Anyone who has ever tried to achieve a goal knows rejection and failure are a normal and healthy part of the process.
The following examples show a pattern: Persistence pays off. Woody Allen said, "Ninety percent of life is just showing up." But judging from the tales ahead, perhaps an amendment to this quote is in order: "Ninety percent of success is showing up, and showing up and showing up."
As for the parties doing the rejecting, for those who shy from the new and different, refusal to look ahead can mean being left in the dust. When a struggling Bell Telephone offered the sale of its patents to Western Union, the famous reply rejecting the offer makes for an entertaining read today: "Why would any person want to use this ungainly and impractical device when he can send a messenger to the telegraph office and have a clear written message sent to any large city in the United States?…We see no reason why a group of outsiders, with extravagant and impractical ideas, should be entertained." Bell Telephone (as AT&T) later acquired Western Union and the wire service's final telegram was sent in 2006.
Another uplifting tale of note is that of a destitute, depressed single mom who was fired from a secretarial job for daydreaming. She wrote a book about young wizards that was rejected by 12 publishers. The book's main character became the media juggernaut now known to all on the planet as Harry Potter, and the author, who is probably feeling a lot less depressed, is J.K. Rowling.
KFC, the fast-food eatery formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, nearly didn't make it beyond its origins as a roadside eatery owned by Harland Sanders called the Sanders Court and Café. When a new interstate was built in 1955, it bypassed the café, causing the property value to plummet by more than half. At that low point, Sanders was 65. He had a few Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises but was broke. However, fueled by determination and fried protein, Sanders went on the road selling his secret recipe and kept at it. Within a few years the number of KFC franchises had expanded into the hundreds. In 1964, he sold the company for $2 million and became famous as its spokesman, Colonel Sanders.
When he was seeking funding for Disneyland in Anaheim, California, it's said that Disney was turned down by 302 bankers before he got the funding he needed. He prevailed, and Disneyland opened in 1955. Although Walt Disney did not live to see the 1971 opening day of Disney World in Florida, he would likely be pleased with the Disney company's continuing accomplishments.
So the qustion comes to this...
Will you be known as a success that almost wasn't?
We all have challenges on our path to success,
it is up to us to persevere, keep working,
and as Woody Allen said,
"show up".
