Reading Reflection No.1

This reading reflection is on the book "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future"

• I found a few things very surprising about Elon Musk. For one, he was born in South Africa and he had a tough upbringing regarding living with his father and his early schooling. Musk says that living with his dad was miserable, but not absent of good. Although Musk and the rest of his family say that his father was a miserable and horrible person to be around, he was nice enough to invest 28,000 into Musk's first start-up company. He also took Musk and his brother, Kimbal, on many trips around the country which the two remember as fun. During Musk's early schooling he was bullied very extensively. He was bullied to the point to where he was hospitalized and missed school for a week. The bullies even threatened his best friend to stop being friends with Musk and lure Musk out of hiding so they could attack him or else they would do harm to the boy. Musk did a lot of traveling in his life. He went from South Africa to Canada, to America, and didn't settle down until he made it to Silicon Valley. 
• I think the thing I most admire about Musk is his drive and imagination. He was thinking of things so many years ahead of what anyone else was thinking and had the drive to make it happen. His imagination of a better world and his love of science fiction is what seems to motivate Musk. He imagines a world where we colonize another planet and start to use technology such as solar power to make the world a better place.
• The thing I least admire about Musk is his lack of empathy. From what Musk's coworkers had to say about him it is clear that he has a hard time understanding that not everyone thinks the same way he does. This may have been a factor in his success as he doesn't take no for an answer and therefore no one else should do that either. His lack of empathy sometimes created tension in the workplace and sometimes lead to a lack of production by the individual he offended. 
• Musk definitely faced adversity although I don't believe he faced much failure. Musk is not one to fail as he is a do or die type of person. He had times in his life where he didn't have hardly any money and poured it all into a business venture which lead to him living at his job and taking showers at the local YMCA. He was not at a very comfortable point in life and still continued to push and fight until everything worked out in the end. He went from living at his job and showering at the YMCA to selling the company he was developing which landed him 22 million dollars and his brother 15.
• The competencies I noticed that Musk presented were his do or die attitude and never taking no for an answer. He also was very smart and read a lot of books from a young age. He put 110% into whatever it is he was interested in and has a immense amount of confidence in himself. The drive that this guy has is amazing and inspirational. He had dreams and he decided that he would do whatever it takes to make them come true.
• One part in the reading that was confusing to me was the part where it talked about his business Zip2. I did not understand exactly how the business worked and what exactly it was doing for companies that made it appealing and successful. The book did not go into great detail about the actually function of the company, just a brief overview that was confusing to me. 
• If I was able to ask Musk two questions I know one that I would ask for sure is - was there ever a time when you were unsure of whether you would be successful, in your eyes. Another question I would ask is - Was there ever a time you were discouraged or scared in between the time you were a teenager and before you started getting financial backing for your first company?
• I think Musk's idea of hard work is never giving up and never taking no for an answer. From what I've read you can tell he knows what he wants in life and he won't stop until he makes it happen. He is relentless and it has lead him to great success. I think that I do share this drive, but not all the time. I share this drive when there is something I am passionate about. The problem for me is finding and solidifying this passion. Right now I am not exactly sure what I want to do with my life, but if I knew for sure what I want to accomplish and I was serious about it, I would make it happen.