A large number of some of the wealthiest people in the
world, began their lives with extreme humble beginnings, it turns out they grew
up in very difficult circumstances, some of them were so poor they barely had
enough to eat and struggling to survive was an everyday reality.
I often wonder what it takes to lift yourself up, to overcome
such difficult almost hopeless experiences and create huge fortunes or create
such amazing success in their lives. Some great examples of Billionaires that overcame difficult circumstances in their youth include, Oprah Winfrey, Howard Schultz and David Murdoch to name a few. It
turns out, experiencing poverty as a child, or extreme difficulties early on,
had a profound effect on their desire to succeed and create a something better
for themselves and their families. In
addition, extreme hardship taught life lessons early on that can helped
them not only succeed but excel in life.
Lesson
1: You learn early enough to make sure you survive.
One thing poverty does, it teaches you how awfully and
gritty life can get, poverty can be grinding and can force you to do things you
never thought you could in order to survive.
You learn to work harder than everyone else, you learn to ask for things
and opportunities to make your life better, you learn to be open minded and be
willing to hear out people because you never know where the next opportunity
will come from.
Lesson
2: You learn to try, try and try again
If daily life is a hustle and a struggle to survive, failure
can be devastating but even more devastating is failing to try again and
again. John Paul Dejoria- co creator of
John Paul Mitchell Styling products and Patron Tequila was known to live in his
car and drive from salon to salon selling hair products from his car getting
rejection after rejection. If he had
quit after a few rejections, his future would probably been continue living in
his car, his response to failure was, move on to the next salon, perfect his
pitch, perfect his product. He was
always growing learning and adapting, which is one trait successful people have
in common.
Lesson
3 You Learn to think outside of the box- heck there is no box
The worst thing about growing older, is that the world
imposes its views on you, you learn there are rules to everything, you are told
over and over “to have a successful life, you must go to school, study a
specific area in college, find a job etc”. The drawback to following rules is it becomes
hard to shake up your life, hard to take any risks and try radical ideas and hard to embrace new ways of looking at things.
They say the way to recognize if are able to think outside of the box if someone comes up
to you with an interesting new Idea that requires some personal risk, what is
your first response? Do you immediately come
up with 5 reasons why the idea wouldn't work? (Ouch, I am guilty as charged) Or
try to figure out 5 ways to make the Idea work? What box are you in?
Most people who have overcome great adversity are very
creative problem solvers, they are used to knocking down the boxes and creating
something new; they have had to be free thinkers, to think on their feet and
create opportunities for themselves. To survive, they have simply have
practiced being creative longer than most, they have evolved!
Lesson
4: Their Instincts are sharper than
most.
Going through a tough childhood and depending on nothing but
toughness and street smarts, teaches you to be a great judge of character, you
can spot a liar, a faker, a shifty person a mile away; you also develop instincts
on whom to trust and who to go for safety and who to flee from. Those Instincts are very Important in the
business world, making great relationships and partnerships usually begins with
having a “good feeling” about someone. A
right partner can transform and elevate you business and having “dead on”
instincts can save you time in vetting people you come across and evaluating
whether they help your business or not.
Lesson
5: Learn to live life with healthy fears
Experiencing poverty as a child has to be a really traumatic
experience, just growing up without enough to eat, or having to deal with homelessness
or living through cold winters without utilities must do a number on your psyche. Those who were fortunate enough to escape
this reality and create a better life must never, ever want to experience that
kind of life ever again. The real fear
those childhood memories drive them to work harder, perform better and keep
striving for better lives and in the process create extraordinary legacies
Life is a complex, twisty thing, some start out with things
just stacked up against them and they manage to overcome and lead extraordinary
lives. It is truly inspiring to watch and
admire the determination of the human spirit.
Are there people in your life that have overcome great
obstacles? Share their story and honor
them in the comment section below, I would like to hear their story. Bless!!
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