I learned that the moment you want to slow down is the moment you should accelerate.

James Dyson could have been forgiven for slowing down when he was struggling to perfect his innovative Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner. He made 5,127 prototypes before he got it right, but with every step he became even more determined. “There were 5,126 failures,” he said, “but I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution.” It took Dyson 15 years of tinkering before his first vacuum cleaner was ready for launch, but no major manufacturer or distributor was willing to back the product. Undeterred, he set up his own manufacturing company, and soon his Dual Cyclone became the fastest-selling vacuum cleaner ever made in Britain. Today, Dyson is one of the wealthiest people in the U.K., with an estimated net worth of around $29 billion.