The Wright Attitude
(Story told by Simon Sinek on TED)
Do you know who Samuel Pierpont Langley is?
In the early 1900's Langley was given $50K by the US War department to figure out the flying machine. He held seat at Harvard and worked at Smithsonian. He was extremely well connected. He had access to the largest funds and the greatest minds. He hired the brightest minds available, and the market conditions were fantastic. The NY Times followed him everywhere, everyone was rooting for him. But I'm sure you've never heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley. A few hundred miles away in Dayton Ohio, Orville and Wilber Wright, who had none of this “recipe for success”. They paid for it all from the proceeds of their humble bicycle shop. not a single person on the Wright Brothers team had a college education. Not even Orville or Wilber. And the NY Times ignored them. But they were driven by a cause, by a purpose, by a belief. They believed that if they could figure out this flying machine, it would change the course of the world. Samuel Peirpont Langley was different. He wanted to be rich and famous. He was in pursuit of the result, of the riches. In the end, the people who believed in the dream, worked with blood and sweat and tears, the others, just for the paycheck. Every time the Wright brothers would go out, they would have to take 5 sets of parts, because that’s how many times they would crash before they came home for supper. Eventually on Dec 17th of 1903, they took flight. And no one was there to even experience it. To prove that Langley wasn’t in it for the right thing, the day he found out that they had beat him to it, he quit. He could have said “that’s an amazing discovery, and I will improve upon it”. But he wasn’t first, he didn’t get rich, he didn’t get famous, and so he quit.
Are you working towards something you passionately believe in, Are you driven by a cause, by a purpose and by a belief. We all want to be successful in life, we all want to do the best and be the best at what we do, but are we in it for all the right reasons, or are we in it for the paycheck, the fame and recognition. Are we doing what we do because we know we can make a change in the lives of those around us. We all have our talents, some of us still trying to find them, but you'll never activate your true purpose if you are driven by the wrong reasons. It's time to evaluate where you are in life and to make sure that you are not just becoming a great person, but making a positive, meaningful impact in the world and just like the Wright brothers took flight and changed the course of history so could you.
May you have an awesome week.
Darren Zwiers
The Quote:
“It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped - Anthony Robbins
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