With Vision and Dreams You Can Succeed

With Vision and Dreams You Can Succeed

Who would ever think that putting rivets onto pants would be

accepted by consumers?

Levi Strauss and his partner Jacob Davis believed they had something

revolutionary when they invented the first blue jeans in 1873. They

had come up with the idea of placing rivets at the points of strain on

workers’ pants. They put rivets at the pocket corners and the base of the

fly, and used special material for strength. What a brilliant idea! But we

know that new, revolutionary ideas are not always well received at first.

Well, as they say, the rest is history. In the case of the Levi Strauss

jeans, they were a hit! Workers loved them, and soon everyone was

wearing the very durable pants that could outlast all other such products.

Imagine a product invented in 1873 and whose basic concept is still

used all these years later. Think outside the box. Those who do so usually

achieve greatness, as Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis did.

In 1897, Felix Hoffmann, a German chemist, invented a new

compound of acetylsalicylic acid, which came to be known as aspirin.

Hoffmann was trying to come up with something to alleviate his father’s

arthritis. Today, aspirin is used to save millions of lives. It is basically

the same as it was when it proved useful in 1897. You see, Hoffmann

did research into another chemist’s creation from 1832 and discovered

that the earlier chemist’s compound could be effective in many areas;

in effect, Hoffmann rediscovered it. Today, all these years later, it is

understood that aspirin can guard against heart attacks and, if taken

immediately by someone experiencing a heart attack, often saves the

victim’s life.

In 1849, Walter Hunt was under pressure to find a way to pay back

a $15 debt. Knowledgeable about how to invent things, he set out to

solve his problem.

Hunt took a piece of wire made of brass, about eighteen inches in

length, coiled the center of it, and shielded one end, making the very

first safety pin. Hunt took out a patent, sold off the rights for $400, and

paid back his debt to his friend. The safety pin is still in use today—

another brilliant idea from someone under pressure to come up with a

way to solve an immediate problem.

C-2012 John Paul Carinci from the book An All-Consuming Desire To Succeed