Inspiring People Who Changed Some Most Common Viewpoints

Heroes are a breed apart. They are gifted. They have never challenged a real tough situation, poverty, or thousand failures. They just got lucky whatever they did. Most of the people start thinking in this way whenever they face a couple of failures. That’s human nature; we often get depressed when things don’t work out.

Well, I won’t tell you any cooked up inspirational story just to make your mood better. I’m just going to list the name and their real life conditions (struggle time). See how they changed some of the most common viewpoints and transformed the whole world.

“People Should RETIRE AT 60”

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan is very popular Indian actor who also appeared in a Hollywood movie (The Great Gatby) in 2013. He was dubbed India’s first “angry young man” for his on screen roles. In his entire career, he won more than 195 awards for his tremendous contribution in Bollywood. He also voted Youth Icon at 60, IIFA. He is now 70+, still working in the film industry and inspiring millions of people.

“Only Those With FAMILY MONEY Ever Become Rich”

Dhirubhai ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani was an Indian Business tycoon who founded Reliance Industry (went public in 1977) with his cousin. He started with 10 rupees in his hand and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business. He founded Reliance in 1966 and as of 2007, the combined fortune of family was around $60 Billion, making the Ambanis the 2nd wealthiest family in the world. Today, Reliance industry has over 85 thousand employees and provides 5% of the Central Government’s total tax.

“Success Comes With EXPERIENCE”

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is one of the greatest batsmen in Cricket. He took up cricket at the age of 11 and made his Test debut early in 16. He failed in 10th standard. He scored zero in his first two ODIs. That’s how he started and now he holds hundreds of records including first batsman to score double century in ODI, the only player having 100 centuries in International Cricket career. In fact, some people call him the God of Cricket.

“Fitness Affects Your Work”

stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking is a cosmologist, physicist and director of research at the Centre for theoretical Cosmology in University of Cambridge. This genius has changed the world by his revolutionary theories. He is victim of motor neuron disease and completely paralyzed with his legs, arms and voice. He has been confined to a wheelchair (specially designed for him by Intel) and dependent on a computerized voice system. Despite all of these setbacks, he has achieved many great things which most scientists can only wish to do in their dreams.

Read: 15 Inspiring Stories of Physically Challenged People

“You Need a Better Environment for Healthy Future”

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is a popular talk show host and media proprietor. She was born in Mississippi, to an unmarried teenage mother. She spent her childhood in poverty. Her grandmother was very strict, she used to hit her with a stick, even for small childish mistakes. At the age of 9, she was molested by her uncle, cousin and family friend. After suffering years of abuse she ran away from home.

She became pregnant at 14 but the born baby was too weak and died shortly. Later, she worked as a news anchor (first black female news anchor) and in 1976 she moved to Baltimore’s WJZ-TV. She gained popularity by multi-award winning talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Currently, she is the North America’s only black billionaire with a net worth of $3 billion.

“To Earn In Millions, You Need to be a Famous Actor/Player, Businessman or a Top Employee in Big Company”

JK Rowling

J.K. Rowling, a single mother living in Scotland who became international literary sensation in 1999, when her first 3 installments of Harry potter series listed in New York times best seller. Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English in early 1990. There she married a journalist which ended in divorce. Later, she worked on a book to financially support her daughter and herself.

After so many rejections, she finally sold the first part of Harry Potter series for about $4000. Her fame and fortune got a raise after this point. The fourth installment became the fastest selling book in history. The overall series won multiple awards, sold 400 million copies, making her a billionaire.

“To Become Successful, You Need to START EARLY”

TAIKICHIRO MORI

Taikichiro Mori was an economics professor before the age of 55. In 1959, he left the job to become a real estate investor. He started his second career by investing in Minato Ward and within a couple of years, he was leading over Japan’s real estate boom. With the net worth of around $13 billion, Forbes ranked him the richest person in the world twice (in 1991 and 1992).

“Get a DEGREE Before Entering The Corporate World”

Bill Gates

Bill gates (a college dropout) is the co-founder of the giant software company, Microsoft. The richest man in the world couldn’t make any money through his first business. He worked on a device called Traf-O-Data which could read traffic tapes and process the data. The idea failed miserably, but that didn’t stop him from trying again.

In fact, the Microsoft didn’t get instant success, they had to struggle a lot in the early days. Furthermore, Gates has received numerous honorary doctorates from many leading institutions for his contribution. He is also the world’s top philanthropist who has donated over $30 billion.

Read: 10 Most Inspiring Famous Failures

“An Individual Can Never Make a DIFFERENCE”

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela is a revolutionary politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He is also a philanthropist who aimed to tackle poverty and HIV AIDS. In 1961, he was leading a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment and severed 27 years in jail.

He recognized internationally for anti-apartheid revolution and awarded with many honors including Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Bharat Ratna and Lenin. He is also considered as the father of the nation by South Africans.

“Giving Up is An EASY OPTION”

Steve Jobs

Recommended: 12 Successful Companies Founded by Ex-Apple Employees

Who doesn’t know Apple Incorporated? Well, the man behind the company’s success is none other than Steve Jobs. He was a marketer, entrepreneur, inventor, visionary and of course, the CEO of Apple Inc. He hasn’t just founded apple, but rebuild the whole company when it was in shambles.

He is mostly recognized for his influential career and design-driven pioneer of the personal computer revolution. Jobs was thrown out of his own company and later he co-founded Pixar and Next. In 1997, Apple purchased the Next for $427 million, which brings Steve back to the company he founded. Within a decade, Apple produced a few revolutionary products (iMac, iPod, iPhone) under Job’s guidance.

“When Everyone Is Against You”

elon musk

Elon Musk is a tech entrepreneur, who co-founded Paypal, CEO of electric car company Tesla Motors and established private space company in 2002. He has also invested in other revolutionary projects like Hyperloop, OpenAI and Neuralink. However, things have never been easy for billionaire Musk; he has faced some really tough situations.

In 2008, Tesla missed the shipping dates by years and it was continuously heading for a downfall. In the middle of an expensive divorce from this first wife and great recession in the market, Musk was living off loans from his friends. He put his last $35million into Tesla, despite of lack of cash. In the meantime, SpaceX wasn’t doing great. The first three rocket launches failed, causing a loss of millions. Both of his companies were running out of cash.

In fact, he admitted that he had a nervous breakdown near the end of 2008. “We had multiple near death experiences. Like death on the nose. Not just in front of you.’ said Musk.

People who were Musk’s childhood heroes – Neil Armstrong, Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Eugene Cernan – all were not in the favor of a private space company. One of the most popular television program BBC’s “Top Gear” misguided the viewers about Tesla’s Roadster performance, behavior and reliability.

Read: NASA vs SpaceX – How Different They Are?

But that didn’t stop him. The project that was close to this heart barely escaped bankruptcy when his 4th rocket launch finally succeeded. And hours before Tesla was to close down, it received investment. Today, Tesla is world’s fourth largest automaker, and SpaceX is valued at over $21 billion. Musk is one of the most successful tech CEO, with a net worth of over $20 billion.

The Bitter Past of Extremely Successful People

I was fired from a newspaper for “LACKING IMAGINATION” and “HAVING NO ORIGINAL IDEAS”.  –Walt Disney

I was demoted from job as a news anchor because “I wasn’t fit for television”. –Oprah Winfrey

At the age of 25, I was a “bus conductor”. –Rajnikanth

I used to “serve tea” at a shop to support my football training. –Lionel Messi

I “failed thousand times” before inventing a light bulb. -Thomas Edison

I slept on a bench and borrowed 20 rupees (32 cents) every day from a friend to travel filmcity. –Shah Rukh Khan

I couldn’t even talk until I was 4. At 8, I couldn’t read. –Albert Einstein

In my childhood days, “I stitched shows”. –Abraham Lincoln

Read more: 100+ Inspirational Quotes by Famous People

Bottom Line

If you BELIEVE you can fly, YOU WILL.

If you can’t fly, then run.
If you can’t run, then walk.
If you can’t walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. –Martin Luther King Jr.

Written by
Varun Kumar

I am a professional technology and business research analyst with more than a decade of experience in the field. My main areas of expertise include software technologies, business strategies, competitive analysis, and staying up-to-date with market trends.

I hold a Master's degree in computer science from GGSIPU University. If you'd like to learn more about my latest projects and insights, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via email at [email protected].

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