Famous Failures – 44 Men Who Braved Through Bad Luck
As the $50 billion dollar man, Dan Peña would say, “Just fu-king do it”. Now is the time for you to be honest with yourself, stop complaining, and start working towards success.
Take a look at all of these gentlemen below, all of them are famous failures. And chances are they were at some point, or still are responsible for products/services you purchase today. Their stories and lessons are invaluable when it comes to using failure to their own advantage.
However, this guide isn’t meant to be inspirational or make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. I wrote it to show you how failure can be an important stepping stone towards success. Understand these men didn’t cop out by blaming their lack of success or circumstances on someone else. Nor did they obsess over every single failure along the way and muddle around in sorrow.
They took charge of their lives from within and let the past be the past by moving forward. Now get out there and embrace your failures.
1. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln took failure like a good sport; he refused to quit until he had become a champion. At the age of 9 his mother passed away from “milk sickness”, leaving behind an already struggling farm family. Years later he would leave his father’s home in 1831 and become a clerk/assistance at a general store. The store owned by Denton Offutt, provided Lincoln months of work, but he would eventually be laid off due to Offutts’ financial troubles.
A year later Abraham Lincoln ran for Illinois state legislature but placed 8th among the 13 candidates. However, it’s been said that this defeat was the only time he had been beaten on a direct vote of the people.
In 1833, Lincoln and William F. Berry purchased a general store in New Salem, Illinois. At the time, Lincoln couldn’t afford his share, so he did the next best thing, sign a note against his share to the previous owner. Within time, the duo would compete against a more prominent business and see their sales dwindle down. The debt would follow Lincoln around for years until it was finally paid off.
