It has always been known that a human being, if one wants to achieve immense success and reach heights unseen before, has to be challenged and placed into difficult circumstances, so as to stimulate his activity, to hasten decision making, to involve intuition more, and to keep focus. Challenging circumstances are always bound to create a positive environment for immaculate human activity.

Let us take an example of this little liverpudlian band called The Beatles. Their career did not involve smooth sailing only. As teenagers they had to tour a lout and play constantly in public to get at least some sort of attention. According to them, their maturation and professionalism came during their first period of living and performing in Hamburg, Germany. They had to live in Spartan conditions – a little room for five people at the back of the cinema, so they never had a night to sleep through peacefully and had to do so during the day. They had to perform twelve hours straight, non-stop, entertaining people in the club. They even had to reserve to drinking special pills to keep themselves awake. The result? Brilliant instrumental prowess in three years, advancing composing skills and robust energy, with which they shook the world and started the British Invasion into American and Beatlemania – a phenomenon unique to this day. They went on to become the most successful band to have ever existed on planet Earth.

As is evident from this example, extreme and challenging circumstances can drive a person to achieve greatness. One should be careful here as it is no axiom. Sometimes, there are people who are less strong and cannot handle extreme pressures, often being prone to breaking down and resorting to despair. A good example of this would be an indie artist Elliott Smith. After having had his song nominated for an Oscar, his popularity rose, pressure increased, but, alas, he was not able to handle these challenging circumstances and succumbed to drug addiction.