One of the success lessons of Jack Ma is that you should never give up even if nothing is going as planned.
Jack Ma’s boundless passion and failures during his rise to fame, have both equally played an integral part in moulding the business empire that he built from scratch. Jack Ma’s life is widely recognized as an international success story, but the presence of misfortune and adversity in his life should tell you that the greatest triumph in life is almost always preceded by failure and defeat.
All failures play a valuable part in your progression toward success as long as you don’t give up.
1. Failure itself is no harm, but your perception of it can be.
According to www.investopedia.com, Ma’s early years were abundant in failures as he constantly found himself flunking exams in primary school, secondary school, and even college. On the contrary, Ma performed extremely well in his areas of passion including learning English. Utilizing this passion, he even went as far as to become an unofficial tour guide for outsider tourists. His ample knowledge about the world can partially be attributed to his tour guide experience, because of which he also began to be a critical thinker.
Ma’s failures have allowed him to discover his strengths and weaknesses to their entirety, and when you wish to make the impact in society and be distinct from your peers, you should strive to learn as much as possible about yourself.
Ma’s failures continued as he became older, in fact, you may be in a state of disbelief to discover that Ma was rejected 10 times from Harvard University. The sense of worthlessness that Ma must have felt is truly heartbreaking, but he is a man with strong faith in his abilities despite society’s denial of it. His faith is what led him to apply to Harvard repeatedly, regardless of its outcome.
2. Be dedicated. Be committed
The astonishing part of Ma’s rejection from the prestigious institution is the exceptional will that compelled him to apply again and again. Likewise, you should never give up even if nothing is going as planned. Ma’s rejection from Harvard was perceived by him as no more than a temporary setback, only then was he able to move further in the direction of his dreams. Of course, this took a toll on his optimism with which he viewed the world and weakened his morale but not to the extent to which he would be willing to give up on everything he ever dreamt of.
Even if the world is unsupportive of your capabilities, you must never lose faith in yourself as we all have unique features whose value will someday be visible to everyone.
Today, Jack Ma’s net worth approximates to $25 billion USD, originating from his efforts to bring to life a massive online commerce company. Optimism is the virtue instilled in him, which allows him to perceive massive failures as trivial, so he can envision a better tomorrow. We are all resistant to embrace failure, but you become exceptional when you outgrow this resistance so much that failure is an integral part of your existence, without which life seems dull.
3. Life is always testing your patience and optimism
In addition to being rejected from Harvard University, he was also turned down for many jobs that he had applied to after completion of college. When he applied to KFC, he was the only rejected candidate; when he applied to join the police force, he was also the sole candidate facing rejection. It is clear that Ma vividly imagined a better future for himself, and this is what led him to try his hardest despite being in the midst of a crisis where he faced acceptance from nobody. These failure experiences are what eventually developed his conscience such that it would not allow him to accept misfortune.
You must never accept your hopeless situation to be your destiny as times do change, as was the case for Ma.
4. Aim for excellence in every one of your endeavors
Ma actively pursued education and used it as his platform to exert himself. His education proves him to be highly competent and deserving of his achievements to date. He has received a doctorate degree which is well-respected by society and associated with great status and prestige. Furthermore, he completed an MBA from Cheung Kong University.
Many of us are seeking the perfect life in this world but very few of us are aware of the amount of effort it requires, let alone exerting this effort in the presence of terrifying failures.
All humans want for their existence on this planet to be an experience worth cherishing, but this will forever remain a dream unless you show that you are deserving of it. Jack Ma faced extreme failure whose actual pain is incomprehensible to the average man but in the present day, he is reaping the rewards of it and living a life full of extravagances. Therefore, if you are saddened by your misery, a slight remembrance of Jack Ma may reassure you that failures and tough times have the potential to eventually bring light into a much-darkened life.