JK Rowling is widely regarded as one of the most successful women of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Her Harry Potter books have inspired and entertained millions of people across the world. The films made based on the books have proved to be very popular at the box office. Her success and accomplishments make her a role model for many people.

Earlier this year, 20 years after the first Harry Potter book went on sale, the 51 year old author was named Britain’s top earner on the entertainment rich list published by Forbes Magazine.

With earnings reportedly of £75 million in 2016, JK Rowling was third on the global list. The Daily Mail suggested in June this year that her personal fortune was estimated to be in excess of £600 million.

Given the above Ms Rowling has enjoyed a remarkable change of fortune over the past 20 odd years and the transformation of her life is incredible. It serves as inspiration for us all and shows how life can change in a very positive way if you follow your passions and creative ideas.

I saw a Goalcast video recently where she was speaking about how her life had changed and I have detailed below what she said:

“I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short marriage had failed. I was jobless, a lone parent and as poor as it’s possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.

The fears that my parents had had for me and that I had for myself had come to pass. And by every standard I was the biggest failure that I knew. So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential.

I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was. I began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed, in the one area that really mattered to me and where I felt that I belonged.

So rock bottom became the foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fall to the scale that I did but some form of failure is inevitable. It’s impossible to live without failing at something. Unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.

You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships unless both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift for all that it is painfully won and it has been worth more than any qualification I’ve ever earned.

We don’t need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to already imagine better.”

This week, why not take a few moments to reflect and consider what adversity encountered by you or someone you know has taught you. What blessings and hidden gifts have you/others been given by challenging situations?

This week’s quotation:

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” Walt Disney.

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