Thomas Edison

Fail, fail, success.  Thomas Edison is a true hero because he never stopped trying to accomplish a dream.  He kept pushing until he achieved his goal.

Thomas Edison turned fails into success.  "Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless."  He is saying that you can take a fail and use it to your benefit.  You can also work around a fail.  "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  Thomas Edison tried countless times to create an efficient light bulb.  Fail after fail after fail he tried but he eventually invented exactly what he set out to accomplish: the efficient light bulb.  To make the light bulb he had to learn from every one of his fails and he had to make sure he didn't give up.  This leads me into my next example.

Edison was determined to keep going.  "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."  That next thought or idea could possibly be the perfect thought or idea.  You will be successful if you keep pushing.  Edison's cement furniture didn't work out as he planned.  It cracked and broke.  But he went on to make the revolutionary light bulb.  He also made many other products such as the Electro Magnetic Brake and the Speaking Telegraph.  His fails didn't stop him.

Hard work is priceless.  "There is no substitute for hard work."  A goal isn't a true goal if it doesn't require hard work.  When you work hard, you live up to your potential.  Thomas Edison lived up to his potential by improving on other people's ideas.  An invention is the first basic product in a large process.  It is simple. Edison took those basic products and made them better.  For example, the light bulb had been invented already but Edison worked to create a new, more efficient one.  Direct current was used in his model.  Direct current allowed smaller machines to work more efficiently.  Another example is his wood and rubber wheel.  Wheels were originally just made out of wood.  Edison was the one who put the rubber on the wheel for more traction.

Thomas Edison's life is inspiring.  Whenever I am trying to do something super difficult, I remember how many times he failed and then remember how many times he quit.  Then I work harder and take a different approach to the obstacle.  Nothing good will come to me if I don't try again.  "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."