Taken from “What I’ve Learned Since I Knew It All”
By Todd Clements M.D. & Paul Meier M.D.

It’s easy to think of yourself as insignificant in this world.  Sometimes we wonder if anyone besides our family would miss us if we disappeared.  Continuing in this line of reasoning it’s easy to think that as one insignificant person we can’t do much to affect this world, but history has proved that notion untrue time and time again.  You do have the potential to change this world we live in.  One person can do amazing things, but that person must possess three key elements: determination, work, and time.

Determination.

Whatever you stand for, you will encounter naysayers. In the early 1900s, people told Orville and Wilbur Wright that they were downright stupid for thinking they could make a machine that would fly. Experts said there were no motors powerful enough to sustain a “flying machine,” and even if there were, it would be impossible to steer it correctly. Several other inventors in Great Britain had tried to make flying machines, but sadly, some of them died when their experimental crafts crashed. Americans laughed at those two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, who worked on their flying machine for three years. The pair continued to believe it could be done, and in 1903 they showed everyone when they successfully flew a plane on the seashore at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
 
Work.

Thomas Edison, a man who was largely deaf and had only three months of formal education, is credited with more inventions than any other American (over 1,300). Edison certainly knew how to work. He created the phonograph machine, the movie camera, the battery, and even an electric vote recorder in 1868. Though he was a genius, his achievements didn’t come easily. In fact, it was Thomas Edison who made the now-famous statement, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” Whenever he set his mind to invent something, he spent months reading every piece of literature about the subject he could obtain.

In 1878, even though he was already wealthy and could have retired, Edison became convinced that electric lights would be cheaper for people and more efficient than gas lighting. Although electricity was very crude at the time, he was convinced he could find a substance (he called a “filament”) that would transmit electric energy into light.

He tried thousands of different substances over the next several months, but each one failed. The entire time he worked, the New York Times and the gas industry lampooned him. But he did not give up or waiver and finally, after months of failure he created a carbon filament that would cause a wire carrying electricity to glow for hours. It was the first light bulb, and it changed the world. What would life be like today if he had given up?

Time.

If you are consistent over time, people will listen. Dr. Robert Atkins came up with an idea over a quarter of a century ago that overweight people could lose pounds by eating low levels of carbohydrates and higher levels of protein and fat in their diet. This idea was totally opposite what the government and American Medical Association (AMA) were telling people to do to lose weight. The AMA endorsed low fat and low protein diets.

Dr. Atkins could have said, “Who am I to go up against all these other powerful doctors who say my method is crazy?” But he didn’t. He kept preaching and teaching his conviction that this diet was an effective and safe way to lose weight. He had very few listeners for the first several years.

A recent magazine article reported that one out of every seven people in America today follow an Atkins-type diet. Restaurants have even started changing their menus to include low carbohydrate foods. Soft drink and beer companies have even created new drinks with fewer carbohydrates. Grocery stores now carry foods labeled “Atkins Approved.” This craze is not only in America but in other countries as well. One man’s ideas have affected the eating habits of hundreds of millions of people.

We are not trying to say that the Atkins diet is the best way to lose weight, because we both believe in permanent lifestyle changes when it comes to eating correctly. But a modified Atkins approach, with some healthy carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, can add years to some people’s lives by helping them lose weight. Dr. Atkins accomplished a lot and taught a great deal about nutrition by continuing to speak about his conviction.

New ideas are often controversial. The Atkins method certainly falls into that category. There was also controversy when the Wright brothers talked about flying machines, and when Thomas Edison said electric lights would be better than gas lighting. Any matter of consequence in life is going to be accompanied by controversy. If it doesn’t, it means no one really cares. Controversy or the lack of instant success should never stop you from proclaiming your convictions.
Do you want to make a difference in this world? We’ve got good news—you can do it!  And you have an even better chance at success if you determine and start working for your convictions while you are young.  But, no matter how old you are it’s never too late to start!