Is this also you?

It’s always difficult for us to look at iconic figures and see them before they became iconic.

She has more money than the Queen and literally billions of fans all over the world, so it’s impossible for us to see the woman before the success.

But she tries to give us a glimpse.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

She’s trying to encourage those listening, the brightest and the best, to strive to aim high enough to risk failure.

That’s real insight actually, and though we can say it’s easy for her to say that now, when she’s worth billions, I trust that she’s opening her heart, becoming truly vulnerable, by sharing what she has learned the hard way.

What does that have to do with us?

We, in Radio, have become so worn down by endless budget-cutting and staff-elimination that we measure success by pointing out we’re still getting to do what we love, even if it is for one-third what we once earned, even if we coast through our day recording mindless liners no one will hear, never getting close to the spark of imagination that brought us to this career in the first place.

Challenge yourself!

Challenge your PD to let you do more, and then put in the time and effort to blow her away by what she hears.

Don’t settle. Don’t be less than your talent would allow you to be.

And if that is simply impossible at your station, challenge yourself to summon the courage to find a new outlet for the talent with which you’ve been blessed.

Make a difference.

Make your life count.

“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” ~ Seneca