Quick quiz…

Who first came up with the idea for a programmable computer?

A name might not spring immediately to mind…

But if you know your history, you’ll say it was Charles Babbage in the mid 1800s.

However, you’d be wrong.

It was a woman named Ada Lovelace who wrote the instructions for the first computer program – she was a correspondent of Babbage’s at the time.

It was Charles Babbage who later came up with the machine to run the programme. So Babbage was credited with the whole invention.

Yet it was a woman who started it…

It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened to women.

There’s a similar story behind a less significant invention… but a useful one… the square-bottomed paper bag.

This was invented in 1868 by a woman named Margaret Knight who made a wooden model of a device that could create this type of bag. Trouble was she couldn’t get a patent until she made an iron version of it.

While she was waiting for this to be made, a man named Charles Annan nabbed the idea and patented it himself.

Now, I’m not going to get all political about men taking credit for women’s hard work and ingenuity…

(Even though that’s often true)

I use this as a shocking example of how it’s those that take action that end up getting the rewards.

Which is precisely the philosophy of another famous inventor (who by the way ALSO stole his telephone idea from an Italian inventor) Alexander Graham Bell.

He once wrote this…

“The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.”

And he’s right.

The only difference between success and failure is that moment of action where you take a bold decision and transform your own destiny.

And unlike Annan, Babbage and Bell you don’t need to ‘steal’ someone else’s idea…because the action you take is based on something that’s YOURS… a skill, a passion, an experience, an insight… something that is of value to others.

Now when I say this kind of thing in live events or private coaching sessions, many women tell me…

“But I don’t have an idea, I’m not an inventor, or a brilliant thinker, or an author…”

Well, you don’t need to be.

You have all the ingredients in your life right now to create something wonderful that makes money.

All you need is an understanding of HOW to bring it out of you…. and the willingness to take action.

For instance, I remember reading statistics about how in America an estimated 80% of people have considered writing a book… yet less than 1% actually do.

Does it mean that 80% COULDN’T write a book?

No. They simply DON’T.

That’s the difference.

I’m not saying everyone who took action would create a bestseller or get rich. Not at all. But they’d have something to offer to publishers, show to friends or family or sell directly on Kindle.

In the same way, I’d estimate that around the same percentage of women in the UK today have, at one point, considered the idea of creating their own business, or working for themselves… (possibly more!)

Yet the vast majority of women don’t run their own business, or work for themselves.

Does it mean they can’t?

No, it just means that they DON’T.

That’s because there are two kinds of people…

Dreamers…

And doers.

The dreamers love the promise of freedom, wealth and independence that comes with a successful business.

But they dabble, tyre-kick and start things without finishing. They quickly abandon their plans, run out of steam, or switch to something else that seems more interesting.

The doers are in the minority.

They step forward and take the bigger challenges. They accept that there’s work involved and that they need to make the most of whatever abilities they have. They know that a business, service or product CANNOT make money unless it actually exists… and that means bringing it to market.

You get no prizes for a great idea that is only half finished. You won’t get deals, offers, reviews and praise for something that’s still only a blueprint.

At some point you have to deliver something tangible – a finished product or service, no matter how rough and ready.

That is something only YOU can do – not the guru, course publisher, advisor, life-coach…

They can only give you the map, they cannot make you walk the terrain to reach your goal.

Great things only happen when you act.

Take it from me…

I’ve been in business for two decades, and in that time met lots of CEOs, traders, City bankers, artists, authors, property tycoons, international publishers, copywriters, top bloggers…you name it….

And no offence to them, but..

You’d be surprised at how unimportant raw talent, originality and knowledge are when it comes to success.

That woman with her own Etsy shop, the burned out consultant who realised that she could share her skills via an online course and was able to sack her demanding clients… that mother of three who makes money from sharing healthy family recipes on her website…  they’re usually there because they just went out and did it, that’s all.

I believe the same of you…

I’m absolutely convinced that there is something in your life, experience and skills that could become a product, service or business…

All you need to do is take action…

And follow the right path.

This is what I’d like to help you do over the coming weeks and months – find that inner goldmine and then turn it into something real, that you can take credit for, and make money from.

Watch this space!