In my life, I have basically come across two types of people. The first type, are the doers, who achieve things no matter how difficult, once they set their minds to it, who only see possibilities and the next step forward.

The second type, well, you know who they are. They are quite opposite to the first type and lack the motivation to change the condition or situation of their lives and end up spending it miserably, often blaming it upon other people or fate or any number of other things.

The point that I’m trying to make here is that you are the director of your own life. There is no such thing called fate and no matter what excuses you might have, at the end of the day, your life is what you make of it.

This past week I came across the life stories of 2 celebrities which really pumped me up. I knew about the story of one of them but was totally unaware of the other’s. I hope these rags-to-riches stories will inspire you to never give up and keep moving forward.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

The Rock’s journey is my personal favourite. His story is one of hard work, determination, ups and downs, and a testament to the power of human will.

He had very humble beginnings with his family having to move constantly from one home to the other, always in the clutches of financial crisis. During the lowest of lows, they were even evicted from their home and his mother’s car taken away. This drove Johnson to a really dark place where he even started thieving and going to jail time and again.

But it was when he took matters into his own hands that life started to change for him. He started to build up his body as he believed that it would lead him to success.

Ultimately he started playing football for his high school team where his physique was put to good use. The Rock was finally turning his life around.

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After he graduated high school though, he again faced turmoil and lost his focus, leading him to depression and quitting the football career. But life works in mysterious ways and this would lead him to something that was in his blood. He joined the WWF and the rest is history. He became one of the most popular wrestling icons in the world.

His wrestling career was not a full stop but rather a comma in the story of his life. We all know what an impact he has made in Hollywood where he had his debut in 2001, gaining money, fame and love from the whole world.

Today, with a net worth of $220 million dollar and even billion dollar movies under his belt, The Rock is one of the most loved and followed celebrities in the world.

And by the way, last year, he gifted his mother a car and he said on Twitter, “At 14 I saw my mom crying about our only car being repossessed. This felt good. Merry Christmas mom.”

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Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. aka Tony Stark aka Iron Man is today, one of the most beloved and highly paid actors in the world. His charismatic personality and incredible acting skills have made hundreds of millions of people his fan.

Downey’s story is a bit different from The Rock’s. While Johnson’s success is more of a gradual build up, Downey’s story is one of comeback.

Downey saw success early on in his career from 1987 to 1996. He even got nominated for the Academy Awards for his role in the 1992 biopic Chaplin.

Since 1996 though, his life took a downward turn as he took to drugs and was arrested on several occasions from 1996 till 2001. He was once arrested for speeding while in the possession of heroin and a handgun. Once he was even found asleep in his neighbour’s bed under the influence of drugs and while on parole!

In prison, he used to scrub pizza pans in the prison kitchen for 80 cents an hour. During this period, when he was continuously making prison rounds, he was fired from TV shows and the whole thing cost him many high profile roles.

He finally quit drugs after his wife Susan Downey gave him an ultimatum and he decided for himself that he couldn’t keep living that life. He took to meditation and even martial arts to overcome his addiction and started building his career once more.

From 2003 to 2008, he really steadied his career and in 2008, the world met Tony Stark in the Marvel movie Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. instantly became a mega hit. Since then he has become one of the most successful actors of our time with a net worth of $260 million!

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Keep Striving!

The world is full of such examples where people have defeated really dark times and shone like stars. It doesn’t matter what your current situation is. What matters is the future you want to build for yourself.

Of course there will be people who will help you in your journey but to be on the journey in the first place, is something that you must decide for yourself.

Stay hungry and keep striving!

Image credits have been given where necessary. The rest are taken from the public domain.