When
you are fighting for success, in any field, rejection can be a devastating
experience. If you’ve taken a knock recently or received some criticism, don’t
let it put you off trying again, because some of the most successful people in
the world didn’t make it the first time. Pick yourself up, dust yourself down
and read about seven successful people who went through failure too, before
they succeeded.
1.
Thomas Edison was told that he was too stupid to learn anything
The
inventor of what was probably the most life changing inventions in the world,
but one we rarely think of, the light bulb, was told at school by his teachers
that he was too stupid to learn anything. Boy, were they wrong, because Edison
went to invent the motion picture and the phonograph, as well as over 1,000
other inventions that he registered patents for.
2.
Walt Disney was told that he lacked imagination and was fired
Believe
it or not, in his early career, Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor
because he lacked imagination! What a judgment that was, on a man whose
imagination gave most of us many of our favourite childhood memories.
3.
Lucille Ball was the star of many failures before
succeeding
Lucille
Ball paved the way for women in the entertainment and she was the first woman
to ever run a major television studio. Before she had even dreamt of gaining 13
Emmy nominations and taking up her star role in ‘I Love Lucy’, she was the star
of some massive failures and was known as the Queen of the ‘B’ Movies.
4.
Stephen King’s novel was rejected thirty times and he threw it in the
trash
One of
the most prolific and most successful authors of modern times, Stephen King,
nearly didn’t make it at all as a writer. His first novel ‘Carrie’ was rejected
thirty times and he got so downhearted about it, he threw the manuscript in the
trash. It was his wife, Tabitha, who retrieved it and convinced King not to
give up.
5.
Oprah Winfrey had a tough beginning, but she didn’t give up
Queen
of the TV and Queen of her own media empire, Oprah Winfrey had a tough time to
begin with as well, but she didn’t give up. Oprah was working as a news
co-anchor on Baltimore’s WJZ-TV, but was demoted after seven months to a much
lesser role. She is now worth an estimated three billion Dollars!
6.
James Dyson spent all his money to get what he wanted
How’s
this for perseverance? James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner inventor, went through
5,126 prototypes, and spent all of his life savings, before he got his design
right! He is now worth an estimated four and half billion Dollars.
7.
Vera Wang also had her faire share of rejections before making it big
American
fashion designer, Vera Wang, had more than her fair share of rejections before
she made it. She was an aspiring figure skater in her youth, but, failed to
make it to the US Olympic team. She then moved on to fashion, as an assistant
at Vogue, but was passed over for promotion. All that failure, though,
eventually paved the way to her making it as a fashion designer in her own
right.
What are your favorite
inspirational stories of successful people?
Stay happy and believe in
yourself!
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