Unless and until you are living under a rock, I am sure you must be aware of the iconic Harry Potter series. Based on the story of an orphaned kid and his adventures with his wizard friends, the Harry Potter series has a stellar influence on pop culture.
The series is a fan favourite with over 500 million copies sold worldwide. With a massively successful movie adaptation of the book, the series and its author are a world-renowned phenomenon.
Joanne Rowling, popularly known as J. K. Rowling, is a British author, philanthropist, film producer, and screenwriter. With the success that the Harry Potter franchise brought; thanks to the books, movies, theme parks and television, Rowling amassed wealth worth $1.2 billion.
But these are just information available on the internet. What most of you aren’t aware of is J. K. Rowling’s struggles. Just like playing an impulsive quidditch game, Rowling’s journey to success has been unnerving, to say the least.
The idea of writing a coming-of-age fantasy book came to Rowling in 1990 while she was travelling on a train from Manchester to London. Unfortunately, the idea didn’t materialize into a book anytime soon, as her mother died the same year.
In the meantime, she got married, had a daughter and got divorced. At this point, Rowling was jobless, divorced, and a single mother. She was barely surviving and even contemplated committing suicide. But as they say, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
Rowling held onto those thin threads of hope and wrote Harry Potter. It was in 1995, she finished writing a book. She didn’t have the funds to publish the book independently. So, she approached around 12 major publications and got rejected by every single one of them.
But that wasn’t the end of her story. Was it?
Finally, a small publication accepted to publish 1000 copies of Harry Potter and that was all the head-start she needed to attain success. 20 years later, the 56-year-old author was ranked among the highest-earning authors in the world.
Her story is not only inspiring, but an open letter to people struggling with depression. Lessons learned from Rowling’s life can act as a torchbearer to many people.
Popular Business development expert Hirav Shah brings you 2 lessons we can take away from Harry Potter fame J. K. Rowling
Table of Contents
2 Powerful life lessons everyone should learn from J. K. Rowling
Everything starts from rock bottom
When Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series; she had nothing to fall back to. With a failed marriage and an infant to take care of, Rowling had her plate full of suffering. Things could only get better from that point. And it did.
Rowling says, “I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was a jobless alone parent and as poor as it was possible to be in Britain without being homeless.” If Rowling could survive being homeless and alone, so could you!
Use your imagination
The world is your canvas, and the mind is your ink. Without imagination, it gets really difficult to achieve success. I mean, how would you achieve something that you can’t even imagine?
Even in the corporate world, having a good imagination is the key. Anyone can solve a problem using generic ideas, but that would never leave a long-lasting impression. Creative problems need a creative solution, and Rowling is an avid advocate of that. As Rowling, herself, said, “Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not and therefore the fount of all invention…we have the power to imagine better.”,
Conclusion
If there was an autobiography ever written on the life of J. K. Rowling, I am sure the book would receive tear-jerking reactions. J. K. Rowling’s life is a testament to how tolerance works wonders. Life as an adult isn’t a bed of roses. You have to grind your shoes, bow your head and devote your life to your art. And yes, that may sound intimidating. But without working hard for success, how do you expect to achieve it?
J. K. Rowling hit the rock bottom, survived and came back stronger. I think she deserves a round of applause for that-opines India’s favorite Astro strategist Hirav Shah.
Image Source
Executive Office of the President, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons & wallpapercave.com
