Wanna Be Famous? 10 Inspiring People Teach Us the REAL Secret to Success

If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

Yes, the secret to success is persistence. It's not glamorous. Or edgy. Or easy. But it works! In our own lives, when the going gets tough, we often just go somewhere else. Looking at famous (or infamous) people in the media today, it seems like raw talent, serendipity, and/or a good publicist are all you need to succeed in life.

But, you may be surprised at some of the famous people who credit or demonstrate that persistence in the face of adversity was the key to their success. Here are ten great examples:

1. Walt Disney: Billions of dollars in merchandise, parks, and movies later, Disney is known as a mega-mind behind some of the most creative storylines ever. Hard to believe at first that Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas."
2. Thomas Edison: His teachers told him he was "too stupid to learn anything," and he was fired from his first two jobs for “not being productive enough.” When he finally went on to invent the light bulb, he described how he had over 1,000 unsuccessful attempts before he was able to “see the light.”
3. Orville and Wilbur Wright: Travel lately? Well maybe you wouldn’t have been able to if these guys didn’t buckle down again and again and give it their best shot. They fought depression, family illness; and countless unsuccessful prototypes for their “flying machine” before they proved to the world that amazing things happen when you dare to dream big.
4. Michael Jordan: His name is synonymous with being at the top of one’s game whatever the sport. But did you know he was cut from his high school basketball team? He stated, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Just do it indeed!
5. Oprah Winfrey: A television icon and so much more, Oprah is well known for her hard road to success, overcoming an abusive childhood and countless career rejections. In fact in one of her first jobs as a television reporter, she was fired and told she was “unfit for tv.” My how times have changed.
6. J.K. Rowling: The creator of Harry Potter conjured up this magical boy while on welfare, severely depressed, divorced, jobless, and trying to raise a child on her own. Five years later, she was one of the most well known authors and one of the richest women in the world. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is. Sign me up for Hogwarts!
7. Charles Darwin: Darwin’s dad told him he was “lazy and too dreamy.” Darwin writes “I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." I’d say Darwin certainly surpassed such criticism and aced the test of “survival of the fittest,” don’t you think?
8. Soichiro Honda: When I get in my silver Accord each morning, I’ll have a new respect for the company founder of Honda. Turned down for a job as an engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation, Soichiro was jobless for quite some time. He started making scooters on his own, and with the encouragement of friends eventually started his own automotive business. The rest is history.
9. Harland David Sanders: Ready to double down? Well, you should know that before the Colonel’s secret chicken recipes became so famous, they were rejected a recorded 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it. I wonder how many buckets have sold since then.
10. Albert Einstein: Now known the world over as one of the most famous geniuses, Einstein did not always receive such praise. Not speaking until he was four or reading until he was seven years old, Einstein’s parents thought he was mentally handicapped, slow, and anti-social. Later, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. Perhaps changing the face of modern physics and winning the Nobel prize makes up for his slow start?

Bottom line: There will always be excuses if you want to listen to them. Life has no shortage of obstacles along the way, and yes, sometimes life can be hard, very hard. But where are you going to choose to put your energy?

What if you suspended all your typical judgments and beliefs just for one day? How differently would you be living your life? Would you be closer to reaching your goals? What potential inside you is yearning to come to the surface? There’s only one way to find out. So, buckle up and get started. You’ve got some living to do.

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