“I just love when people say I can’t do something because all my life people said I wasn’t going to make it.”
– TED TURNER
In 1895, He came up with the idea to create safety razors with disposable blades, in order to make shaving easier. He was so excited about his idea that he went to MIT (one of the top universities in the world) to consult with metallurgists, but he was told that his idea was impossible. Here was a man who knew nothing about metals, but was told by experts that his idea could not work. King Gillette continued to work on his idea but could not make much progress because he did not know how to manufacture metals. Finally, he met another inventor, William Nickerson, who was willing to partner with him. Together, they worked to perfect the invention and by 1903 sold the first batch of products. Seven years later, Gillette was a millionaire. His idea revolutionized the shaving industry and made his company the market leader even 100 years after the idea was birthed.
So, who said your idea was impossible?
Last month, I came across a statement made by Prof. Charles Soludo, former CBN Governor, in one of the national dailies. He said that it will take Nigeria 42 years to catch up with South Africa (not even America). I simply laughed because this was one of the hundreds of ‘expert opinions’ that eventually get disproven by ordinary people.
Have you noticed that most times it is those Experts or professionals, who have distinguished themselves in their fields and have gained the respect of the general public, that tell us the limits of possibility? They tell us what can be done and what can’t be done. They tell us how far we can go and what is likely to happen in the future. Like gods, their words resound in almost every area of our lives: they define our boundaries, influence our actions and lay down paths to be followed.
But there is one major problem with any Expert, as with every other man – the cant possibly know the limit of possibility. They can’t fully ascertain how far a talent, idea, dream or passion can go. That is why from time to time, the Experts have always been proven wrong by ordinary people who simply believed in what they were doing, and pursued it till it succeeded.
So why get discouraged because of what people have said about your dream? Why abandon your idea because of someone else’s myopic perception of it? No one knows how far you can go until you have embarked on that journey. It is then you can know for sure what it is possible or not.
So take out a piece of paper now and write down the opinions of people about your ideas or dreams that have held you back so far. Then cross them out one after the other because they cannot really stop you.
