Having a fear of failing is like being too lazy to try harder. There’s no such thing as failure in my book, because if you live your life thinking you’re going to fail than it’s possible you will live your life thinking “what if.” Growing up, I was never scared or hesitant to try something new, I always took my fear as a learning curve a way to challenge myself.
I remember being really nervous the first time I spoke in front of 40 people – I didn’t have any fear, instead I felt excited! Even though I fainted the first time I spoke in front of a crowd, it didn’t phase me. I quickly got myself back up and continued with my presentation. Now when I speak in front of thousands of people on stage, I thank myself for being fearless 20 years ago. Successful people don’t fear, instead they propel themselves to take risks by trying again.
So next time you have a great idea but fear that you will fail, know that for many entrepreneurs, success came from failure and the negative space around them. Here are 10 failures from successful entrepreneurs that changed the world:
- Winston Churchill finished last in his class
- Michael Jordan once failed to make his high school varsity basketball team
- J.K Rowling (the first billion dollar author) was jobless, single mom on welfare when she first wrote Harry Potter
- Henry Ford went bankrupt five times
- John Grisham’s first novel was rejected by twelve publishers
- Oprah Winfrey failed as a news reporter
- Lady Gaga was dropped from her label twice
- Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and creativity
- Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was first booed off the stage
- Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting during his failure
