11 Famous People Who Bounced Back After Their Failures

It is often said that failure is the stepping stone to success and that you learn something with every failure. But sometimes, luck test your determination by giving you hardships and difficulties for a bit longer time. It's there that a lot of quits. But there are people, who refused to quit even in the most difficult circumstances and went on to achieve their goals.

If you are feeling deflated or looking for motivation to keep hustling, here is a list of some of the most successful people who have had failures, rejections and mistakes but they turned failure into their biggest strengths, and powered their way through it to success.

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1. J.K. Rowling

Before this author published the popular Harry Potter novels, she was almost broke, severely depressed, divorced, and was trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel. It was after her divorce that she started writing Harry Potter. In 1995, around 12 major publishing houses rejected Harry Potter. Two years later, Bloomsbury decided to take it up and the rest is history.

2. Indra Nooyi

Born in India barely 8 years after the country's independence, Indra Nooyi during her childhood went door to door to sell textiles. She had a very strict household. Not just that, when she started working at Pepsico, her ideas weren't taken lightly and she was always shooed away. But Indra was determined to stand out and she became the chairperson and chief executive officer of PepsiCo in 2006. You can know more about her life and struggles on the podcast Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz which is a Luminary original.

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3. Oprah Winfrey

Very few know that this successful woman grew up in poverty. Born to a single mother living on welfare, her upbringing was wrought with pain. She was physically, mentally and sexually abused during her childhood. She ran away at thirteen years old and got pregnant at fourteen years old. But she later lost the baby shortly after birth. She was also fired from her first job for being unfit for television. But she picked herself up and never looked back afterwards.

4. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs didn't give up and rose up after he was ousted from Apple. He then focussed on Next and Pixar and then returned to Apple to take it over from where he left. In a commencement speech, Steve Jobs has mentioned that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to him.

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5. The Beatles

The Beatles are quite possibly one of the most popular bands in the world. They¡¯ve sold over 1.6 billion albums and counting. However, on New Year¡¯s Eve, in 1961, when they drove in a snowstorm to audition at Decca Recording Studios, Dick Rowe, an A&R said that ¡°guitar groups were on their way out.¡± Five months later, the band got a huge break with George Martine of Parlophone. After this, The Beatles became the most famous band in history.

6. Stephen King

His first book, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is history, with King now having hundreds of books published and the distinction of being one of the best-selling authors of all time.

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7. Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Born to humble farmers in UP, Nawazuddin first worked as a chemist in a petrochemical company. He then left UP for Delhi where he had to earn a livelihood by taking up the job of a watchman. He bagged his first minuscule role in Sarfarosh, after which he kept making rounds of casting director offices to get noticed. He got his big break after he was noticed as a reporter in Peepli Live.

8. Soichiro Honda

The founder of Honda automobiles did not give up despite his factory being bombed twice in World War ll. He then thought of making a bicycle that had a small motor in it. The scooter was then exported to the US and it was a huge hit. Thereon began the successful journey of an entrepreneur who never looked back.

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9. Britney Spears

Spears lost custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline and was in the public eye for a string of incidents ¡ª including shaving her head in public, driving with her son on her lap, and attacking paparazzi with an umbrella. Spears was admitted to UCLA Medical Center's psychiatric hospital in January 2008. She was released 5 days later and released her sixth album. After that, there was no looking back for her and her career got better than ever.

10. Walt Disney

Walt Disney is the creative genius who brought us the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Snow White. He created the Walt Disney Company after his own namesake. Yet, he faced many failures. His first company, Laugh-O-Gram went bankrupt. It wasn¡¯t until 5 years later and with plenty of heartaches, after he created Mickey Mouse, did he begin to experience a small amount of success and fame.

11. Thomas Edison

The inventor failed 1,000 times while inventing the light bulb! He even gave the now famous quote - ¡°I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.¡± Now, that¡¯s how one should approach failure.

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These stories are totally inspiring.