Talent and resources alone are NOT enough to succeed. Doing incredible things require extraordinary EFFORT & COMMITMENT & PASSION & RESOLVE. I always put “my money” on the player or team that is most devoted and disciplined and inspired and focused on excellence versus the one with more talent and funding. I also prefer the athlete and team that has been through failures and struggles and adversity together and who can pick up the pieces and find solutions and answers.
In December 1903, aviation pioneers, Orville and Wilbur Wright became the FIRST to invent, build and fly a successful powered airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
That achievement came after years of trial and error – and ended with them going from their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio to the air strip in North Carolina to fly the Wright Flyer for 12 seconds about 10 feet off of the ground.
Neither Orville nor Wilbur had high school degrees. They were both self-taught engineers. They literally learned “on the fly”, going back to the drawing board with the knowledge and experience gained from each test and/or practice.
Their early work was based heavily on research of some of the brightest minds in aviation and engineering of their time, but after constructing models based on that research, they faced failure after failure. They knew the status quo did not hold the solutions to those failures. They began experimenting for themselves and challenging the status quo, even though neither had a high school degree and the experts they were challenging them were the most highly-respected, educated experts of their day. They had the self-confidence and moral courage (guts) and a trailblazing mindset to try a different approach. DARE GREATLY by betting on themselves and taking great personal risks to do it.
They first tested out “gliders” (like a piloted kite) where it used wind to sustain lift and the pilot laid prone to avoid any excess drag. Unfortunately, the tests failed and each time it took time to repair the glider, but each time they took what they learned to make the prototype better – like increasing the wing size initially but it still had difficulty with lift and was near impossible to control. So back to the drawing board again and again and again.
The Wright brothers would have never known success if it wasn’t for their PERSISTENCE & PERSEVERANCE by overcoming repeated and often times painful failures. It took them years and numerous attempts to get any where close to powered flight. And even when on the brink of success, unforeseen setbacks surfaced again, and as before they showed the determination and resilience and adaptability to HANDLE YET ANOTHER FAILURE.
After mastering the “glider”, the next challenge was to fly a motor powered airplane. The first thing they needed was an engine, but they could not find one light enough so they made one themselves.
When the time came to test it, the brothers flipped a coin to see who would try it first and Wilbur won but the first attempt crashed – after 3 seconds in the air, the plane stalled and crashed, damaging the aircraft. They literally picked up the wrecked plane and had to fix a component part before trying again.
3 days later, after repair, Orville got his turn and after only 12 seconds of powered flight and only 10 feet off of the ground, the historic foundation of FLIGHT TODAY was accomplished and the news was ground-breaking.
Even though history records that 12 second flight as THE MOMENT, the “process” was still ongoing. In fact, Orville survived 8 (eight) major crashes; sustaining severe injuries and fracturing his femur, fractured ribs, hip injury and being hospitalized. Due to the safety concerns and the risks associated with these early flight, their father made the brothers promise him that they would NOT fly together because of his fear of losing both sons in a single crash.
But on that December day in 1903 the Wright Brothers did more than just fly for 12 seconds – they changed the MINDSET BY BREAKING A BARRIER that most thought was IMPOSSIBLE. It happens all the time when people DARE GREATLY and OVERCOME FAILURE & NAYSAYERS to be the first at accomplishing a feat.
What fueled their dream & passion? When the brothers were youngsters in 1878, their father returned home with a gift that he tossed into the air. In a 1908 interview, the brothers recalled “instead of falling to the floor as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor”. That gift was a model helicopter made of cork, bamboo and paper powered by a rubber band. But that helicopter was more than a toy gift; it was a gift of possibility and a gift of insatiable curiosity to learn and accomplish; it was a gift that sparked a process of passion to succeed despite failure & better financed competition and naysayers; and a gift to dare greatly and strive valiantly to PURSUE EXCELLENCE.
Remember, the foundations of your success are rooted IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH; the times when you fall down, get up; when you fail, never quit; when everybody is at home and you are spending the extra hours, keep going and keep working at it— just like the bamboo, after years of growing and spreading its roots, it all clicks in that “AHA moment”.
It’s during this process that the most valuable lessons are learned, especially when the emptiness of disappointment is felt – but eventually, you will enjoy the greatest gratification and fulfillment and fruits of your labor. You will be better for it, even if it’s just 12 seconds; – it will be the most awesome MOMENT ever, because of the thousands of hours spent to achieve it and the growth acquired on the journey. PURSUE EXCELLENCE & WIN THE NEXT PITCH.