Will Smith was offered the part of Neo in The Matrix, a movie that went to become an action movie classic and also spawned two lame sequels that ended up generating $1.5 Billion worldwide. He turned the role down that ended up going to no-emotion-on-my-face-ever Keanu Reeves who clocked in $65,000,000 for his three movie paycheck.
J.K.Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book while living in London as a welfare mom. She made up the story of a young wizard living in a dorm in a school for wizards for her children and finally ended up writing it. It was rejected by a dozen publishers before finally being accepted, published, and becoming the biggest publishing phenomena of the last 50 years, spawning 7 hit books and 6 (so far) hit movies and a dedicated theme park (launched recently to rave reviews) in Orlando. She also became the richest women in England, ahead of the Queen in a matter of a decade.
Tom Clancy wrote his first book while working full time as an insurance agent. His wife one time tossed his first manuscript (The Hunt for Red October) on the floor because she was sick of him 'wasting his time' in 'writing his stupid book that nobody will ever buy.' Clancy is well worth over $100 million right now.
Colonel Sanders pitched the idea of a Southern style fried chicken to a dozens of potential investors. They all took a pass.
Howard Schultz went door to door in Seattle (read Pour Your Heart In It, a surprisingly human book about business that he wrote about the story of Starbucks) asking for private money for his 'idea' of 'bringing Italian style espresso bars to USA'. He got rejected over and over again before a doctor said YES even before seeing his presentation because he liked him personally. That doctor's initial $100,000 investment turned into a $10,000,000 payday when Starbucks went public. (Here I just give you the biggest secret about getting private investors with ease in the above lines. Did you catch it?)
My first (and the last) employer in USA tried for years to convince anybody who would listen that cell phones were the future and a national chain for dedicated high end cell phones would make sense. Almost everybody, even his close friends privately thought he was delusional and refuse to partner / invest with him. He ended up building his chain close to doing $100 million dollars, sold his stake, saw recession batter the dumb venture capitalists who could not run it as an entrepreneur can (with agility), bought it back and in the process of rebuilding the 100 stores chain (all done in less than seven years) back up. I don't know how big he will win this time but his track record so far of proving his naysayers wrong is pretty good and I will not bet against him.
But this is not about the warm and fuzziness of success. Nah, this week lets think together for a minute about the ones that got away, like the girl that was meant to be and one day she was with somebody else.
All those people who could have ended up multi-millionaires if they said YES to Howard Schultz: how do you think they feel every time they drive by a Starbucks? I wonder if Will Smith once in a while just looks at The Matrix come up late at night on TNT and just grimaces picturing him playing Neo 100 times better than Keanu?
What about those 12 book agents who rejected Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? They would be millionaires now just by a measly 10% cut of the advances J.K Rowling ended up getting for the next six books in the Harry Potter saga once the first book was a hit. Do you think once in a while they are at a book store and pass by the shelves full of Harry Potter books and think about blowing their own heads up picturing the moment they tossed that first manuscript in the trash?
Who can they blame for what they will never have now? They are the ones who said NO to the opportunity that came to them but they missed it. That this was all given to them on a sliver platter, a moment in time that all they had to say was YES and everything in their lives could have changed for better and for some reasons they just could not see it?
What have you been given in the last five years that you ignored or said NO to and then saw that wave lift somebody else?
What is in front of you right now that you are not paying attention to which will end up making somebody else's dreams come true?
Most people are so careful in watching for potholes in the road of life and business that they miss THAT TURN which could have taken them to the place they always wanted to go.
What are you watching?
Potholes or opportunities?
