To become great at anything, you need to be prepared to suck at it at first. From professional sports athletes to billionaire entrepreneurs, the common thread is that they started somewhere and failed many times before they became successful.
The important thing is that you learn from failure and use those learnings to grow and improve. We’ve written quite a few times about failures we’ve made and the lessons we’ve learned like in this post 3 Important Business Lessons We’ve Learned Through Failure.
To illustrate the importance of failure on the journey to success, EduBirdie has created an infographic showing how 6 famous billionaires failed before succeeding. Check out the infographic below and remember that whatever failure or challenge you’re struggling with now, you can learn from this experience and leverage it to propel you forward on the path to success.
Courtesy of: https://edubirdie.com/
Infographic transcribed:
How 6 Famous Billionaires Failed Before Succeeding
Bill Gates:
Hacked school’s computer and was banned.
Co-founded Traf-O-Data that failed.
Gave up Harvard.
Got cream pie in the face.
Accused of stealing Steve Jobs’ idea.
Donated more than $28 billion to charity.
“To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.”
Jeff Bezos:
Got to know he was adopted.
Cooked fries at McDonald’s
Hated physics in college
Declined jobs at Bell Labs 7 Intel
Invested in a start-up that failed
Worked in garage and built his own furniture
Started a failed action site
One of the richest people on earth
“One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”
Oprah Winfrey:
Victim of relatives abuse
At 14 lost her unborn baby
Turned low-rated show into a popular one
Was sexually harassed at her first TV job
Won Emmy and Lifetime Achievement Awards
First African-American billionaire
Donated millions to charities
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.”
Elon Musk:
Was bullied at school
At 14 suffered existential crisis
Gave up Stanford PhD program
Basically lived in the office of Zip2 company
Was fired from CEO position of PayPal
During recession invested $40M in his own company
Now he is founder of SpaceX, co-founder of Tesla, Inc, Neuralink & SolarCity
“Persistence is very important. You should not give p unless you are forced to give up.”
Jack Ma:
Had 70 mile bike rides to his work
Failed college entrance exam twice
Harvard rejected his application 10 times
Rejected from a job at KFC
Founder of “China Yellow Pages”
Had no support with his escrow payment service idea
Now he is one of China’s richest men
“If you don’t give up, you still have a chance. Giving up is the greatest failure.”
Andrew Carnegie:
Spend childhood in poverty in Scotland
Worked at textile factory with a salary $4.80 per month
Was a telegrapher and railway station worker
Paid not to be drafted into the military
Founder of Carnegie Steel Company
Became leading philanthropist in the USA
“The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.”
