I don’t know what you are trying to do or thinking about doing in your life, but I came across some pretty interesting facts that I would like to share with you. Many times, people will try something, but if they get rejected or fail one time, they quit trying and just believe/assume it was not meant to be.

If the following people quit after one try, I dare to think where we would all be.

Henry Ford – went bankrupt twice within four years trying to start a car company. Interesting point is that the same investors in Ford Motor Company were the same investors that lost money in the first two companies.

Albert Einstein – His parents thought he was retarded, and a teacher told him he would never amount to anything. He did not speak until he was four years old and did not read until he was seven.

Walt Disney – Went bankrupt in 1921, and he literally ate dog food to survive. He went bankrupt a couple more times before inventing Mickey Mouse and finally creating a company that was successful. Newspapers said he “had no good ideas for film productions”

Michael Jordan – Missed more than 9,000 shots and lost 26 games where he was entrusted to take the final shot

Beethoven – His teacher once said of him that he was hopeless as a composer. He lost his hearing and still went on to become one of the greatest composers of all time

J.K. Rowling – She wrote the Harry Potter series. Her manuscript for harry Potter was turned down 12 times, and she was depressed, penniless, divorced. When she wrote Harry Potter while she was on welfare.

Steve Jobs – His biggest failure was the Apple Newton in 1993. They didn’t think he could invent anything that the broad market wanted. The Newton was the basic idea for the Blackberry, and the owners of Blackberry literally owned the global smart phone market and thought they were invincible. Well, Steve Jobs invented the iPhone in 2007 and all but closed down Blackberry.

Stephen King – His first book “Carrie” was rejected 30 times, and he almost quit. It was his wife who took the manuscript out of the trash and told him to keep trying.

Oprah – she was fired from her first television reporting job because she was deemed “not suitable for television”

Steven Spielberg – He dropped out of Junior High School. He was persuaded to go back to school, and they placed him in a learning disabled class. He only lasted a month before quitting school all together.

Abraham Lincoln – he had 12 losses in various areas, job and elected positions before he won the election for the President for the United States.

Bill Gates – Invented a thing called a Traf-o-data that failed because no one thought he could invent anything that the market would buy. He went on to create Microsoft and changed the computer world.

Fred Astaire – Was turned down for his first audition, and they said “he can’t act, he can’t sing, he is slightly bald, he is not handsome, but can dance a little”

Babe Ruth – When he retired in 1935, he held the record for the most home runs and also for the most strikeouts. The Boston Red Sox traded him to the New York Yankees because they said he was just a fat pitcher. He went on to lead the Yankees to seven World Series Championships.

So, think about these things the next time you try something, do something, say something, and get told you can’t do it. KT