Transcript

Finishing #1226 · From Chad

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Two men had the same idea on the same day.
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There's a story behind that. This is your daily message from
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Chad #12126 to upgrade your missile game today by telling
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yourself a better story. Because the most important story
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you hear is the story you tell yourself.
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This message is dedicated to Jared Riddle.
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Here's the upgrade. You may have the idea first, but
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upgraded thinking knows an idea doesn't become yours until you
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carry it through. Here's the story.
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February 14th, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell's lawyers filed a
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full patent application for the telephone.
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That same day, Elisha Gray's lawyer filed something smaller.
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A caveat. It's a notice that you intend to
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patent something later. It's a placeholder with an
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expiration date. Nobody can say for certain whose
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paper reached the Patent Office first.
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The records are disputed. Gray later said his arrived
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earlier. What isn't disputed is that both
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documents described the same key feature the examiner noticed.
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He flagged the overlap and held Bell's application so Gray could
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file a full application of his own.
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That was the opening. Gray had the idea written down,
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and he had a window to finish it.
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He didn't file. His lawyer looked at Bell's
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application, saw it had been sworn 2 weeks earlier, and
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advised Gray to stand down. Gray took that advice.
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The obstacle dissolved and Bell's patent issued March 7th,
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1876 for the telephone. Years later, Gray applied for a
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patent on that variable resistance transmitter, the key
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feature of the telephone. The Patent Office ruled that he
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was undoubtedly the first to conceive of and disclose the
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invention. But his failure to take action
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amounting to completion until others had shown it worked meant
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he lost the right to have it considered.
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Gray had the thought. He had the paperwork in his
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hands. He didn't carry it across the
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line. Now you might be thinking Gray
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had bad luck. Maybe a clerk slowed things
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down, or a lawyer had given him bad advice.
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Maybe. But notice what the story keeps
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coming back to. It isn't who it was fastest at
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the counter, it's who finished. Somebody once said.
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When all is said and done, more is said than done.
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Saying is easy. It costs nothing.
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You can talk about the book, the business, the thing you're going
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to build all day long, and nobody can call you a liar.
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But talk never gets anything across the line.
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Only done counts. The better story to tell
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yourself is my idea only counts once I finish it.
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So what's the thing you've been describing to people for a year?
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Finish the first draft today. Send the first version.
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File the thing. Your idea isn't yours until it's
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done, and the world will only ever recognize the finished
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version. Tell me a story of an idea you
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finished to from chadsmith@gmail.com.
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Send someone a text and tell them what's the one thing you
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said you'd finish this year. You can get a free copy of my
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book, The Most Powerful Story in the World, by going to from
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chad.gumroad.com. The transcript of this message
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and hundreds of others are always available at
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www.fromchad.com.