Today I am feeling a bit worn down. There is a lot going on and it is easy to get things mixed up, forget to do something, or lose motivation in what you are currently doing. Losing motivation can happen through a lack of interest, or from failing at something and giving up hope. I am sure I am not the only person to ever feel this way or understand this. I view the world as consistent trial and error until something finally sticks and creates an individual passion. Even the most passionate people have failure in their lives or lose motivation in the project they are working on.
That being said, I thought that a good topic for a post would be to look at some stories of people who failed (sometimes failed huge) and could have lost motivation but did not. The topic of today’s post is perseverance. Using some lists that I’ve found from Small Business Trends and Business.com I am presenting evidence of why we should not give up on the things that inspire us, even after we have failed.
Successful Entrepreneurs Who Failed:
Walt Disney – Walt’s character he created named “Mickey Mouse” was rejected by MGM studios because they figured an audience could never love something that they sought to exterminate in their own homes. He had his first character named “Oswald the rabbit” stolen because he did not copyright it. His first cartoon studio went bankrupt and he moved to Las Angeles with only $40 in his possession. Now the Disney corporation has well over 200 billion USD of assets with an average annual revenue of 66 billion USD; I guess people do like mice after all.
Bill Gates – The first company that Bill Gates launched was called Traf-O-Data. This business sought to measure traffic data by counting the number of times a tire ran over a black wire… The business failed horribly (some could say the business literally got ran over) but then he used his technological skills to create Microsoft that would eventually lead to him becoming worth around 130 billion USD.
Peter Thiel –The first hedge fund that Thiel oversaw had investments of around 7 billion USD. This fund was called Clarium Capital and they would eventually lose over 90% of the assets value. Rather than giving up on the financial sector, Thiel helped to invent Paypal and then become a very early investor in Facebook resulting in a net worth of almost 7 billion USD.
Arianna Huffington – The eventual founder of the Huffington Post had her personal book rejected by 36 publishers. She also ran for governor of California and won under 1% of the vote. I suppose the best way to get something done is to do it yourself, nobody can reject your work if you own the publication!
Jeff Bezos – Jeff made a lot of mistakes in the early days of Amazon including the purchase of 50 million too many toys for their warehouses during a Christmas season and the development of buggy websites that allowed book purchasers to order a negative number of books and rack up site credit. Overcoming these failures saw Bezos become the richest man in the world with a net worth nearing 177 billion USD.
It is rare that we succeed at something the first time we try to do it. I think that we as human beings are becoming averse to failure because we live in a society built on wins and losses. Motivation and passion go hand in hand, and I have never found myself motivated to put extra effort into something that I am already good at. To find your passion I truly believe you have to fail at something.
We need to recognize that failure IS an option and that the failures we experience could help us discover what will eventually be our success. Maybe you have to make 100 mistakes to finally find your niche. Here’s to hoping that we all fail greatly in 2021 so that we can be motivated for future success. If your Mickey Mouse is rejected by one person, believe in yourself and you never know what could happen!
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My name is Rob and I am a college student doing my best to get involved in the crypto world. I have enjoyed blogging thus far and thank you for reading my article! Give me a follow and let’s build the community together through consistent engagement.
