The secret of success is:
“ignorance”
This is a story of a young man in search of enlightenment.
He dropped out of college – after the first semester – to earn money for a pilgrimage to India.
He came back a Buddhist with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing.
During this time, he experimented with psychedelics, calling his LSD experiences
"One of the two or three most important things he had done in his life.”
On returning from India Steve started assembling computers in his garage and in 1976 with his friend Stephen Wozniak started Apple, the first company to produce a commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface: The Macintosh.
Fifty of the world’s self made billionaires are high school or college dropouts.
The most famous of them Bill Gates got his honorary degree from Harvard 30 years latter after dropping from the prestigious school to start Microsoft.
What do you think of starting a company in your garage?
Bad idea, right?
I mean, I can think of a half dozen reasons why such an enterprise would fail.
Hey, a really, really intelligent person could come up with even more reasons why that wouldn’t work.
Behind every failure there is a good excuse.
And it looks that the more intelligent you are the more likely to find a really good reasons for failing.
A lot of very intelligent people are frozen in fear of failure, while the ignorant just keep on trying.
Ignorance is bliss.
The more ignorant you are the more unlikely to find a reason for failure, hence you have no reason for quitting, no fear of failure.
There is genius in action and opportunity opens the doors to those who have the courage to knock.
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18 comments:
Sounds good to me. If you really do have a vision then nothing should stand in your way.
Wise words. The clever people get "analysis paralysis" and find tons of reason why it won't work. The inspired people let it flow.
Tis True: the first step on the path to knowledge is to accept that there are things that you do not know and are willing to learn
Anyone who thinks they know it all is generally running for public office, or already there...
Is it ignorance, or fearlessness?
It seems to me that to drop out of college (flagrantly ignoring the advice of parents, etc), to follow a dream, is more sprung out of a fearlessness, a courage, than it is out of ignorance.
Great post, love the story. Didn't realize Jobs had been to India and came back all shaved doing LSD. Makes my apple on which I type an even better computer!!
Very well said! Yes there is greatness to be found in ignorance. You have cited some wonderful examples. Often times we see people succeed because they didn't know any better.
Great post, Buddha. I always liked Mark Twain's quote on success:
"To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence."
I'm the most ignorant person in the world... How come i'm not a millionaire BUDDHA?
@ Aggie – I am in total agreement;
Nothing should stand between you and your dreams.
@ C Om – I call it the “what if?” trap :)
@ Pixie – The first thing you know when you know it is that you don’t know it.
As our friend Ted would say it.
@ Molly – I guess standing up to your own reason and going against it could be called “courage”
@ Mark – If you are on the right path makes little difference if you know it or not.
@ Talon – Great minds think alike!
Just kidding :)
@ Brad – You are an amazing success story!
How many people can claim being the best in the world at anything?
But my post was “ignorance is the secret of success” not “the secret to making millions” :(
Ignorance is bliss, maybe not innocent.
"What if" signifies an expending mind, new thoughts, new words, etc. Maybe using the old words is being bound to repeating the old ways.
There is always another side to what you think.
Standing up to "your own reason" is called analysis!
Just follow along, then.
You seem to always like what I say. (?)
You're an inspiration, but you totally missed this, dude.
Sorry, I wanted to type expanding mind and not expending mind. (three finger typing)
@ Ted – It all depends of what I want to accomplish with my posts.
If I wanted to preach, then you are right, I have missed the mark.
If I wanted to stir some thoughts then I think I did OK.
…
“expending mind” Mmmm!
Typo or Freudian slip?
Inquiring minds want to know.
…
I like your comments because you always put a lot of thought into it not just “great post, have a nice day!” But if it tickles your fancy here is a critical reply:
Relax Ted, you are way too serious :)
Passion, perseverance and patience, the magical 3Ps work every time :). I don't know about Jobs, but I know that Bill Gates never had a doubt. Granted he didn't have as much to lose as most of us.
He and Uncle Paul wanted everyone to have a computer and they wanted to write "all the software" for those machines. They got awfully close. I guess you've got to dream big.
Funny how much our internal dialogue really does dictate our physical experience in life.
Since you are an avatar and a zen student I have to assume you are saying things in your posts by not saying them. So I have to also assume, to be consistent, you are also saying things in your comment replies by not saying them. So I'm merely reading the other side of your comments as a hint to read your posts differently.
You said before that you wanted intelligent conversation and I'm trying to provoke it. Provoking isn't always pretty, I know. If I'm breaking the flow of "happy, happy, joy, joy" I apologize.
I'm hardly being "serious". It's quite fun and good practice because I also assumed your blog wasn't a "Self Help" sight. Being allowed to hide in speech is the foundation of why the world sucks like it does, I think.
Oh, on further review, I could have said expending on it's own, I was thinking them both, but I think folks wouldn't have thought it was connected to expansion. I guess you expressed that was correct.
I could be totally full of it, though, I guess.
@ Sylvie – “you have to dream big”
I have to add that to my to do list :)
@ Ted – You are right on the money!
I wish people would be more challenging – God knows, I am trying – but you can’t force a debate.
At the same time they are my friends, so I have to be considerate and reply in kindness.
That’s why I’m saying; don’t take it to serious
And stop apologizing. I don’t know what to do about it :)
Maybe debates do have to be forced. It shows what people are really about. Mainly to themselves but to others also.
If friends can't debate, they're hardly friends. In debate new ways of saying things comes out. New ways of looking at things. Learning is ugly most of the time.Seeing the ugly solves problems as aposed to putting on the pretty al the time.
I also think that's where "trust" comes in for friends.
@ Ted – You are right again.
A true friendship should be more than pleasantry exchanges but what can you do?
Remember my “concepts of God series?
I found out - the hard way - you can’t force a debate.
You just start a fight – which is not my idea of debate.
A debate should be an expression of love and trust not the other way around.
A debate is like a dance, like sex. Two opposite movements but in the end a win win situation.
IMO
My answer is just way too long for this. If you can bear with it, I'll send you a reply via email no later than Tuesday.
I have to respond quickly to what you said, though.
If this doesn't do it.
You ask, "What do you want?"
If you can't force a debate then you know where someone's heart is.
If one isn't willing to fight then one probably can't think of a new idea either. You never really know someone until you fight them and see how they hold their position.
A debate is conflict. Love and trust are both born of conflict of the thought of an other that doesn't exist. "Love your enemy" is not about friendship. Friendship is about preferences. If everyone is your friend then you have no friends to think about. Sorry, it's the math part in me. (sorry, I said sorry again.)
A debate is like a dance or like sex both taking the place of the other for the other self in a act of speech. Not opposite but complimentary.
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