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POSSIBILITY THINKING
BEGINNING WITH BELIEF:
SOUND LESSONS IN CREATING THE FUTURE
By Tom Terez
The next time someone tells you that "seeing is believing," respectfully
disagree. Then turn on your stereo, pop in your favorite CD, and gently explain that
they have it backwards. In reality, believing is seeing.
Says who? Says Thomas Edison -- and many others who have created the future.
For years, scientists, philosophers, and theologians believed that sound would never
be recorded. They regarded it as one of life's great mysteries -- far beyond human
comprehension. Recording sound, they said, would be like bringing people back from
the dead. Impossible.
Then along came Thomas Edison, who lived in the world of possibilities. Drawing from
his work on the telegraph and telephone, Edison designed a simple device consisting
of a grooved cylinder wrapped in tin foil, a crank to turn the cylinder, a diaphragm
made of tightly stretched fabric, and a needle connected to the diaphragm. He called
it a phonograph -- from the Greek words for "sound writing."
In December 1877, Edison put his phonograph to the test. He talked into the machine
while turning the crank, and sure enough, grooves appeared in the tin foil. When
he played it back by again turning the crank, the phonograph responded with a scratchy
echo of his exact words. The phonograph worked -- proving the legion of skeptics
to be wrong.
Later in life, after achieving a record-setting 1,093 patents, Edison was asked to
name his favorite invention. "The phonograph," he quickly said. "It's
my baby."
It was a simple baby at that. The components making up the phonograph were readily
available 2,000 years before Edison put them together to record sound. He brought
his creative genius to the invention table -- along with a powerful belief in possibility.
So what about you? Are you like those now-forgotten naysayers who claimed that sound
would never be recorded? Are doubts and skepticism short-circuiting your potential
and keeping you stuck in the status quo? When it comes to creating the future, are
you standing on the sidelines with a wait-and-see attitude?
Or are you ignoring the skeptics -- and believing instead that a better future CAN
be created. Are you resolved that great results begin with an unshakable belief that
they can be achieved? Are you taking steps to put the components together and make
it happen?
If you need some inspiration, go to your stereo, turn up the volume, and marvel at
today's world of recorded sound. It all began with a belief that it could be done.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Terez is the founder of InnerBest.com, BetterWorkplaceNow.com,
and TomTerez.com. His talks and workshops are all about helping individuals
and organizations achieve their very best. Click here to send Tom a note.
Copyright 2003 Tom Terez. |
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