These are the things that tag along when one is trying to achieve great feats in life. But then, we live in a society that speaks about success. It hardly shows the struggle to get there. One cannot help but feel that the most successful people hardly get rejections or failures. Contrary to that, however, is the real world. People who reached incredible heights throughout history were not immune to huge rejection and failure. What differentiates them is the special approach toward it, rather than the ability to avoid that failure.

Success is embracing failure, learning from setbacks, and making it past rejections. That’s how people survive, adapt, and thrive. Now, let’s explore how some of the most successful people in the world turn failure into opportunities for success. They also transform rejection into valuable lessons.

1. Reframe Failure as a Learning Experience

The second way is a transformation of meaning. Most people, when failing, think of this place as one where everything has stopped. To some, it tells them they are not good enough. Actually, in many instances, failure is an entry point. It is a chance to learn and get better through growing. It involves taking responsibility and perfecting their ways toward performing something.

There is Thomas Edison, an American inventor and entrepreneur with over 1,000 patents in a lifetime ownership. The work of Edison on the electric light bulb is legendary. However, his road to success, according to himself, was quite rough. It is said he failed thousands of times before he attained his breakthrough. When asked about his repeated failures, Edison famously remarked, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” His perspective on failure teaches us that setbacks are not signs of incompetence. They are opportunities to adjust our strategies. People like Edison managed to succeed despite all odds. They accomplished this because, for them, every failure carried a lesson toward mastery.

It is the kind of reasoning applied to any area of life. This applies when one ventures into business. It applies when one learns a new skill. It also applies when one advances towards accomplishing a personal goal. It will not be about trying to avoid it. Instead, it will be about learning to get up from that fall. The way we express it reduces the fear of making a mistake. It also makes it easier to help ourselves grow.

2. Persistence is Key

One of the distinguishing marks of any successful person is persistence-that is, a person’s ability to continue without letting setbacks stand in his path. They realize that rejection or failure does not mean that a venture is at its end; it is merely another route to success.

On the subject of persistence with rejection, one cannot think better than J.K. J.K. Rowling is a British author of the Harry Potter series. All in all, she sent her first book to twelve different publishers before one accepted it. Most people would have stopped at the first, or the tenth, No. Not Rowling, though, who knew full well she had a potentially hot story. Indeed, it did pay off the moment Bloomsbury Publishing gave her an opportunity to launch what went on to be one of history’s bestsellers in book franchise form.

It is the story that reminds one so strongly that behind every successful person, there had to be some moment of perseverance through some of those harsh ones. Rejection just tells you that you are not good enough; all this really means is try again, perfect, or take another course. In persistence through adversities, that portrays resilience-a salient trait among successful people. Their secret is simple: they just don’t give up after the innumerable rejections or failures they have on the road.

 3. Don’t Take Rejection Personally

One of the most important things that successful people learn is not to take rejection personally. While it will be normal sometimes for us to feel disappointed or discouraged when rejected, the most successful people know it has nothing to do with them and see it as part of the process.

Early rejection also came knocking on the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, in the form of the failure of his first business proposition. That never fazed him. He then used that chance to refine his approach and pitch, which has actually made the difference in Gates’s case: separating self-worth from professional setbacks means enduring success.

When the very powerful media mogul Oprah Winfrey started, she was “unfit for TV,” yet the same is nowadays one of the most influential women in the world. Without something deep inside that would eventually have rebounded, such an attitude could well end a career that barely started. Instead, internalizing this and taking it upon herself as motivation, she did her work and started proving all those critics wrong.

Rejection happens to everyone, however talented or ambitious. The only way to beat it is not to take it as a bruise to the ego but as a detour to something more fabulous. Successful people know rejection is often outside of their control and does not define them as a person.

 4. Adaptability and Flexibility

Flexibility is another inherent success factor that, upon failure, will keep one on course. The most successful people are those who can make do when one thing they were initially focused on doesn’t happen the way they had expected. They realize that change happens everywhere, and that adjustment to different sets of circumstances is part of moving ahead in life.

Steve Jobs, who was voted out of the very company he helped build, can be included as one of the most sensational failures in the history of technology. For Jobs, this was not defeat but an opportunity to learn from mistakes and improve. He went further to create NeXT, a computer company that would later be part of the resurgence of Apple. It wasn’t until years later that Jobs finally returned to Apple, with fresh eyes and new ideas that would turn it into the tech giant it is today.

Jobs’ story itself shows how flexibility works: Sometimes when things do not work as projected, one should be flexible to learn from them and then start searching for opportunities. That is how the most successful people are never rigid in their approaches; they stay open to changes and new ways of doing things.

 5. Visualize Success Beyond Setbacks

Successful people surge from failure in an effort toward successful living. Whereas others perhaps have been downtrodden by setbacks, they are able to focus successfully on ways at which there lies success just over the obstacles facing them. Being big-picture oriented allows them to stay in their positive ways of increasing and maintaining one’s motivational levels while things will go right.

Michael Jordan is one of the most prominent basketball players in the world, refused from the school basketball team to ranking among the best ever in the game. It was naturally disappointing for him, but Jordan did not let that disappoint him. He tried harder and practiced harder to realize six NBA championships among the greatest athletes history has ever known.

Jordan’s story surely reminds us that failure doesn’t define us; rather, it refines us. And so, having his eyes always on the big picture, goaded by this to action, Jordan turned it no more than a final, compelling spark to greatness.

 6. Surround Yourself with Supportive People

The other important thing in dealing with failure and rejection is putting yourself among people who can support you: friends, mentors, and colleagues. Along the road to success, it can get very lonely, and these people make all the difference with their encouragement, advice, and perspective.

People who, when others bring one down, pick up will go a long way in one’s successful journey as many successful people seem to seek whereas the credit for the success of Oprah Winfrey, who took some devastating blows in the beginning of her career goes to people, and she trusted those mentors when people around her did not believe in her.

People around you, who do believe in you, even when you do not, can get you through. Support lifts up your feet so you will go again in any direction and helps you choose a route. This may be just standing.

 7. Take Action, Don’t Dwell

Lastly, one of the crucial ways of surmounting failure and rejection is not brooding but acting upon a setback. While reflecting and learning from experiences are important, successful people do not live in the past; strong steps toward new pathways are made, and they create opportunities for themselves.

Walt Disney, who was rejected multiple times in the early stages of his career, famously said, “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m optimistic about the future.” Despite facing numerous obstacles and rejections, Disney remained focused on the future. He continued to push forward, eventually creating one of the most successful entertainment companies in the world.

Accordingly, even in the case of a setback, it keeps the ball rolling. Musing over your failure really sets you back, while proactive steps help you keep your eyes on the prize and stay right on course toward success.

These stories just prove that one failure or rejection isn’t a roadblock to success but one of the processes. Next time you suffer from a setback, just remember that even the most accomplished people have been where you are now. With the right mindset and persistence, and with proper support, one can turn his failures and rejections into stepping stones to his greatest achievements.