Inspirational Stories

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Inspirational Stories

Not everyone falls into success with their first try. In fact, very few of us do. Life for most people is a journey of self-discovery – finding out who we are, what we are best at and how we can make a difference in this world.

Being successful is the desire of all of us residing over this lovely planet. It does not matter whether the concerned person is a child, youth or the old aged. At each and every stage of our wide life span, it is our inbuilt desire to be successful and proceed forward consistently towards bigger success.

Here are a few inspirational success stories of some famous people all over the world that will definitely inspire you.

Sandeep Singh Bhinder

He is an Indian professional field hockey player and an ex-captain of the Indian National Team. He made his international debut in January 2004 in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He took over as the captain of the Indian national team in January 2009. At a time when he was at his peak, he was said to have the best speed in the world in drag flick (speed 145 km/h).

On 22 August 2006, Singh was seriously injured after being hit by an accidental gunshot in Shatabadi train, while on his way to join the national team due to leave for the World Cup in Germany two days later. He was almost paralyzed and on a wheelchair for two years of his life.

Sandeep Singh Bhinder not only recovered from that serious injury, but also established himself again in the team.

Under his captaincy, the Indian team managed to clinch the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2009 after defeating Malaysia in the finals at Ipoh. India won the title after a long wait of 13 years. Singh was also the top goal scorer of the tournament. The India men’s national Hockey team had qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London after a gap of 8 years. He is regarded as one of the best drag flickers of the game.

Amitabh Bachchan

This film star first gained popularity in the early 1970s. So complete was his dominance of the movie scene in the 1970s and 1980s that the French director François Truffaut called him a “one-man industry.” But there came a time when a number of his films which released consecutively failed at the box office, and just a few years later, his production house failed completely, especially at great financial cost, eventually led to its financial and operational collapse in 1997.

However, he soon made a comeback, and as of now, is still one of the most bankable, successful and respected stars all over the world. He has played a range of characters and received critical acclaim for many of them. The body of work in Indian cinema is still earning him nods of approval from all over the world. He is currently 77 years old and proves that age is no barrier!

Steven Spielberg

He wanted to study film at the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Cinematic Arts. However, he was rejected due to his “C” grade average. Overall, he applied to USC three times- but was rejected all three times. He then applied and was admitted to California State University, Long Beach, where he majored in English.

While still a student, he was offered a small unpaid intern job at Universal Studios with the editing department. He was later given the opportunity to make a short film for theatrical release, the 26-minute, 35mm, Amblin, which he wrote and directed. Studio vice president Sidney Sheinberg was impressed by the film, which had won a number of awards and offered him a seven-year directing contract. It made him the youngest director ever to be signed for a long term deal with a major Hollywood studio.

Today, he is a very successful film-maker and is known for his movies: Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Indiana Jones, Catch Me If You Can, etc. He has directed more than 30 movies over a period of four decades, has won 5 Oscars, including two for Best Director.

J.K Rowling

This woman needs no introduction. Her books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide. But there was a time in her life when she was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide. Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child. She signed up for government aid (she was so poor, she could not afford to support herself and her daughter), describing her economic status as being “poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless.”

In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry “came fully formed” into her mind. In 1995, she finished the manuscript of her first book on an old manual typewriter. The book was submitted to 12 publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript. Editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury advised her to get a day job since she had little chance of making money from writing children’s books.

Today J.K Rowling the creator of the Harry Potter series is United Kingdom’s best-selling living author. It was estimated her fortune to be of £560 million and ranking her as one of the richest woman in the UK. Saying that the Harry Potter franchise was and is a success would be an understatement.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has been known as an iconic figure for the establishment of Apple like the biggest company. However, it is extremely shocking to know that the $2 billion company with over 4000 employees has been started with only two persons in a garage; a revolutionary collaboration with Steve Wozniak.

His biological parents, Abdul Fattah Jandali and Joanne Carole Schieble, unaware of the wonder they had created, gave him up for adoption almost immediately after he was born. They were unwed and too young to take responsibility of another human being.

Soon, a working class couple, Paul and Clara Jobs, took in little Steve. From a very young age, Steve Jobs found himself mesmerised by the power and intricacy of computers. He used to work with his mechanic father in the family garage, taking apart cars and putting them back together. This kick-started his love for the machines; Jobs credits his father for teaching him how “to pay attention to detail”, a mantra that sets Apple apart from most competitors.

He was such a prodigy that his teachers suggested he skip several classes and move up to higher classes; a suggestion his parents rejected. As he grew up, Jobs lost interest in formal education. He never really enjoyed school. Eventually, he went to college but dropped out after the first semester, but he continued attending the classes that interested him.

It is also to be noticed that this great establisher has been dismissed and fired from the company from which he has started his career. After an internal discussion, he was fired from the Macintosh group. The decision was made after Pepsi Executive John Sculley encouraged the board to do so. Ironically, Jobs had himself recently hired John Sculley.

Further, realizing his potential and capabilities, the dismissal made him realize that his passion for his work exceeded the disappointment of failure. Further ventures such as NeXT and Pixar eventually led Jobs back to the CEO position at Apple.

Dhirubhai Ambani

Who doesn’t know the name Reliance today? But do you know that Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance was perhaps controversy’s favourite child?

Ambani had a humble beginning and he was not from an affluent background. He moved to Yemen at 16 years of age where he worked as a simple clerk. However, he knew he had to follow his calling and risking everything, he returned to India to set up his business with his close friend Champaklal Damani.

Though Champaklal Damani differed from Ambani in his views and decided to split, Ambani did not give up hope and continued his trade, deciding to even enter the stock market. His stock market dealings and success have often been questioned but the man rose to power through sheer grit and determination. Dhirubhai Ambani is a role model for all youngsters’ real life inspirations.

Ratan Tata

What do you do when you have a role model to look up to and then, you are asked to fill the role model’s shoes? When Ratan Tata became the chairman in 1991, he had a mammoth task set before him.

His futuristic views and liberal attitude did not go well with some of the top honchos at Tata which resulted in a clash at the management level. At the very start of his career as Chairman, two companies under him faced bankruptcy and his employee’s faith in him dwindled as he brought down the retirement age from 70 to 65, leading to releasing of some of the oldest employees of the organisation.

Despite the many failures he has seen, as the Chairman of Tata Group, he was able to achieve international recognition and prestige for his company. The astounding financial success of the company brought the Tata Group to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and under his supervision; the corporation became a global brand by acquiring many companies including Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus.

Colonel Harland Sanders (KFC)

Colonel Harland Sanders was fired from a variety of jobs throughout his career before he first started cooking chicken in his roadside Shell Automotive Service Station in 1930, when he was in his early 40 years, during the Great Depression. His petrol station didn’t actually have a restaurant, so he served his customers in his attached personal living quarters.

Over the next 10 years, he perfected his “Secret Recipe” and pressure fryer cooking method for his famous Fried Chicken and moved onto bigger locations. His chicken was even praised in the media by food critic Duncan Hines. However, as the interstate/highway came through the Kentucky town where the Colonel’s restaurant was located in the 1950s, it took away important road traffic, and the Colonel was forced to close his business and retire, practically poverty-stricken.

Worried about how he was going to survive off his small $105 monthly pension check, he set out to find restaurants that would franchise his secret recipe, for which he wanted a nickel (5 cents) for each piece of chicken sold. He drove around, sleeping in his car and was rejected more than 1,000 times.

In 1952 at the age of 65, when most people are looking at slowing down and retiring, Harland Sanders began Kentucky Fried Chicken by finally finding his partner and charting the way of making Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) chain of restaurants into a global phenomenon.

Emily Blunt

Before Emily Blunt (British-American actress) was getting nominated for Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and for two British Academy Film Awards for portraying leading roles on the stage and big screen cinema/Hollywood, she could hardly carry a conversation with her classmates.

Between ages 7 and 14, Emily had a major stutter. As she told a magazine, “I was a smart kid, and had a lot to say, but I just couldn’t say it. It would just haunt me. I never thought I would be able to sit and talk to someone like I’m talking to you right now.”

But that all changed when one of her school teachers encouraged her to try out for the school play — a totally unappealing task for Emily, given the fact that she had such a difficult time communicating. But the teacher kept gently persuaded and suggested she try accents and character voices to help get the words out — and it worked. By the end of her teenage, Emily Blunt had overcome her stutter problem and went on to achieve the successful career she has now.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a former Indian cricketer and captain, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He took up cricket at the age of 11, made his Test debut at the age of 16.

No shortcut to success. In his childhood, Tendulkar would practice for hours in the nets. From 7 am to 10 am, he would practice at the nets. From 10 am to 4 pm, he would play a match, and for the last two hours he had again practice under the watchful eye of his coach Ramakant Achrekar sir.

At 16 he started his international cricket career and was exceptional, facing one of the best pace bowling attacks in Pakistan with the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Tendulkar was never a self-perpetuating batsman; he used to take risks and loved playing his cricket that way.

When he was young he was attacking and when he became a senior member in the team he reduced his aggression for the team which helped youngsters build their innings around him.

Tendulkar received the Arjuna Award in 1994 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1997, India’s highest sporting honour and the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan awards in 1999 and 2008, respectively, India’s fourth and second highest civilian awards.

He is awarded with Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. He is the youngest recipient and the first ever sportsperson to receive the award. He also won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards. In 2012, Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.

He was also the first sportsperson and the first person without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of group captain by the Indian Air Force. In 2012, he was named an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia.

There are very few who can be so calm, down to earth and have no attitude whatsoever after 24 years of successful international cricket

Reference/Citation/Source

  •  10 Inspirational & Successful People Who Did Not Let Failure Define Them

https://www.storypick.com/inspirational-real-life-story/

  • 9 Famous People Whose Inspirational Stories Will Motivate You Today

https://www.coburgbanks.co.uk/blog/candidate-tips/9-inspirational-stories/

  • Top 10 Inspirational Success Stories (Best Successful Failures of the World)

https://yourstory.com/mystory/top-10-inspirational-success-stories

  • 9 Indian Failures Who Became Inspirational Success Stories

https://www.indiatimes.com/lifestyle/self/9-indian-failures-who-became-inspirational-success-stories-227984.html

  • 9 Famous People Who Will Inspire You to Never Give Up

https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-famous-people-who-will-inspire-you-to-never-give-up

  • The Steve Jobs Success Story Is An Inspiration For Anyone Who Is Clueless Or Confused In Life

https://www.scoopwhoop.com/steve-jobs-success-story/

  • Inspiring Lessons to learn from Sachin Tendulkar

http://www.sharecareinspire.com/inspiring-lesson-to-learn-from-sachin-tendulkar/

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