Did you know that the richest person on earth today was a big failure in their past? They rose from dropout college, a single parent who lost her job, home, got fired, and was expelled from school, and became the most successful and influential figures up until today.

Failure occurs every day, in school, jobs, housework, and within families. It is unavoidable, irritating, and causes pessimism.

While the thought of flinging your hands in the air and walking away is all too appealing, take a second to connect with the people who have been there and survived.

Here are four famous failures-to-success stories around the world that will inspire you to keep going and achieve greatness: 

1. J.K. Rowling

In her commencement address at Harvard, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, stressed the importance and value of failure.

Why? due to the fact that she was once a loser herself. As soon as she graduated from college, her worst fears came true. There was no doubt in her mind about it. "I have gone down in flames." I was a single mother, jobless and as destitute as it is conceivable to be in modern Britain without being homeless after a short-lived marriage fell apart.

My parents' and my own expectations of myself had been realized, and I was the worst failure I had ever encountered. The key to her achievement was the fact that she emerged from this failure stronger and more resolute. 

2. Steve Jobs

Two men in a garage started Apple, which is today's revolutionary. Many years later, it's a $2 billion corporation with over 4,000 workers that we're all familiar with.

Despite this, Steve Jobs was sacked from the corporation he started. The discharge made him realise that his enthusiasm for his work was greater than the disappointment of failing. Jobs' return to Apple as CEO was eventually aided by his involvement in new companies like NeXT and Pixar.

In 2005, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "Apple's firing was the finest thing that could have ever happened to me, even though I didn't see it at the time." Is this your first day without a job? As long as you keep it up, you can become as good as this guy at kicking!

3. Bill Gates

Bill Gates failed out of Harvard. Traf-O-Data, a business he co-owned, was a complete disaster.

Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, was just 31 years old when he became the world's youngest self-made millionaire because of his aptitude and enthusiasm for computer programming. In the end, it's better to learn from failure than to celebrate accomplishment.

Even if you don't end up becoming a millionaire, it's possible that your desire to succeed outweighs the value of your Harvard diploma. If you're not like Bill Gates and haven't found your calling, the following advice may be helpful.

4. Albert Einstein

The name "Einstein" has become a byword for intelligence and brilliance in our culture. However, it is well-known that Albert Einstein, the father of general relativity theory, could not talk properly until the age of nine.

He was expelled from school for his disobedient behavior, and the Zurich Polytechnic School refused to accept him. Despite his previous disappointments, he was able to earn the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 despite them. Ultimately, he was convinced: "Success is merely failure in progress."

On May 3, 1980, thirteen-year-old Cari died in a hit and run case by a driver who drove under the influence of substance alcohol. As shattering as the experience was, her mother Candace started a movement called Mothers Against Drunken Driving (MADD) which is

currently the largest of its kind in North America intending to stop drunken driving, to help those affected by drunken driving and so on. From a time when more people died due to drunken driving than in war, MADD has been effective in reducing the number of deaths due to drunken driving in half!

Think about it. Candace had all the reasons to sit on the sidelines and give up on life due to the tragedy. But, she did what I am asking you to do. She allowed her pain to guide her to her purpose instead of allowing it to destroy her.

In the Scripture, the Apostle Paul was being taken as a prisoner by ship to Rome for preaching the gospel. But their ship met with a severe storm and they were all washed onto the land of Malta and through various miracles, Paul was able to minister to the whole place. Now, Malta was not in the preaching schedule of Paul and he wouldn’t have

been there if not for the storm. So, looking back at it, the storm didn’t come to destroy him but rather to redirect him to where he was supposed to go!

Instead of worrying, complaining and fretting about the storm that you are in, I encourage you to look at it with this perspective: Perhaps GOD allowed it to direct you towards your destiny! In all probability, Paul wouldn’t have gone to Malta if not for the storm and in all likelihood, Candace would not have started MADD if she hadn’t gone

through the loss of her child.

 Your Storm did not come to destroy you but rather to direct you to your destiny!