Do you need this to succeed?

In 1987, Paulo Coelho had something special to share; he had completed a story which followed a boy searching for his destiny.

After pitching the book to various publishing houses, it was accepted and printed to sell that same year.

Over the next 6 months, he would go on to sell……. 2 books.

The publishing company revoked the rights, and the books were removed from their untouched shelves.

But Coelho was convinced it was a great book, “It was written from my soul,” he said. So, instead of giving up, he started knocking on doors.

A year later, he was given a break; a new publisher decided to give Paulo a second chance and the book was published again. Slowly, through word of mouth, it finally began selling; first one-thousand, then three-thousand, then ten-thousand book by book.

Today, The Alchemist has sold more than 115 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 71 languages.

Paulo Coelho later said, “I’ve been rejected many times (from publishers to girlfriends). This lead me to the best publishers in the world, and to the perfect wife.”

We tend to focus on the strengths of those who succeed, but what about their setbacks?

• A young entrepreneur has a coding gift, but what about the times investors laughed at their pitch?
• An olympic athlete has the perfect body-type, but what about the countless personal injuries they trained through?

Perhaps, it’s really the obstacles that are the most critical component to our success.

Not one, not two, but many, many obstacles.

The setbacks we encounter give us the opportunity for our true selves to develop. When we tough it out, we end up learning new lessons, which are applied in the final act of our stories.

There’s a tremendous power to feeling something deep within your soul. It’s only when we keep moving forward, over and over again, that we achieve our full destiny.

What’s your setback?

Believe in yourself – get out there and start knocking on doors.

You’re just one break away from becoming a worldwide hit.