Column: Making it work

In 1943, Albert Einstein received a letter from a young girl seeking mathematics advice. She was struggling in her studies. The physicist consoled her.

"Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics," he wrote in his reply. "For I can assure you mine are still greater."

I have relatively few problems that require math, but some recent encounters with remarkable individuals have reminded me of Einstein's exchange.

Working on this issue of Business Today, I spoke with Ann Butler and can now imagine how that young girl in 1943 might have felt upon reading Einstein's reply.

After hearing what Butler went through -- and still goes through -- to start and build her business, Edible Education, my own stresses, failures and difficulties don't seem so insurmountable.

Butler's business is on track to hit $1 million in sales this year, and yet she joked that the emotional roller coaster of entrepreneurship is still "pathetic."

Her humility and humor were clarifying, encouraging and inspiring.

Her achievements, and those of the other individuals featured in this issue, stand as testaments to the sacrifices made to attain them.

Their successes remind us that struggle is the price of agency.

And like Einstein's reply, their general prescriptions for success were brief:

Problem? Fix it.

Doesn't work? Make it work.

And do not worry about your difficulties, for they can indeed be great.