There’s just something about reading over the failures of famous people that gives me a real boost. Not because they failed, but because they kept going. They faced those road-bumps head-on and just kept on truckin’. They were just regular folks like you and me until they beat their obstacles.
That’s the kind of thinking I like to keep going! Looking to all problems that come across my path as chances to boost me to the next level. Or at the very least, give me one small lesson on how to live life more effectively next time.
I’ve done some fun research to come up with 32 examples of very famous people falling flat on their faces, getting back up, and totally owning success like no one’s business. Who did I come up with?
- Soichiro Honda
- Stephen King
- Babe Ruth
- Thomas Edison
- Harland David (Colonel) Sanders
- Oprah Winfrey
- Dick Cheney
- Albert Einstein
- Theodor Seuss Giesel (Dr. Seuss)
- Isaac Newton
- Charles Schultz
- Elvis Presley
- The Beatles
- Winston Churchill
- Steven Spielberg
- R. H. Macy
- Fred Astaire
- Sidney Poitier
- Charlie Chaplin
- Michael Jordan
- Walt Disney
- J. K. Rowling
- Marilyn Monroe
- Milton Hershey
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Ray Kroc
- Akio Morita
- Abraham Lincoln
- Bill Gates
- Frank Winfield Woolworth
- Henry Ford
- John Grisham
If this list doesn’t inspire you and want to make you give your life your very best, I don’t know what will. Here goes.
32 Famous People Failures – The Lessons Learned:
So what, right? That’s just a list of names. Well, let’s dive right into what happened, what they learned, and what you can learn from each person. Ready?
- Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota during a job interview for an engineering position. Yes, THAT Honda.
- Stephen King‘s first book, Carrie, was rejected 30 times before he threw it in the trash. His wife saved it and urged him to follow through.
- Babe Ruth is famous for his home run records but also holds the world’s record for the largest number of strikeouts.
- Thomas Edison, who has 1,093 U.S patents to his name, was told by a teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything. He also did more than 9,000 experiments before creating the first successful light bulb.
- Harland David (Colonel) Sanders started his KFC dream at 65 years old. His fried chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times.
- Oprah Winfrey had a rough and abusive childhood and was fired from her job as a reporter because she was “unfit for TV.”
- Former United States Vice President Dick Cheney flunked out of Yale University. Twice.
- Albert Einstein couldn’t speak fluently when he was nine years old and his parents concluded he was mentally retarded.
- Theodor Seuss Giesel (Dr. Seuss) was rejected by 27 different publishers for his first book, To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
- Isaac Newton performed so poorly in grade school that his teachers lost hope for improving his grades.