Hero (4 page)

LAIRD HAMILTON

BIG-WAVE SURFER

I grew up in a racially tense environment that had people hating me for how I was born.

“I had all the disadvantages required for success.”

Larry Ellison

Cofounder of Oracle Corporation

JOHN PAUL DEJORIA

COFOUNDER – JOHN PAUL MITCHELL SYSTEMS

I was twenty-three years old, and my son was two and a half, and my wife at the time had left. Our rent wasn’t paid for three months, so they kicked us out. We ended up sleeping in the car. The way we survived was we would go around collecting soda bottles and cash them in.

From these circumstances as a young adult, it’s hard to believe that John Paul DeJoria went on to create the hugely successful hair-product company John Paul Mitchell Systems. John Paul created a life for himself that is unrecognizable from the life he began with, and he did it by using qualities that you have within you now.

G. M. RAO

MECHANICAL ENGINEER, FOUNDER – GMR GROUP

I started with a zero base. My village was small – only 5,000 people. There was no telephone and no power. We had one bottle of iced water that we would share, and we had to line up for our quota of sugar and milk for the month.

Whether you were born in India, Australia, the United States, France, or Singapore, the circumstances of your beginnings do not dictate the kind of life you will lead. There is not a single human strength or quality that you are missing in order to fulfill your dreams. You have everything within you to be or do whatever you want, even if the odds appear to be against you.

PETE CARROLL

NFL COACH – SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Once I was done playing football in college I tried out for an NFL team and then a World Football League team. But when I got cut for the last time I really was in shock. I had no direction, because everything that I’d ever looked toward was about playing. I was suddenly faced with – what now?

After suffering a life-threatening injury as an ice hockey player, Peter Burwash went on tour playing tennis, despite his lack of professional tennis ranking or tournament success. With no money, he survived mostly on a jar of peanut butter and a two-day-old breadstick, which he divided into pieces to last for five days. After seven years on the tennis circuit, Peter was forced to retire, and once again he found himself in a situation where his chances for success seemed to be little to none.

PETER BURWASH

TENNIS COACH, FOUNDER – PETER BURWASH INTERNATIONAL

When it came time to form our tennis management company there were sixteen other companies doing the same thing. I had the least amount of money, financial backing, and tennis credibility. We didn’t have any chairs in the office, so we had meetings on the floor for the first couple of years.

It’s not the conditions of the outside world that determine whether or not your dreams will be fulfilled. It’s not how much money you have, how educated you are, who you know, or even how much experience you have. It’s the discovery of the abilities you have within you and knowing how to use them to overcome any and every obstacle you meet in the outside world. It’s what every successful person did, and you can do it too.

MICHAEL ACTON SMITH

FOUNDER – MIND CANDY

I had a friend, Tom, who I met at university, and we decided to set up a business together. We didn’t have much money; in fact, we had debts from university. We got the cash to get the business going after we saw an ad in a newspaper asking people to basically sell their bodies to medical science by taking part in a drug test for a new antimigraine drug. We did that and got paid £400 each. My mum was horrified. I think that was one of the reasons why she was very supportive. She gave us £1,000 each, and Tom’s parents let us use their attic.

Ten years ago I was doing fine in my life, climbing the ladder of success in the television industry, and then suddenly one devastating circumstance after another happened, and within a few short months my entire life had collapsed around me. I fell into despair, but it was in this very moment that I discovered a secret that ultimately would become a movie and my first book. Even when your whole life seems to have burned to the ground, from the ashes comes new life.

MASTIN KIPP

INSPIRATIONAL WRITER, FOUNDER – THE DAILY LOVE

When I first came to Hollywood I wanted to be a music manager. That didn’t really work out – Hollywood’s not known for being the most loving environment. I started abusing drugs and alcohol, and I hit rock bottom. In one week my investors pulled out, my business partner and I broke up, my roommate gave me three days’ notice, I developed gout in my foot, my lower back went out, and the girl I was seeing, she and I broke up. Literally, my life fell apart in one week. That started a very long and painful journey that I’m very grateful I went on but never want to do again. At the time I felt like I was in a hurricane, and then I realized: What if it was a divine storm?

LIZ MURRAY

HARVARD GRADUATE, AUTHOR AND SPEAKER

I went through this period of time where I had things, and then I suddenly didn’t have anything tangible. My mom passed away, my dad was estranged and living in this shelter, and my uncle – who was probably the biggest angel of my life – passed away suddenly. I ended up homeless. Everything that was there was suddenly not there. I remember feeling like, if life can change for the worse maybe life can change for the better, because clearly life could change very quickly.

Life circumstances can be very tough, as they were for Liz Murray, but those circumstances were what provided Liz with a burning desire that took her off the streets of New York City to attend Harvard University. When you find that burning desire to be or do something, you’ve found a powerful force that can cut through seemingly impossible circumstances and limitations.

By realizing your dreams, you will realize the greatness in you. Greatness is not being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Following your dreams and realizing the hero within you is greatness.

Your Calling

Every single person who has ever been born or ever will be born comes with some unique talent or ability. It’s this special thing about you that is your calling. Although no human being is born without it, many will live their lives without discovering or living their calling.

Your calling is something that moves you like nothing else in life. It’s something you’re attracted to, something you’re passionate about, and it fills you with joy and sets your heart on fire when you do it.

Your particular calling might be a burning desire to achieve something in business, sports, your job, or your career. It might even be your hobby. A hobby can be a clue to your calling, because it’s something you’re passionate about and that you make the time to pursue. Plenty of people’s hobbies have turned into big dreams that became big companies.