Did Leonardo da Vinci ever have it so bad? Most creators, inventors, and innovators in their lifetime didn't harness the recognition for their works in their own lifetimes. One did. Pablo Picasso in his own time received the honors for his greatness and made money off his incredible works. Many other creators died alone, died broke, and died in some sort of exile from society. Take Antonio Gaudi one of Spain’s, if not greatest, Architects. He was hit but a car in a disheveled state, took for a bum by the police and taken to a poor persons hospital. He died at that hospital and then was mourned by 10,000 people who followed him as he was taken to be buried in the church he spent most of his life designing, and the one he had been living in for the last twenty years of his life. What about Nikola Tesla, an inventor, who in many aspects rivals and surpasses Thomas Alva Edison? Nikola created AC current and Thomas created DC current. They both bid on contracts, but AC current could travel farther with less mid-way stations. Hence today in all our homes and business we use AC current, and in our cars, toys, etc with batteries we use DC. It is also not commonly known that Edison did not invent the light bulb; he improved upon it and made it work. Yes, Edison has over 1,000 patents, and was very famous in his time. Nikola who came to the US with 4 cents in his pocket and if he had accepted the royalties his inventions would have paid he would have been the world's first Billionaire, instead he died alone and broke.

So, what's to learn from so many talented individuals? Well, one must believe in what they are doing and come to realize that their efforts may be recorded and praised long after their gone. Ignore the critics who haunt you and proceed along your intuition and common sense like the masters behind you like Michelangelo, Isaac Newton, Buckminster Fuller, Nikola Tesla, Galileo Galilei, and Louis Kahn.

INVENTION

Is being an innovator difficult? Well, the short answer is yes. Why? Well it takes time, discipline, money, and lots of patience. Sure, sure, an idea is born and birthed, but it doesn't mean that it will grow up to become something. Some ideas need to be filtered as there is not enough time in the day or days in the year to push things through. Invention needs vendors, it needs manufacturers, and yes it does need investment. The typical patent can run in the US from 5k to 10k. Then there are the maintenance fees every few years that can range fro 3-10k and then, yes there is more, it takes more than 2 1/2 years to be awarded a patent. Even if the inventor has the greatest invention that will change the world, many companies require that it be patented first. Examples of companies that do that are Proctor & Gamble, 3M and Avery Dennison. So, lets say you invented something cool and the perfect company is P&G, than you would have to invest at least 2.5 years and $5,000 to see if they may be interested. Of course, there is always the chance that A)someone else has invented what you invented and B)the patent office denies the patent application. And if that wasn't enough, perhaps you need to hire some design services and prototype shops to turn the idea on paper into something real and tangible. Then if this is the case your 5k investment may look cheap.

Inventing is not easy. Perhaps it was easier in Edison or Tesla's day. For the lone inventor in today's time, it may take the same effort, but it requires a bit of marketing magic that many innovators may not have in their skill set.

To learn about some amazing and successful inventors, check out www.muzz.com and select inventors.