The media often reports extremes. Stories of people who suffer from eating disorders or chronic obesity, pictures of mansions or slums, and examples of good or bad cover letters, for instance. In the wake of some unfortunate news, we remember Aleksey Vayner with some uplifting quotes.
Aleksey Vayner was a senior at Yale who submitted his boastful application to Swiss bank UBS. Within hours, his application circulated to other financial powerhouses from Bank of America to Barclay's Capital, and went viral on Youtube. He was bombarded with mocking e-mails and negative feedback for his video titled "Impossible is Nothing," an 11 page resume, and glamour shot. In the video, he lifts a 495-pound weight, ballroom dances, serves a tennis ball at 140 miles/hour, and karate chops seven bricks, which he explained shows "that he had achieved success in physical endeavors that could carry over to the financial world."
Vayner's application was indeed very creative, but not Wall Street's cup of tea. (Quite surprising, since Wall Street is known to house tough alpha males, but that is a discussion for another day). Underlying the pretentious exterior, however, are some very true and inspiring lessons:
"Success is not one event that happens to you. Rather, it's an attitude, work ethic, or way of thinking that continuously gets results, even through obstacles. You know those people that win the lottery or write a hit single and then go on to live miserable, poverty-stricken, friendless lives? The external event was there, but not the mental transformation." (Interpreted by Vault.)
"Successful people think in very specific patterns which then create opportunities for them that they can see; an average obserrver thinks that's luck."
"Live your life openly; if you're going to work, work; if yo're going to train, train; if you're going to dance, dance, and do it passionately."
No comments:
Post a Comment