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Common Paths…to Success

· Motivation,Obstacles,Career Development

What do The Beatles, Fred Astaire, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, 

Elton John, and Charles Schulz have in common?

Many times, our lives do not go in the direction that we would prefer. And sometimes we fail.

“We don’t like their sound. Guitar groups are on their way out.” This was the message from Decca Records when hearing music from The Beatles.

After his first screen test, the MGM memo said, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” Can dance a little? Whom do we think of when we think of dance – none other than Fred Astaire.

Teachers said that he was “too stupid to learn anything” and he was fired from his first two jobs for being…are you ready? “Non-productive.” This from a man who would make more than 1,000 attempts to provide us with a light bulb that changed our world, none other than Thomas Alva Edison.

Didn’t speak until he was 4 and didn’t read until he was 7, his parents thought he was “subnormal” and one of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams” causing him to be expelled from school. Where would we be without the contributions of the mind of Albert Einstein?

Reg Dwight was shoved out of a music industry executive’s office in the 1960s for wasting his time. Reg became better known as Sir Elton John and has had an iconic career spanning decades.

Every cartoon he submitted to his high school yearbook was rejected. Too bad for them; his Peanuts comic strip and its delightful characters are known worldwide as the work of Charles Schulz (who most identified with Charlie Brown).

“Success is not to be measured 

by the position someone has reached in life, 

but the obstacles he has overcome while trying to succeed.” -Booker T. Washington