Thomas Edison, Tesla and the lightbulb:
They failed 10,000 times before they became lit 😆
Nikola Tesla, the inventor who worked under Edison, recounts the resiliency of Edison:
[su_quote]If he (Thomas Edison) had a needle to find in a haystack, he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be,
but would proceed at once with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search.[/su_quote]
Edison’s relentless mindset.
The keyword in his statement is:
Until.
Not “if”..
Until.
When was the last time we did something until, we became masters at it?
It’s microscopic.
But this is actually GOOD news.
It means that the work required becomes the MOAT around the castle.
Since most people aren’t willing to put in the work to get there, there are FEWER competition.
People want easy and fast.
And any sign of hard work, long term projects and mental challenges will repel their desires in getting their motors running.
Not many are willing to put in the work to get to the castle.
But You Are.
The people who are the greatest gifts to the world, are those that are willing to get their elbows in the mud and to start fu##king building.
To go diving into that haystack and to examine each straw one by one, UNTIL they find that damn needle.
Instead of asking for easy and fast, they ask the opposite question:
“What is challenging and takes an enormous amount of time to complete, but will ultimately be the most fulfilling and will be a true gift to the world?”
And usually, beautiful works of art will come out of this deliberate, wonderful everyday work.
The Moat to your castle is the WORK that you’re willing to put in, the passion you’re eager to pour to the world.
That’s what keeps your castle protected.
It’s what keeps your talents unique.
It’s what keeps your creativity endless.
DOING (what you need to do) and BEING (who you need to be) are prerequisites for HAVING what you want to have
The First Order Principle goes like this:
Doing (the work you need to do) -> Being (the person you become) -> Having (receiving)
Doing the works turns you into the person you need to be, to have the happiness that you want.
There are many other moving parts to this engine, but this is the big picture.
We’ll have a thousand private victories before one public victory.
This is a Stephen Covey concept.
You are dedicating yourself to your craft, but also honing your character.
You’re not here for show, you’re not here for the credit.
You’re here because you believe in your work
You’re here because you believe your art will make a difference.
That is why you show up everyday.
It’s something that people will never know.
The hours and hours of hard work that you put in.
The same thing can be said about character.
Being a genuine giver means that at times no one will ever know about it, but you don’t do it for show, you do it because you care and you want to contribute to others.
These are the reflections of character that refract in the deep work that you do.
Ryan Holiday says (Ego is the Enemy):
[su_quote]…if you want to live happy, live hidden. It’s true. The problem is, that means the rest of us are deprived of really good examples.[/su_quote]
We might never recognize these unsung heroes, but they are out there.
And the only way to keep going, when others turn back and give up on their moats, is to LOVE your craft.
LOVING what you do.
You HAVE to enjoy the process.
You HAVE to enjoy the JOURNEY for the journey itself.
Or else, the moat will only be built halfway.
A half built moat is as good as no moat.
But when you finish,
There will be a beautiful castle waiting for you ✨
But you weren’t doing it for the beautiful castle in the first place, were you? 😊
You were doing it because you loved your craft.
Because you loved being ENGAGED.
The castle is a bonus.
The craftsman builds, because he LOVES building.
You continue to DO, because you’d rather revel in your work than stay in your castle.
The craftsman without his craft has nothing to live for.
The cellist lives to play.
The sculptor lives to sculpt.
They take an ugly piece of rock and chip away at it for years and years.
And for many years it will like a grenade went off on it 😆
But when it is finished…
You can see the TRANSCENDENT shining through.
Eyes will marvel at this beautiful, TIMELESS piece of work,
Because REAL art…
REAL beauty transcends through time.
It creates moments of awe that outlives the artist.
[su_quote]Sculpture masterpieces remain as ugly rocks for years[/su_quote]
The secret is…
The masterpiece is NOT the finished product.
The masterpiece is the CRAFT.
The Golden Goose creates more value, than a single golden egg.
Masterpieces come in the form of consistency.
It’s the story of the bamboo tree.
You don’t see any growth for the first year of it’s life.
No matter how consistently you water it, and give it good sunshine…
The soil won’t budge.
It’s like watching grass grow.
Quite literally.
A big chunk of asian grass 😄
After year 2.
Nothing.
Year 3
Nothing.
It’s year 5.
You’re about to give up.
But all of a sudden…
On a glorious beautiful, Maroon 5 Sunday Morning…
You walk outside to your garden (one helluva garden)…
To find Panda bears eating off this GIGANTIC bamboo tree.
That bamboo tree will grow 90 feet in just 90 days!
It NEEDED to grow deep roots for 5 long years, before it could hold it’s surface weight.
Nature knows best.
You need those ROOTS in place first, before you can support the success.
Without the roots, you’ll have a large flimsy tree that’ll be destroyed by the wind.
Destroyed by the world.
Back to Tesla:
He would search and experiment and tweak his ideas, looking for ways to get this damn lightbulb to light up.
After countless failures, he would get some to actually work…
But they were all short lived.
After years of searching he found something that worked…
Almost out of pure serendipity.
In the strangest item…
Out of all the things in the world…
It was a piece of tree.
A bamboo 🙂
A parallel universe of consistency.
Nature knows best.
10,000 failures.
10,000 hours of sunshine.
An entanglement in two worlds of persistence.
Thousands of hours of harvesting light from the sun…
Harnessed into an object…
That illuminates the world. 💡
Persistence is masterpiece in action.
Consistent action is publication of genius.
Hammer away at your craft.
Love your journey.
And you’ll discover your own form of illumination.
-David
Check out more of my articles below:
Website Builders
5 Stages of Leadership
Online Conference Platforms
Building Landing Pages
Platforms for Digital Courses
Bluehost vs Godaddy
WPX Hosting
