Successful People Who Overcame Huge Obstacles in Life

Being successful in your chosen career, business, or generally in life is difficult. You have to make tons of sacrifices, give all of your best, take every opportunity that will come in your way, and most of all, take risks.

In business, you need to be careful with your decisions because you are always at risk. Remember that there are threats surrounding your business that can make or break it. Therefore, you need to make a plan, weigh your options, and finally make a decision. However, there are times that you will make a mistake. It can be due to overlooked information, unorganized planning, or mediocre performance. But you can turn these mistakes into an important lesson in your life and make yourself a better person. Furthermore, you can prevent these failures from happening again.

The downside of being too careful is not taking risks. Some entrepreneurs are too afraid to go out of their comfort zones so they end up being stagnant in their current situation. They are too scared of failing and losing. The sad thing is they can make more out of their business and have so much potential to expand it.

In order to be successful in the world of business, you need to balance the approval and rejection of the projects.  It is important to learn how to get out of your comfort zone and take risks. However, there are also times when you should postpone or completely reject a proposal. But in case that you failed, went bankrupt, and lost everything, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the end. You can choose what will happen next; whether you are going to blame yourself and regret over your losses or you will stand up again and start again.

Here are some of the famous people who failed at some point in their lives but chose to learn from their mistakes and start anew.

• Thomas Edison

Thanks to him we can freely move even the sun has set because of the light bulb that he invented. But did you know that before he was able to make it work, he failed for 1,000 times? Though there is still some debate whether it was 1,000 or 10,000 times, Edison’s response to his failures is “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

• Mary Kay Ash

If you love makeup then you surely know her. But before she became famous in the line of cosmetics, she was in the Sales Department of Stanley Home Products. She resigned in 1963 because the company didn’t give her any promotion despite her successful training of her colleagues. Ash tried to write an advice book for business but it turned into a business plan of her own.

• Steven Spielberg

You definitely know him if you love watching movies, such as “E.T.”, “Jaws”, “Jurassic Park”, and much more. It may be quite shocking that this prominent director failed to get in his dream film school – USC. Spielberg proved them wrong when they rejected his application. In 1994, USC awarded him an honorary degree and became a trustee.

• Bill Gates

He is famous all over the world due to Microsoft. But before he became successful with his software, he failed in his first business. Gates and Paul Allen, his partner, first launched Traf-O-Data software. It is used to read paper tapes from traffic counters and process the data. But when they tried to sell it, the program didn’t work. The Microsoft was their next project after their first failed attempt.

• Oprah Winfrey

She is famous due to her show but later she built her own network. But before her success, fame, and wealth, she was abused by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend. As a result, she became pregnant and gave birth at the age of 14. However, the baby died shortly after. Winfrey did her best to get high grades in school and receive a full scholarship for college. She was able to escape her abusive life and got a degree.

• Richard Branson

Who said you need to have high grades and get awards from school? Branson got poor grades in his exams and even the standardized tests due to his dyslexia. However, he used his personality in order to achieve success. Today, he is the fourth richest person in the U.K. due to his development of Virgin Records and tons of advanced technological spinoffs.

• Stephen King

He was famous for his best-selling novels around the world and received tons of awards. Moreover, most of these were turned into movies that earned millions of dollars. However, King’s first novel was rejected for 30 times by publishing houses. It can definitely break a person’s spirit so he decided to throw the manuscript. Despite his failures, Tabitha – King’s wife – didn’t give up on him. She urged King to finish his manuscript and continue to submit it to publishing houses.