For as long as I have been in business I can remember being told that the only way to be really successful in business is to look to others who have been successful and do what they have done. I have been told more times than I can count that “there is no need to reinvent the wheel.”
The only problem that I find with this attitude is that when I have studied the really successful, world-changing people in all aspects of life, they all worked hard to reinvent the wheel. They didn’t live with the status quo. They marched to the beat of a different drum! From Edison to Einstein, from Ford to the Wright Brothers, from Gates to Jobs all the “world changers” in business (as well as all other aspects of life) were re-inventors of their particular wheels.
What does that mean to you? Well, I’m glad you asked! I see three particular things you need to know about these people and how they built their life successes:
1. They were great thinkers and dreamers of how the impossible could be made possible. Real thinking is a lost art in business (as well as most areas of life) anymore. Most people just want to be told what to do and then to follow along in that until they can retire. There are very few hardcore thinkers anymore. That opens a very wide door for those who are ready to think for the good of their clients/customers and for the good of society at large.
2. They were inventors and innovators. Once they spent time in thought, dreams started to materialize. Those dreams became passions and the passions became successful businesses. But, all their success in businesses started as new thoughts about how life could be better for the greatest number of people.
3. They learned that in everyone there is a power that exceeds the normal and everyday! As they would think and dream, they asked questions of others and caused them to think and dream. In the end their initial drive made not only their world better, but the worlds of multitudes of others as well. They challenged others to reinvent some wheels as well.
We each chose our businesses because we felt we had something to offer our clients/customers. We each have set out on the journey of finding our own level of success. We can either limit ourselves to the wheels that currently exist or we can reinvent the wheels of our niche. Either way money can be made, but only as a thought leader can you really find the power of you!
