Lost In Life? It’s OK. Many great people were!

We are expected to have a grand plan for our lives. But what if you still don’t have one?

As a kid you get asked constantly what you want to become as if you’re no one now. However, there are so many people who took an indirect path to success.

There will be a direct route to life. That’s via college into a high-paying job. That’s the direct path to success, right? It doesn’t have to be that way always. Success of others can only be seen in hindsight. And hindsight distorts reality. What looked like a mess at the time in hindsight looks like a series of perfectly executed maneuvers.

Remember, the ones who had it all figured out turn into bankers anyway.

Here’s a list of people who made it big, and didn’t have everything fixed up.

· Marc Cuban, Dallas Mavericks owner (until 25 bartender at his own bar)
· Suze Orman, finance guru (until 30 a waitress)
· Harrison Ford, actor and producer (until 30 was a carpenter)
· Pejman Nozad, angel investor (until 30 rug dealer)
· Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands founder (until 30 sold shampoo and windshield defroster)
· Manoj Bhargava, 5-Hour Energy founder (until 30 was taxi driver and monk)
· J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter author (until 31 was single mom on a welfare)
· Ang Lee, film director (until 31 was jobless house husband)
· Amancio Ortega, Zara founder (until 30 was shirt shop helper)
· Andrea Bocelli, singer (until 33 was piano player at bars)
· Mary Kay Ash, Mary Kay founder (until 45 sold books and home goods door-to-door
· Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder (until 52 sold paper cups and milkshake mixers)

Image credit: Founders and Funders