We sometimes hear about the "light bulb moment," in which
someone suddenly realizes the solution to a problem. This moment
often leads to new designs, services, and products that improve the
lives of many people.
The idea of having a "light bulb moment" is a bit over-rated in
my opinion, though, and I'll tell you why. Most of the time, people
who have these moments have been actively pursuing new ideas for
years. Once one of these ideas becomes fully developed, then the
light bulb turns on and the person takes action. So in a sense, the
"light bulb moment" has always been there in one's mind. Only when
the time is right and the circumstances align to push the idea to
the forefront does the full idea take shape.
Take for example my meeting my partner here at Dividend.com, Tom
Reese. We were introduced to each other by a mutual friend years
back. At the time, I was incubating my idea to build a great
investment research site to launch on the web. Along comes Tom, who
was doing freelance web development at the time, and was looking to
push deeper on the technical side of his expertise. We got to
talking about our backgrounds and the office condo that I'd
recently purchased. I wanted to start using the office for a new
business, and within weeks, we laid out the framework for what
would eventually become Dividend.com.
It took us nearly six months to get everything in place to go
live back in early 2008. We dedicated every available minute we had
to launching Dividend.com. We dropped everything else in our lives
- even our day-to-day activities that were bringing in money - to
concentrate solely on our new venture. We were on a mission, and we
couldn't get there fast enough.
It is situations like these, great ideas are born, the right
actions are taken, and brands are built. Your place in the world
soon takes on a very different look and feel. By Tom and I
connecting our ideas, we were able to map out our approach. We knew
our ideas held a lot of promise - the process of bringing the ideas
to life was when the real work began.
So despite people stressing the "light bulb moment," the reality
is that good ideas are always in our minds. We just don't know how
or when they'll be triggered. And of course, the light bulb is only
a tiny part of the equation. Actually executing on your idea is the
true test for anyone looking to build something great.
Go Beyond This Newsletter
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An Important Note Regarding the Best Dividend Stocks List
We want to make sure everyone understands that the stocks on our
Best Dividend Stocks List
are the names we currently like for new investor capital,
regardless of what date the stock was first recommended on. If and
when a stock is removed from the list, we will clearly state
whether the stock should be sold (which is rare but occasionally
will happen), or simply held in one's account until we see a better
entry point or catalyst.
And here's one last thing to remember about what we do here at
Dividend.com. It's not just the names that we recommend that can
help you build wealth, but also the things we try to steer you away
from that are just as important. Forget about speculative or penny
stocks, chasing unprofitable IPOs, and listening to the manic
talking heads in the business media!
Thank you for sharing part of your weekend with me, and please
be sure to pass this post on to anyone you think we can get
inspired and educated about money, building wealth, and using
common sense to do so.
Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the
Best Dividend Stocks
, as well as a detailed explanation of
our ratings system here
.