If you are hoping to find a common strategy to build your business here, it isn’t the right article to read. Instead, the strategy I will be talking about here is failure.
Why would I deem failure as the best strategy for you? Allow me to explain to you in the next few paragraphs.
Failure #1
Sylvester Stallone, a famous action movie star, was refused over 1,000 times for both major and minor roles. How would you react if you’re rejected for a fraction of it?
Instead of giving up, Sylvester persevered and pressed on. He took on several part-time jobs whilst writing his own movie, Rocky Balboa. His script gained attention, but he stood his ground and rejected the first offer he received. He negotiated that he must be the main actor in the movie, or the deal is gone.
After the first Rocky movie was launched, he wrote Rambo. Now, he is living his dreams and enjoying the fruits of his perseverance and passion.
Failure #2
Do you love fried chicken? I do. But the man behind the famous Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe was rejected 1,000 times before it was accepted.
Imagine if Colonel Sanders choose to give up halfway through, we would not enjoy KFC like we do today.
KFC is now the world’s second-largest restaurant chain in sales volume after McDonald’s, with 22,621 locations globally in 136 countries. The global chain also owns Yum! Brands, a restaurant company that also owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and WingStreet chains.
Failure #3
The lights that we enjoy on the streets, buildings, and houses is because one man, Thomas Edison.
But before his invention of the light bulb succeeded, he failed over 1,000 times. It was experiments after experiments after experiments. Had he chosen to give up, the notion of light bulbs might be really different today.
His other inventions include phonograph and motion picture camera. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. Thomas Edison established the first industrial research laboratory.
Failure #4
Famous basket-baller Michael Jordan explained his success in an interview. He said,
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”.
Michael Jordan’s success was because he failed too many times, he re-learnt several times, which eventually led to his success.
In total, Michael Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls and a recognition from NBA “the greatest basketball player of all time”. He was one of the most marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world.
Failure #5
Novelist Stephen King had his first book, Carrie, rejected 30 times before it was published. JK Rowling, the first billionaire author, had her book rejected by 12 publishing houses before it was published.
Had these two authors gave up in the middle of their journey, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy Stephen King’s books and the magic of Harry Potter.
King sold more than 350 million copies, bagged 7 awards in his career and earned the title of “King of Horror” to his name. On top of that, King has several of his books adapted into feature films, drama series, and comic books.
JK Rowling won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. She is the UK’s best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238 million with an estimated fortune of £600 million, ranking her as the joint 197th richest person in the UK.
What is my point in this article?
You need to embrace failure in your career, business, or entrepreneurship journey because you will experience a lot of failures. The media will not show you the failures successful people went through, but if you ask them about their failures, they will have a lot of share.
Redefine failure in your mind, failure is not failing but a learning experience of what doesn’t work. And the best strategy to embrace failure? Resilience.
I had my personal journey when I was writing my 3rd book, “Secret Conversations with Trading Tycoons”. I went door to door, phone calls to phone calls, but was rejected by most of the tycoons I want to interview for my book.
But as I pressed on and embraced those rejections, I managed to get the interviews I want for my book and it was published successfully.
To your success,
Mario
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