Hey Crickets. Welcome to day number seventy-one of Operation Achieve Anything. Now that I work from home and have one-hundred percent control of my schedule, other than what’s on the TV, there is absolutely no difference in my day-to-day existence, yet, today still feels like a Monday. This feeling is both good and bad. Bad, in that I woke feeling a little extra drained but I’m started to realize, this might be from the daylight-savings change. Good, in that I’m feeling pretty positive about this upcoming week.

First off, I finally got ahead of my SNL challenge once again to where I now have one extra review making me one day ahead of the game. I try to always have at least one or two of these surplus reviews to use on days when something unexpected comes up or I just want to take a day off.  I burnt through my last surplus in the middle of last month when I came down with a cold that kept me bedridden for over a week, so it feels super nice to have my safety net again.

Not only is it nice to know that I have these reviews in my pocket in the case of an emergency, but I also find comfort in just knowing that the moment I wake at least one deadline has already been made. Granted, I still end up doing the same amount of work in order to keep the buffer in play but there’s an added comfort in knowing that the crunch time is now delayed.

I plan to visit my oldest sister’s house over this upcoming weekend so my plan for the week is to get a few more backup reviews under my belt so I can take off a couple days and still have a surplus upon return. Hopefully, between having the extra work that this plan requires and the comfort that comes with being ahead, I’ll get back to being the productive me that I was before fighting off the sickness I mentioned and fighting the birthday blues.

Unfortunately, today’s intro doesn’t really transition into my assignment like the last few have but here we go. Yesterday I was given a legitimate homework assignment where the Achieve Anything… book wanted me to research three historical figures who used knowledge and integrity in order to achieve a winning result. This is a tough one because I feel that the people who did use knowledge and integrity throughout time may have gotten their moment in the sun but for the most part, other people with less ethical belief step in to steal their thunder and use their wins for no good or bury them completely.

With that, here as my three historical figured.

1. Nikola Tesla – Though Tesla is a now common household name thanks to the efforts of Elon Musk, when I was a kid nobody ever spoke his name. In fact, I never even heard of the man until I was in my mid-twenties when I read a book about the history they don’t teach in school. This wasn’t some kind of conspiracy book, with stuff like Ancient Aliens, this was a legitimate book that shared how dirty the war was between Westinghouse and Edison over who would provide the country its power.
   
   Unfortunately, Nikola Tesla had the advancement of mankind as his inspiration instead of money so the powers that be worked against him. Soon after watching this documentary I started to notice Tesla show up more and more in pop culture and though it’s nice that he’s now being recognized I would prefer to live in a world that would have let this man shine instead of shutting him down due to his negative effect on profits.
    
2. Albert Einstien – Einstien might be considered the most famous person known specifically for his knowledge in, at least, our modern history. He was a known pacifist who wanted to use his brilliant mind for good. He was so successful in that attempt that he got to experience celebrity from his smartness. That said, his work was also usurped but unlike Telsa whose efforts were buried, Einstein's peaceful passions led to the development of the atomic bomb which he openly hated. He even went as far as to joke, “If only I had known, I would have become a watchmaker.”
    
3. Leonardo Da Vinci – Even when you go this far back to look at brilliant people, Da Vinci is an example of another man who now gets proper recognition and may have even back then but his true potential was hampered by the powers that be since what he seemed to be truly working toward was seen as a threat to authority. The fact that he continued on working in secret ways shows how much integrity had but what’s this really worth when the people in power who aren’t smart enough to such forward thinking thoughts that they see this type of knowledge as a threat.

So, there are my three historical figures who are known for knowledge and integrity. It might not be as optimistic and empowering as the lesson seemed to set this assignment up to be but I feel that it meets the assignment’s need, so I’m going to consider this one to be done.

As for today’s assignment, I’m probably showing my hand by what I shared above but I’m now supposed to give my doubt and apprehension a voice and share what I really feel about whether or not, honesty and integrity will always pay off or if that’s just naive thinking that sounds nice but just doesn’t play in the real world.

I’m willing to bet that you can guess my answer but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow’s update to see what I manage to share. Until then, it’s now that time for me to wrap this post up in order to get on with my day. With that, I bid you adieu by saying, good day and good luck to you and all of your projects.

Talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

The Wicker Breaker

P.S. Below are links to my novel, which I plan to promote as part of Operation Achieve Anything, as well as a link to where you can buy the book that is providing the structure to this project in case you would like to purchase it in order to play along.