Unemployed and frustrated, Einstein gave up and decided to take a job he didn’t want: clerk at the Swiss patent office.
Revolutions > Resolutions
10 values Einstein espoused that can help you successfully create a New Year’s revolution, despite shortcomings, failed should-be mentors and haters.
In 1900, Albert Einstein was a desperate job hunter.
It took Einstein nine years before he became a professor despite best efforts after college. He blamed his difficult situation on his physics professor Heinrich Weber who held a grudge against him and provided unfavorable references.
Einstein said,”I could have found a job long ago had it not been for Weber’s underhandedness.” Apparantly, Weber was an early fan of Einstein in college but changed his mind because Einstein “skived” his lectures.
Weber said,
“You are a clever boy, Einstein, a very clever boy indeed. But you have a great shortcoming: you don’t listen to anyone!”
Einstein, as it’s written, was a rebellious student who didn’t respect traditional schooling and received bad grades (except math and physics).
Einstein was a nonconformist.
Unemployed and frustrated, Einstein gave up and decided to take a job he didn’t want: clerk at the Swiss patent office.
Although Einstein was smart, his life to this point included a string of people in his path who didn’t understand his genius. In fact, Einstein didn’t speak until he was four and was nicknamed “der Depperte” — the dopey one. The dopey moniker seemed to follow him throughout his early career.
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” — Albert Einstein
In between clerking at the patent office, pursuing his PhD and supporting his family, Einstein began “batching” his work.
In 1905, Einstein wrote four history-changing papers, the “annus mirabilis” or wonderous year, as it’s known.
The four now-famous articles published were 1) Brownian Motion, 2) The Photoelectric Effect, 3) Special Relativity and 4) Mass-Energy Equivalence. (The Photoelectric Effect won the Nobel Prize.) These papers put his name on the map and changed the way we understand the world — including E = mc2.
In 1909, Einsten finally became an associate professor (full professor in 1911).
This brings us to the question:
How did an unknown, unwanted, unconventionalist become so resolute?
This article shares 10 values Einstein espoused that can help you successfully create a New Year’s revolution, despite shortcomings, failed should-be mentors and haters.
1. Understanding > Knowing
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” ―Albert Einstein
Oftentimes the difference between success and failure isn’t knowing what, why or how to do it, it’s understanding who to do it with and when.
2. Be satisfied with the present.
“A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.” ― Albert Einstein
You’ll never get anywhere with your head in the clouds if you don’t turn those dreams into present-day forward motion. Show gratitude for where you came by not regretting what you could’ve and should’ve done today.
3. Think independently.
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” ― Albert Einstein
You’re reaching for a goal you haven’t met. Rethink how you might get there and if there are any un-truths stopping you. You wouldn’t be the first one to realize the authorities on the topic were wrong.
4. Learn how to learn.
“The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.” ― Albert Einstein
The mind that is continuously learning is continuously earning.
5. Pursue creativity.
“Reading after a certain age diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking, just as the man who spends too much time in the theater is tempted to be content with living vicariously instead of living his own life.” ― Albert Einstein
Producing is more important than consuming in goal achieving.
6. Believe your intuitions.
“I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am.” ― Albert Einstein
Sometimes intuition is more than a hunch. Whether it’s providence or a summation of your life experience, it’s wise to trust yourself first.
7. Use your imagination more.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ― Albert Einstein
Nothing new or innovative is created without a stretch of the imagination.Reach your goals by reaching for the sky with some brain stretches of the imagination every day.
8. Keep moving.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein
Your body is about 60% water. Stagnant water brings disease and mosquitos. Keep moving even when it’s hard. If you can’t move your body, keep your mind fresh.
9. Make yourself a member of a conscious community.
“Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has preserved me from feeling isolated.” ― Albert Einstein
Despite advances in communications technology, many of us are lonely. Like being lost in a crowd or alone in an apartment. If you’re lonely, consider journaling. Write for a conscious community that understands you or you are trying to pursuade. Imagine your life as a work or an art that can impove and inspire others and it will.
10. Express your opinions and share your goals courageously and honestly.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.” ― Albert Einstein
Take a stand. Stick a stake in the ground. Courageously and honestly be who you dream you will day be. Now. Before you’re ready. Overprepardeness is the downfall of the well-intentioned. Watch the magic happen.
Conclusion
You may be out of a job, have someone blocking or hating you, keep moving forward anyway. Einstein would, but it doesn’t take an Einstein to do it.
Call to Action
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Richie Norton is the bestselling author of The Power of Starting Something Stupid. Get your free 37-page action guide to turn your stupid idea into your smart reality at RichieNorton.com. Daily inspiration on IG @richie_norton.