I dedicate this article to my girlfriend who unconditionally loves and selflessly supports me as a struggling genius.
This piece, to me, is the most heartbreaking article I have written so far. My eyes were even filled with tears as I began to contemplate and write the content of this article. I am overwhelmingly desirous of success to other people’s amazement – that’s 1% of my success attitude. Yet my struggle for success is so appalling – that’s 99% of my success attitude. Look! On November 21, 2016, I was broke with only GHC0.44; GHC0.02 as my Tigo Cash and Airtel Money accounts balances each, and a Cash in Hand balance of GHC0.40. So the US Dollar equivalent was about $0.11. My shocking financial position today is a result of spending a large chunk of my paltry income this month on my ailing book project. I have made these embarrassing revelations, so that I would refer to them several years from now when I become filthy rich. But hey, do not sympathise with me, for I am more than content. Yes, I do not really endure my struggles; I actually enjoy them. It’s a different thing.
Alright, do you really understand the rudiments of true success in life? Okay, success has plenty yet misleading definitions which are often highly subjective in nature. You may define success as realising the entirety of your dreams in your lifetime, fully embodying what you are destined to be in life, or enjoying a very prosperous life. Well, those are actually a superficial resemblance of real success. Besides, true success is accomplishing your own purpose in life on Earth to the full. That is a universally binding meaning. Remember, wealth is merely a by-product of success, and it is not the greatest benchmark of success. Success, therefore, is largely impossible without the fulfillment of one’s purpose in life. It is a fact of life.
However, it takes about 1% of desire to achieve success, but it takes about 99% of struggles to achieve success. I find it quite laughable to see people who crave success but are lacking in the requisite struggles. Such folks are poor candidates for success in life, simply because they possess 99% desire and 1% struggles. In fact, your struggle for success must be a million times greater than your desire for success. You know why? Everyone probably has some level of desire for success, but very few people are extremely struggling to succeed in life. Desire for success has diminishing returns; struggle for success is a potent force. For no one can become truly successful in life by dint of great desire alone, or by circumventing the necessary struggles in the process.
Jack Ma, who is one of China and Asia’s richest men with an estimated net worth of about $27 billion today, has been an embodiment of 1% desire and 99% struggles throughout his success story. He had a strong desire to be successful like everyone else, yet his rare struggles triggered his incredible and far-fetched success as an entrepreneur. Jack Ma failed his pre-college exams several times, and was even denied entry into Harvard University ten times. He was the only job applicant out of more than 20 people to be rejected by KFC when it first came to China. Many people once regarded Jack Ma as nuts, and his entrepreneurial initiative, Alibaba, as stupid, weird and unimportant. Alibaba, according to him, did not make any revenue in their first 3 years of operation. Alibaba, a financially constrained start-up, had to fiercely compete with EBay, a billion dollar company, in China, but the Jack Ma-led enterprise surprisingly triumphed over EBay.
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