This is a Blog about Failure and his half-brother Persistence, “applying” (pun) WD-40 as an appropriate example and solution.
The full name of the famous household lubricant spray is “Water Displacement, 40th Formula”.
Do you know why it’s 40? Because the previous 39 attempts failed.
Working for Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 formula was invented in 1953 by Iver Norman Lawson, in San Diego, California. The company was renamed WD-40 Company, probably because of the overwhelming success of the invention.
WD-40 had its start in the airlines industry, today it’s a “Jack of all trades” solution for household repair. The symbolic power of Persistence.
This is the cool part I like about WD-40 – like the Coca Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken formulas, the WD-40 formula is a trade secret, The original copy of the formula is stored in a secure bank vault in San Diego.
I love Thomas Edison’s persistence quotes – “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” and “I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”
Don’t beat yourself up when you fail. There are no failures, only lessons learned.
I often share my personal mantras to friends who “did not have a nice day” – “The dying of a Wasted Night leads to the birth of a fresh New Day.” as well as “Life and Opportunities do not favour hesitant people.”
Here are a few inspirational failure/persistence quotations that I like:
“Even monkeys fall from trees.”
“Adversity is the foundation of virtue.”
“What you don’t sweat out when you’re young, will turn into tears when you are old.”
“Vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a nightmare.”
“We learn little from victory, much from defeat.”
“Victory belongs to those who wait half an hour longer than their opponent.”
I left my favourite for the last – “The day you decide to do it, is your lucky day.”
