11 Success Lessons from Albert Einstein

We all have heard about Albert Einstein – the absent-minded genius who gave the world the theory of relativity and won the Nobel Prize. Some of us have even heard that Einstein was offered the Presidency of Israel in 1952, or that there is a chemical element named “Einsteinium” in his honor. But only a few people are aware that before becoming a world-known scientist Einstein had to face repeated setbacks, failures and criticism even from people he loved most.

Who would ever guess that he had speech difficulty as a child and was considered “slow-minded” by his own parents? Or that the brightest mind of our century failed his University Entrance Exam? Or that when Einstein had applied for promotion from patent clerk third class to patent clerk second class at his first job, his request had been rejected on the grounds that he was not “fully familiar with mechanical engineering.”?

There is no doubt that Albert Einstein has been an inspiration for many great minds of Physics, but he also knew quite a bit about the Laws of Life as happiness and success.

Here are 11 Most Amazing Success Lessons from Albert Einstein himself:

1. Keep your mind opened

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”

If we think we already know something, we stop learning, we stop questioning, we stop innovating, and, inevitably, we stop improving. Do not let your dysfunctional beliefs, your negative experiences or your education, keep you from moving forward. Sometimes the best way to make a breakthrough in  life is to leave your heavy baggage of knowledge behind.

2. Get curious

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

Curiosity is one of the rare qualities that we should learn from our children. It is what keeps us young, interested, engaged and fascinated. Curious people are “seekers” – they not only try get to the bottom of things, but embrace new experiences and actively look for challenges that will stretch them, whether that involves making new friendships or learning new skills.

And while everyone knows exactly what curiosity feels like, we often forget to apply it to our day-to-day lives (even to things and people we think we know most about!) When we approach the world with a curious mind and an opened heart, there is simply no reason to feel bored, cynical or demotivated.

3. Persist

“It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

How long are you willing to stick with your goals or look for solutions to your problems? How about 5 or 10 per cent longer than you normally would? A lot of times it will be enough to turn your luck around and help you to become successful.

4. Welcome Mistakes

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
Making mistakes is a necessary part of being successful. Not only by making mistakes we learn what does not work, but some of these mistakes actually turn into happy accidents that adjust the course of our professional or personal path and guide us in the right direction.

5. Change Your Attitude to Change Your Life

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Your reality is a reflection of your thoughts. A cause of every problem or every challenging situation that we have brought upon ourselves is rooted deep into our past negative thinking patterns. We can not change our past. But we can change the way we choose to respond to these problems and situations Right This Moment.

Sometimes choosing to emotionally let go of the problem is the fastest way to make it disappear.

6. Live in the Moment

“I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.”

Having goals and thinking about where you want to be physically, financially and professionally is crucial for our success. Correctly-chosen goals, as road signs, point our efforts in the right direction and help us to stay focused. However, having plans for the future is not the same as obsessing over everything that might or might not happen 5-10 years from now.

7. Create Value

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

The way I see it, there are two choices when it comes to attaining success and making money: you can either concentrate on what you want to get from life and those around you, or you can concentrate on how your business, services, products or your efforts can add value to the world around you.

If you concentrate on the first, you can make a decent living, but only if you concentrate on adding value, you can be truly considered a  successful person.

8. Seek Experience, Not Information!

“Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience.”

You can learn about certain subject all you want, but you will never truly grasp it until you put your knowledge to practice and turn it into your personal experience.

9. Always Do Your Best

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

Success in itself is an ability to do something better than most people would do it. If you want to be successful in any area of life the rules are always the same – try harder, persist longer and practice more than you normally would.

10. Take Risks

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”

Common sense is a great tool that can contribute to our success, if used moderately. However, being too cautious and always choosing the most “achievable” goals is what keeps so many people living below their God-given potential.

11. Focus on What Matters Most!

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”

This is a sign that hung in Einstein’s Princeton University office as a reminder of the truly important things in life. To him it was love and happiness.