Einstein's formula for success

My friend Peter Mcintyre from Far East Broadcasting Co. supplies me with articles, features and interesting facts I can use for broadcast. This material is one of them. It’s taken from www.belief.net and is entitled “Einstein’s Formula for Success”.

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of all time, developed a math formula for success! He said, “If A equals success, then the formula is A=X+Y+Z. X is work. Y is play. And Z is keep your mouth shut.”

Einstein no doubt had an excellent sense of humor.

Let’s look at the 3 variables in this equation. They are:

1. Work: Albert Einstein had a tremendous work ethic. His work ethic enabled him to give more to society and modern science than any other person in recent times. In other words, Einstein worked hard. All successful people work hard. I have not seen a person bumming around all day become successful in life.

2. Play: Einstein, however, did not work 24 hours a day. He made time for fun and relaxation. His idea of fun may have been different than yours, but that doesn’t mean it still wasn’t play. In other words, he also played hard. You see, the key to living a fulfilling life is to find the right mix in everything you do.

His 3^rd formula for success will probably stun a lot of people, but it really makes sense.

3. Keep your mouth shut: The person who talks the least says the most.

A friend of mine complains that the woman he’s dating talks too much. But the problem isn’t really that the woman talks too much. The problem is simply that the man doesn’t get a chance to talk. He’s irritated because he really wants to constantly talk, and because he likes to talk so much, he ends up talking in circles, and if you let him talk long enough, he will repeat the same thing three times and eventually contradict himself. His desire is not to hear but to be heard.

Albert Einstein, on the other hand, had nothing to prove. He felt no need to be the “Chatty Cathy” he could have been with his knowledge. It wasn’t important to him to talk to everyone he met and talk over their heads to demonstrate his IQ. Instead, he learned the value of quietness and solitude.

Empty barrels make a lot of noise. Famous TV talk show host Larry King says, “I never learned anything every time I was the one doing the talking.”

And he that boasts of his own knowledge proclaims his ignorance. We have met people who love talking, haven’t we? It’s like they are always putting on a show. They’re out to impress not to express. And truth to tell, they bore us to death. And often, the more they talk, the more they contradict themselves.

Shift your mindset from being a talker to a listener. It has been said that you can make more friends in 5 minutes by becoming interested in others, than in 5 years of trying to get others interested in you!

Dale Carnegie wrote the best-selling book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. One of the key premises of this book is that everyone’s favorite subject is actually themselves, and that the sweetest sound to their ears is the sound of their own name. Einstein knew this, and realized he could influence others by choosing his spots to speak and validating others by extending them the courtesy of listening.

Simply consider others better than yourself. Feel secure in the fact that you are important in the sight of God and that there is absolutely nothing more for you to prove.

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February is Down Syndrome Consciousness Month! Show your support by joining children with Down syndrome and their families in HAPPY WALK on February 20, 8 a.m., at SM North Sky Dome. Visit also the Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines’ ART EXHIBIT with Silab Artreach featuring the recent works of CLARISSA TIONGSON-ORTIZ, a young deaf and mute artist with Down syndrome. Exhibit runs from February 24-28 at R1 Corridor, Rockwell Mall, Makati.