By WALE AKINYEMI

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On a project that has taken its toll physically, psychologically and emotionally, one will find people of two mindsets: Those who cannot wait for the project to be over so that they can take a break, and those are raring to move on to another task.

Winners are of the latter mindset: They get their adrenaline from the thrill, from the unknown and from uncertainty.

Take Elon Musk, for example. He has left his mark with innovations such as PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla. In 2008, SpaceX's first three rockets had blown up and Tesla was running out of cash. Things got so bad he had to borrow money to pay his rent, yet he was running multibillion-dollar companies and talking about new innovations and possibilities such as the hyperloop. His adrenaline to fix the ailing businesses seemed to come from the thrill of the unknown in the new ventures.

There is a category of people who don’t allow their minds and their thinking to settle. Could this be why there is so much fascination with them?

Covid has produced the largest number of billionaires in history, with a new one emerging every 17 hours in 2020. Could this have been triggered by the adrenaline rush that makes some people more productive during downtimes? The appetite for adventure seems to be a common trait that can be found in a lot of the world's top achievers.

Be it extreme sports, mountain climbing, or whatever adrenaline-pumping activity, there seems to be a correlation between adventure and achievement. In the book Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, he details the thrill of Jobs leaving school and going on an Easter adventure.

It is well noted that Bill Gates had such an appetite for adventure that he dropped out of Harvard. Years later, the institution gave him an honorary degree. Mark Zuckerburg, the Facebook founder who also dropped out of Harvard, also received an honorary doctorate and got to address the students. He humorously said that he was happy that he had been invited to speak to them at the end of their education and not at the beginning, implying that he may have inspired some to drop out.

However, not everyone that dropped out of school became a Gates or Jobs or Zuckerberg. There is more to it than just dropping out. These people had envisaged a world in their heads that was better than anything the school or degree could offer. They had articulated it and weighed the risk, which indeed was great. But that very risk produced the fuel for action. It was what created the adrenaline that they needed.

Mountain climbers are warned repeatedly about the dangers of sleeping or sitting down for too long on the cold ice. Mount Everest reportedly has over 150 bodies of climbers who died on the mountain. So, just like people lose their lives for stopping on the cold mountain, people can lose their place in destiny by allowing their minds to sleep in tough times.

A lockdown doesn't mean that you should allow your mind to lock down. What is the driving force for success? A mind that does not get to a final destination. A mind that does not go on lockdown.

Wale Akinyemi is the convenor of the Street University (www.thestreetuniversity.com) and chief transformation officer, PowerTalks.

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