The First Law of Success

Those who, in spite of these drawbacks, never lose their
courage and continue to make unflagging efforts, in the end emerge as super-achievers.

The British physicist and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) is famous for his formulation of the laws of motion. The third of law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. But, there is also another law which was demonstrated in Newton’s own lifetime. This may be called the first law of human success.

Newton’s father died three months before he was born. His mother soon re-married. As a result, Newton was deprived of his parents’ love. A biographer of Newton’s wrote: “Basically treated as an orphan, Isaac did not have a happy childhood.” Apparently, this was a minus point of Newton’s life, but in reality it became his life’s greatest plus point.

During his childhood days, the outside world held no attraction for Newton, and he started living in his own world. He came to be called a wool-gatherer, or absent-minded person. But, it was later learnt that Newton, rather than being absent-minded was really very focused. As a result of this intellectual bent, he was able to discover great scientific laws.

The lack of love and affection on the part of his parents was apparently a great drawback, but according to the law of nature, this turned out to be to his advantage. This was because it caused him to intensify his thinking capacity and he was thus able to unfold his hidden potential. In this way, his intellectual proclivities were turned to good account. Thus, in this sense, his minus point proved to be a plus point.

This is not just the story of an individual. It is more than that. It is the story of nature. Newton’s life is a demonstration of a very important law of nature. That is, a human being is born with unlimited potential. Nothing can stop his journey toward success, except apathy or a sense of frustration. If he does not become frustrated or apathetic, his own true nature will automatically guide him and take him to a destination of incredible eminence.

There are many examples in history of people who, in their early years, became the victims of all kinds of adversity. Yet, they did not allow themselves to become disheartened by the difficulties they faced, and their nature ultimately guided them – continuously channelizing their energy and talents – towards a goal they could not even have thought of in their early days.

In life, people often have to face untoward situations, for example, having to live in an orphanage, suffering accidents, sustaining material losses, receiving an incomplete education, having no inheritance to look forward to, failure to get a good job, and so on. But those who, in spite of these drawbacks, never lose their courage and continue to make unflagging efforts, in the end emerge as super-achievers.