The film Gone Girl was shown on TV in the UK over the festive break. It reminded me of an interview I saw last year with the Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon. What she had to say was a powerful reminder that we should not let a set-back, rejection or a no to a request mean that we give up on a goal or dream.
Reese Witherspoon explained that she bought the rights to the book Gone Girl, with a view to making a film. She pitched the idea to every Hollywood studio. They all showed no interest in making the movie apart from one. However, despite its interest this studio actually lost out on the deal in the end.
The book hit number one in the best seller list and suddenly the studios that had previously turned it down became interested. One of the studios that rejected it initially ended up buying the rights to make the movie. The original decision cost them a great deal of money, as they had to pay 5 times the amount they could have bought it for when offered it originally.
There are countless examples of the challenges that people encountered on the road to success. We may never have heard a record from the Beatles, if they had taken rejection as a sign to not pursue their passion. When they first started out, a recording company turned them down and said “we don’t like your sound and guitar music is on the way out.”
Many people may not have viewed a Disney movie or visited Disneyworld if Walt Disney had given up when he was fired early in his career by a newspaper editor because ”he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” He suffered business failure, bankruptcy and was turned down an incredible 302 times by banks when he was seeking funds to establish his theme park. He never gave up on his dream to create Disneyworld. It took him years of hard work, raising finance, dealing with disappointment but Disney stayed focused on his goal.
The Harry Potter movies and JK Rowling’s books are hugely popular across the world with lots of people. They may have been denied that pleasure; if she had let difficulties she experienced in life hold her back. Prior to the books being published, it’s reported that she was virtually penniless, depending on welfare payments to survive and help to bring up her child as a single parent. She was divorced and suffered from depression. Her series of seven books has since sold more than 450 million copies, won innumerable awards, been made into movies and transformed Rowling’s life.
Oprah Winfrey faced a hard road to be one of the most iconic faces on television. It has been written that she endured a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was “unfit for television.”
Richard Branson is one of the richest men in the UK and hasn’t let his dyslexia hold him back in life. He left school at 15 with no qualifications. Instead of giving up, he used the power of his personality to drive him to success and create his Virgin empire.
This week, why not take a few moments to reflect and consider what challenges and adversity have taught you. Do you need to reignite the passion and energy for a goal or dream that is locked inside you?
This week’s quotation:
“If we did all the things that we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” Thomas Edison.
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