Colonel Sanders was rejected 1009 times before successfully selling his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe. He had failed at every job he’d tried earlier on in his life, lawyer, salesman, you name it.
The Colonel was already married at the young age of 19 to his wife Josephine, had 3 children, then had frequent affairs and the marriage ended in divorce. It’s safe to say that he didn’t have the best of lives growing up. He didn’t even successfully sell his company until he was 75 years old!
There’s no doubt that the odds were stacked against the KFC king. The Colonel’s story is so inspiring and filled with hope for others who think it’s too late. Check out the 7 most powerful success lessons we can all learn from Colonel Sanders. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 20 years old or 70. This article has some powerful points to bring to the table.
- You Have to Go Through Failure to Get to Success
In the intro above, I mentioned that Colonel Sanders was rejected more than 1000 times before successfully selling his KFC recipe. Not only that, but I also mentioned that he’d failed at every other career he’d tried to get into. Sanders tried and failed miserably at all the below careers between the ages of 10 and 40: Farming; Streetcar Conductor; Lawyer; Insurance Salesman; Railroad Fireman
Just goes to show that no matter how many failures you experience in life, there’s always still time to be successful. For anyone reading this who thinks it’s too late to make something of your life, start re-thinking!
- You’re Never too old to Succeed
Colonel Sanders was 75 years old before he finally sold Kentucky Fried Chicken for a cool $2 million. Which would be around about $15 million in the world of today? He remained as the spokesman for the company after the sale.
But at 75 years old… the majority of people, at least 95% give up way earlier in life. People stop thinking they can be successful even in their 30s! And yet, the Colonel didn’t think this way and ended up being the founder and face of a billion-dollar brand. So before you start to think that you can’t achieve your dreams, because you’re 30, 40, 50 years old… stop. You’re never too old to achieve success in life.
- The Past Doesn’t Define Your Success
An awesome success lesson that many people want to hear, is the lesson that your past doesn’t outline your future success. It doesn’t be counted how many times you’ve failed. It doesn’t matter in which you were brought up, or what happened to you earlier on in life. Your past does not determine how successful you can become in the future.
Again, look at Sanders. He’d failed at all another career he’d tried… a whole bunch of them! He was in depressing marriage life and had 3 children at a young age. For most people, that’s when they start to quit on life, and can’t see a way out.
- Giving up is the Only Sure Way to Fail
You can fail at lots of things in life, but the KFC story proves that giving up is the only way to fail. If you’re a person like the Colonel, no matter how many times you fail, the opportunity for success is still always at the table. You’re not a failure until you ultimately stop trying.
So don’t give up. Even if time passes, you’re gradually getting older and still can’t quite see the end of the tunnel. It’s never impossible to achieve success. “Hard work beats all the tonics and vitamins in the world.” – Colonel Sanders
- It’s Never too Late to Start Over
It was clear that cooking was the Colonel’s passion, but it wasn’t found by himself until later on in his life. He went through a complete range of careers, having to start over from scratch, again, and again.When you try and be successful at so many different things, it can become exhausting.
The start is always the hardest part, and for most people beginning all over again at the age of 50, or 60 would be unthinkable. Yet, it’s never too late, and Colonel Sanders confirmed this by ultimately being successful at doing what he loved… in his 70s!
- Take a Risk on Doing What You Love
It’s no mystery that following your passion is the key to happiness and success. You understand it, I understand it, we’ve heard all of the stories before. And yet, the majority of folks still don’t move after what we need in life before age even comes into play. People in their 20s don’t even pursue their passions a lot of the time.
Maybe it takes some time for maximum to realize simply how important passion is, but the desire is that we help as many as possible to pursue what they want early on. After all, is said and done, a pursued passion will make anyone a successful individual.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Start Small
Sanders started selling Kentucky Fried Chicken by the side of the road, on a small scale. After promoting the recipe, it hugely grew, and franchises were being opened everywhere in the world. The lesson here is not to be afraid to begin small. As long as you get started, and work hard, progression will come.
People regularly put off starting their own business, website, and such, simply due to the fact they don’t think it’s at a big enough scale to launch. I see plenty of people in the system of “launching” websites, stuck in this process for more than 2 years because they don’t think it’s quite ready. Just begin! Seriously! People love development, and once you start you’ll be able to do so. Putting matters off due to perfection isn’t always going to get you anywhere.