Gathering up the most inspirational stories. It can be people you know personally or people you've heard of at a distance. To kick it off:
- Oprah Winfrey- rape survivor at 9, pregnant a 14, built a media empire and became one of the most powerful women on earth)
- Liz Murray (orphan, from living in a homeless shelter to Harvard graduate and bestselling author)
- Sergei Brin
- Richard Branson
- Bill Gates (he did come from wealth, but his drive led him to change the world for the better many times over)
- Steve Jobs (from the kid whose mom didn't want, to college dropout homeless couch surfer, to a definer of his industry and tech titan)
- JK Rowling
- Teddy Roosevelt
- Abraham Lincoln
- Robert Smalls - a slave who became a senator. How is his story not a mandatory part of our education?
- John McCain - hate him or love him, it takes balls of steel to stay in a POW prison, when the enemy is willing to let you go home, for the sake of honor
I'm throwing in a couple of unknowns that I got to know personally, just to share.
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Jona Goldrich - (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jona_Goldrich) One of the most successful and wealthy real estate developers in Los Angeles. Holocaust survivor. His parents were able to send him away as an infant along with his baby brother in the 'kinder transport'. He was 7 I think and his brother probably 3 or 4. His parents died in a concentration camp. As a child Jona went to what became Israel, served in the military, and later arrived in the US with $9 in his pocket. He worked as a handiman and cleaner on construction sites, but through entrepreneurship and hard work became one of the biggest landlords and property developers in LA. He continued to drive an old beat up car and wear decades-old suits his whole life, but gave generously to charity.
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Shan Weijian - (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weijian_Shan) current chairman of PAG Group, one of the largest alternative asset managers in Asia. As a child he was sent out to the Gobi Desert to farm, as part of Mao's misguided attempt to cultivate the desert. While nearly uneducated, he taught himself to read and do mathmatics at night by reading textbooks after exhaustive days of futily trying to makes farms out of sand. Had to burn cow patties for heat and light. Manged to get good enough to get into university, and then go to Berkeley for masters and PhDs in business and economics. Joined the World Bank, taught at Wharton, and then was at JP Morgan and TPG before being recruited to PAG to lead the group. Still reads multiple books each week while building the firm.
"The definition of salesmanship is the gentle art of letting the customer have it your way."-Ray Kroc
I think Ray Kroc is an important addition here because he found his way later in life than most but when he found his true potential in his 50s, he leapt towards his dream and made it. Maybe the point where you unlock your true potential is in your 30s, 40s, 50s, and you just have to keep on doing your thing until reaching this point.
All of us are not going to be billionaires in our 20s, but there are certain key moments in our lives that will define us.
Don't fret if it takes awhile - just keep putting in the work and results will follow.
Sobering thought
I moved into a new area of the US and was physically bullied. I was lucky to find a mentor that taught me martial arts, and I ended up competing against my bullies, who were all martial artists, and taught by a sadistic Vietnam Veteran.
I managed to knock out all of my opponents, and made it to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, my opponent purposely kicked my knee and disqualified himself to try and take me out of the competition. In the locker room, I pleaded to my mentor if there was anything he could do to bring me back in for the finals, that making it to the semifinals was not good enough.. He saw my determination and was convinced, so he slapped his hands and started rubbing them against each other and then squeezed my balls the hardest they have ever been squeezed in my life.
A few moments later, and to the surprise of everyone in the crowd and my opponent, I was back in action and ready to fight against my main bully. I put up a good fight, but my opponent fought dirty, and would aim for my knee whenever possible. After 5 minutes of non-stop martial arts, it came down to sudden death. I used an unorthodox technique that caught my bully off-guard and scored the final point.. It was all over.. I became champion, and gained the respect of my bullies, and was left alone forever.
![https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/68/6d/b3686d7d748ca67d0ee12d36e654157…] [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/68/6d/b3686d7d748ca67d0ee12d36e654157… https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/68/6d/b3686d7d748ca67d0ee12d36e654157…
Fatality
![https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/8c/0a/1f8c0a0fbb0bbb5f012acea3a7903d1…] [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/8c/0a/1f8c0a0fbb0bbb5f012acea3a7903d1… https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/8c/0a/1f8c0a0fbb0bbb5f012acea3a7903d1…
You were not the hero of the tournament. Johnny Laurence was. You hit on his girl, sucker punched him, drenched him with water, tried to punk him in front of his friends, and taunted him. And then you 'won' that tournament with an illegal kick to the face. Johnny even had the good grace to hand you the trophy himself despite your cheating. Deeply unimpressive... bro.
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