Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world.

He had strong values and opinions and was often quoted for such. These quotes contain pearls of his wisdom that can inspire and guide us in pursuit of our goals.

Let’s take a look at how the philosophy of Thomas Edison might apply for us today.

Edison set up an industrial research lab and drove his staff to produce results. He had a specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement.

He would have no time for ‘pretenders’ as the following suggests:

“Being busy does not always mean real work…Seeming to do is not doing.”

He was also known to have said that genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Many, many people can have great ideas, but the successful ones are those that strive to have them fulfilled.

You can dream it and perceive it, but unless you strive to fulfill it, what have you achieved? It’s unavoidable but, there is some effort and work required.

And for those who fear or avoid having to work for a successful outcome Edison has been known to say that  the reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work.

And how did Thomas Edison stick to this work ethic? To him it was fun, his greatest pleasure, and so his reward was often found in the work that precedes what the world calls success.

Imagine never doing a day’s work if to you it is all fun.

An interesting side to Edison was his understanding of the cosmic forces affecting all of us. Truly creative and successful people know that there are universal laws in place to govern and guide our paths.

Edison knew that this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us – everything that exists – proves that there are infinite laws behind it.

I also suspect that Thomas Edison used meditative practices as his best thinking has said to be done in solitude.

Whether being a time of meditation or visualization, taking time out to return your mind and body to a state of calmness and inner peace will give you answers that you seek.

Persistence:

So when do you know enough is enough?

You really don’t, but as Thomas Edison will tell you, keep forging ahead. He knew that many of life’s failures came from people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

The easiest thing to do is to get discouraged when things look impossible. Thomas Edison knew that’s not the place to become discouraged.

Putting his total efforts into the right perspective, Edison said probably his most famous words:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 1,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison worked knowing that above all, what you do and achieve should be a positive reflection of your inner goodness. Or in other words, you reap what you sow because “The value of an idea lies in the using of it… What you are will show in what you do.”

And to sum it all up, in working on instinct and your gut feeling you can always go with:

“Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”

So with the inspiration of Thomas Edison behind you say to hell with the rules as you strive to be Famous By Morning!

American business is about maximizing shareholder value. You basically don’t want workers. You hire less, and you try to find capital equipment to replace them.
–Allen Sinai (chief global economist at the research firm Decision Economics)

See the original and other great related posts here

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