The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one of my favorite books which I have read over 3 times in different phases of my life. Each time, it revealed a different layer of wisdom which I did not realize in my earlier readings. I read it again last week, and thought I would highlight here some major lessons that one could learn from it that could help in your entrepreneurial or spiritual pursuits.
Identify your personal legend.
In a dream, Santiago, the main character in the Alchemist sees a child who tells him about a hidden treasure in Egypt. Through deep introspection and investigation, Santiago realizes over time, that finding the treasure was his personal legend which takes him through strange lands, meeting his love, and finding the meaning of life.
Personal legend is something deep within you which you have to find through self introspection. It has to be the one ( or few ) goals you have identified for your life. Starting a business, achieving a dream job, or striving to solving social issues could be examples of ones personal legend. Make sure it is truly what you want deep inside. If it is not, then you are going after something that is false.
When you really want to achieve something, and it is part of your life goal, then all your efforts - will guide you towards it. Keep at it without giving up, and you will soon see signals from the world that things are working in your favour.
Don't fear Failure
During his quests, Santiago meets an Englishman in the deserts of Egypt. The Englishman read countless books on alchemy ( science on transforming metals ) and was in the quest to understand how to turn ordinary metal into gold. Though he read many books and learned the subject for years, he never actually practiced it for the fear of failure. In his quest to find an alchemist in the deserts to guide him, he understood deep within that he just has to try. It was his fear of failure that stopped him from trying for many years.
The lesson from this is that deep understanding and learning of a subject is not what's important. Doing, practice and execution is what will guide you towards your personal legend..Make a decision. It is only beginning of things. When someone makes a decision he is really diving into a strong current that will take him to places.
Letting go of attachments
Santiago talks about the Sheep as an example of someone who has ignored their personal legend. They just want their regular food and water, the shepherd guides them to. In life people prefer comforts and pleasure and settles down when they find it. Once settled, they are hard to change. They hold on strong to their attachments such as the security of their job and comforts of the familiar surroundings. They can only imagine of the life that could have been if they persuaded to find their personal legend.
In the alchemist, Santiago seeks to work for a crystal merchant when he arrives in Morocco from Spain. The merchant’s personal legend was to go for a pilgrimage in Mecca which is an a life event and an expensive exercise for the people of Islamic faith. It was hard for him to give up his comforts of his settled life and risk his crystal shop to embark on his personal legend. He came up with excuses why such a trip to Mecca wouldn't work for him and decided it will have to stay just a dream.
Don't, Ever, Give up!
When you start working towards your dreams, failures are inevitable on your long journey. The key to success is to keep going and learn from your failures, and never to give up. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
In one instance, and anonymous old man who introduces himself as the King of Salem relates the story of a miner who had searched for emeralds for five long years. At one point, about to give up his search, the frustrated miner in a fit of anger he took a rock and threw it hard. The rock broke apart and inside the rock was “the most beautiful emerald in the world”.
Live in the Moment.
“At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.”
During his quest to find treasure near the pyramids in Egypt, Santiago meets a camel herder who helps him to travel through the desert. The herder shares his story about how he once was a prosperous farmer in the banks of River Nile. One day, a big earthquake caused the Nile to overflow and completely ruin his farm. He now had a new reality to face, and quickly had to find another way to earn a living. His land ruined, he took to camel herding to earn a living for his family.
Pondering about the past nor worrying about the future will never get us anywhere. We gain wisdom from the past but keep our focus fully in the present, being aware of everything that is happening around you. In the desert, there were tribal wars and dangers of thieves that caused fear among the travelling group. The camel driver says that in the desert there's no going back, and so they must move forward through danger.
About Me
I am the promoter and CTO of aCustom Software Development Companycalled Cabot Solutions. We develop Enterprise Mobile, Web and Cloud applications. I love Technology, Marketing and Sales and may write about them here.
