Last night my mother sent me over J.K. Rowling’s commencement address to the Harvard class of ’08 in which she talks about the two key elements to success in life.
Listening to her speech made me realize how simple, and yet complex, life really is.
Success isn’t some magic that can be found from attending Hogwarts.
Success is, in the words of my mentor, Jim Rohn, “a few simple disciplines practiced every day.”
There are numerous areas in which we could invest our time and reap huge rewards.
Here are what I’ve found are the most common in my studies:
- Philosophy
- Marketing
- Time Management
- Mastery
- Overcoming Fear
- Planning
- Attitude
- Action
- Language
- Association
So what two areas did J.K. Rowling choose – failure & imagination.
For the graduating students of Harvard I’m sure that for some failure isn’t a part of their vocabulary but she is right in that we all fail from time to time.
Michael Jordan, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Tony Robbins, and Donald Trump are just a few of the greatest failures we have ever had.
They failed time and time again but we don’t care about the shots they missed, the deals that went bad or the elections they lost.
No, we talk about what they have achieved.
Success has an interesting effect on failure. It makes it insignificant.
I’ve never heard of someone just picking up a golf club and hitting a hole-in-one or winning the PGA championship. It takes years of hard work and practice and then one day, the Gods seem to smile down on us, and it all pays off.
Rather than avoid failure let it guide you to success.
So why did she choose imagination as the other key to success? Because imagination is where it all starts.
Our greatest achievements were once just a figment of our imagination.
Then someone decided to make them a reality.
The Internet, buildings, cars, toys, movies, games; absolutely everything started with a single idea.
We know that risk is part of the game and failure is possible, but our vision keeps us focused.
Imagination is where our better future begins.
While everyone has a different idea of how to succeed in life I believe that J.K. Rowling has chosen two of the best.
Adrian Shepherd
J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.