Is Your Life Moving Forward Or Backward?

        Early automobile manufacturer, Henry Ford, determined accepting negative words handcuff thinking. Tired of hearing “don’t” and “can’t” from company engineers and executives, he reportedly said, “If you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right!”  Ford pointed out, “do” “don’t,” “can” and “can’t” are beliefs not absolutes.  Accepting any of them colors all thinking thereafter. 
      Another famous inventor, Thomas Edison, echoed Ford’s thoughts as he turned a then mysterious force, electricity, into products that changed the world. Edison’s invention of the practical long-lasting electric light enabled people to extend their day by illuminating the night. But Edison didn’t stop there. He and followers used electricity to create many labor-saving life enriching home and job appliances. Modern medicine, communication, transportation, computing, space exploration and more would have been impossible without Edison’s early work with electricity.
       Edison felt innovation is only possible when people open their minds to possibilities. As with Ford, Edison realized creating anything worthwhile requires effort and willingness to work through failure. His reaction when told about early electric lighting failures was to say great! adding "Now that we know what won’t work, we'll have more time to find what will."
        We  know how this thinking worked out. I’m writing this article on an electronic computer with a lamp keeping my desk bright and my electronic stereo playing favorite background melodies.  
       ​Edison like others before and after him, realized the world is in an ever-constant state of change. We benefit most when we maintain an open mind and willingness to set tradition aside. “Don’t” and “can’t” are inflexible. Success requires experimentation, failure and trying again and again.  
        Instead of accepting words like “don’t” and “can’t” focus on what lifts your spirit. Set goals and get to work. In time your objective, or something better, will most likely be achieved. You risk failure of course, but like Edison, that can be good in that it opens alternatives to success.  Achievement goes to the daring.  When a desire crosses your mind, think can and do. Experiment and keep going. Your result may differ from your original vision but it may just  make you another of the world’s great change makers.