If at First You Don't Succeed Part I

I read a great article in the Wall Street Journal last week called "If at First You Don't Succeed, You're In Excellent Company"

Here is a list of well known people listed in the article that failed, were rejected (some numerous times) but did not give up...pretty amazing!!

The Beatles: Decca Records turned down a contract with the Beatles, saying "Groups of guitars are on their way out."

Walt Disney: was fired by a newspaper editor who said "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

J.K. Rowling: J.K. Rowling's first book about a boy wizard named Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury, a small London publishing house, picked it up.

Louisa May Alcott: author of "Little Women," was encouraged to find work as a servant by her family.

Michael Jordan: was cut from his high school varsity basketball team sophomore year.

Dr. Seuss: Twenty-seven publishers rejected Theodor Seuss (Dr. Seuss) Geisel's first book, "To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street."

Julie Andrews: "She's not photogenic enough" was the final determination of Julie Andrews's screen test for MGM when she was 12 years old.

Author Jack London: received 600 rejection slips before he published his first story.

Babe Ruth: is known for his home run record, but for decades he also held the record for strikeouts. He hit 714 home runs and struck out 1,330 times in his career. "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run," he said.

Winston Churchill: repeated a grade during elementary school. Later, he twice failed the entrance exam to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He was defeated in his first effort to serve in Parliament.

According to the Oxford American Dictionary, to fail is to be unsuccessful in achieving one's goal. That is all it is. We tend to generalize failure to our entire existence and make it mean that our life is a failure. Not true. We just need to work through it, learn from what did and didn't work, adjust our strategy and goal if needed, and keep going.

So, if at first you don't succeed, you are in excellent company!

peace, hope and love,

Lily