TEN LESSONS FROM EDISON & MUSK

1. You're never too young to do something great

• Elon Musk: Programmed a video game at age 13. Started Zip2 (his first company) at age 24, then X.com/PayPal shortly after. He has repeatedly said it is possible for ordinary people (including young ones) to choose to be extraordinary.

• Thomas Edison: Began working as a newsboy and telegraph operator as a teenager; made his first invention (an improved stock ticker) in his early 20s and built his famous lab while still young.

  
  

2. You have to love what you do

• Thomas Edison: “I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.” 

• Elon Musk: “People work better when they know what the goal is and why… enjoy working.” He emphasizes pursuing what you’re passionate about because it makes the extreme effort sustainable.

  
  

3. Think big

• Elon Musk: “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” He aims at sustainable energy, multi-planetary life, and brain-computer interfaces — goals that most people considered impossible.

• Thomas Edison: “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.” He electrified the world, not just one light bulb.

  
  

4. Work hard

• Thomas Edison: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Also: “There is no substitute for hard work.” 

• Elon Musk: “Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week… This improves the odds of success.”

  
  

5. Don't lose your momentum

• Thomas Edison: “Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.” He maintained relentless daily experimentation and iteration.

• Elon Musk: Constant feedback loop: “constantly thinking about how you could be doing it better.” He pushes teams to maintain velocity even during setbacks.

  
  

6. To change the world, dare to be an outsider

• Elon Musk: Left South Africa as a teen, dropped out of Stanford after two days, and repeatedly challenged entrenched industries (auto, aerospace, energy). “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.”

• Thomas Edison: Worked outside traditional scientific circles in his Menlo Park “invention factory,” ignoring conventional wisdom about electricity and invention processes.

  
  

7. Believe in the American Dream

• Thomas Edison: Rose from modest beginnings (newsboy, limited formal schooling) to become one of the most prolific inventors in history through hard work and ingenuity in America.

• Elon Musk: Immigrated to the U.S. with little money, built multiple billion-dollar companies, and often speaks of the opportunities America provided for bold innovation. Now the first trillionaire, he has a trillion-dollar payout after he built a city on Mars with a million people.

  
  

8. Think of yourself as a winner

• Thomas Edison: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He reframed every setback as progress.

• Elon Musk: “I always have optimism, but I’m realistic… Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” He maintains a winner’s mindset even after multiple rocket explosions or production crises.

  
  

9. Be an original

• Thomas Edison: “There are no rules here — we’re trying to accomplish something.” He created entirely new systems (electric power grid, recorded sound, motion pictures).

• Elon Musk: Built reusable rockets, mass-market electric cars, and humanoid robots when most experts said they were impractical or impossible. He constantly seeks original approaches. Bill Gates said battery-powered semi is impossible, now Elon is mass-producing it.  

  
  

10. Never give up

• Thomas Edison: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” And “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

• Elon Musk: “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.” And “No, I don’t ever give up. I’d have to be dead or completely incapacitated.”

These attributions show teens that these mindsets — lived by Edison and Musk — fuel early college ambition and big life goals.