Byrne Rhonda - Hero (The Secret)

When it came time to form our tennis management company there were sixteen other companies doing the same thing. I had the least amount of money, financial backing, and tennis credibility. We didn’t have any chairs in the office, so we had meetings on the floor for the first couple of years.

It’s not the conditions of the outside world that determine whether or not your dreams will be fulfilled. It’s not how much money you have, how educated you are, who you know, or even how much experience you have. It’s the discovery of the abilities you have within you and knowing how to use them to overcome any and every obstacle you meet in the outside world. It’s what every successful person did, and you can do it too.

MICHAEL ACTON SMITH

FOUNDER – MIND CANDY

I had a friend, Tom, who I met at university, and we decided to set up a business together. We didn’t have much money; in fact, we had debts from university. We got the cash to get the business going after we saw an ad in a newspaper asking people to basically sell their bodies to medical science by taking part in a drug test for a new antimigraine drug. We did that and got paid £400 each. My mum was horrified. I think that was one of the reasons why she was very supportive. She gave us £1,000 each, and Tom’s parents let us use their attic.

Ten years ago I was doing fine in my life, climbing the ladder of success in the television industry, and then suddenly one devastating circumstance after another happened, and within a few short months my entire life had collapsed around me. I fell into despair, but it was in this very moment that I discovered a secret that ultimately would become a movie and my first book. Even when your whole life seems to have burned to the ground, from the ashes comes new life.

MASTIN KIPP

INSPIRATIONAL WRITER, FOUNDER – THE DAILY LOVE

When I first came to Hollywood I wanted to be a music manager. That didn’t really work out – Hollywood’s not known for being the most loving environment. I started abusing drugs and alcohol, and I hit rock bottom. In one week my investors pulled out, my business partner and I broke up, my roommate gave me three days’ notice, I developed gout in my foot, my lower back went out, and the girl I was seeing, she and I broke up. Literally, my life fell apart in one week. That started a very long and painful journey that I’m very grateful I went on but never want to do again. At the time I felt like I was in a hurricane, and then I realized: What if it was a divine storm?

LIZ MURRAY

HARVARD GRADUATE, AUTHOR AND SPEAKER

I went through this period of time where I had things, and then I suddenly didn’t have anything tangible. My mom passed away, my dad was estranged and living in this shelter, and my uncle – who was probably the biggest angel of my life – passed away suddenly. I ended up homeless. Everything that was there was suddenly not there. I remember feeling like, if life can change for the worse maybe life can change for the better, because clearly life could change very quickly.

Life circumstances can be very tough, as they were for Liz Murray, but those circumstances were what provided Liz with a burning desire that took her off the streets of New York City to attend Harvard University. When you find that burning desire to be or do something, you’ve found a powerful force that can cut through seemingly impossible circumstances and limitations.

By realizing your dreams, you will realize the greatness in you. Greatness is not being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Following your dreams and realizing the hero within you is greatness. Your Calling

Every single person who has ever been born or ever will be born comes with some unique talent or ability. It’s this special thing about you that is your calling. Although no human being is born without it, many will live their lives without discovering or living their calling.

Your calling is something that moves you like nothing else in life. It’s something you’re attracted to, something you’re passionate about, and it fills you with joy and sets your heart on fire when you do it.

Your particular calling might be a burning desire to achieve something in business, sports, your job, or your career. It might even be your hobby. A hobby can be a clue to your calling, because it’s something you’re passionate about and that you make the time to pursue. Plenty of people’s hobbies have turned into big dreams that became big companies.

MICHAEL ACTON SMITH

The thing I have always loved ever since I was little was games. I loved playing. I think it is a very important part of being human. So my big dream has always been to run a games company, designing games and entertaining people.

PETE CARROLL

Even though I’d coached since the time I was thirteen years old in camps and things like that, I never connected that with something that I would do. When I went back to graduate school I was a coach at the University of the Pacific, and that’s when I stepped back and thought, “Well, this is something I could do that’s close to playing football.” And that’s where I really made my first step toward coaching.

Your calling might be something you have daydreamed about being or doing that you thought could never happen for you, but when you think about doing that particular thing and living that life you’re filled with an incredible feeling of happiness and fulfillment. And no matter how impossible that dream seems to be, you are being called to follow it.

LIZ MURRAY

I would sleep by myself in a hallway in New York City. I shoplifted Oreos and crackers, and I would sleep with my head on my book bag. In my book bag I had everything I owned – my journal, my clothes, and my mother’s picture, which I carried with me everywhere. With my head down on that book bag, sleeping in that hallway, I would dream of a better life. And I had this deep sense inside of me that I was meant to transcend whatever this was, not only for the purpose of having a better life, but for making the lives of others better.

Whether you can remember it or not, you have received the call several times in your life already. You might have received it as a child when you knew absolutely what you wanted to be when you grew up. But then society or well-meaning parents and teachers influence us with the limited options of what we can or can’t do, and we shut down our calling and our dreams.

PETER FOYO

Ever since I was a very small boy I was dreaming very big ideas. Long before wireless phones I was dreaming of how neat it would be to have a telephone in my hand that wouldn’t have any wires attached. Wouldn’t it be amazing if I could put a card inside a gas pump and pump my gas? Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could run cities from the sun? I had a vision of creating this great company, making lots of money, and being the best executive in Latin America.

You might have received the call in what seemed like an everyday moment, through something you saw, read, or heard. Suddenly something hit you like a bolt of lightning, and an ordinary moment becomes the defining moment of your life.

G. M. RAO

My mathematics teacher in school said every life has a purpose and we should work toward realizing it because that would be real achievement. This ignited a burning desire in me to seek my calling and work toward achieving it.

LAIRD HAMILTON

My father left my mother when I was very young, and I had to be a little man very early. That forced me to really make a conscious decision that I wanted to be something.

Out of challenging life circumstances, a burning desire arose within Laird Hamilton to do something with his life. He heard the call, he responded to it, and in fulfilling his dream of becoming one of the greatest big-wave surfers, he has inspired millions of people the world over.