“Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because ‘he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.’ “
The New York Times
What if that happened to you? – If your boss called for you and told you, “I am letting you go. I don’t think you got what it takes.” Would you quit on the spot and go home? Or would you sit there, staring at your boss with a smile on your face while fighting the urge to punch them in the face because you knew that one day…
“In the summer of 1975, [Steve] Jobs and Wozniak set up a small company in a Los Altos apartment. They named it Apple Computer.”
Entrepreneur.com
One day you would make them eat those words? It’s easy to say that we won’t let something like this stop us, but it’s another thing actually to follow through.
Take a moment and think about your own life. How many times have you given up too soon? Have you ever lost something or someone important in your life because of fear, envy, or greed? What has kept you going when everyone else told you that it was impossible? If you’re like me, you’ve already answered these questions.
We’re all special, but most of us don’t know how to use our uniqueness to its full potential. We tend to hide behind what society says we should be and live the life they want us to live rather than what we actually want.
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
Walt Disney
The good news is that it’s never too late to change that. The key is learning how to set goals and work towards them without letting fear or past failures hold you back. And, as we’re about to show you, this can be done by taking inspiration from the world’s most famous entrepreneurs.
The world’s first billionaire was an entrepreneur who revolutionized the steel, shipbuilding, and oil industries. His name: Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919)
It may not seem like it, but there are many lessons that we can learn from this epic entrepreneur. For example…
1. Put the Hard Work in
“It is astonishing what an amount of work can be done if you only arrange to do a certain amount every day.”
Andrew Carnegie
For Andrew Carnegie to make billions in steel alone, he had to spend thousands of hours working hard. He put his nose down and got the job done, whether it was studying books on metallurgy, handling manual labor jobs, or giving speeches to sell more steel.
The only way Carnegie was able to make it big in the industry was through hard work and determination. He wasn’t afraid to go from the bottom to the top, and he certainly wasn’t afraid of putting in long days to get there.
What we can learn from Andrew Carnegie is that incredible success comes with work—lots of it! Sitting on our hands and expecting things to get better is never going to work! We must find a way to play an active role in our own lives if we ever want to get somewhere in life.
“You can do anything if you’ve got enough nerve.”
John ‘Bud’ Adams Jr. (1915 – 2013), Owner of the Tennessee Titans National Football League Team
Nowadays, we have a strange tendency to blame other people when things don’t go as planned. We blame our boss or co-workers instead of working harder and making ourselves more valuable. One Andrew Carnegie lesson that I want you to take away from this point is to put in the hard work first and then reap the fruits later.
2. Don’t Get Discouraged by Failure
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas A. Edison (1847 – 1931), Inventor & Businessman
Thomas Edison is another incredible entrepreneur who had no problem with failure, and he knew how to play a part in every successful invention that came out of his lab!
The electric light breakthrough from 1879, where the soft glow of an incandescent bulb lit up his laboratory, didn’t occur right away and, in fact, took years of failures and many attempts before success finally occurred.
“If you have a lot of fears, the probability is that you can’t do it.”
Dwayne Johnson (1972), Perfect name for an amazing wrestler turned actor
3. Don’t let Failure Keep You Down!
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), Founder of the Ford Motor Company
Henry Ford could pass as one of my favorite entrepreneurs of all time. He’s been at or near the top in Forbes’ list of The Richest People In America every year since 1915 except for 1918 and 1919 because he served his country during World War I.
Besides The Edsel, which Ford approved to be built but never got to drive, the man was successful at everything he did and very rarely let failure keep him down for long.
4. It’s OK to Take Risks!
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan (1963 – ), Greatest basketball player of all time
There’s no doubt in my mind that Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time and his stats prove it. I love most about Jordan because he never backed down from risks—he took every opportunity to make something happen, even if it didn’t seem like a great idea at the time!
If you want to be successful like these entrepreneurs were, then you’ve got to take risks and learn how to play a bigger part in your own success. It does no good to sit behind others and waiting for things to change—throwing your hat into the ring on occasion will always help push any business or person closer to success.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), 3rd President of United States
Thomas Jefferson was a wealthy entrepreneur in his own right. He started as a very successful farmer and later became one of the most influential presidents our country has ever had. We can learn a lot from him about hanging tough after failure because he didn’t let it stand in the way of great success; instead, he hung onto his dreams and worked hard regardless!
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help!
“Don’t be afraid to give your best at what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger.”
Helen Keller (1880 – 1968), the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in America, writer, and political activist.
Helen Keller passed away many years ago, but her words live on through the many inspirational speeches and writings she left behind. One thing I noticed while reading about the life of this incredible woman is that she was likely born with a lot more disadvantages than advantages in life:
She was blind & deaf from an early age and had to teach herself how to read and write. She also had to learn how to speak by listening and imitating people who spoke nearby her. Despite all these challenges, she became one of the most famous women in American history!
7. Be Smart When Selecting an Idea for Business
“The only way I can look at my life is by reviewing it day by day.”
Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011), Co-founder & Chairman of Apple Inc.,
Steve Jobs was a brilliant entrepreneur, and he knew that every great business started with a great idea. Using the iPod as an example, Jobs once said: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.”
8. Take Risks & Make a Difference!
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), Founder of the Ford Motor Company
Henry Ford transformed America by inventing mass production and making cars affordable for the average middle-class American. If he asked people what they wanted in his time, which was a long time ago, I highly doubt anybody would’ve told him ‘faster horses.’ But instead of just copying someone else’s idea, he took risks by applying certain principles like interchangeable parts to make car ownership more efficient.
8. Be Smart About Using Your Money!
“Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.”
– Natalie Portman (1981), Famous actress and recent graduate from Harvard University in Government
Natalie Portman isn’t just a famous actress, but she’s also an astute businesswoman who knows how to invest her money wisely. At only 28 years old, Portman is already worth 30 million dollars.
We’re guessing this comes as no surprise because people have praised her for being one of the smartest actresses out there for quite some time now. They say that Hollywood is a town where ‘everyone looks at you as if they are looking at God,’ but Natalie has proven them wrong by showing that she does things her way.
