"Do you need more than hard work to be successful?"

Currently I am reading the book "The Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.  It is truly a fascinating book.  Malcolm Gladwell writes about success and how sometimes it isn't just drive that will make one person successful but also when and where they were born.  He has studied famous athletes, top business professional such as Bill Gates and theorized on the components of their success.

Some of the most interesting facts I have read are the 10,000 hours, the months that most professional athletes are born, and the trouble with geniuses.  Gladwell uses hard facts and statistics to collaborate his theories.  It is really a great read.  I don't want to divulge too much because one I am not done reading it and two some things are better for you to discover on your own.

I  recently finished the book "Beer School" by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter.  This is a book about two guys who love beer and decided to open a brewery in Brooklyn, NY.  They are the founders of the Brooklyn Brewery.  This is an interesting read about the beginnings of a brewery.  They talk openly and honestly about all of the trials and tribulations including dealing with organized crime and even a robbery at gun point. They conclude the book with a great chapter "Tom wants to know if you have what it takes."  This chapter asks several questions one can ask themselves before they embark on the entrepreneurial venture such as, "Have you ever achieved anything?"and  "Dreams vs. Reality".

 I will  continue to read about the fascinating lives of successful entrepreneurs and write about what it is that I am reading in the hopes to illicit the same curiosity. 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover"  

Mark Twain, author