If you’ve ever wondered what the key difference is between highly successful individuals such as Bill Gates and your average Joe, you may be surprised to read that the only real difference between those who achieve phenomenal success and those who don’t, is that successful individuals aren’t afraid of failure.
Contrary to popular belief, successful individuals actually experience failure more frequently than your average Joe, they just pick themselves up off the ground each time that they fall and are sure to learn from their mistakes. Remember, the only real failure you can experience is if you fail to try again.
Some surprising examples of well known, successful individuals who have overcome failure:
- The Creators of Netflix
Netflix is so popular that it’s more than likely that at least half of your friends and family members have a Netflix account, in order to watch the latest movies and TV series. So it may come as a surprise to read that the owners of the Blockbuster chain of video stores turned down an opportunity to purchase Netflix for 50 million dollars.
Instead of letting one NO stop them from achieving success, the creators of Netflix kept working hard to ensure that their business was a success. Now Netflix is worth around 64.7 billion dollars, while Blockbuster has been forced to close the vast majority of their stores, due to Netflix’s dominance.
So, if someone doesn’t believe in your dreams or rejects your business idea, work hard to prove them wrong instead of letting their opinions influence how you feel about your business idea. Your doubters will live to regret their words.
- Mark Zuckerberg, Owner of Facebook
Did you know that the current owner of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, once offered to sell his growing social network to Myspace? However, the owners of Myspace rejected Zuckerberg’s offer and now Facebook is worth approximately 439 billion dollars, while Myspace has lost the majority of its users. Instead of losing faith in his product, Zuckerberg worked hard to ensure that Facebook would appeal to millions of international users and today Facebook is the number one used social network in the world!
Remember that if you work hard and believe in your ideas, your business will take off. It’s just a matter of timing. So don’t feel too dejected if your business ideas are rejected in the early stages.
- Bill Gates, Owner of Microsoft
Today, Bill Gates is known for being the owner of Microsoft and one of the richest individuals in the world. So you may be surprised to hear that Gates also experienced a myriad of challenges as a businessman. In fact, decades ago Gates tried to sell Microsoft to Ross Perot. If you haven’t heard of the name Ross Perot, the reason is that Perot missed his opportunity to purchase Microsoft for 60 million dollars.
After having his proposal rejected by Perot, Gates decided to stay at the helm of Microsoft, which then went on to amass over 507.5 billion dollars. So you can bet that Perot severely regrets turning down Bill Gates’ generous offer.
The next time you’re turned down, just think, one day the person who rejected your idea may be telling anyone who will listen about the day you offered them the business opportunity of a lifetime and how they wish they could turn back time and accept.
How to Achieve Unlimited Success in All of Your Endeavors:
- Believe in Your Worth as Well as the Worth of Your Ideas
If you learn how to back yourself and your ideas, it won’t matter how many times you’re told no, as you’ll keep seeking out exciting new opportunities to take advantage of. Remember your worth and in time you’ll achieve great success if you learn not to get too disheartened when you experience failure.
- Remember That if You Fail, You Have an Opportunity to Learn and Grow
If you never fail, you’ll never grow as a person or learn new information which may be crucial to your future success. So see each failure as a learning opportunity and you’ll be sure to grow from strength to strength.
If you are determined to achieve a high level of success, it’s well worth following the example of individuals such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and to use failure as a stepping stone to greatness.