If there is one thing that we all want it’s to be successful. It’s human nature. No matter where we are in our life, humans will always strive for more – a better position, more money, a bigger house, etc. Our dreams come true and then we create new ones.
Some of us seem to struggle more than others to achieve our dreams, while more still never get to see their dreams come true. It’s important that you not to give up hope if your dreams have yet to come true! To help you along, here are some people who are now wildly successful – but haven’t always had such good luck. Perhaps one day you will be able to tell a similar story.
1. Bill Gates
One of the most well-known and wealthiest men in the world, Bill Gates, became wildly successful through Microsoft, but his first company didn’t work out so well. Traf-O-Data (a device which could read and process traffic tapes) was a miserable failure that ended up helping Bill and his partner to come up with the technology that began Microsoft.
2. Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey once revealed in an interview that when he was fifteen he had to drop out of high school to support his family – who at one
point were living out of a van. He didn’t let that hold him back from his dreams of being a comedian, however, and is now one of the best comedic actors of the era.
3. Benjamin Franklin
Despite having to drop out of school at age ten, Benjamin Franklin continued to pursue knowledge through reading and self-teaching. Thanks to his perseverance and determination, Benjamin late went on to invent the lightning rod and bifocals – and of course become one of the founding fathers of the United States.
4. Stephen King
Though he is now possibly the world’s most well-known author, Stephen King’s writing career didn’t start out glamorous. His first novel, Carrie, was rejected by publishers a reported 30 times. He had actually given up on the book until his wife convinced him to give it another go.
5. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah, another household name, hasn’t always been on top of the world. She had a humble beginning like the rest of us, but fraught with sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and the death of a child. Not letting this stop her, Oprah went on to work hard in school and earn a full scholarship to college – putting her on the path to the force she is today.
Now, we may not all become one of the richest people in the world, or a household celebrity – but we can look at these stories above and realize that the key to realizing our goals in life is simple (at least in theoretical form!): always remember your goal, don’t give up or let anything stand in your way, and refuse to be the victim. Everyone has circumstances in life that could keep them from the things that they want, but it is those who are determined enough to move past those circumstances that end up getting what they want from life.
*list and information above obtained from Huffington Post.