Clarence Birdseye, a man who had a funny name, but had a great life. He has many identities, such as a scientist, an inventor or a successful businessman. In his 70 years’ life, he did many things which were unbelievable in my eyes. Recently, I have read a book named Frozen In Time which is written by Mark Kurlansky. He allows us to know the story of Clarence Birdseye. At first, I thought it was a boring and empty book, but after I reading deeper, I found this is an amazing story. I am really interested in his success, why did he succeed? As I said in the title, successes come by creating. Also, successes need some more conditions.
One of the biggest parts of this book and Birdseye’s life is going to the Labrador island. I think this is also the most important part of this book, so I am more interested in this part. In this bleak desolate island, he made money and came up with the idea which changed his whole life.
At first, Birdseye just wanted to make money here, but he also found how to refrigerate food accidentally. When he fished in the winter in Labrador, he found the fishes froze immediately when they left the water. Then, Birdseye got the inspiration to invent refrigerators. Labrador had a large number of fishermen, but none of them came up with this idea. Birdseye cared about every details in his life, and he had the business savvy that normal people did not have. That is one reason that why Birdseye succeeded, but others did not.
Also, Birdseye has persistence. If he wanted do something that he was interested in, he would not give up. When he was in Labrador Island, he wanted to build a company. However, he did not have enough money, but he had enough persistence. His father recommended an investor to him. He immediately flew to New York City, but the investor even did not want to see him. As I said Birdseye had sufficient persistence. He waited for the investor and called him day by day. Finally, the investor decided to invest his company. Birdseye’s persistence was the biggest reason that why he succeeded.
At last, let’s talk about his idea that coming to Labrador, one of the most desolate places. If I were him, I may not go to this island, because I had a good life in America, why should I go to that bitterly cold and impoverished place? Also, America has a lot of opportunities. If I work hard, I will succeed in America, not Labrador. I just left from one dangerous place, why would I go to another bad place to live? However, Birdseye decided to go, and this trip changed his life. He was far-sighted. He may not know he would find the secret of refrigerators, but he did know he could make money here.
In addition, some external factors made him succeed. Birdseye had a good wife, she always supported him. When Birdseye said he wanted to go to Labrador, she supported him. In fact, many wives would persuade their husbands not to go, but Birdseye’s wife did not. She supported her husband all the time, she believed Birdseye had his own mind. A good supporter is also an important factor to achieve success.
In conclusion, I am always interested in how a successful men succeed. Birdseye was a good example. He had persistence to the things that he wanted to do, and he was far-sighted. I learned a lot from his story. Like I said above, successes are not about luck, they come from creating.
