Ever heard of Milton Hershey? Were you aware that the King of Chocolate in the United States actually set out to become the King of Carmel, but failed miserably and almost had to declare bankruptcy? J.K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter stories were rejected by 27 publishers and Walt Disney was turned down by dozens of banks when he was trying to finance Disneyland.

What do all of these amazing people have in common? When they got knocked down, they got up and kept on swinging!

Here are 5 things you need to know in order to follow in their footsteps:

1. Seeing greatness when others see failure takes practice. What each of these people had in common is that when others were seeing failure, they were seeing success. This is a skill that may not come naturally to most of us, but if you keep your eye on the end game, you will develop it.

2. You need to be clear about your definition of success. The key to finding success in failure is all about knowing how you define success. When failure seems to be looming large in your future, this clarity will get you through the challenges.

3. Success may be closer than you think! There is never a good time to give up. If you ever are tempted to give up, think about where we would be if Edison gave up after his many failed attempts at creating a light bulb or if Bill Gates and Paul Allen stopped when obstacles arose while they were building Microsoft.

4. Feelings of failure are just that, feelings. They aren’t truth and they aren’t concrete facts. When they start to overcome you, stop and picture yourself as a success.

5. Sprouts of success are there if you will see them. If you stay focused on success, you will see the small seeds of it beginning to sprout even in the middle of failure. Nurture them. They need your attention to grow and if you’re focused on failure, you can’t do that.