:: Robin Sharma

Be like J.K.

Robin Sharma

The very nature of a visionary is that they see what others miss. (Makes me think of what the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said: "Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see".) It’s like an inside joke that only they get: They see this vivid dream/opportunity/desire in their imaginations and then spend their days breathing life into it — even though everyone around them thinks they’re wasting their time, or are eccentric, or foolhardy or even crazy. Think Gandhi. Think Edison. Think Disney. Think J.K.

J.K. Rowling was a single mother struggling to pay her bills when the idea of a book about a misfit young wizard downloaded into her mind over a four-hour train ride. She says on her website that she feels blessed she had no pen with her at the time, because writing down all the miraculous ideas that were coming to her would have slowed the flow. Once the manuscript was done, her agent began to send Harry Potter to publishers. Most rejected the book instantly. One didn’t. And that’s my point about visionaries: They see an opportunity that most around them just don’t get. Imagine that. Rejecting Harry Potter. Thinking no one would buy the book. Missing out on one of the bestselling books in the history of humankind.

Being a visionary and stepping into the higher reaches of your life necessarily means dealing with the fact that people will question you. They will not get where you are going. They might call you odd or foolish or unorthodox. They will laugh at you. All good. Thank them for the compliments and keep doing what you need to do to get to where you need to get. The world will be a better place once you do. As Maya Angelou observed, "If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can transform a million realities".

— Excerpted from The Greatness Guide 2 by Robin Sharma. Published by Jaico Publishing House, jaicopub@vsnl.com