The Light Bulb, Five-Pin Bowling & Instant Mashed Potatoes – Making The Impossible, Possible!

Revealing some Magic Secrets behind these, and many other, Canadian Credited Inventions.

There are hundreds of great inventions from all over the world, however in honour of Canada Day I wanted to explore the magic behind some of our own inventions.

If you were to ask any Canadian to name something invented in Canada, the more common answers you most likely would get are Insulin (Banting and Best), the Telephone (Bell) and the Robertson screw (Robertson).  In reality there many more, such as those listed in my title.

The Light Bulb, although credited to Edison, was actually first patented by Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans in Canada in 1874 two years prior to a patent being granted to Thomas Edison.  Edison later purchased this Canadian discovery when he was making his original investigations and before he obtained his own patents.

Five-Pin Bowling was invented in 1909 by Thomas F. Ryan in Toronto, Ontario, at his Toronto Bowling Club.  It was created in response to customers who complained that the ten-pin game was too strenuous and took too long to play. He cut five ten-pins down to about 75% of their size, and used hand-sized hard rubber balls, thus inventing the game of five-pin bowling.

Instant Mashed Potatoes was invented by the Canadian scientist Edward Asselbergs in 1962.  Although the mashing of a potato probably dates from antiquity, the industrial method of “preparation of dehydrated cooked mashed potatoes” was not created and patented until 1962 by Asselberg.

The list goes on and on:  the Canadarm, Electron Microscope, Wonderbra, Basketball, Superman, the Paint Roller, Bloody Caesar, the Pacemaker, IMAX, and the BlackBerry, just to mention a few more. For a more complete list of Canadian inventions visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_inventions

However as diverse as all these inventions are, the systems behind their creations remain quite similar (and not just Canadian).

SOLVE A PROBLEM!  The most successful inventions and innovations BEGIN by someone having a desire to “solve a problem”.  There is a need that already exists (whether commonly known or not) for something that solves a problem or advances our way of life.  And the greater the problem the easier to fuel the next step, passion!

PASSION!  Once you discover that something needs to exist to solve this problem, and YOU realize you can do this, a fire is born.  This fire becomes a burning passion!  An itch that cannot be scratched enough until this problem is solved – no matter what it takes!  You need to constantly feed this passion so seek out those who can help you do this and ignore the naysayer.

NEVER GIVE UP!  This in many cases is actually the hardest step – doing whatever it takes to achieve your goal, for as long as it takes.  In reality it can be easier said than done; because no matter happens you have to keep moving toward you goal!  The magic word here is “sacrifice” – how much are you willing to give up to do what needs to be done?

As a life long “magical student” I have become quite attuned to these “simple steps” that when employed correctly can produce truly magical results.  These are powerful results that can benefit not only our own lives, but the world at large.

So what is the take away?  Are there some basic steps that just might help us create our own magic?

Life is about the moment!   If something ‘sparks” a great idea in you – act on it – NOW!
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Hang around positive people who will support YOU!  If you want to move forward you will need help from those that will build you up – not knock you down.

Be passionate! Sorry, life is over way too soon – go for it NOW!

Never quit.  As the old saying goes (but hey its true), when life gives you lemons make lemonade – or better yet a “new style” lemonade stand.   Keep going and always look for a better way to help others.

That’s how we make Magic happen!

Remember Real Magic is nothing more than coming up with simple, effective solutions to complicated problems, and then doing something about it!

But Real Magic can happen only when people believe in themselves and are passionate about making a difference in their own life and the lives of others! Have focus! Be passionate about what you do! Create your own real magic!

PS:  My program THINK LIKE A MAGICIAN – How to create a “making the impossible, possible” FOCUS shows students or businesses exactly how to do this.