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    Mind-Shattering Ideas: The 15 Biggest Commonalities to Success
    Mind-Shattering Ideas: The 15 Biggest Commonalities to Success
    Mind-Shattering Ideas: The 15 Biggest Commonalities to Success
    Ebook284 pages3 hours

    Mind-Shattering Ideas: The 15 Biggest Commonalities to Success

    By G. M. Cunha

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    About this ebook

    When was the last time you read a quote that changed everything?

    Through the centuries, countless leaders have immortalized their wisdom through timeless quotes that we tell and retell today. These brief pieces of thought have the power to revolutionize our thinking long after the speakers themselves are dead and buried.

    But what’s the story behind the quote? What was the struggle that produced it? Who was the person who uttered it?

    In Mind-Shattering Ideas: The 15 Biggest Commonalities to Success, G. M. Cunha takes readers on a behind the scenes exploration of 15 famous quotes and the stories that immortalized them. From Aristotle to Isaac Newton to Oprah Winfrey, Cunha provides a swift, practical yet comprehensive overview of the speakers’ lives, struggles, and timeless insights.

    With historical insight, modern application, and futuristic vision, this collection is the perfect manual for those seeking to learn from the wisdom of history’s most timeless thoughts and thinkers. You don’t want to miss this unique, fascinating work from acclaimed author Gonçalo Cunha.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJun 4, 2016
    ISBN9781483572581
    Mind-Shattering Ideas: The 15 Biggest Commonalities to Success

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      Book preview

      Mind-Shattering Ideas - G. M. Cunha

      begin.

      - Chapter I -

      - Stagiritis, the Philosopher -

      The Quote

      We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
      —Aristotle

      Aristotle

      Aristotle, a philosopher benefiting from a legendary status among other greats, was born in the ancient times, circa 384 B.C. Despite the fact that almost two and a half millennia have gone by since his departure from this world, his ideas, philosophies and theories still enchant the imagination of worldwide readers and international culture.

      The philosopher was born in Stagira, a small Greek town on the northern coast of the country. The ancient times were far different from the ease we so comfortably take for granted nowadays. Survival, famine, and death were daily problems, and childhood wasn’t properly bright for the young Greek. His father, Nicomachus, and mother, Phaestis, passed away when he was only a young child.

      After these tragic events, Proxenus of Atarneus, married to Aristotle’s older sister, became his guardian until he came of age. When he turned 17, Proxenus sent him to Athens to educate himself. Even though the Roman Empire kept spreading its influence throughout ancient Europe, Greece was still regarded as the central academic presence in the world, represented by a wealthy class of thinkers and shapers of knowledge. Some might even say Greece was the knowledge core of the ancient world and Athens, the capital, its epicenter.

      Aristotle enlisted in Plato’s Academy, considered the prime learning institution of the known universe at the time. Aristotle excelled as a transcendental student, outdoing others with more favorable upbringings and even becoming friends with Greek philosopher Plato. Plato himself was an illustrious scholar, with teachings that still endure to this day. Ironically, Plato learned from Socrates himself, another name that will never fade in time due to its sheer brilliance. Education and legacy weren’t surely problems for Aristotle.

      One of the key traits of Aristotle was a firm belief in his ideas, even if it meant disagreeing with his master Plato. Due to some diverging ideas between the two, Aristotle was denied the position of director of the academy, something that came as a surprise to all. His courage had a price, and he was willing to pay it, even if it meant going against one of the most powerful figures at the time.

      After decades of study and active research, Aristotle went to Macedonia in 338 B.C. to tutor the King’s son, the 13-year-old Alexander The Great, who would forever change history with his future conquests and profound strategic excellence. Only three years later, the Macedonians conquered Athens under the leadership of Alexander.

      With his new king’s permission, Aristotle founded his school in Athens, the legendary Lyceum. At the Lyceum, members would study a wide array of subjects, from Mathematics to Politics and Philosophy. The production, wit of its members and the wise leadership of Aristotle merged into a massive collection of written wisdom, making the Lyceum one of the first great libraries of the world.

      Alexander, following the conquest of the ancient world, suddenly died in 323 B.C, only 15 years after the conquest of Athens and at a tender age, even for the standards of the era. With this tragic event, Aristotle fled Athens, as the pro-Macedonian government was overthrown. He fled to Chalcis, on a Greek island, where he would eventually die a year later.

      His legacy, however, wouldn’t vanish so easily. Over time, Aristotle’s work would be considered the foundation of more than 700 years of Philosophy, encompassing from late antiquity to Renaissance times. Altogether, the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are considered invaluable, unique works that influenced the Western imagination.

      In the century following his passing, his works fell out of favor but were revived during the first century. Over time, that research laid the foundation for more than seven centuries of philosophy. Solely regarding his influence on Philosophy, Aristotle’s work changed ideas from late antiquity all the way through Renaissance.

      Aristotle’s influence on Humanities and Social Sciences is widely regarded as unparalleled and at the same level as renowned Ancient teachers like Plato and Socrates. The two-millennia-strong academic practice of interpreting and debating Aristotle’s philosophical works continues to endure.

      Aristotle will be remembered for composing more than 200 written works, the study of Geology, Politics, Biology, Meteorology, Astrological events, Logic, Philosophy, deduction, reasoning, Ethics, matter and form, Arts, Mathematics, Rhetoric, and even human Psychology.

      His incredible wisdom on subjects that would only be completely understood several

      centuries later would render him a legendary status, among the greatest men in History.

      The Reflection

      When a statement like this comes from one of the most brilliant men to ever have set foot on Earth, it makes you think about the power of talent and the energy of practice and repetition.

      We have a general aptitude to be able to master anything we set our minds to. If we sit down, try and experiment, through countless hours of trial and error, sooner or later we will be able to conduct the desired activity at a very acceptable competence level.

      Research shows that 95% of the thoughts that you think today will be the same as the ones you thought yesterday. And this process will repeat itself every day.

      Nevertheless, make no mistake. At first, we all share the same trait: incompetence. We are born with a generalized ineptitude to do anything in the real world. In fact, that’s why the vast majority of modern society spends a decade or two learning the basic principles that govern our universe - in other words, school. Only then, with the university or college degree attained, we are blessed with the ability to start life how it was meant to be.

      We finally set out to work, gathering resources, practicing our independence and elevating our self-esteem and satisfaction. We climb the tree of our dreams. But if we want to succeed, we still need to develop our ‘real-world’ competence. Call it practicability. And the only conceivable method to be a master of something, is to fail immeasurably at something, as you’ll soon discover.

      Bill Gates had Traf-O-Data, a company designed to optimize roadway traffic and hopefully end or minimize congestions. At the official presentation of the system with the then unknown Gates, the demo failed because the machine didn’t work. Even so, it was critical for the soon-to-be millionaire to create the first product of Microsoft, a few years later.

      Richard Branson, the now multimillionaire owner of Virgin, did commit a lot of mistakes in the past. He dropped out of high-school, created the ‘Student Magazine’, which got him in trouble with the law, and many of his Virgin brands were a failure (like Virgin Cola, Virgin Clothing, or Virgin Digital). He is now estimated to be valued a net worth of $4,600,000,000.

      In retrospective, this learning period represents a very considerable part of your life. If we assume the life expectancy of the world’s oldest country, Japan (according to the World Health Organization), we reach the overall life expectancy of 83 years old. Many academic students only finish their university studies between the ages of 23 and 25. So, we might say that we, on average, spend a quarter or a third of our lives studying and learning the basic rules that surround us.

      This process, commonly referred to as ‘education’, is considered of paramount importance in any developed country, as it will define the future ability and knowledge of the people, and so, the destiny, in the long run, of a certain country. In other words, the understanding of the world brings benefit to a certain culture, society or individual human.

      It is equally fair to state that we nourish, through a very long process of learning and understanding, steadily but slowly, the principles that will allow us to live in relative safety and success. Simplifying this concept, we move from a generalized state of incompetence, when we are born, to a generalized optimism of shared competence in a vast array of subjects.

      At first, we didn’t know how to walk. However, through repetition, we were able to master it. We never heard the concepts of writing and reading, and so we studied this art for several years until it became second nature to our existence, not even noticing we were expressing such remarkable abilities.

      Progressively, we evolved, and we began defying ourselves with harder challenges. We are now capable of driving a car, of executing our profession and living independently, in our homes, knowing the basic rules of lone survival in modern

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