Climbing a ladder of success is definitely not an easy task. There is a saying that goes, “Rome was not built in a day,” similarly there is no successful person who has got the name and fame overnight. It’s not like successful personalities have never failed but they dared to stand against all odds, which can only attain through hard work and sheer determination. Let us take a look at these  personalities who have never accepted defeat to achieve their goals, as compiled by listdose.com

1. Lionel Messi:

Argentinian striker, Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of the modern generation. He plays for FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He has been described as Diego Maradona’s successor because of his prolific goal scoring record and ability to dribble past opponents. Widely recognised as the best player in the world and rated by some commentators, coaches and players as the greatest footballer of all time, he is the first football player in history to win FIFA world player of the year four times. Despite his successful career today, Messi as a child was diagnosed with a growth hormone disorder, or GHD. It is often called idiopathic short stature, but there are problems that go beyond being shorter than average. The treatments were expensive, a $900 monthly expense that his modest family could not afford. So his parents decided to move to Barcelona, Spain for the treatment.

2.Sudha Chandran:

Sudha Chandran is a well known Bharatanatyam dancer from Chennai, India. She completed her Masters in Mumbai, and while travelling from Mumbai to Chennai, she met with an accident. The wound on her right leg got affected by gangrene, which resulted in the amputation. But despite her injury, Sudha went on to become one of the most highly acclaimed dancers. She is recognized in many countries and has been honored with numerous awards and still receives invitations to perform dance in all over the world.

3 Ludwig van Beethoven:

Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer and pianist is one of the most famous and influential composers of all times. Some of his best known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. Miraculously, this great composer went deaf during his course of life as a musician. Then on, he was unable to hear his own compose music. In spite of his physical shortcoming, music made him carry on and gave the world some of the best music ever.

4. Thomas Alva Edison:

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a practical electric light bulb. He was also called ‘The Wizard of Menlo Park’. This extraordinary inventor, failed over ten thousand times on his attempt to invent the light bulb. For this Edison states, “I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”

5. Abraham Lincoln:

Abraham Lincoln, The 16th president of the United States, was a self educated person. He faced many obstacles and fought it with determination to come up as a well known and successful leader respected all around the world. His success as president was particularly interesting because of the amount of personal and professional failure he had in his entire life. Lincoln had two business ventures fail, lost 8 different elections and had a complete nervous breakdown before becoming president in 1860. His story is indeed a great inspirational story which shows how one should keep moving towards one dream to eventually achieve it.

 
6. Helen Keller:

Helen is an American author, political activist, and lecturer and was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her teacher Anne Sullivan played a very important role in Helen’s life by teaching her how to communicate. Hellen Keller has also campaigned for women’s suffrage, workers’ rights, and socialism, as well as various other progressive causes. Keller has met almost every President during her life and was friends with Keller famous personalities such as Alexander Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin, and Mark Twain.

7. Nick Vujicic:

Nick Vujicic is an Australian Christian evangelist and motivational speaker who was born with no arms and legs. He was suffering from tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs. But this doesn’t stop him from taking his life ahead. The early days were quite difficult for him. Throughout his childhood, Nick not only dealt with the typical challenges in school, but he also struggled with depression and loneliness. But eventually, he came in terms with his disability and, at the age of seventeen, Nick started his own non-profit organization, ‘Life Without Limbs’. Today, he gives motivational speeches all across the world about life with a disability, on hope, and on finding meaning in life. He also talks about his belief that God can use any willing heart to do his work and that God is big enough to overcome any disability. It is his small foot on his left hip that helps him balance and enables him to use his one foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his toes.

8.  Glenn Verniss Cunningham:

Glenn Cunningham was one of the United States’ fastest runners who shines against the greatest odds. At the age of 8, Glenn met with a horrible accident at school that left him with complete loss of skin around his knees and shins. So, doctors urged his parents to amputate his legs, but his parents refused it. The doctors told his parents that he would never walk normally again. However, Glenn and his family refused to accept such claims and with much determination and unwavering faith, he not only walked but also ran faster. In 1932 Summer Olympics, Glenn stood at fourth place in the Men’s 1500m and in 1936 Summer Olympics, he bagged silver in the same 1500 m.  Then in 1934, he set the world record by finishing a mile in 4:06.8. Glenn received the James E. Sullivan Award for top amateur athlete in the United States in 1933. Such kinds of achievements would never happen without extreme will power and faith.

source::::: siliconindia .com

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