4 Birth Months That Succeed, Despite Always Being Doubted

Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.

Aisha Tyler

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Calvin Coolidge

As the Bible noted ages ago, the race doesn’t necessarily go to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the person who faces adversity head-on, who never gives up despite how high the odds seem stacked against them, who keeps their eyes on the prize no matter how the winds of change and the hands of fate try to distract, deter, or defeat them. 

Some people almost seem glad when life places roadblocks in front of them; other people shrug, laugh, and then drive right through the roadblock. Resilient, persistent, determined, and driven, it’s almost like such people use adversity as high-octane fuel.

These are the four birth months who keep fighting long after everyone else has thrown in the towel.

August

A fire sign ruled by the sun, symbolized by the Lion, and represented by a fixed modality, August is so driven and determined and persistent that it borders on being obnoxious. For them, the glass is never half-empty, it’s half-full—but only for a moment, because those born in August will rush to fill up the glass until it’s overflowing. Those born in August never doe anything halfway. Winning is the only option for them, or as a famous NASCAR driver once said, “Second place is only the first loser.” those born in August see setbacks as a challenge, and they feed on adversity like it’s raw meat. The only thing they’ve ever quit doing—and it was only once—was quitting. They’ve given up on quitting, but that’s it.

Successful August: J.K. Rowling (b. 7/31/1965), who as a struggling author faced multiple rejections of her manuscripts, only to eventually sell over 600 million copies of her world-famous Harry Potter series.

January

An Earth sign (which makes them practical and grounded), those born in January are ruled by Saturn, which makes them the hardest-working members of the year. If you place an obstacle in front of them, they’ll plow right through it. If you say they can’t do something, they’ll do it better than anyone has ever done it in the history of the world. If you doubt them, they won’t stop until they’ve made a believer out of you. They are so focused that they can burn a hole in your forehead merely by staring at you. They are so resilient, you’d think they were made of rubber. 

Successful January: Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1/15/1929), who faced tremendous adversity in his fight for justice but eventually became the most revered civil-rights hero in American history.

May

Would you expect the Bull to be anything but stubborn? Immune to pessimism, scornful of defeatist attitudes, and bearing nothing but contempt for skeptics, naysayers, crybabies, and chronic complainers, those born in May will charge through any obstacle, climb any mountain, swim upstream against any raging river, and refuse to stop until they’ve reached their goal. They see setbacks as opportunities. They are never unemployed; they’re only “looking for a better job.” Acutely aware that life is short and that anyone who hesitates is lost, they grab life by the throat and strangle every last bit of joy, adventure, intrigue, and wonder out of it. Even on their deathbed, they have a never-say-die attitude. 

Successful May: Stevie Wonder (b. 5/13/1950), who overcame his blindness to sell over 65 million records.

April

Those born in April are fire sign ruled by Marses, the planet of natural-born warriors. They are symbolized by the Ram, a word which is, interestingly enough, both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it describes a male sheep and a male goat, both of which nature has equipped with horns. These feisty creatures use those horns to (here comes the verb) ram right through adversaries. In keeping with their namesake, those born under the April-born sign have a take-charge, can-do attitude about tackling the various misfortunes, pitfalls, stumbling blocks, hindrances, and impediments that life throws their way.

Successful April: Aretha Franklin (b. 3/25/1942), who overcame an impoverished upbringing and a cheating husband to be dubbed “The Queen of Soul.”