Very early in his life, Michael Jordan wanted to play
big-time basketball. But in high school, he was refused a spot in the
basketball team because he was not considered good enough. The coach told him
pointedly to seek his luck in some other sports because he would never do well
in basketball. And while he suffered a momentary setback emotionally, the then
young man refused to give up his dream.
Steve Harvey, the popular radio host and TV personality was
about 9 years old when he dreamed of becoming a TV star. But unlike Michael
Jordan, Harvey did not achieve his dream until he was 55!
At elementary school, Steve Harvey was informed by his
teacher that he would never amount to anything great in life. When he dropped
out of college to pursue a career in comedy, his father was grossly
disappointed. In anger, he threw his young son out of the house. Already, the
same father often joked that Steve was a “mistake child” because his mother was
in her forties when she “accidentally” got pregnant.
As the young man pursued the career that he believed would
get him on TV, Harvey went through years of “hell” during which he slept in his
car as a homeless man. Things were so hard for him that one day, he decided to
give up his dream and return home a failure. It was at that moment that a call
came from New York that he should come over to “The Apollo” for participation
in a comedy show. And even though he was “dead” broke, the organizers of the
show wired some money to him for air ticket.
The show turned out to be his pathfinder. Steve Harvey then did
something. He recognized the fact that the comedy scene was outrageously
competitive. He decided to set himself apart by changing his attitude to life.
He embraced true values. And as he gradually climbed the career ladder, he went
further to stop the use of profanities so that his mother could watch or listen
to his shows. Ironically, this decision would also attract some hateful
reactions from those who branded him as “too preachy”.
By dint of hard work, patience and a newly-found strong
faith in God, Steve Harvey’s career as a standup comedian finally culminated in
a syndicated popular radio show.
In spite of the huge success that trailed his radio show
though, Harvey never gave up the ultimate goal to be on TV. This was in spite
of the knowledge that he was getting too old for Hollywood acceptance.
Just last year, 2012, the chairman of ABC gave his studio
executives an assignment to search for a new daytime show. Several showbiz
personalities were considered. The odds were stacked against Steve Harvey. He
was 55 years old…too old by Hollywood’s standard. Worse, the primary objective
of his proposal was to invite and interview regular folks instead of
celebrities. This was not something studio executives thought people wanted to
see in a day time TV show.
But as fate would have it, his “strange” idea turned out to
be the niche that gave him a competitive edge over the other contenders. And
so, topping the list of submissions was just that simple
one-and-a-half-page-proposal with Steve Harvey’s name on it and it was the one
approved by the chairman of ABC.
The TV show has since gone up to become the number one on
the ratings and still waxing strong.
Grateful to God, Steve Harvey however said it was good that
God did not give him any inkling into the tough travails he had to encounter while
en-route his current destination. According to the man, if God had indicated
from the beginning that the journey to success would be so precariously
difficult, he would have told God to keep it!
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