In the recent crash of the financial system the entire world has been disrupted. People are losing jobs, behemoth companies are vanishing, and our country has been pushed even further into astronomical amounts of debt. Yet, some brave people continue to spit in the eye of disaster and create new opportunities for themselves. I call this “failing forward.”

We are all capable of failing, but it takes a great person to see failure as a stepping stone to new opportunites. I look at people like Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, and Thomas Edison. When these people were kicked to curb by society…when they failed… they rose back up and made fools of everyone who did not recognize their potential.

My favorite example of someone who actually makes millions failing is Donald Trump. I don’t know if I hate him or admire him, but his personal wealth has survived through 3 bankruptcies of the hotel and casino corporation he founded. Check out this Legal Zoom article to see how he does it.

I sure don’t think that Donald Trump is the most responsible corporate executive, but he keeps moving forward and making things work out in the most dire of situations. There is definitely something that can be learned from him and everyone else mentioned in this article.