Young Isaac was expected to be a farmer but he hated farming. On the other hand, he was an excellent scholar at his local grammar school. His master, Henry Stokes, persuaded both his mother and Cambridge to accept Isaac at the university. He received financial assistance in return for acting as a servant for wealthier undergraduates.

In year 1665-66 bubonic plague broke out in England. Cambridge University was shut down sending twenty-two-year-old Isaac back to his family farm. It was during this two years, Newton published his breakthrough works in mathematics (infinite series and calculus), mechanics (theory of universal gravity) and optics (theory of colors).

Reflection: This is a good example of using the worst of times to gear up for the next breakthrough. Often worst time shakes things up forcing you to reevaluate your priorities. It also gives you the time and opportunity to do things you always wanted to without the fear and deadline of having to meet specific end. Such judgement free times are hard to find when things are going great and you’ve to keep husling to mundane needs of survival.