Back in 1974, as just a 16-year-old kid, I went to a concert in which three bands were featured, the lead band, the backup band, and a band in the middle. The band in the middle came out, performed, and just blew away everybody. Nobody had any idea who they were. I just remember that, to this day, they were absolutely, positively, unquestionably, outstanding performers. Almost 50 years later I still clearly remember the experience.
We later find out that the band was Queen.
If you didn’t know then, well, now you know.
Tony Robbins, as a young man, was very depressed when they had to get a delivery of a Thanksgiving dinner to their family by a charity because they were broke. They had no money. Tony Robbins lived in his car. He lived in a tiny apartment and washed his dishes in the tub because that’s all he had.
Tony Robbins became the ultimate marketer and professional self-improvement guru. Now worth about 600 million.
If you didn’t know then, well, now you know.
In 1978, Richard Branson wanted to buy an island called Nectar Island. It was offered for $6 million. He offered $110,000 because he didn’t have the money. The realtor said, “Take a hike.” Only to come back two years later and ask him if he could up his bid because there were no takers. He bought Nectar Island, which had an original price of 6 million for $180,000.
Richard Branson, I think everybody knows, is pretty darn successful. A serial entrepreneur.
If you didn’t know, well, now you know.
Melanie Perkins, a young lady, 32 years old, built a design product to rival the tech giants, like Microsoft and Adobe. Her goal was to take an entire design ecosystem, integrate it into one page, and make it available to anyone, and everyone. Perkins is now the CEO and Co-founder of Canva, which is a free-to-use online design platform that she started from an idea from her yearbook in high school.
Perkins’s, company is now worth 3.2 billion, and she has an underestimated net worth of 900 million and has become a role model and shining star to young entrepreneurial women everywhere.
If you didn’t know, well now, you know.
And for all you guys, Taylor Swift, was very successful before she met Travis Kelsey. And for all you gals, Travis Kelsey, was a successful future Hall-of-Famer Tight End before he met Taylor Swift.
If you didn’t know, well, now you know.
Why do I share these stories? There are many people that come up through the ranks, that just pop up one day, truly successful. How do they get there? We had never seen them when they were going through the grind. We didn’t see them when they were doing all the work. We didn’t see them when they were sacrificing and struggling. We only see them when they hit true success, and make an impact on the world for all to see.
My question, challenge to you, people might not know who you are now, but how you decide to step up, move forward, work on yourself, become great, create a new company, and make an impact on thousands of people. Who knows. One day they might be telling a story about you, and saying, “Well, if you didn’t know, well, now you know.”
The world is here for us to achieve greatness, and go for the best. Go for it, and one day people just might be talking about you, and wondering how you got there.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com