We’ll take a look at his approach towards failure. You will see how he was able to use the right mindset to turn 1,000 failures into 1,000 precious lessons. This is not your typical happy ending story. It is a story about resilience and hard work. Edison’s story will show you how the right attitude can turn even the largest, most substantial failures into success.

A Short Biography

Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about Thomas Edison at least once. Edison was one of the most renowned inventors and businessmen. This Dutch descendant, born and raised in the United States of America, is sometimes referred to as the greatest American inventor of all time.

His major fields of interest were electricity and chemistry. There, he developed many devices. His most famous invention, the lightbulb, represents only a small part of the contributions he made in fields like sound recording, mass communication, motion pictures, and lastly, electric power generation.

Edison’s family struggled to make ends meet while he was growing up. He certainly did not have it easy in life, especially when he started developing hearing problems at the fragile age of 12. His deafness aggravated over time and caused him to become deaf in one ear and severely impaired in the other.

This was probably one of the first failures he had to deal with and one that had an impact on his whole life, but he never viewed it as an impediment. On the contrary, he always thought that his body’s failure was one of his mind’s greatest assets. Edison thought it was a positive to not have to listen to everything going on around him. Without noise distractions, he was able to focus on research and developing his inventions.

No Failures, Just Something he had yet to Try

Edison patented 1,093 inventions — a number that has only recently been overtaken. And while intelligence was a key factor in developing and patenting all these inventions, it was his incredible resilience, tenacity, and hard work that made this high number possible.

There were times even his assistants wanted to quit and give up on the experiments. In these moments, his mindset played the most crucial part. For Edison, a failed experiment was just a new lesson he had not had the chance to learn before.

Where his subordinate saw no potential and complained that “All our hard work is in vain. We have gained nothing”, Edison saw a ray of hope. He did not fail to calmly reply when confronted with such worries — “We have come a long way, and we have learned a lot. We know that there are 2,000 elements that cannot make a good light bulb.”

This goes to show just how much your perspective and your outlook on life can affect the outcome. Many would have given up on trying to develop the light bulb, but Edison continued to persist in his research. It allowed him to reach the outcome he had always dreamed of.

The same principle applies to many things in life. Sometimes the answer to your question might blatantly hit you on the head just like Newton’s apple. Other times, you might have to try something over 2,000 times for it to work, just like Edison’s lightbulb.

In fact, in contrast to the apple moment, circumstances that require hard work might be needed closer to 99% of the time. As Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

Thomas Edison — an Innovator

After he tested the iridescent lamp, the businessman in Edison realized that he needed to make some improvements if he wanted to successfully commercialize his invention. He embarked on a new journey in the mysterious fields of mining, geology, mineral processing, and even literature. Once again, the platinum filaments in the lamp failed to work, but this helped Edison shift his attention to gold ore.

While he was working to make the world a better place with inventions like electric light, he also managed to organize his company, The Edison Ore-Milling Company, and to file the patent for his latest discovery- the electromagnetic ore separator.

Edison’s genius goes beyond the capacity to persevere. He allowed himself to look at the greater picture and see possibilities where others did not. He was not afraid to take up new challenges, to allow himself to make mistakes, and to learn from those mistakes.

Although he patented 1,093 inventions, he never once claimed to know everything there was to be known. Every new creation and every new challenge represented a learning opportunity for this passionate inventor.

What the World Could Have Lost

Thomas Edison’s success not only influenced his own life but also your life and the world as you know it today. Some of the things you take for granted might not have existed if it weren’t for his dedication.

Some inventions that might never have seen the light of day:

• Concrete production. Edison took what he learned from his failure to efficiently extract the iron and used these findings in producing concrete.
• The phonograph. His first notable invention, which paved his road to success.
• The electric lightbulb and electric distribution. Today, almost all the things we use require electric energy.
• Motion pictures. He invented the ancestor of the movies you now know and love.
• Rechargeable batteries. They’re a must today because they allow most devices to be charged whenever and wherever you want.
• Chemicals. The Phenol invented by Edison was turned into salicylic acid and then later into what you use today — aspirin.

Failure Turned Into Success

If there is one thing you must take from Thomas Edison’s life story, it is that failure leads to perfection. You do not need to invent the next light bulb or anything like that. What you must do is act with diligence, perseverance, and hard work towards achieving your particular dreams.

Do not let the fear of failure stop you from starting something or from achieving your success. Don’t forget that even if it did not work 100 times, you now have 100 examples of things that will not work. You never know- the 101st attempt might be the lucky one.

You never know how close you are to reaching your goals. Why let the fear of failure stop you from moving forward when you could be so close? Even if your end product is not the one you were expecting, you might still make an important discovery. Just like Edison, you might be able to shift your attention from one field to another.

The Bottom Line

Yes, failure is hard to understand and accept, but once you manage to control your fear, you will be on the path towards success. Accept that life is a learning journey. Failure can lead to perfection along the way.