Tip: If you don’t take a chance, you will never make a change!

Tip of the Week
03/11/13

Tip: If you don’t take a chance, you will never make a change!

Thomas Edison was one of the greatest inventors of all time.  He is credited with not only inventing the electric light bulb, but he also understood the concept of harnessing the power of electricity in order to light the bulb he invented.  As I understand it, he created most of his wealth on the residual income from powering the electric light.  We may have thrown away a light bulb at times, but none of us has thrown away electricity.  We need it in our homes and offices every day.  Edison was indeed a genius and a great American innovator.

You may know that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is made up of thirty companies that have taken a leadership role in the business world.  But, did you know that only one of the original thirty companies is still part of the group today?  It is Thomas Edison’s company also known as General Electric.  The other twenty-nine companies have varied over the years, but GE has been a leader in its field for many, many decades.

There is one piece of trivia that I find very interesting concerning Thomas Edison.  He did all of his research in what was known as direct current or DC.  He believed that the direct current method was the way that electricity should operate.

One of Edison’s employees at the Edison Machine Works plant in New York was a man by the name of Nikola Tesla.  The more Tesla worked with electricity, the more he came to believe that there was a better way to use it than the direct current method.  He experimented with and learned how to use something called alternating current or AC.  He took his idea to his boss, but it was not well received.  Tesla was convinced that alternating current was safer and more useful than the direct current method that Edison had invented and patented.

Regardless of what Tesla did, he could not get Edison to change his mind, so he decided to take a chance because he wanted to make a change.  He wanted the change to occur not only in his personal life, but he also felt he could do something better for mankind.  So, he left and struck out on his own.  As he continued to work on his ideas, he came across a man by the name of George Westinghouse who bought into his idea and become his backer and supporter.

Through their working together, Westinghouse Company came to be a leader in the early days of electricity.  They won numerous contracts because of their groundbreaking ideas.  Interestingly enough, almost all electricity that is used in our homes today uses the alternating current (AC) methodology invented by Tesla and supported by Westinghouse.

Now, I’ll bet some of you are thinking, “Dr. Rohm, I did not know that you were so interested in science!”  Well, the truth of the matter is that it isn’t just science that I’m interested in; it is the fact that I love to see someone step out and take a chance in life in order to bring about a change. And I love it when that chance turns into success!

We often hear the expression, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  As true as that may be, we can sometimes get stuck and don’t know which way to turn in living out our dreams, goals, and passions.  But, if we never take a chance, we will remain stuck and never see those things come to fruition in our lives.  I think that is sad.  Life is just too short to let that happen!

Nikola Tesla was a very brilliant man who was credited with many different patents and inventions.  Although he was not born in this country, he knew that the best opportunity would come in a country where there was freedom.  He lived here because he wanted to take a chance on seeing his ideas make the world a better place.  I think he succeeded, don’t you?

Take some time this week to ask yourself what area of your life needs to change.  It may be a personal relationship; it may be financial; it may be business or spiritual in nature.  Whatever it is, it is time for that change to begin.  Take a chance!  Step out in faith.  Do the next right thing and watch your dreams begin to come true!

Tip: If you don’t take a chance, you will never make a change!

Have a great week!  God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm