“Trust your own instincts, go inside and follow your heart. Stand up for what you believe in. As I’ve learned, that’s the path to happiness.” Lesley Ann Warren.

I went to see the film Bohemian Rhapsody recently. The film is a celebration of the band Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury. Freddie defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound. The film takes its title from one of the bands best-selling singles.

The song Bohemian Rhapsody was written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. When it was released as a single, Bohemian Rhapsody became a commercial success, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and selling more than a million copies by the end of January 1976.

It eventually became one of the UK’s best-selling singles of all time. It is also the only song to be the UK Christmas number one twice by the same artist. It topped the charts in several other markets as well, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and The Netherlands.

In 2004, Bohemian Rhapsody was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2012, the song topped the list on an ITV nationwide poll in the UK to find “The Nation’s Favourite Number One” over 60 years of music.

What’s really interesting is that it almost didn’t get released as a single. The band’s record company EMI were reluctant to release it as a single. They felt that at 6 minutes, the track was too long and wouldn’t be played by radio stations!

Convinced that the record would be a success, the band took a copy of the single to DJ Kenny Everett. He played it on London’s Capital Radio 14 times over the following weekend. This persuaded EMI and other sceptics that the listening public could handle it.

This story provides an important lesson to us all that people’s opinions aren’t always right. It’s vital that we trust our inner voice and opinions when we believe in something or have an instinct about a situation. We must not fall into the trap of giving up too easily on our opinions just to please other people or “fit in.”

Imagine if Queen had allowed EMI views to stop them releasing Bohemian Rhapsody as a single. They would not have received many awards and enjoyed as much commercial success. It is great that they persisted, backed themselves and got the record released.

There are countless examples of the challenges that people encountered on the road to success. These illustrate how people’s opinions may have stopped some people experiencing success.

For instance, 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.”

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.”

When we experience obstacles and adversity in life they can teach us valuable lessons. Such challenges can be viewed as a test to see how committed we are to a particular project or goal.

If we channel our focus and energy in the right way to meet such challenges they can help to strengthen our resolve and inner belief.

This week, why not take a few moments out and consider if there are situations in your life where you need to have greater courage in your convictions and show greater belief and confidence in your opinions. What small steps can you take to change your approach?

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk