For Anyone Who Wants to Give Up

They persevered. They obsessed. They dared to keep trying. They did not give up. And then, they succeeded.

Take a moment. Really picture it. A world without electricity. No lights, no refrigerators, no air conditioning, no internet. No cars or airplanes to transport us across continents. Your phone? Non-existent. Forget about X-rays, vaccines, or even antibiotics. No television, no computers, no GPS. No printing press, no space travel, no credit cards. Think of all the medical marvels we take for granted – MRI machines, pacemakers, insulin, organ transplants, even eyeglasses and wheelchairs. Gone.

This would be our reality today if the people who gave us these incredible advances had simply given up.

But here's the game-changer, the one single thing that made all the difference: they never gave up.

So, if you're struggling right now, feeling the weight of a setback, hear this: don't give up. Don't quit.

You’re not alone. The following is a collection of 25 highly successful individuals and their biggest failures, serving as a powerful reminder that your current struggles don't define your ultimate potential.

1. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the company he co-founded, after a boardroom coup. Rather than retreat, he founded NeXT and acquired Pixar. When Apple desperately needed innovation, they brought Jobs back. He transformed Apple into one of the world's most valuable companies and revolutionized multiple industries.

2. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore. Instead of accepting defeat, he used the rejection as motivation, practicing obsessively. He became arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, later reflecting: "I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

3. Lincoln failed in business twice, leaving him with significant debt, and lost several important elections including races for Congress and Senate. These setbacks and periods of depression gave him the resilience to lead America through the Civil War.

4. J.K. Rowling was a divorced single mother surviving on welfare when she wrote the first Harry Potter manuscript in Edinburgh cafés. Twelve major publishers rejected the book before Bloomsbury finally accepted it—and only because the chairman's eight-year-old daughter loved the first chapter. The series has sold over 600 million copies and created a multimedia empire worth billions.

5. Stephen King saw his first novel, "Carrie," rejected 30 times. Frustrated and broke, he threw the manuscript in the trash. His wife Tabitha retrieved it and encouraged him to try once more. That persistence launched a career that has produced over 350 million book sales and countless film adaptations.

6. Sara Blakely failed the LSAT twice and spent seven years selling fax machines door-to-door, facing constant rejection. At 29, she invested her $5,000 savings into creating Spanx from her apartment. She cold-called hosiery mills for two years before finding one willing to manufacture her product. Today, she's a billionaire who revolutionized women's undergarments.

7. Arianna Huffington watched her second book get rejected by 36 publishers. Instead of abandoning her media ambitions, she pivoted to digital publishing. She founded The Huffington Post, which AOL acquired for $315 million, proving that traditional gatekeepers don't determine modern success.

8. Henry Ford failed spectacularly with his first two automobile companies, going bankrupt five times. Each failure taught him crucial lessons about manufacturing and market demand. At age 45, he founded the Ford Motor Company and revolutionized both transportation and manufacturing with the assembly line.

9. James Dyson created 5,126 failed prototypes over 15 years while developing his revolutionary vacuum cleaner. Banks rejected his loan applications, and established manufacturers dismissed his designs. He mortgaged his house multiple times, nearly losing everything. Today, his engineering innovations have made him worth billions, proving that persistence and iteration eventually overcome initial rejection.

10. Howard Schultz faced rejection from banks 217 times when seeking loans to expand Starbucks beyond Seattle. Each "no" refined his pitch and strengthened his resolve. Starbucks now operates over 35,000 stores worldwide, transforming coffee culture globally.

11. Jack Ma failed his university entrance exam three times, couldn't secure admission to Harvard after ten attempts, and famously couldn't get hired at KFC—he was the only one rejected among 24 applicants. He founded Alibaba from his apartment, building it into an e-commerce empire that made him one of China's wealthiest entrepreneurs.

12. Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because his editor declared he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas." His first animation company, Laugh-O-Gram Studios, went bankrupt. Rather than abandon animation, Disney moved to Hollywood with $40 in his pocket. Disney Studios became a global entertainment powerhouse that continues to shape childhood imagination worldwide.

13. Thomas Edison was labeled "too stupid to learn anything" by teachers and fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." He made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the incandescent light bulb. Each failure taught him what materials and methods wouldn't work, gradually narrowing the path to success.

14. Steven Spielberg, one of the most successful film directors in history, was rejected three times by the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. He went on to direct blockbuster hits like Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park.

15. Harrison Ford, after his first small film role, a studio executive told the future Indiana Jones and Star Wars star that he didn't have the "star factor". His career has since spanned six decades.

16. Ludwig van Beethoven was told by some of his youth music teachers that he was a hopeless composer. His violin playing was considered awkward, and one teacher even called him "too stupid" to be a composer.

17. Marie Curie was denied education in Poland because she was a woman, forcing her to attend the underground "Flying University." She became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields (Physics and Chemistry), discovering radium and polonium while working in a converted shed.

18. Charles Darwin abandoned a medical career and was told by his father he would amount to nothing. His theory of evolution revolutionized our understanding of life on Earth.

19. Nikola Tesla was fired by Thomas Edison, who dismissed his alternating current ideas as impractical. Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown and was forced to work at different labour works. His AC electrical system eventually became the global standard, powering the modern world.

20. The Lord of the Rings was rejected by multiple publishers for being too long and complex.

21. Amelia Earhart struggled to make a living as a pilot and had to work many odd jobs to support herself.

22. Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime and died penniless in 1890.

23. Roger Bannister was told running a mile in under 4 minutes in 1929 was physically impossible and doctors warned his heart would explode.

24. Tom Brady was drafted 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, with six quarterbacks selected before him. Scouts criticized him as too slow and too weak. He used that doubt as fuel, winning seven Super Bowl championships and becoming widely considered the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

25. The Wright brothers were told that it was impossible to create a flying machine by the experts of the day.

You might be feeling unready right now. But honestly, how could you be?

Do you really think they had every single step planned in advance?

Do you think that they know precisely how everything would unfold?

No, that's impossible.

Every single one of these achievements started with someone who wasn't ready, who lacked complete confidence, and who had absolutely no guarantee of success.

Yet, they persevered. They obsessed, they stressed, they pushed through every obstacle until their visions became reality. They dared to keep trying. They did not give up.

As the great philosopher Marcus Aurelius once said, "What stands in the way becomes the way. The obstacle is the way." It's a powerful reminder that every hurdle you face can become the very path to your breakthrough, if only you keep going.