The Importance of Failure (and 6 People Who Prove It)

We need to start talking about failure as life's master instructor. Experiences in failure are less about not finding success than they are about problem solving, and the skills cultivated as a by-product of failure are the skills many brilliant entrepreneurs have only come to possess by failing.

• JK Rowling. One of the most powerful modern writers whose net worth hovers around $1 billion was once living on welfare.
• Walt Disney. Before the Disney empire was built, he was fired as a writer for lacking imagination and good ideas.
• Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first TV job as a news anchor for being too emotionally invested in the stories she covered.

• Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts multiple times. Today, the profit of his movies exceeds $9 billion.

• Lady GaGa, with 6 Grammy awards and entry to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was dropped as a young artist after 3 months with record label Island Def Jam. 

• Stephen King's failure and rejection as a writer persisted well into his adult years, before striking gold with his story, Carrie.