one and called it Ford Motor Company. Today, that company is still standing. Since 1903. It is a powerful story of the passion of one man.

Orville and Wilbur Wright must have seemed crazy to all their friends and family members. Two brothers will little resources and a humble livelihood as bicycle repairers; yet they pursued their passion of building and flying an airplane. They had a lot of things going against them. It was a time when most high tech invention were by academics and with funding from organizations/government. Then, they did not have the profile of an inventor. They had no formal work experience in a technology firm and they had started with a newspaper business before becoming bicycle repairers. Probably why they never got any funding was because they didn't meet the entry requirements for fund applications. All they had was their passion and they kept it burning. Today, we see the results of their passion.

And I could go on about Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi. They achieved their dreams by holding on to their passion. It was not their skills nor talent that got them the success they had. It was just one thing -- passion. And that is all you need to achieve your dream.