In my life, I have basically come across two types of people. The first type, are the doers, who achieve things no matter how difficult, once they set their minds to it, who only see possibilities and the next step forward.
The second type, well, you know who they are. They are quite opposite to the first type and lack the motivation to change the condition or situation of their lives and end up spending it miserably, often blaming it upon other people or fate or any number of other things.
The point that I’m trying to make here is that you are the director of your own life. There is no such thing called fate and no matter what excuses you might have, at the end of the day, your life is what you make of it.
This past week I came across the life stories of 2 celebrities which really pumped me up. I knew about the story of one of them but was totally unaware of the other’s. I hope these rags-to-riches stories will inspire you to never give up and keep moving forward.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
The Rock’s journey is my personal favourite. His story is one of hard work, determination, ups and downs, and a testament to the power of human will.
He had very humble beginnings with his family having to move constantly from one home to the other, always in the clutches of financial crisis. During the lowest of lows, they were even evicted from their home and his mother’s car taken away. This drove Johnson to a really dark place where he even started thieving and going to jail time and again.
But it was when he took matters into his own hands that life started to change for him. He started to build up his body as he believed that it would lead him to success.
Ultimately he started playing football for his high school team where his physique was put to good use. The Rock was finally turning his life around.
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After he graduated high school though, he again faced turmoil and lost his focus, leading him to depression and quitting the football career. But life works in mysterious ways and this would lead him to something that was in his blood. He joined the WWF and the rest is history. He became one of the most popular wrestling icons in the world.
His wrestling career was not a full stop but rather a comma in the story of his life. We all know what an impact he has made in Hollywood where he had his debut in 2001, gaining money, fame and love from the whole world.
Today, with a net worth of $220 million dollar and even billion dollar movies under his belt, The Rock is one of the most loved and followed celebrities in the world.
And by the way, last year, he gifted his mother a car and he said on Twitter, “At 14 I saw my mom crying about our only car being repossessed. This felt good. Merry Christmas mom.”
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. aka Tony Stark aka Iron Man is today, one of the most beloved and highly paid actors in the world. His charismatic personality and incredible acting skills have made hundreds of millions of people his fan.
Downey’s story is a bit different from The Rock’s. While Johnson’s success is more of a gradual build up, Downey’s story is one of comeback.
Downey saw success early on in his career from 1987 to 1996. He even got nominated for the Academy Awards for his role in the 1992 biopic Chaplin.
Since 1996 though, his life took a downward turn as he took to drugs and was arrested on several occasions from 1996 till 2001. He was once arrested for speeding while in the possession of heroin and a handgun. Once he was even found asleep in his neighbour’s bed under the influence of drugs and while on parole!
In prison, he used to scrub pizza pans in the prison kitchen for 80 cents an hour. During this period, when he was continuously making prison rounds, he was fired from TV shows and the whole thing cost him many high profile roles.
He finally quit drugs after his wife Susan Downey gave him an ultimatum and he decided for himself that he couldn’t keep living that life. He took to meditation and even martial arts to overcome his addiction and started building his career once more.
From 2003 to 2008, he really steadied his career and in 2008, the world met Tony Stark in the Marvel movie Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. instantly became a mega hit. Since then he has become one of the most successful actors of our time with a net worth of $260 million!
Keep Striving!
The world is full of such examples where people have defeated really dark times and shone like stars. It doesn’t matter what your current situation is. What matters is the future you want to build for yourself.
Of course there will be people who will help you in your journey but to be on the journey in the first place, is something that you must decide for yourself.
Stay hungry and keep striving!
Image credits have been given where necessary. The rest are taken from the public domain.
A bit off topic but after reading about 'the rock' bodybuilding it reminded me of reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's auto biography. It starts with the story of his body building days. While I have never had any interest in bodybuilding, and still don't, reading his story really got you going, very motivational. Theres just something about people bodybuilding that motivates me, hmm?, best not look to deep into that.
Yeah, lots of people are inspired by Arnold too and not just the bodybuilders.
The rock story is also good but the real hero of the comic world and the real world is Robert Downey Jr, he is a real motivation for those who lost hope, and he is a real inspiration for me as well, 7 years ago in an accident my spinal cord got injured and since then i am unable to walk, and everyday i think that i will rise like Iron Man and walk and run again with my own legs @sauravrungta
Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope that your wish comes true :)
Da gibt es ein gutes Beispiel: Clemens Kuby, seine Geschichte ist in "unterwegs in die nächste Dimension" zu finden.
Good post, thanks for sharing
Thank you :)
U are welcome
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Inspiring people! Love The Rock, and follow him devotely on Instagram, I love how he spends time and efforts to connect with his audience and never forgets his roots. A far cry from other "stars"...
Exactly. He actively tries to motivate his fans and is such a positive guy. That's how a star should be.
Some Steemians will be on this list next year.
Yes, 100% And I would like to write about them :)
meep
Always stay positive.
Problems are opportunities in disguise!!!
Blessings to you!
Exactly. :)
I'd like to see these stories in some sort of movie or documentary
Yeah, me too. I wonder if they already exist though.
In my life
LOL. That would be his reaction for sure!! haha
I am a big time admirer of Rock, and I am glad you shared his story today. And I feel that we must not use the words rags to riches as these people never aspired to be rich and earn billions, instead they worked real hard to learn their art and be the best in it.
Yeah I am a big fan too :)
I know robert downey jr, He was addicted to drugs and bipolar disorder but the way built his life by conquering his weakness is marvelous :-)
Yeah, a true inspiration for us all :)
Hey @sauravrungta
I like THE ROCK IS COOKIE
Thank you for sharing his past
Steem on
I think it is..... The Rock Is Cooking!
rock is cookie?
Nicely done! I'll be honest, I didn't think Robert Downey Jr was going to make it, I mean live. It looked pretty bad there for a while. So I was happy to see him make a complete recovery. Dwayne Johnson is nothing short of amazing! I've never met the guy but I hope my expectations of him are true and that is is comes across as a humble and very easy to get along with guy.
I found out about Robert Downey Jr when he was already famous due to Iron Man but I have always been a fan of the Rock since childhood.
I'm a little up there in years and remember when Downey first hit the scene. I gave up watching Wrestling when I was younger but my mother still watches it lol So thats how I came to know about the Rock. He was just gearing down from Wrestling and getting into acting at that time.
@sauravrungta you have sheared an inspiring story and the part of rock and iron man make it more special
U have done wounderful by shearing this sort of story you deserve an upvote for this. Keep steeming and stay happy while you earn. @naseerbhat
Thank you :)
Hay @sauravrungta
I really appriciate your work
I always follow your journey whether it is Travel or Other !!
I Wish You Would Also Follow and Upvote My Post@funnystuff
Really I Liked What You Do Every Day
And Always Join - Upvote - Comment and Reesteem
I wish the same
Thank You Sweet
Thank you :)
Thank you for sharing two inspirational stories of the Rock and Robert. I think they both deserve the success they are experiencing. Hard work and being consistent really pays off :)
Yeah! No replacement for hard work and consistency :)
Bhai you are missing our own MS Dhoni. He is one of the highest paid athlete now.
Yup, millions of people to take inspiration from. Unfortunately could only write about 2 in my post :)
Both inspirational. Your life may be hard now but everyone can fight their way out of despair...
Exactly. Your current situation doesn't have to define your future.
There is no substitute for hardwork, that's it, that's what their life says.
Exactly :)
"He joined wwf and the rest was history"
Yeah!! :D
The Rock for president !
haha yeah, I heard that he might be eyeing that. I predict that if he really ran, it would be a landslide victory for him.
Dwayne Johnson has really been a hard worker and determined person since the inception of his career. Instead of going for the wrestling, initially he went for his goal as footballer but after some injury he had to go into the world of wrestling and there also he triumphed. The person he is today is a fruit of many years hard work and determination. Determination is the only thing which separates us from the others and keeps us going when our mind and body tells us to stop.
Only the Determination can change the outcome of destiny and I got highly inspired from the people who changed their own destinies through their unshaky determination. Hats off to all those legends.
Love your blog by the way @sauravrungta
Yeah, hard work and determination. Vital keys of success. If we could all work with that mindset, the world would be a different place altogether.
Thanks for reading man :)
I've been a big fan of these two for a long time. Grew up watching The Rock on WWF!
Me too!! :D
It's easy to fall into a dark spiral, what's hard is to get out of it, what's really hard is to strive and to become a star.
We're often over ambitious and the moment our expectations aren't reached, we're disappointed, we lose motivation and often go back into our dark places.
Learn to distinguish expectation from expectancy. Your expectation should be realistic, and each time you reach them you should create a new one. The expectancy is your highest dream, and you should know that is a dream, so you should be grateful to reach it if happen, but not disappointed if you're not reaching it.
yeah, I believe in gradual build up of life as well. Setting unrealistic expectation of becoming successful overnight will never happen!
Another great story that involves rags to riches would be Mark Cuban who started off with nothing and ended up today being worth 3.4 billion dollars.
Yes, another inspiring story for sure! :)
Enough motivated. Thank you so much @sauravrungta!
Thank you for reading :)
awesome post on the rock, shame about his football career but he beat the odds and his rise in WWF was phenominal, nice to know he looked after his mum who had a hard life
yeah, I believe that when we become successful, we shouldn't forget our past and the people who helped us along the way, especially our parents.
Great post. I like both these actors and they are both inspirational in their own way. Both have faced hardships and both are a good reminder that with a bit of effort you can make life good again.
Yeah, there story is one of hard work and determination. Something we should all strive to do in our own lives.
hey upvoted and followed ! check my blog about cryptos :) follow for follow ?
Thanks for the follow :)
to succed in this world there is only two roads:
1- the first one is by earning money following the good way : like these two actors , generally it's long and difficult road but not dangerous.
2- the second road is earning money following the bad way ( seeling drugs, killing other people, rape...) generally this road is short , difficult also and dangerous
and like u said "u are the director of ur own life" u will chose the road that u will follow.
Yeah, choosing the bad ways is just not worth it. The good way, although it takes longer is so much more satisfying.
Totally agree. And for me, one such example was Nick Vujicic. I mean it even in the post today wrote —BE DISCERNING WITH THOUGHTS: THEY BECOME YOUR DECISIONS AND ACTIONS
Yes, Nick Vujicic is a great man and a great motivational speaker. I have watched his videos and he never seems to fail in inspiring and motivating his audience.
+100500=))
Oh, I hadn't heard of him before.
He is a very brave and courageous man. View the film with its participation "The Butterfly Circus", 2009 (20 minute) It is very motivating. Then I'm said — stop feeling sorry for yourself. And realize, that I'm can fly. There is a Will and Faith.
In 2010 he published his book "Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life"
From rags to riches? lol Robert Downey's old man was an actor, if not mistaken so was Johnson's old man a celebrity wrestler too. Far from motivation if you're suggesting both of these two grew up in poverty and in the hood, lol. Like both of them regardless and Robert Downey Jr did make one hell of a comeback! He was already talented, really all he did was have to get off the drugs... Which I guess aint easy for some people!
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It’s nice that you’re trying to motive people to excel themselves, but those two are very bad motivational examples. Unfortunately, 90% of the readers here won’t have the type of genetics that would possibly enable them to follow in the footsteps of people such as Dwayne and Robert.