You hear it all the time.

“I didn’t grow up in money.”

“I was never accepted into college.”

“They just got lucky.”

How about instead of focusing on how good someone else’s life is, start taking action with what you’ve been given in your own.

As always, I’ve got a story to give you a better idea of what I mean:

For those of you that don’t know, Joan Crawford was a big-time actress back in the 1920’s having starred in movies like The Unknown or Our Dancing Daughters.

But in 1928, Joan started to experience a slump in the amount of roles she was receiving. Only being 24 years old, she believed she still had a lot of potential in Hollywood, but couldn’t seem to keep up with other actresses.

So she decided to take action and voice her concerns with her production chief at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. You know, the roaring lion logo you see at the beginning of movies.

When she voiced her frustration to him, he took a different approach and did what a lot of people would view as a punishment. He casted her in a Western movie.

At the time, Western’s weren’t big sellers and were commonly known as a dead-end route for actors. But despite the poor job offer, Joan decided to embrace her fate.

She went on to study and love the genre of Western movies and even took riding lessons. For months, she studied folklore and spoke with other actresses who were starring in the industry.

She did whatever it took to get ahead and made the conscious decision to become the leading actress of Westerns. For her, it was do or die.

With this newfound sense of optimism and working with what she had, she went on to establish a career as an actress for nearly five decades and would continue starring in Westerns up until the 1960’s.

We should all take a lesson out of Joan’s life and see that life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.

Whatever happens, whatever obstacles or problems come your way, work with them. It’s up to you to decide whether it’ll make you or break you.

Until next time,
Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I’m Currently Reading - I’m now reading Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop. A guide on how to get out of your head and into your life.

Quote Of The Week - “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt