Most of the time when things are going really bad, it is right before you catch a break. Sometimes things have to get worse, before they can get better. For these men and women, they faced rejection, failure and even despair.
- Thomas Edison – He was told by his teachers that he was ‘too stupid to learn anything’. He went on to hold more than 1,000 patents, including the phonograph and practical electric lamp.
- Steven Spielberg – He was rejected twice by University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. He went on to win five Academy Awards.
- Albert Einstein – He didn’t speak until age four and couldn’t read until age seven. He was considered to be mentally handicapped. He not only changed the way we perceive physics; he won a Nobel Prize.
- Stephen King – His first book, Carrie, was rejected by publishers 30 times. Frustrated, he threw the manuscript into the trash. His wife retrieved it, asking him to try one more time. He did and it was his first book deal.
- Sylvester Stallone – He was rejected by talent scouts over 1,500 times. When he was writing Rocky, he was so broke he had to sell his dog to keep the electricity on.
- Oprah – She was told she was unfit for television and fired from her first job.
- Katy Perry – Her first album sold a mere 200 copies before the record label went out of business. After that she was dropped by two record labels. Ten years later she released I Kissed a Girl, and her career took off.
- Michael Jordan – He was cut from his high school basketball team for lack of talent.
- Howard Schultz – When developing Starbucks, he was turned down by banks 242 times.
- Walt Disney – His idea for a theme park was trashed 302 times.
Don’t allow setbacks you face to discourage you…Steve Jobs was famous for saying, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” To be successful in anything, you must be willing to fight through the failures and obstacles. If any of these courageous men and women had given up, the world as we know it wouldn’t exist.
