The world is full of amazing perseverance stories that can inspire you to achieve more.
I always wonder…Why do so many people give up on their hopes, dreams, and goals so easily? Why don’t more people persevere?
It’s a question I ask because I see it so frequently. Friends, old coworkers, and even people I meet on the golf course openly admit to giving up.
Why is it so many people choose to go the easy route and give up?
I try to live my life the opposite — one of my biggest fears is dying with regret. The regret of not knowing what I could have accomplished but didn’t because I was scared, didn’t work hard enough or gave up when it got tough.
Whether it’s a fitness goal, business idea, sports or another challenge in life I always try to see it through.
Giving up is easy, finishing a goal is hard.
As motivational speaker Ross Perot says, “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.”
Check out these eight perseverance stories to follow through on your goals and dreams for unlimited potential in your future:
8 Perseverance Stories To Help You Succeed
1. Jack Canfield – Chicken Soup For The Soul Co-Creator
Jack Canfield is the creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series. He’s also one of the best motivational speakers, professional coach, and an incredibly inspiring author who published The Success Principles.
Jack and his co-author Mark Victor Hansen pitched the original Chicken Soup for the Soul to over 130 different publishers. But none of them were interested and said no one “wants to read 100 inspirational stories.”
After 100+ pitches, their agent dropped them as well, but they were determined to get the book published.
Luckily they never gave up and continued to persevere until their book was picked up by a small publisher in Florida.
Now there are over 250 Chicken Soup for the Soul Books and over 500 MILLION copies sold worldwide. If they had given up these inspirational stories wouldn’t have been read across the world and they wouldn’t have made millions of dollars.
Perseverance Lesson
Never give up! Could you imagine if he quit on the 129th publisher? Where would his life be now?
If you have a strong vision and clear goals never stop until you achieve them.
2. McDonald’s – Ray Croc
Ray Croc is another one of the coolest perseverance stories that show you can succeed at any time in your life.
The golden arches are also synonymous with one of the oldest, biggest, and most successful businesses in the world.
But without Ray Croc, Mcdonalds would have been a one location burger chain in San Bernardino.
Ray was a 50 plus-year-old struggling milkshake machine salesman who lived a comfortable life but craved more. He met the brothers behind McDonald’s and eventually convinced them of a franchise model to grow the brand. This led him to massive expansion, buying the land where all locations operate and grown into the Mcdonald’s we know today.
A quick synopsis of McDonald’s history (via Biz Insider):
- Started in 19 as a one location burger chain
- Burgers were originally 15 cents
- They hire around 1 million workers in the US every year
- Mcdonald’s $27 billion in revenue makes it the 90th-largest economy in the world
Lesson
Dream big! Without a dream to grow the franchise Mcdonald’s would have been a one location burger joint.
While the story is slightly sad, the main lesson is to never aim low. Shoot for the stars!
3. Alibaba – Jack Ma
Jack Ma is the richest man in Asia (worth about $39 Billion) and runs one of the largest company in China — Alibaba.
But he wasn’t a genius who instantly created this amazing company. He faced rejection for his whole life.
He applied for 30 different jobs (including the police and KFC) and was rejected. In addition, he applied and got denied 10 different times from Harvard.
But, after discovering the internet in the mid 90’s he understood the possibilities that existed. He went on to create several companies despite all the rejection he had previously faced.
Success Lesson
Believe in yourself. If Jack would have listened to others he would have accepted all the rejection and lived a life of mediocrity. Instead, he kept going, built an incredible business and impacts millions of lives every day.
The best part? He spoke at Harvard for a commencement speech, the school that rejected him 10 times.
4. Whats App – Jan Koum
Jan Koum is the founder of What’s App which sold to Facebook for 19 billion dollars. He grew up very poor in Ukraine and didn’t even have running water.
After finding his skills in Silicon Valley he was almost hired at Facebook but got passed over in the last interview. Instead of sulking, Jan went on to found Whats App.
Jan is the epitome of hard work and never giving up. For his full story check out this article.
Lesson
Don’t take no for an answer. If you believe in yourself keep going towards your goal. Know that once you complete it you will have the satisfaction of succeeding when others doubted you or told you it was impossible.
5. Starbucks – Howard Schultz
Everyone around the world knows Starbucks. It is one of the most recognizable symbols next to the crucifix, Mcdonalds, and Superman. But it didn’t start that easy, without perseverance the coffee giant would never have existed.
Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks went to over 200 banks looking for his original loan. 242!
Not only was he desperately trying to secure a loan, his wife was pregnant with their first child. After a year of rejections, he was able to secure the $400,000 needed from a doctor and two other individual investors.
Today, the brand employs over 137,000 people around the world.
Starbucks Stats (via Business Insider):
- 16,850 Starbucks locations in 40 countries
- As of 2010, Starbucks employed 137,000 people — twice the population of Greenland
- Starbucks adds two new stores on a daily basis since 1987
And did I mention that Howard Schultz is worth nearly 3 billion dollars?
Perseverance Lesson
Never give up, no matter how hard it might seem. If Howard had not persevered the world wouldn’t know one of the most iconic brands ever.
6. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is the definition of perseverance. Considered unteachable at a young age the inventor went on to eventually create the electric light bulb. While most thought he “failed” he simply said he found over 1,000 ways to not build a light bulb.
Success Lesson
If you fail, learn from it and keep moving forward. Failure isn’t meant to be a reason to stop it’s to show you a way that didn’t work. As Tony Robbins said, “Don’t change the goal, change the approach.“
7. Walt Disney
While everyone knows the iconic brand of Disney, the story of how Walt Disney created the empire is very inspiring. As a young man, Walt Disney was fired from a local newspaper as his boss thought he lacked creativity. After a failed animation company went under he was barely able to pay his bills even ate dog food to survive.
With his last few dollars, Walt Disney made his way to Hollywood to try and make it big. Unfortunately, his early time in Hollywood was just as bad. He was told Mickey Mouse would fail, faced constant rejection and seemed destined to never succeed.
But Walt persisted and went on to grow the company with amusement parks, feature films, and is known as a cultural icon.
Success Lesson
Learn to take a calculated risk and don’t stop doing what you love just because the world has shown you obstacles. Ironically, years later Walt’s Disney acquired the Kansas City Star newspaper — the one who said he lacked creativity all those years ago.
8. KFC – Colonel Sanders
The last of these perseverance stories is the founder of KFC, Colonel Sanders. He didn’t start KFC until he was 60 years old after receiving his first social security check!
That’s when most people are taught to hang it up, cross off the bucket list and fall asleep watching TV every day.
He worked from age 60 – 73 to master his technique and grow his business. This often came at the expense of sleeping in his car! It was hard work but he loved doing it — and people loved the food.
When he sold the company he earned $2 million and lived out the rest of life in comfort, not needing to depend on his social security check.
Lesson
It’s never too late! Whether you’re 30, 45, or 60 years old never give up on your dreams.
Perseverance in the Face of Adversity
Success isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be difficult, challenging, and exhausting or everyone would be successful.
Don’t quit when obstacles arise. Persist, trust yourself and your vision until it’s accomplished.
These perseverance stories show that human beings are capable of anything with perseverance, hard work, and belief in themselves.
Never give up on your dreams, keep going, keep striving, and keep persisting. If you give up on something you really care about you’ll end up quitting on the one-yard line.
Learn how to push through your fears and achieve your biggest goals and dreams.
Have you heard of these perseverance stories? Did you have a favorite?
Let me know in the comments!
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These are some great stories, it is so easy sometimes to just want to give up a quit, but you never know where keeping going may lead.
Thanks Sarah — gotta keep going to see how it will turn out 🙂
hi so good .
Such an inspiring post especially reading about giant companies like WhatsApp and Mcdonalds.
Thanks Audrey — super cool to see how people persevere!
This was such a cool read. I didn’t know this about these people. I always try to keep going no matter what!
Thanks Amber glad you liked it!
I tend t give up when things get too difficult. It’s just my way. I always regret it.
You can change it — create great goals and stick with it!
Goal setting is so important – that’s where the dream begins. Then staying true to yourself, being willing to work hard and stay the course is the ticket to achieving whatever you set your mind to.
Very well said Denay — without goals and a vision it’s hard to know what you’re working towards some days!
I really like Alibaba. I haven’t gotten a lot from there, but I am glad he didn’t give up.
Definitely an inspiring story!
This was truly a great post. Thanks for putting all this together. I’ve been meaning to check out more stories from the greats as it’s a good way to motivate myself when I feel clueless.
Thanks I appreciate it and glad it was helpful for you 🙂 I’ll be posting a lot more stuff like this!
Hello Michael L, Thank you for your post
You’re so right. Giving up is so much easier, which is why refusing to quit is such an accomplishment!
Totally agree Jessica!
Some great people with incredible stories of not giving up. I am motivated and inspired by them after reading it. I always have the tendency to quit when it’s difficult but I guess I should persist.
Awesome Ruth — super glad you’re inspired!
Such a great post! Always keep going no matter how many times you get told no! Thanks for sharing!
Gotta keep going — always forward!
These stories are so inspiring! They teach us that nothing is impossible and failure should not stop us from achieving! I have heard of Jack ma’s story so many time!
You are so right — nothing is impossible!
being Asian, Jack Ma is looked up to by many including myself! i guess the saying no pain no gain is precise! http://www.crayonized.com
Jack’s story is amazing — super inspiring!
Love this post. A good reminder of how our visions should never change even if we have to change the process of getting there. Totally agree that success doesn’t come easily. Great post!
Thanks Tee — love reading about people like this. So inspiring!
What inspiring people! I’m not a quitter myself. You get so much more out of life when you push through and don’t give up.
You are so right — never give up!
Thanks for the reminder to keep persevering. It’s always encouraging to read stories of successful people who made it despite lots of challenges and failures of their own. Never give up on your dream.
Love it Lois — thanks for reading!
I’ve heard a few stories on the list before the list in totality is super inspiring. At 30 I’m beating myself up about a few things I could have been when I was younger to maybe secure success a little earlier. This helps me put it in perspective.
30 is so young you have so much time to accomplish so much — don’t look back only forward!
These stories are very inspiring. Just a little bit of inspiration can motivate us a long way. Thank you for sharing.
Sondra xx
prettyfitfoodie.com
No problem Sondra — love writing and researching these kind of posts!
Thanks for the inspiration sometimes we loses site that achieving a goal can be difficult and takes time and in the way we get discouraged. Reading posts like this and getting all this resources is a great help, thanks!
Awesome to hear — thanks for reading!
Very fun and interesting to read! It is amazing what people can do and how motivational it can be for others!
So right — shows that you can accomplish anything!
I love reading such inspirational stories! Persistence and dedication will get you far in life.
Persistence = key to success!
What great inspiration. I have often wanted to give up on things but kept on pressing through. It is hard work but totally worth the outcome!
If it was easy everyone would do it — keep going 🙂
Exactly what I needed to hear today. I’ve been struggling with a decision and I think it would be a regret if I didn’t go through with it. It’s not always easy focusing on your dreams, but it can be so worth
Awesome to hear Angela — hope it all works out!
Love a good inspirational story! This is such an awesome article that show you don’t have to be 18 and perfect from the start in order to succeed. I love motivation reads and this totally hit the “I can be amazing one day” spot!
The Whatsapp story is maybe the craziest. I live in Spain and everyone uses Whatsapp. It’s free and texting is quite expensive. I love how Facebook bought it from him. I wonder what they were thinking when that happened.
These are inspiring stories. It’s amazing how easy it is to quit, but if you push just a little harder, greatness usually follows!
Well said Stephanie — gotta persevere to achieve greatness most of the time!
Success stories are so inspiring. The McDonalds logo being more recognizable the the Christian cross is mind blowing.
I know it is just crazy to think about!
I definitely I agree that perseverance is the means to success in life. Never give up when people tell you to quit should help you succeed. Although honestly, I am not a Starbucks fan. The coffee just doesn’t make me excited.
I love this post! Very inspiring to know that they struggled but never gave up hope in the process and now look at what they’ve become! I didn’t know that about Chicken Soup of the Soul, I just sent in a story a couple weeks ago in hopes to become published in one of the MANY books they have…
No way — so cool Eloise I hope you get in! Jack is super inspirational — crazy they have sold half a billion!
Life can really suck sometimes and it can be so hard to keep going but quitting is not the answer for me, keep on pushing through.
Very well said Adaleta — always keep going and persevere! Makes you stronger for the future 🙂
This is one of those blogs that came into my life at the perfect time. I needed to read this! Thank you
Love reading this kind of post!! It all make us motivate in our lives
Thanks for reading Chuck!
These are all great people who were very successful. Each one never gave up on dreams they believed they could achieve. Thanks for sharing the information.
Very inspirational post. There are so many times I wanted to turn back after I have encountered failure. But of course, I had to stand up, brush myself off and get back on track. As long as I am moving forward I will reach my goals.
Love it — always forward no time to look back!
Your posts are so inspirational. I will be checking out the books, thank you.
Thanks Glenda — really appreciate it!
It’s wonderful. I was amazed at all your stories. I always try hard and keep moving forward. Thanks for sharing your post, it’s very inspirational.
Thanks Mai — glad it was helpful. You nailed it… always keep going forward!
This is so solid! I am inspired by these individuals as well. Most successful people I have found are those who are both persistent and passionate! Can’t wait to dig deeper with the recommended books!
Persistent and passionate are two perfect words to describe success!
Wow such amazing individuals who didn’t let fear deter them from their goals. Just love reading about Jack Canfield and the obstacles he faced.
Jack is the man — I’m going to see him in October for a 1 day seminar…so excited!
Thanks for sharing such an informative post! 🙂
No problem happy it was helpful 🙂
hey i have a question how can i contact with you ?
supermillennial@gmail.com
Thanks!
Its soo Good!
i like this!
Thanks I appreciate you reading!
Yes! Never give up!
tnx for this post
Thanks! Appreciate you reading
hey how can i contact with you ?
Email michael@inspireyoursuccess.com — thanks
great article
Thanks Sara — appreciate you reading!
Thankful.