Read this (if you feel stuck)

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Each week, I share a few paragraphs on a mix of practical frameworks and principles to help you build a fulfilling personal & professional life, and stories to inspire you along the way.

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J.K. Rowling wasn’t always the successful author we know today.

-In the late 1980s, while working a temp job, she began writing adult novels, none of which were ever published.

-In 1990, as she began writing the first Harry Potter book, her mother died of multiple sclerosis.

-In 1992, while planning a trip to introduce her husband to her family in London, she had a miscarriage.

-In 1993, just 3 months after the birth of her first daughter, her abusive marriage ended in divorce.

Following the divorce, Rowling found herself on the street with a barely one-year-old child. She was living in poverty and relied on $100 per week in government assistance to make ends meet.

-In 1995, she finally finished the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

She submitted the manuscript to twelve publishers, all of whom rejected it.

It wasn’t until 1997 that the manuscript was published.

Why am I telling this story?

J.K. Rowling’s journey is comparable to the growth of a tree.

A tree has to grow in two directions.

When a seed is planted, it first grows down through its roots in a dark and damp environment.

It faces a lot of resistance from the earth and has to get rooted before it grows upwards towards the light.

Just as a tree strengthens its roots underground before reaching for the sun, Rowling persevered through immense personal challenges.

The rejections and hardships she faced were the unseen forces that allowed her work to eventually flourish and reach the light of success.

It’s the hard work done in the dark, damp earth that eventually allows the tree to shine effortlessly in the light as it grows tall.

Do the hard work now, and don’t worry about who is watching.

Don’t worry about not seeing the results today.

Keep your head down and trust the process.

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