Perseverance 

Most great ideas are, by definition, new. How do you keep people moving forward in the face of challenges and setbacks? How about talk about all of the famous entrepreneurs who faced failure before wild success?

  • Walt Disney. Walt Disney was reportedly fired by a newspaper editor for not having good ideas and no imagination. Disney World is currently valued at $35 billion dollars.
  • Thomas Edison. Before becoming successful, Thomas Edison tried more than 10,000 times to invent the light bulb. When asked about his failures, Edison stated that he knew “definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work.”
  • Fred Smith. Founder of hugely successful company “Fed Ex” Smith’s college professor stated that his concept of Federal Express was “interesting, but not feasible”.
  • Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was actually fired from Apple, the very company that he is responsible for making it the success it is today. When Jobs was fired from Apple, he was quoted stating “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

“There is always a way.” 

  • Oprah Winfrey. Hailed as the “ Queen of Daytime Talk TV” Winfrey was fired from her news reporter gig at a Baltimore news station. Oprah went on to build a wildly successful following from her daytime talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Oprah’s net worth is currently valued at $2.7 billion dollars.
  • Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times before getting his huge break. Spielberg is known for directing mega hits that include Jurassic Park and Jaws, among many others.
  • Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. Founders of the home improvement chain “The Home Depot” Marcus and Blank were fired from corporate America in 1989. These savvy businessmen went on to turn their Big Box store into a huge success and currently have over 2,200 retail stores in the United States with revenues exceeding $74.8 billion dollars.
  • Colonel Sanders. Colonel Sanders is the entrepreneur who founded KFC “Kentucky Fried Chicken” when he was 56 years old. His recipe was reportedly rejected over 1,000 times before a restaurant picked it up.
  • Henry Ford. Ford founded two automotive companies that failed before he was able to gain success with the Ford Motor Company. At his time of death, Ford’s estimated net worth was $188 billion dollars.

So before you think there’s no way, remember there’s always away. And if you don’t succeed the first time – try again 

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