Success = Right Attitude + Hard Work + Best Effort + X
Solve for X
Let me compare the stories of the two great men that I mentioned in my previous post, Dr. Paul Farmer and Dr. William Foege. Both men have individually made a mark on the world and their names will go down in the history books of medical advancement. Both are alive and actively seeking to do whatever else they can do make a difference for the present and coming generations.
Dr. Paul Farmer is a brilliant Harvard anthropologist, public health expert, and infectious disease specialist. His success story is inspiring, fascinatingly described in “Mountains Beyond Mountains”. Multiple Drug-Resistance Tuberculosis; Famer is an amazing man who is making a difference in how thousands upon thousands of patients are treated and stopping resistant strains of TB. He is an intelligent human being working in the height of modern medicine and seeking changes in the world of health.
Dr. William Foege has changed the world. He has left a mark that removes marks - he eradicated small pox, a disfiguring and life threatening disease, from the face of the globe in the 1970s. As did Farmer, Foege received his masters in public health from Harvard University, after completing medicine at the University of Washington (a graduate from Colville High School, FYI locals!!!). His passion for making a difference sprang from being a missionary to Africa. Even today Foege is actively pursuing research and working with big names in America and the world to positively affect many helpless people around the world.
These are what we all consider success stories. Both of them followed principles that I outlined in my previous posting. Anyone can apply them and find success. What is the difference between these men? What can guarantee you success?
X. Some of you have already guessed it. Paul Farmer does not have X but William Foege does. Two brilliant minds trained in the same institution; one succeeded on his own, while the other succeeded to a far greater scale, and not alone. Farmer does not claim to know about, or ignores the factor X that Foege relies and trusts in.
X is God.
God is the Omnipotent force that granted Dr. Foege the wisdom to eradicate a disease, changing the world. Foege claims Christ. Farmer has succeeded by man’s standards and has done a great deal to benefit mankind, but his success is not half of what it could be if he but had Christ’s infinite wisdom behind him.
When you ask God to give you the right attitude, help you work hard, and you do your best for His honor and glory alone, then you will succeed.
Amen, great post!! Hey, I love how you've gotten back into blogging. I like it a ton better than short blips on OSNs. Oh, and thanks for the blog traffic by the way! According to statistics, your blog is one of the leading sources for my readers. :D
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