Not everyone who’s on top today got there with
success after success. More often than not, those who history best
remembers were faced with numerous obstacles that forced them to work
harder and show more determination than others. Next time you’re feeling
down about your failures in college or in a career, keep these famous
people in mind and remind yourself that sometimes failure is just the
first step towards success.
Business Gurus
These businessmen and the companies they founded are
today known around the world, but as these stories show, their
beginnings weren’t always smooth.
Henry Ford:
While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and
American-made cars, he wasn’t an instant success. In fact, his early
businesses failed and left him broke five times before he founded the
successful Ford Motor Company.
R. H. Macy:
Most people are familiar with this large department store chain, but
Macy didn’t always have it easy. Macy started seven failed business
before finally hitting big with his store in New York City.
Soichiro Honda:
The billion-dollar business that is Honda began with a series of
failures and fortunate turns of luck. Honda was turned down by Toyota
Motor Corporation for a job after interviewing for a job as an engineer,
leaving him jobless for quite some time. He started making scooters of
his own at home, and spurred on by his neighbors, finally started his
own business.
Akio Morita:
You may not have heard of Morita but you’ve undoubtedly heard of his
company, Sony. Sony’s first product was a rice cooker that unfortunately
didn’t cook rice so much as burn it, selling less than 100 units. This
first setback didn’t stop Morita and his partners as they pushed forward
to create a multi-billion dollar company.
Bill Gates
Gates didn’t seem like a shoe-in for success after dropping out of
Harvard and starting a failed first business with Microsoft co-founder
Paul Allen called Traf-O-Data. While this early idea didn’t work, Gates’
later work did, creating the global empire that is Microsoft.
Harland David Sanders:
Perhaps better known as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame,
Sanders had a hard time selling his chicken at first. In fact, his
famous secret chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times before a
restaurant accepted it.
Walt Disney: 
Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks
around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start.
He was fired by a newspaper editor because, “he lacked imagination and
had no good ideas.” After that, Disney started a number of businesses
that didn’t last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept
plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that
worked.
Scientists and Thinkers
Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks
around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start.
He was fired by a newspaper editor because, “he lacked imagination and
had no good ideas.” After that, Disney started a number of businesses
that didn’t last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept
plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that
worked.
These people are often regarded as some of the
greatest minds of our century, but they often had to face great
obstacles, the ridicule of their peers and the animosity of society.
Albert Einstein:
Most
of us take Einstein’s name as synonymous with genius, but he didn’t
always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and
did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to
think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he
was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich
Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most
people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the
Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics.
Most
of us take Einstein’s name as synonymous with genius, but he didn’t
always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and
did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to
think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he
was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich
Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most
people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the
Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics.
Charles Darwin:
In his early years, Darwin gave up on having a medical career and was
often chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin
himself wrote, “I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very
ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect.” Perhaps
they judged too soon, as Darwin today is well-known for his scientific
studies.
Isaac Newton:
Newton was undoubtedly a genius when it came to math, but he had some
failings early on. He never did particularly well in school and when put
in charge of running the family farm, he failed miserably, so poorly in
fact that an uncle took charge and sent him off to Cambridge where he
finally blossomed into the scholar we know today.
Socrates:
Despite leaving no written records behind, Socrates is regarded as one
of the greatest philosophers of the Classical era. Because of his new
ideas, in his own time he was called “an immoral corrupter of youth” and
was sentenced to death. Socrates didn’t let this stop him and kept
right on, teaching up until he was forced to poison himself.
InventorsThese inventors changed the face of the modern world, but not without a few failed prototypes along the way.
Thomas Edison:
In his early years, teachers told Edison he was “too stupid to learn
anything.” Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs
for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000
unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. Of course, all those
unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design that worked.
In his early years, teachers told Edison he was “too stupid to learn
anything.” Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs
for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000
unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. Of course, all those
unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design that worked.
Orville and Wilbur Wright:
Wright brothers battled depression and family illness before starting
the bicycle shop that would lead them to experimenting with flight.
After numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of
hard work, and tons of failed prototypes, the brothers finally created a
plane that could get airborne and stay there.
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/#topAbout these ads
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