Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is the poster boy for perseverance; after dropping out of college and attempting to start a computer business in the Soviet Union, he started Apple in his parent’s garage at age 20 and within 10 years he had created an empire worth $2 Billion. This is when the board of Apple decided they wanted to steer the company in another direction and he was stripped of all control, he sold his shares and resigned in 1985 from the very company he had created.

Influenced by his passion for Eastern spiritualism, Steve didn’t see this as a negative. He embraced the opportunity to revisit his inner creativity and went on to found Pixar and NeXT with the money acquired from the sale of his stocks. Although the NeXT hardware was revolutionary – the price was beyond the reach of many and Jobs had to yet again switch tactics – to software. Concentrating his efforts on Pixar, Toy Story was released after 4 years in the making and it smashed through the box office! Pixar went public in 1996 and after 24 hours, Steve’s 80% share was worth $1 Billion – His 10 year struggle was over!

NeXT went on to be bought by Apple for $400 million and reappointed Jobs as an advisor to the CEO, then to CEO after reporting incredible losses in 1997. We all know what happened next, the launch of market disrupting tech revolutions -the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac to name a few.

Steve Jobs was not deliberate and it was not deliberate – but what set him apart from the rest was his unwavering self-belief and passion to succeed.

So ask yourself – What are you passionate about?

JK Rowling

Thanks to her tales of wizardry and wonder, JK Rowling is now a household name across the globe. Even as a child, Joanne read stories that she had written to her younger sister and continued throughout her unhappy teenage years that were blighted by her mother’s struggle with Multiple Sclerosis.

Despite being a head girl and achieving good grades at A Level, Rowling was rejected by Oxford University, she went on to study at the University of Exeter. She admits to doing the necessary amount of work and one graduated went on to work for Amnesty International.

Although the idea for Harry Potter first came to her in 1990 and she began writing immediately, her efforts were halted when her mother died the same year. She moved to Portugal to teach English and took up writing again, it was here that she met her husband and had her daughter, unfortunately the marriage failed and Rowling moved to Edinburgh in 1993. Clinically depressed and suicidal, she saw herself as a failure as an unemployed single mother on welfare- but used her skills in writing to relieve herself as the feelings, characterized in the Harry Potter series (the Dementor’s were the personification of her feelings of depression.

When Rowling finished her manuscript, it was rejected by 12 publishers, it took a year for her to get one to accept after the chairman’s 8 year old daughter read the first 3 chapters and loved it! JK Rowling is 2nd to Oprah Winfrey as the richest woman in entertainment and has sold over 450 million Harry Potter books worldwide, is worth over £15 Billion and has been awarded the accolade as ‘Britain’s most influential woman’ thanks to both her work and charitable efforts.

JK Rowling’s story is one of rags to riches, despite facing crippling personal circumstances, she overcame them in her quest to provide a better life for her and her daughter.

What drives you to succeed?

Simon Cowell

Best known for his scathing remarks to Britain’s musical hopefuls, Simon Cowell was destined to born to work within the music industry – his father was a music industry executive, but this didn’t give him an easy ‘in’. Simon dropped out of school at 16 and after sabotaging a number of interviews that his father had arranged, he was given a position at EMI Music Publishing as a humble mailroom clerk.

At age 20 he had worked his way to a position as an assistant to an A&R Executive where he was eventually promoted to become a talent scout, within a year Simon left EMI with his manager and together they formed E&S Music.

E&S Music was successful, but in due course Simon had parted ways with Ellis and formed a music label that experienced short lived success – Fanfare Records folded in 1989 and Cowell admitted defeat and moved back in with his parents. That same year, he joined BMG records and climbed the career ladder, signing successful acts and selling in excess of 100 million records.

2001 saw Simon co produce the TV show Pop Idol, it was here that he exhibited his honest, direct and sometimes offensive personality, Simon knew what he wanted and didn’t want his time wasted – he’s made it very clear in interviews that he would rather be respected than liked, and in his position he could afford to be.

The show was a huge success, and went to air as an American version producing numerous pop stars on both sides on the pond. Since then Simon has gone on to create SYCOtv, the company responsible for X-factor and Americas got talent.

He now earns an annual salary of £40 million from American idol alone, is 21 on Forbes Power List and has raised $76 million for charity.

Simon Cowell is one of the most tenacious and arrogant personalities out there. However, this has given him the resilience that is needed to succeed in a ruthless industry.

What traits will you need to succeed?

We hope that this post has inspired you to carry on striving for what you perceive to be successful, by asking yourself the questions posed along the way, you will stop to re-evaluate and refocus your energies on where they need to be.

Good Luck!

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