If you listen to tales of success, they usually have one thing in common: an ability to fail.
A recent Ted Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert describes how the chart-topping author of autobiographical novel Eat Pray Love lived through years of rejection, before her big break.
At TED2014, Elizabeth explains how she found the will to keep writing after the sensational success of Eat Pray Love. She details how her overnight fame initially felt like a huge career stumbling block.
"I knew well in advance that all of those people who had adored "Eat, Pray, Love" were going to be incredibly disappointed in whatever I wrote next...
"Knowing that I had no way to win made me seriously consider for a while just quitting the game.
However, the writer turned the situation into a learning experience.
"After the weird, disorienting success that I went through with "Eat, Pray, Love," I realized that all I had to do was exactly the same thing that I used to have to do all the time when I was an equally disoriented failure. I had to get my ass back to work."
"I found inspiration in the most unlikely and unexpected place. I found it in lessons that I had learned earlier in life about how creativity can survive its own failure."
Gilbert suggests pouring your time into "whatever in this world you love more than you love yourself".
High-achieving men and women regularly underline the importance of remaining dedicated to your work, whether or not the world is watching.
Remember: Stephen King's first novel was rejected 30 times. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were both dropped from record label early in their careers. And Steve Jobs was fired from Apple!
Job later said that "getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."
Those who are truly successful in life refuse to be defined by 'good or bad' moments.
Here is our selection of quotes guaranteed to inspire your inner CEO...