1. Albert Einstein » Physicist Best known for the General Theory of Relativity Most of us take Einsteins name as synonymous with genius, but he didnt always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics. 2. Walt Disney » Business Man Founder of The Walt Disney Company. Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, he lacked imagination and had no good ideas. After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didnt last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked. 3. Isaac Newton » Scientist Best known for: Universal gravitation, Newtons method, Newtonian mechanics, Optics, Infinitesimal calculus. Newton was undoubtedly a genius when it came to math, but he had some failings early on. He never did particularly well in school and when put in charge of running the family farm, he failed miserably, so poorly in fact that an uncle took charge and sent him off to Cambridge where he finally blossomed into the scholar we know today. 4. Thomas Edison » Inventor and Businessman Best known for Electric Light Bulb. In his early years, teachers told Edison he was too stupid to learn anything. Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. Of course, all those unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design that worked. 5. Henry Ford » Business Man Founder of Ford Motor. While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasnt an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company. 6. Soichiro Honda » Business Man Founder of Honda Motor. The billion-dollar business that is Honda began with a series of failures and fortunate turns of luck. Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation for a job after interviewing for a job as an engineer, leaving him jobless for quite some time. He started making scooters of his own at home, and spurred on by his neighbors, finally started his own business. 7. Akio Morita » Business Man Founder of Sony Corporation. You may not have heard of Morita but youve undoubtedly heard of his company, Sony. Sonys first product was a rice cooker that unfortunately didnt cook rice so much as burn it, selling less than 100 units. This first setback didnt stop Morita and his partners as they pushed forward to create a multi-billion dollar company. 8. Orville and Wilbur Wright (Wright Brothers) » Airplane Inventors Education: Completed High School. These brothers battled depression and family illness before starting the bicycle shop that would lead them to experimenting with flight. After numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of hard work, and tons of failed prototypes, the brothers finally created a plane that could get airborne and stay there. 10. Abraham Lincoln » US Politician While today he is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of America, Lincolns life wasnt so easy. In his youth he went to war a captain and returned a private (if youre not familiar with military ranks, just know that private is as low as it goes.) Lincoln didnt stop failing there, however. He started numerous failed business and was defeated in numerous runs he made for public office. Next time youre feeling down about your failures in college or in a career, keep these famous people in mind and remind yourself that sometimes failure is just the first step towards success. Be inspired. SHARE this.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 19:34:38 +0000
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