On Relentlessness

Picture yourself in the psychotic heat of a Houston summer, drilling deeper and deeper for oil that may not actually exist.

"We'll drill to China if we have to" - a quote from Roy Cullen (The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes) - epitomizes the relentlessness that ultimately resulted in his amassing the largest American fortune of his time.

The prospecting analogy proves useful to define the average entrepreneur of today: searching for shallow oil without the commitment to simply go deeper.

Never in history have there been so many attractive opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue. While this fact is incredibly exciting, it is also one that ultimately separates those who succeed, from those who don’t.

Read the success stories of those who you believe had a career of ease and good fortune, and you will likely discover that they were simply willing to go deeper than the rest.

James Dyson spent 14 years teaching himself industrial, mechanical, and electrical engineering while developing 5,127 prototypes to create the DC01, the world's first bagless vacuum cleaner.

Few likely think of that when they’re cleaning their Toronto duplex with ease, but it was the effort required to reinvent an entire industry.

Whenever your faith begins faltering, study those who have achieved any sort of greatness.

Realize that success is - and can never be - a walk in the park, and that unfortunately, you aren’t going to be the first exception.




Simon Archibald
Executive Creative Director