The One Thing Successful People Don't Do (And 9 Famous Examples)

By David K. Williams in Forbes magazine

In the months leading up to the launch of my book, The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning, I’ve talked a lot about winning—but I’ve talked a lot about failing, too. Learning how to fail productively—to “Fail Up”—is one of the greatest secrets to full-on success.

And in that vein, I was impressed with a recent article by business author Bernard Marr. He pointed out that there is one single thing that all “radically successful” people have in common: They have a ferocious drive and hunger for success that makes them never give up.

There are many varieties of success. Jobs and careers are one area, but success in family life, personal relationships, community and church work, philanthropy and sports or treasured hobbies are important success priorities as well.

One thing is certain: There is no clear and definitive path to success for anyone. The most successful people in any endeavor will tell you many stories of failure within their life journeys. Many (if not all) have experienced major failures, multiple times. But they never gave up.

As I have said many times, the greatest secret to success is learning how to “Fail Up.” It would even be fair to say that failure is the driver that makes truly successful people even more hungry and determined to achieve their success.

In his article, Marr presented a list of nine famous successful people whose failures helped to spur their success. I would like to share them with you, along with some of my own thoughts on each:

1. Henry Ford stands tall as a pioneer of modern business, yet this founder of the Ford Motor Company failed many times on his route to success. His first business attempt at building a motor car was shuttered after just a year and a half when stockholders lost confidence in his ability to succeed. He gathered more cash and re-started his effort, but a year later was forced out of his own company yet again. The entire motor industry had lost faith in Henry Ford, but he was not deterred. He found another investor to start the Ford Motor Company, and the rest is history.

Learning from Failure with Richard Branson

(Click screenshot to watch video)

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of more than 400 companies,
is an English business magnate and investor. According to the Forbes 2012
list of billionaires, he is now the 4^th richest citizen of the United Kingdom.

Starting in 1966, aged 16, following failed attempts to sell Christmas trees
and budgerigars, his first success was a magazine called Student, the first
issue of which appeared in January 1968. Two years later he started selling records by mail order, and in 1971 he opened his first record shop. Two years later came the launch of Virgin Records, and Richard was on his way.  

His companies now operate in more than 30 countries.

They include airlines, railways, radio stations, books, games, health, cosmetics, mobile phones and a space tourism company—everything from wines to balloon flights. He was knighted in 1999 for his contribution to entrepreneurship.

In 2013 he announced he was moving permanently to Necker, his private island in the Caribbean.

John Assaraf Reveals His Best Law of Attraction and Visualization Secrets

(Click screenshot to watch video)

Born in Israel, John Assaraf is an American entrepreneur who has built five multi-million dollar companies in the last 25 years and written two New York Times best-selling books: Having it All and The Answer.  He is a researcher and explorer of consciousness and human behaviour. He was featured in the movie and book The Secret and in a special documentary Quest for Success with the Dalai Lama and Sir Richard Branson. His expertise lies in helping individuals and businesses to achieve business and life success.

John is a researcher and explorer of consciousness and human behaviour. His interests include healthy living, helping others, quantum physics and brain research. He is one of the Distinguished Thought Leaders at the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management. 

His current company, PraxisNow is a research and development company which creates some of the most powerful evidence-based brain retraining tools and programs available. John lectures extensively around the world on The Neuroscience of Success and achieving peak personal performance and results.

18 Tips for Success by Richard Branson

Melissa Stanger, Business Insider 

17 September 2012

RICHARD Branson founded Virgin in 1970 at the age of 20, and he hasn’t looked back.

He’s the only entrepreneur to have built eight separate billion-dollar companies in eight different industries—and he did it all without a degree in business.

“Had I pursued my education long enough to learn all the conventional dos and don’ts of starting a business I often wonder how different my life and career might have been,” he writes in his new book, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School. 

We’ve compiled some of the best tips from his book here.

Don’t do it if you don’t enjoy it

Running a business takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and caffeine). But at the end of the day, you should be building something you will be proud of.

Branson says, “When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy.  

“I didn’t set out to build a business empire ... For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that's going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.”

Be visible
Branson received some timeless advice when building Virgin Airlines from Sir Freddie Laker, a British airline ‘tycoon’.