The Rocky Road to Success
Wealth & riches: The Rocky Road to Success
Traits you'll need on the way Bernardo Moya Who are your heroes? @Bernardo_Moya
Nikola Tesla
Helen Keller
Elon Musk
Nick Vujicic
The Genius
Early childhood and illness
From Paypal to the Stars
Life Without Limbs
Born in Serbia in 1856 to an illiterate mother and a priest, Nikola Tesla was no doubt a genius. At college he showed how he could perform integral calculus in his head, prompting his teachers to accuse him of cheating. During his first year at University he worked from 3am to 11pm every day, but later became addicted to gambling, losing all his allowance before winning it back and returning the balance to his family. He failed to graduate and worked as a draftsman. During this time he had a nervous breakdown. Then, in 1884 he sailed for the US, arriving with only four cents in his pocket. Here, he was hired by Thomas Edison at his Edison Machine Works, where he was asked to solve some of the company's most difficult problems, including redesigning Edison's direct current generators. After arguing with Edison, Tesla set up his own company and devised an alternating current electrical system. He went on to invent the Tesla coil, wireless electrical transmission, laid down the foundations of radar, made early studies of X-rays and in 1898 demonstrated a radio-controlled boat. His inventions were so advanced that they were used at the cutting edge of technology. When Marconi made his famous first ever transatlantic radio transmission in 1901, Tesla quipped that it was done with 17 Tesla patents. Tesla’s work on electricity and radio at the beginning of the 20th Century were the foundation of many things we now take for granted. As such, there is no doubt he was an extraordinary, world-changing figure.
Born in the US in 1880, Helen Keller was struck blind and deaf by a mystery illness at 19 months. Though she had the basic ability to communicate using hand signals, her life was one of frustration at not being able to understand what was going on around her. She had no way of connecting an object with a word until her instructor, Anne Sullivan, took over her teaching. Sullivan's problem was clear. How could she get Keller to understand that each thing in the world had a word signifying it? The breakthrough came in a famous moment when Helen Keller connected the concept "water" that was being spelled on her hand with the water being run on her other hand. After that, she wore Sullivan out asking her for the words for the things around her. This breakthrough revealed Keller to have a first rate mind, and after attending a series of educational establishments she was admitted in 1900 to Radcliffe College and in 1904, at the age of 24, became the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keller learned to speak and went on to spend much of the rest of her life giving speeches and lectures, as well as becoming a famous author. Devoted to helping the disadvantaged, she became an influential socialist, an advocate for birth control, a pacifist and suffragist, she was a beacon of hope and an inspiration to millions throughout the world afflicted with disabilities.
Elon Musk is a man with vision. Born in 1971 he is co-founder of Paypal. But that's not all. He also co-founded Tesla Motors and founded the space company, Spacex, which designed the Falcon 9/Dragon, a private successor to the spaceshuttle. Musk showed his talent early on. As a 10 year old boy in South Africa he bought his first computer and by the age of 12 sold his first commercial software, a space game called Blastar. After graduating from university and inspired by innovators such as Nikola Tesla, Musk considered three areas he wanted to get into: the internet, energy and space. His projects over the following years saw each realised. In 1995 he started Zip2, which provided online content publishing software for news organisations, with his brother Kimbal Musk, which they sold for US$341 million in 1999. His next project was X.com, which later took over Paypal and was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in stock in 2001. He then founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), in 2002, which was awarded a $1.6 billion NASA for 12 flights to the International Space Station, replacing the Space Shuttle. For Musk, this is the starting point of his goal of starting to colonise the stars. He even has plans for a greenhouse to grow crops on Mars. But he hasn't neglected Earth. Concerned with ecology, he also has developed the high performance Tesla Roadster, a car that runs on electricity and he has also conceived the idea of Solar City, designed to harness solar power.
Nick Vujicic was born in Australia in 1982 with tetra amelia syndrome, meaning he has no arms or legs, one toeless foot and the other with only two toes. Nick struggled with life as a child. He was bullied school and by the age of 10 was ready to drown himself. As he says, the only thing that held him back was his love for his parents A massive change came in his life when he was shown a newspaper story by his mother about a man living with a severe disability. It made Vujicic realize he wasn't unique in his struggles and he began to embrace who he was. From that moment on, he started to actively take charge however he could in his life. He learned to write using a special pen grip designed for his two toes, he also learned how to use a computer and type. He even learned how to throw tennis balls, play a drum pedal, get himself a glass of water, comb his hair, brush his teeth, answer the phone and shave. As he grew older, he was elected captain of his school and began working on fund-raising events for local charities and disability campaigns. By age 17, he was giving talks at his prayer group. He soon began a non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs and now gives motivational talks and raises money to help disabled people. On 12 February 2012, he married his fiancée Kanae Miyahara. Nick Vujicic's example is one of the great inspirational stories for anyone who feels they are at a disadvantage in life.
Nikola Tesla is often cited as the misunderstood genius of the 19th and 20th centuries. He overcame hardship to allow his brilliance to shine through, and many of the things we now take for granted were first conceived in his brilliant mind. Bernardo Moya
Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more. 62 w w w.thebestyou.co
Helen Keller is synonymous with overcoming disability in order to become a full and active member of the community. She gave a voice to so many like her who would otherwise never have been heard. Bernardo Moya
Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.
In years to come, I believe Elon Musk will be one of the great inspirational names. The work he is doing is changing the world - and potentially much beyond it, too! Bernardo Moya
Land on Mars, a round-trip ticket - half a million dollars. It can be done.
For Nick, faith, love, gratitude and an amazing attitude turned his life around. It's something we all can learn from. Bernardo Moya
If you can't get a miracle, become one. w w w.thebestyou.co 63