Friends are great!

A good friend gives you a shoulder to cry on when times are tough.

Who better to watch that big game with than a good friend, right?

But, when you're an inventor, sometimes your friends aren't your friends.

How can that be? Read on.

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So, when are your friends not your friends?

Let me tell you a story to illustrate.

I loved my first invention: a thin, flexible wallet designed to holds lots of cards, yet remain thin and flexible in the back pocket. After testing my proof-of-concept, I knew the design would work and – it was a truly a wallet design like no other. I was excited, this was a product that millions of consumers could buy and use.

So, what do you do when you are excited about something? You tell your friends.

That is where my troubles began.

Crabs in a Bucket

So, I told some of my colleagues at work about my new invention idea, showed them my crude prototype.

Of course, you probably know that revealing your intellectual property to anyone is a bad idea before you are patent pending. I went out so quickly to file a patent, I probably was patent-pending before I shared my “great product” with my friends at work. But, back to the story.

I felt certain my enthusiasm and excitement would be contagious: it wasn't.

  •  How much is the patent going to cost you?
  • But, at least you are guaranteed to get a patent, right? Oh, you might not even get a patent?
  • How many stores are your wallets currently selling in? Oh, none, huh?…
  • How long have you been working on this thing?
  • Why bother? A big company will just knock off your product and make millions from it…
  • How much have you spent on this?…

You get the picture.

If that little doubtful voice in your head weren't discouragement enough every time you hit a roadblock (and you will hit many in your journey), it's even worse when friends and colleagues you respect tell you to quit wasting your time. If it has not happened to you yet, I guarantee that it will!

When friends question the wisdom of pursuing your invention idea, they are acting from one of two motives:

  1. They genuinely wish you well – and feel that discouraging you now might save you from pain and heartache later
  2. They're not getting ahead in their job, they sure don't want to see you become a big success!

While the intent behind their discouragements are either positive (1) or negative (2), the end result is damaging to you.

2. describes the scenario of “crabs in a bucket”.

It is said that if you put live crabs into a bucket with no lid on the top, none will ever escape.

Why?

Just as one is about to escape, the others will pull it back into the bucket. Your colleagues at work may be crabs simply trying to pull you back into the bucket with them!

But, honestly 1. is more pernicious: it is the one that deters more inventors from moving forward than any other, in my opinion.

You simply cannot put more faith in their counsel than your own: Luke, Trust the Force!

What's an Inventor to Do?

Here are my recommendations based upon what has served me very well over the years.

Take each of these actions starting now:

  1. Tell colleagues only vague, high-level information. It's all they want, anyways!
  2. Join a local inventors group or club. Spend more time with people who have similar goals to your own.
  3. Put on blinders to protect you from those who know little or nothing about inventing – which is almost everyone.

Regarding 1, just say something like, “Yeah, I have an invention idea I've been working on. I don't know if I will be able to do much with it.” They'll like that. It sounds non-threatening (remember the crabs?) . Furthermore, it is all the information they really need or want.

Joining a local inventors group (2) has been the single biggest step forward in my success. I surrounded myself with positive people, all of whom were pursuing goals similar to mine. Furthermore, a great source for encouragement and help is talking with other inventors. 

Lastly, 3 protects your psyche from a lot of negative information that does you absolutely no good whatsoever. 

If you do the above, you will have much greater peace of mind and will also be better able to focus on taking real actions to move your invention forward.

Stay tuned!

_____________________________________________________________________

Would you like information on how to focus to achieve success?

Just click on the blue button below to grab your FREE copy of – Focus to Achieve Success – cheat sheet now.

Would you like to learn how to make money from your invention? Tired of just spending money?

Attend the next FREE live webinar – How to License Your Invention for Royalties.

All you need is your cell phone, laptop or desktop computer to attend this LIVE webinar. Get all your questions answered.

Just click on the orange button below to sign up for the next FREE live webinar – License Your Invention for Royalties.