If Cinderella was a man and the story took place in our times, Tony Robbins life would fit in the script perfectly.

Born on the 29th of February 1960 (a leap year) in North Hollywood, California, Tony was oldest of his two siblings. His mother Nikki loved him dearly, yet expected only the best behavior of him and he did everything to please her. A year after his parents got divorced, the quiet and shy seven-year-old Tony moved to Azusa, California, where he attended Glendora High School.

His mother later remarried to a former baseball player – Jim Robbins, whose surname Tony took on. His stepfather was the first person, who helped Anthony to build his confidence. He also instilled in Tony a love for baseball.

Anonymous act of kindness and adulthood

“Every problem is a gift – without problems we would not grow.”

When Anthony was 13 his family struggled financially to the point that on Thanksgiving Eve, his parents could not afford to buy their children presents or have a Thanksgiving dinner.

That night someone left a Thanksgiving basket on their doorsteps. To the Robbins’ family it was a little miracle and the whole family enjoyed the celebration. This act of kindness had a profound effect on Anthony and he promised himself that one day he would make enough money and help others as well.

As he grew older, his relationships with his mother became more and more strained. She depended on Tony for cooking, cleaning, making repairs around the house and she was very strict when her expectations were not met.

On Christmas Eve 1977, at the age of 17, Tony decided that he had had enough of his mother’s care and control. He walked out of the house with nothing but the clothes he had on, eager to make it on his own.

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Joanne Rowling was born on July 31st in 1965 in Chipping Sodury, near Bristol, England. As a little girl she loved writing fantasy stories and then telling them to her little sister Di.

When Jo was nine her parents, both Londoners, turned their longtime country-living dream into reality and the whole family moved to the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to the border of Wales. The girl loved the freedom and simplicity of the countryside. The only problem with her new life was her school. The building was old and outdated and the stern, unfriendly teachers scared the girl. However, with time Rowling made new friends and embraced writing as a hobby.

University Years and the Worst Secretary Ever

After graduating from Wyedean Comprehensive School in 1983, Rowling left home to study at the University of Exeter, on the south coast of England. What she really wanted was to study English; her parents, however insisted that she study something “more useful”. As a result a compromise was found that in retrospect satisfied nobody and Joanne went to study French.
The benefit of majoring in French and Classics was the possibility of spending a year in Paris as part of the program.

After getting her BA, Rowling took various jobs in London. One of them was a bilingual secretary position at Amnesty International, where she made two major observations: first, that she could use a computer to type her stories during quiet times; second, that she was “the worst secretary ever “. Instead of taking notes at meetings she was actually writing down story ideas for her books.

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Every time I started learning about another remarkable person, I would get excited, but with the words “he died in his house”, or “her life came to an end” my enthusiasm was clouded by the fact that this person was no longer with us.

This got me thinking, why are 98% of biographies of successful people about people who passed away decades ago?

It almost seems that you have to be dead in order for your merits to be truly recognized.

But what about the many remarkable inspirational writers, spiritual leaders, accomplished scientists and highly successful businessmen of our time, who are facing the same challenges, opportunities and choices as we do every single day?

Would it not be better to learn how they got where they are, while being able to connect with them, to ask them for advice and to find out what they are doing to become even more successful?

I know that I owe many of my achievements to the guidance, support and wisdom of such people as Deepak Chopra, Leo Babauta, Eben Pagan, Randy Pausch, Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Sri Chinmoy, Mirzakarim Norbekov, Steve Jobs, Scott Harrison and you, my readers, because YOU have inspired me to start this blog in the first place.

All that said, I have decided to dedicate a part of “Stories of successful people” category to some of the most inspirational heroes of our time as my way of saying “Thank you” for everything they are doing to help us improve our lives and make this world a happier place.

I am sure that you know people like this too. Who are they and why do you consider them truly successful?

Whose success story do you think would be worth writing about?

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