“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all… you can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can.That’s where you’ll find success.“ –Thomas J. Watson
Have you ever found that a huge disappointment ended up being a blessing in disguise? Consider these highly-successful people who experienced some disappointments along the way:
- Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 years old, and he did not read until he was 7 years old. One of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams.” At one point he was even expelled from school!
- Thomas Edison was fired from his first two jobs for being “nonproductive.” In school, his teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” With a clear intention to invent electric light, Edison made more than 1000 unsuccessful attempts. When asked about how he felt about his many failures, Edison said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
- Charles Schultz, creator of the famous Peanuts comic strip, submitted his material to his high school’s yearbook staff and it was rejected.
- Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” His proposal for a theme park was originally rejected by the city of Anaheim, California because government officials thought it would only attract “riffraff.” He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
- The Beatles asked Decca Records for a recording contract, and they were turned down and given this feedback: “We don’t like their sound. Guitar groups are on their way out.”
- Fred Astaire received this memo from the Testing Director at MGM after his first screen test in 1933: “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”
- Babe Ruth set a world record for the most home runs. He also led the league in strike-outs.
- Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team because the coach said he wasn’t good enough. He went on to win six NBA championships.
- J.K. Rowling‘s first Harry Potter book was rejected by 12 publishers before she found someone who said yes. Today she has sold more than 400 million copies of her books, which have been the basis for a popular series of films. She progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. As of March 2011, when its latest world billionaires list was published, Forbes estimated Rowling’s net worth to be $1 billion (US).
- Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling coauthors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, with 215 different titles in print, and worldwide sales of over 500 million copies in 47 languages. They were initially rejected by 144 publishers who said it was a stupid title, that nobody bought collections of short stories, that there was no edge–no sex, no violence—and nobody would want to read it.
What separates all of these successful people from those who don’t achieve success? They kept going! They did not allow the opinion of others to stop them from following their dreams and passions.
Listen to Rocky Balboa’s inspirational speech to his son. “Nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward…how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
The Freedom Challenges found at the end of each chapter of my book will help you to hook into your dreams and passions so you can follow the music of your heart.
“Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children
of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”
–Napoleon Hill
