Inspirational True Stories – Perseverance Triumphs Initial Failure

A couple of months ago, I started to become interested in the wide range of journeys that people had taken in their careers, particularly in the business world. I’m sure that we’ve all heard that there is a “right way” to be successful in business and I find it cool when people don’t go the “right way” and still do well. In response to this interest, I posted a few entries about some of the non-standard paths that well-known people had taken and received some good feedback on those postings.

After that, this notion continued to dwell in my mind and I began to wonder about people who had “messed up” in some way early on in their careers and were able to dust themselves off before finding immense success. By the end of September, the idea of overcoming adversity to find success became so interesting to me that I decided to develop a blog post around it. Unfortunately, I was too busy at the time to devote time to it and knew that I wouldn’t be able to do justice to a posting about it.

At about the same time, I was contacted by a writer named Carrie Oakley, who maintains a site called OnlineColleges.org. Carrie offered to put together a guest article for the site and, when I pitched the idea of writing about successful people who had overcome failure, she was excited by the topic. I saw this as an opportunity to provide an article on a topic that I find interesting and offer up an outside perspective at the same time…totally a win-win situation.

The article below is the result of Carrie’s work and, in it, she captured the essence of what I was hoping to bring to all of you. As an added plus, she picked examples that crossed gender, nationality, and time lines, which I believe will make the article relevant to all readers. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

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Title: Inspirational True Stories – Perseverance Triumphs Initial Failure
Author: Carrie Oakley

All the self-help books carry different versions of it; every life coach has various ways of saying it; and they’re clichéd and trite. But there’s no doubting the fact that sayings like Failure is the stepping stone to success and If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again are very true. There are many people who have lived out these mantras; they tasted failure and faced defeat many times before they were able to get it right, and today, their success speaks volumes about their never-say-die efforts.

• JK Rowling: Her real name is Joanne Rowling, but she was asked to use her initials so that there would be no prejudice because she was a woman and more people would buy her books; she has no middle name, so she chose the letter K randomly. She finished writing her first novel 5 years after it was conceptualized – at the time, she was a single mom of a one-year-old baby, was living on social welfare, and wrote mostly in cafes using longhand or an old typewriter. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book of the bestselling series, was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury agreed to publish it based on the enthusiastic response of its chairman’s eight-year-old daughter. Even after this, Bloomsbury editor Barry Cunningham advised Rowling to find a day job because she had “little chance” in making money continuing to write children’s books. But we all know what happened after that – Harry Potter became a phenomenon, the likes of which were never seen before, and the rest is history. If JK Rowling had given up or become discouraged, the world would have lost out on Harry Potter. She’s a millionaire today, the 12th richest woman in Britain according to the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List with a net worth of $798 million.
• Henry Ford: He’s renowned the world over for his pioneering efforts in the field of automobiles, but his success came after many ventures that were cut short in their early days. Ford used his days as chief engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company (yes, Thomas Edison’s company) to experiment and build a self propelled vehicle, the Ford Quadricycle. This was the beginning of his foray into the automobile world. He resigned and founded the Detroit Automobile Company after he built a second vehicle; however, this organization folded in two years because the cost of the vehicle was too high and the quality too low. He then went on to form the Henry Ford Company with two others, but soon left following a misunderstanding with his partners. It was his third venture, Ford Motor Company that led to success – Henry Ford believed in paying his workers more than the going rate because it would bring him a skilled workforce who remained loyal to him, a strategy that paid rich dividends and made his company a force to reckon with. It was Ford’s persistence and determination that saw him win against all odds, and today, Ford cars are known for their quality and convenience the world over.
• Soichiro Honda: If ever there was a man who wouldn’t ever give up, it was Soichiro Honda. The Honda name is synonymous with both cars and motorbikes today, but there was a time when it was famed for being the first manufacturer of the motorcycle. Honda tasted rejection early in life – his piston ring was laughed at and ridiculed by engineers at the Toyota Corporation; however, he persisted in his efforts, and two years later, won a contract with Toyota. In order to fulfill his contract, he built a factory using concrete made using a process that he invented Just when production started, the factory was bombed twice and Honda was hit with a shortage of steel; he did not shut down but improvised with gasoline cans. Tragedy struck again – the factory was razed to the ground in an earthquake. Soon the war was over and money was in short supply all over Japan. There was no gasoline and people had to walk or ride their bikes everywhere; Honda made do with a tiny engine fitted to his bicycle, the very first motorcycle invented out of necessity. When friends started asking him for their own engine-powered bicycles, Honda could not oblige them because he had no money for the raw materials. He solicited the help of bicycle shop owners who contributed whatever they could to make his dream a reality. Finally, after many design and redesign attempts, the “Super Cub” engine was ready. It was a success all over the world. Honda moved to the small car segment when another gas shortage hit the world – he was quick to seize the opportunity in the USA where there was an emerging market for small cars that did not guzzle gas. Today, Honda is one of the most trusted and largest automobile manufacturers in the world.

These entrepreneurs achieved success against all odds simply because they persevered and did not allow their detractors any room. And thanks to them, others are inspired to follow in their footsteps and achieve personal and professional milestones.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Carrie Oakley, who writes on the topic of online colleges. Carrie welcomes your comments at her email id: carrie.oakley1983(AT)gmail(DOT)com.