The Sunday Mail
“In the world of greatness, the escalator is broken down. The lift does not work. You, therefore, have to take the stairs.”
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
THOMAS ALVA EDISON (February 11, 1847 — October 18, 1931) was an inventor and businessman out of whom came many useful inventions.
He is credited with the greatness-defining statement: “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” This implies that greatness is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
Edison was known for his focus and handwork. A person who cannot focus should forget about greatness. Edison argued that none of his inventions came by accident or mere good fortune.
He did not rely on luck. He was not just gambling with life. He was intentional.
Greatness should never be a mystery.
Edison once remarked: “I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial until it comes. What it boils down to is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
Get a moment of inspiration, then get down to working. Work like a great person, not a lazy bum.
To labour under the belief that life is 99 percent good fortune and 1 percent work is weird and totally absurd.
Love work and love thinking.
Be open to inspiration and get down to working, and doing great things. Be known for execution; translating thoughts into things; moving from inspiration to perspiration. Focus on getting things done.
Work is not a curse. Laziness, in whatever clothes it wears, is no badge of honour.
Edison knew that nothing happens by sheer luck. He knew that past success was not an excuse for resting on your laurels. He continued working long after he was a multi-millionaire.
Stop dreaming of a lazy life, of no contribution except spending.
The lottery mindset is flawed. You have to do something in order to produce something or get somewhere.
Edison once said opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
There are too many people who frown at opportunities for real work because they are obsessed with the big stage. In the world of greatness, the escalator is broken down. The lift does not work. You, therefore, have to take the stairs.
Many people frown at overalls and the related work involved. They would rather do another job while in designer wear. Not for Edison. He focused on the 99 percent work. Many would rather don a suit and tie than put on an overall and work.
Work is not what you are seen to be doing but what you actually do. Clever excuses made by lazy hands will always have an air of sophistication but no value-creating power.
This same Edison inspires us to stretch and reach for greatness when he says: “If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
You are a miracle in motion. If you implement the ideas that pass through your mind, you will surprise yourself.
There is awesome greatness in you. If you did all that you are capable of doing, you would shock yourself and everyone. You are a warehouse of miracles. There is more that you can do and become.
Stop focusing on your casket and start thinking about your basket of possibilities. There are more opportunities to be useful and create value now than in any other generation in the past.
Upgrade your thinking and take your head out of the shell. You cannot use industrial age expectation to solve new world challenges. The problems you see around you are not arrows of fate but the ore of opportunity ready for mining.
Great things happen when you hustle while you wait for the big break.
Never be satisfied with just looking at problems, complaining about the lack of opportunity.
A genius is nothing special, but a hardworking person who does his homework consistently.
Do not watch the clock too much or you may never make progress. Do not suspend your life on some big social media platform when there is work to do.
Edison was not just working the clock. He threw himself into work. He focused.
He once said: “I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom. Seventy-five of us worked twenty hours every day and slept only four hours — and thrived on it.”
That is the true spirit of greatness. Watch for the result and not measuring the effort. Expecting to harvest without sowing is the mother of all corruption.
Never be satisfied with yesterday. Do not park.
Edison challenged us all when he said: “Discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I’ll show you a failure.”
Refuse to park on the alley of irresponsibility. No one owes you a living and no one will do your thinking for you. There is always something to do.
The bigger the problems, the more the opportunities for worthy work. Most answers you look for “out there” are really “in here”. Take greatness with you.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and accomplished workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected]
