You have this story so many times, Bill Gates, one of the world's most richest men, was not at the top of his class during school days.
They said, he failed most the tests that his fellow classmates was passing in flying colors. But after everything, he is now a billionaire who turned the around with Microsoft. Those who got the straight A's are now struggling to make ends meet.
We all have been through the exam process. All the cramming, late night reading, heart racing on the day of the exam. But let's be sincere to ourselves, exams are just about how well you can recall facts than how brilliant you really are.
You are being test by the ability of recalling dates, formulas, or words under pressure and timing, but this is not related to being compared to the measure of your creativity, ability to think outside the box and solve world problems. Bill Gates never needed to pass every exams in school with flying colors before he can build an empire. He only had to have a vision, take the require risk, and work very hard.
When you fail an exam in school, it can make you to feel like the world has ended, that you cannot make it in life. In the real world, success is depended on skills that they don't always teach in school, for exam problem solving, connecting with the right people and persistence.
Those student who got the perfect score in school might in the future be struggling in life, why those who didn't get the perfect scores might be running big business because they learnt how to hustle, work hard and connect with people.
This is not to downplay the importance of formal education. Without education your mind will not be sharpened. Education builds you and gives you the ability and opportunity to meet people whan can change your life for good. But life shouldn't be about books and passing exams, it is about who your are opportunity to mean along the way that can change your life.
Those connections, the mentors, the valuable relationships that you are building for yourself can be more than just having a degree. Bill Gates became a billionaire because he surrounded himself with brilliant minds, collaborated, and seized opportunities others missed.
So, if you fail a test in school don't think your life is over. And if you pass every exam, don't let it make you feel that you have made it in life. School is just one part of the journey to success. Learn to think creatively and outside the box, take the required risk and build relationships.
At the end of it all, it is not just only what you know that shapes you, it is so by make good use of the connections that you have.
Posted Using INLEO