Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.

Thomas Edison said that.

He knew something most people never figure out – ideas alone won’t guarantee success.

Edison understood that when it comes to getting what you want, it’s all about taking action.

You need to roll up your sleeves and put in that elbow grease to get where you want to go.

Considered America’s most prolific, most important, most famous inventor, Edison had over 1000 patents to his name — 1093 patents, to be exact — including the phonograph, the motion picture recorder, and of course the electric lightbulb.

His inventions were so groundbreaking that they actually spawned entire, new industries including the sound recording industry, the movie industry, the telecommunications industry and the power utility industry.

Imagine that…

All of those things from one man’s brain.

But here’s the thing…

These remarkable things happened not because of Edison’s ideas but because of the hard work and perspiration he put in to turn those ideas into realities that would change our world.

So, no matter what you’ve got going on in your mind, no matter how many amazing ideas you have right now, know that ideas are a dime a dozen.

Everybody has ideas.

People have come up to me and said things like, “Marisa, I’ve got this world-changing idea but before I tell you what it is, will you just sign this non-disclosure agreement?”

I don’t get excited when I hear that, I run the other way!

Why? Because it tells me that this person values ideas more than anything else. Think about it… all they have is an idea and they’re already talking about an NDA.

I believe what Edison believed…

The value is not in the idea. The value is in the perspiration, the hard work, the implementation, the actions that it takes to bring that idea out of your head and into a form that can be truly world-changing and revolutionary.

Always remember…

Your ideas are just 1 percent of your true genius. Just 1 percent.

If you want to embody your genius, if you want to turn it all the way up to the max and share your genius with the world, you’ve got to put some perspiration into it — at least 99 percent… 🙂

You’ve got to roll up those sleeves, put in the elbow grease and make that idea happen.

You’re not living your message if you’re just thinking about your message.

You’re not living your message if all you have is an idea.

You’re living your message every time you go out there and take action…

You’re living your message every time you get those ideas out of your head and into the world where they can actually make a difference.

So, what’s one big idea you have right now and what’s one small action you can take today to start making that idea happen?

Share in the comments so I can cheer you on.

Now go out there and Live Your Message.