Hi everyone! Today I want to share this great infographic on aha moments — how today’s world icons got their ideas and inspiration:
![The Aha Moments: How People Realize What to Do in Life [Infographic]](png/infographic-aha-moments.png)
(Click image for larger version (Infographic by Funders and Founders))
This infographic highlights the leaders behind today’s modern society (think the founders of Whatsapp, Pinterest, Apple, Microsoft, IKEA, instant noodles, GAP,and AirBNB) and how they embarked on their paths. If you notice, their trigger points came when they were faced with a problem — some of which are daily trivialities like Caresse Crosby (inventor of bra)’s inability to fit her bust into a corset and others more somber, like when Samuel Morse (telegraph inventor) found his wife dead because her letter reached him too late. :/
Some of the stories that struck me:
- AirBNB. Those of us who travel frequently would know AirBNB — pretty much the largest vacation rental site in the world with over half a million listings worldwide. Turns out that its founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, got their AHA for AirBNB when they earned cash from turning their living room into a bed and breakfast, because both of them couldn’t afford rent for their loft. They realized the potential for alternative lodging and subsequently started AirBNB.
- IKEA. IKEA was my favorite playground when Ken and I were busy hunting down the perfect furniture for our new home. Ingvar Kamprad, the 88-year-old IKEA founder, stumbled upon the idea of selling flat-pack furniture when an employee (not Kamprad as mentioned in the infographic) had to take the legs off a table to squeeze it into a customer’s car. Kamprad resigned from IKEA in 2013 and was replaced by his youngest son, but continues to be a part of the IKEA family.
- WhatsApp. One has to admit that Whatsapp is the prevalent form of mobile communication today, from being the common tool to organize social outings to being the platform for catching up between close friends. Founder Jan Koum was inspired to create Whatsapp in 2009, having lived on welfare when young and been through days when his mom and him couldn’t afford to call his dad in Ukraine. Read his rags-to-riches story here. Koum is now worth $6.8 billion thanks to his company.
- Instant Noodles. In a world where we’re constantly busy, instant noodles have become our go-to food. Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant noodles and founder of Nissin Foods, got the idea of instant noodles in 1948, when Japan was plagued by post-war poverty:
In “The Story of the Invention of Instant Ramen,” an autobiography published in 2002, Mr. Ando told of walking through the rubble-strewn streets of Osaka.“I happened to pass this area and saw a line 20, 30 meters long in front of a dimly lit stall from which clouds of steam were steadily rising,” he wrote. “People dressed in shabby clothes shivered in the cold while waiting for their turn. The person who was with me said they were lined up for a bowl of ramen.”
“I realized that people were willing to wait patiently just for a bowl of ramen,” he said.
(Source: Momofuku Ando, 96, Dies; Invented Instant Ramen from The New York Times.)
Fast forward 10 years. After turning bankrupt from a previous venture gone wrong, Ando then started experimented with ways to create instant noodle from this earlier AHA. The rest is history.
Inspirational story aside though, instant noodles have been repeatedly proven to be unhealthy and can lead to serious long-term health risks, so best cut down or remove it from your diet if possible.
What this infographic tells us is that contrary to popular belief, some of most amazing inventions and successful ventures today were borne out of a simple idea, a simple idea created to solve a simple problem. Which means that while we may sometimes get overwhelmed by the little problems in our daily lives, how about a mindset shift where we recognize these problems are in fact assets waiting for us to harvest them?
Meaning, the next time you face a frustrating problem…
- Think about the lesson(s) you get to learn from it.
- Be grateful for this learning opportunity, as you would not have gotten it if not for this problem.
- Brainstorm permanent solutions for this problem.
- If you’re facing this problem, chances are at least ten thousands of people out there are facing it too. And if you’ve found a way to solve it, why not share the solution with others, add value to others’ lives, and possibly receive value in return for it too? Think about how you can spread this solution to the world. For example: Create an information product sharing your lessons? Create a product or a software that carries the solution? Offer a service that addresses this issue?
Which stories in this infographic inspired you? What can you take away for yourself?
![16 Things Successful People Do at the Beginning of Every Workday [Infographic]](png/infographic-successful-people-every-workday-400x676.png)
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Great infographic Celes, very inspiring and also creates hope that it’s never too late :) I love it.
Also, totally understand, being married in itself is a busy thing! Adjusting to a new life together, routine etc … I’m also trying to find time with hubby to furnish / redecorate in between working full time and seeing family – all normal routine out the window currently!
Nice article, I never knew about the story of John Kaufman and Whatsapp … Thank You for sharing :).
I am Hamza Khurshid, A freelance video editor and your reader, isn’t it a good combination? :) I have sent you an email at the given address. Would like to edit the next episode for free, so you can see my quality of work.
Waiting to hear from you, :)
Wow thanks.
Sorry to hear that your previous staff bailed on you.
It’s also interesting to see that these people were able to come up with these great ideas at different points in their lives. From their teens well into their forties, aha moments can strike whenever.
~Lea
Awesome infographic, and awesome post, thanks for sharing.
It’s so true that we must have a mindset shift when it comes to problems. Instead of lingering on how bad the problem is, focus on how the problem can make you become stronger or better in some way.
How often are the classes? I’m filling out the email box for the free-ebook and articles, it really sounds like something I could use. Is there any sort of live classroom by skype or any other online conferencing?
Hey Catherine! I assume you’re referring to the Anti-Procrastination Course? The course is underway and signups have already been closed since weeks ago. (I posted about the course a month ago on PE, via this announcement post: https://personalexcellence.co/blog/procrastination-course/.) If you’re interested you can check out the product version of the course, which is essentially a recording of the live classes (online webinar with content, exercises, class interaction, and participant sharing) here: https://personalexcellence.co/procrastination/
What an awesome infographic, Celes! I like your focus on what we can learn from it…I think this is an important idea worth repeating again and again, because I feel like in general people just want to complain about the problem rather than try to do anything about it. Training yourself to instead think, “Well, what can I do about it?” isn’t an easy feat, but it leaves you much better off. =)
By the way, were you still planning to do that series on self-love? I was really looking forward to it! =)
PS: For the Anti-Procrastination course, I was wondering if you’d rather receive homework if it’s late, or not at all if it’s past the deadline you set? My thoughts are that it could be seen as disrespectful to you to send it past the deadline (as it’s not respecting your time), but how do you see it? I’ve been dealing with some rather deep realizations about myself (I’d rather not discuss over public comments!)/some other things in life, which have lead to me not quite finishing the homework on time. I’ve done the exercises except for finishing my vision board(s), and although I finished them well before Wednesday I didn’t send them because I was hoping I’d be able to finish the boards, too. Anyway, let me know what you think if you have the chance. =) I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it to the third module tomorrow, but I’ll do my best!
Hey Alexa!! I was almost thinking of dropping you an email to check on how you’re doing for the course, but thought perhaps you would be too busy to work on the HW for the time being! I’m SO SO SO glad that you posted this comment — ideally of course it’s best that the HW is sent by the suggested deadline only because it allows me to have more time to read and give feedback (before the next class), also to incorporate into the next module’s slides if I think it’s suitable for sharing. But if it’s completed after the due date, hey — better late than never! Please, by all means, send them over, even if it’s after tomorrow’s class (there have even been participants who submitted Module 1’s HW in Week 2 and I’m totally okay with it). I’d love to take a look!
On the self-love series, YES! It’s in the backburner — I wrote it halfway and write now it’s stuck in my WordPress dashboard because there are many other pressing to-dos (and important ones) that I need to get to. The AP course is one, as well as other collaboration work and of course video production work for Celes.TV which takes quite a while. I need to seriously look into hiring new help, but in the meanwhile unfortunately the self-love series will have to wait a little while (I’m thinking of having it as quite a big series, of at least five parts). If you have any thoughts on what you’d like covered, do let me know too!
Thanks for replying, Celes! I’ll definitely send you an email as soon as I finish the vision boards. =) Thanks also for thinking about me and about potentially emailing me — that’s really nice of you!
Glad to hear about the series! Totally understandable given everything you’ve got going on right now (wish I were qualified for any of those jobs you needed!), but it’s nice to hear it’s still on the table, if not for a while! =)
Hi Celes, that’s a good infographic. If there’s a need for something and nobody else is doing it, it’s easy to see how these ventures can become so successful.
By the way, my wife Lydia is looking for some video editing work. She’s good with adding animated text, so would be well suited to editing your kind of videos. If you’re interested I can send you some examples of work she’s done.
Hey Glenn, yes for sure, drop me an email with details and I’ll take a look!
I just sent through an email
Didn’t get anything including spam folder, what email did you send to?
The one you used to write to me from, celes@celestinechua.com It just came up when I started typing your name. I assume that would still be redirected if you’re using a personalexcellence.co email? It hasn’t bounced back
That email is totally invalid now! I was getting a lot of outdated mail there plus I didn’t want people to associate PE with celestinechua.com anymore, so I decided not to set a redirect. You can just send to business@personalexcellence.co directly (as mentioned in the post)! (Good to update the email in your address book at the same time!)
Sent again
Got it!
current live run of Anti-Procrastination Course <—- THIS! I'll be there for this. Though how can you believe anyone who is an out of control procrastination station? It's SO bad, SO bad. Every time I tell myself I'm going to stop it and then I get myself so distracted, or rather, allow it. I need a huge wall poster of that infographic, and will be immersing heavily into everything ANTI-Procrastination. There's actually so little out there about it, most say the same things. (thumbs up)
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