5 Celebrity Success Stories That will Inspire You

From Tinseltown luminaries to pop stars and football greats. These celebrities are some of the most accomplished.

But viewing them at stardom doesn't tell the whole story. It's similar to the finishing move in wrestling that gets fans on their feet, not the years of practice that went into perfecting it.

Erstwhile, pop superstar Ed Sheeran was homeless and slept on underground trains, but he didn't let it stop him. Katy perry had to sell her clothes at one time to make rent and borrowed money to get by, but she didn't let it stop her.

I hope you find inspiration and motivation from these celebrity success stories to push even harder towards your dreams.

This post is north of 30000 words, so you might want to bookmark it, and always go to it for some extra motivation and inspiration.

1. Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne  Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California. The grandson of professional wrestler Peter "High Chief" Fanene Maivia and son of wrestler Rocky Johnson, the young Johnson grew up watching his father perform in the ring.

Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother's family.He attended Richmond Road Primary School, before returning to the U.S. with his parents.

At age 14, Dwayne and his family were evicted from their home because they couldn’t afford the $180 rent per week.

As he entered 11th grade, his father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where Dwayne began playing football at Freedom High School in the East Penn Conference. He was also a member of the school's track and field and wrestling teams.

After a successful high school career, Johnson accepted a scholarship to play football at the University of Miami, where he had great success until a back injury kept him sidelined and he was replaced.

Graduating in 1995 with dual degrees in Criminology and Physiology. He joined the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 1995. He was on the practice roster as a backup linebacker, but was cut two months into the season.

He then decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and the rest of the family as a professional wrestler. Most of his non-blood relatives were famous professional wrestlers including his cousins Solofa (Rikishi), Rodney (Yokozuna), Eddie (Umaga) and his uncles Afa and Sika Anoai ( The Wild Samoans).

When Johnson declared his intent to become a wrestler, his father initially resisted, but then agreed to train him himself, warning that he would not go easy on him.

He eventually found success in the rings but his reception amongst fans was tepid at best. Popularly known as " The Rock" , he's had 17 championship reigns as of April 2016.

He also wanted a chance at Hollywood stardom.

He first made a big splash as the Scorpion King, a supernatural bad guy, in 2001's The Mummy Returns. He returned to this role the following year for The Scorpion King. He was paid US$5.5 million, a world record for an actor in his first starring role.Trying his hand at comedy, he appeared in 2005's Be Cool with John Travolta and Uma Thurman and 2007's The Game Plan.

He's since gone to become a box- office star appearing in projects like 2001's  2010's Tooth Fairy. His recent projects include the HBO series Ballers (2015) and a trifecta of 2017 features, The Fate of the Furious, Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

He is one of the highest-earning actors in all of Tinseltown.

In 2017, buzz began generating over Johnson's rumored plan to run for president in 2020. After playing coy fo of the year, the wrestler turned actor finally confirmed the rumors in December, telling Ellen DeGeneres, "I’m seriously considering it, yes." - Biography. com

2. Katy Perry

The "All I'm Selling Is Sex" hit maker is dubbed the first female artist to produce five number-one songs in the U.S., and the second overall after Michael Jackson's album Bad.

known for hits like 'I Kissed a Girl,' 'Teenage Dream,' 'Firework,' 'Roar' and 'Dark Horse.' She has received several awards including four Guinness World Records, five American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a Juno Award. You would say she's accomplished and YES! She is, but she didn't always had it this way.

Born October 25, 1984 as Kathryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California to Pentecostal pastors Mary Christine and Maurice Keith Hudson.

She often moved across the country from age 3 to 11 as her parents set up churches before settling again in Santa Barbara.

Growing up, she attended religious schools and camps.Perry and her siblings were not allowed to eat Lucky Charms as the term "luck" reminded their mother of Lucifer, and had to call deviled eggs "angeled eggs".Perry primarily listened to gospel music,as secular music was generally discouraged in the family's home. She discovered popular music through CDs she sneaked from her friends.

While not strictly identifying as religious, Perry has stated, "I pray all the time – for self-control, for humility".

Following her sister Angela, Perry began singing by practicing with her sister's cassette tapes. She performed the tracks in front of their parents, who suggested she take vocal lessons. She began training at age 9,and was incorporated into her parents' ministry,singing in church from ages 9 to 17.At 13, Perry was given her first guitar for her birthday,and publicly performed songs she wrote.

In 1999, at the age of 15, she dropped out of high school after completing her GED in order to pursue music full time. She moved to Tennessee where she signed with Red Hill Records and debuted a Gospel record entitled "Katy Hudson" in March, 2001 at the age of 17. It sold only a 100 copies before the label ceased its operations a few months later.

In 2004, at age of 20 , she signed with another label called Java, which was associated with The Island Def Jam Music Group, to work on her solo record. However, after Def Jam dropped Java, the record was shelved. Afterwards, Perry signed with Columbia Records, and recorded new music over the next two years. But before the record was completed, she was dropped from that label as well.

Her big break came in 2007 when she signed with Capitol Records. In 2008, when she released the would-be-hit song, I Kissed a Girl, Perry was 24-years old. What seemed like an overnight success actually took 9 years to accomplish from the time that she had dropped out of high school.

3. Ed Sheeran

U.K. artist Ed Sheeran is a Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, guitarist ,record producer and actor.

known for hit songs like 'Thinking Out Loud,' 'Photograph,' 'Shape of You' and 'Perfect.' He is loved by many around the world.

Born in February 1991 in Halifax, England. He had one older brother named Matthew,who worked as a composer. Sheeran's parents John and Imogen, are from London.John is an art curator and lecturer, and Imogen is a culture publicist turned jewellery designer.His parents ran Sheeran Lock, an independent art consultancy, from 1990 to 2010.

Ed Sheeran was bullied every day at school, mainly for his stutter and oversized glasses.

Music was his first love. He became part of a church choir at 4 and soon started playing the guitar.He found added inspiration at 11 when He met singer-songwriter Damien Rice backstage at one of Rice’s shows. As the story goes, Rice told Sheeran to write his own music, and Sheeran set out the next day to do just that.

At the age of 14, Ed Sheeran took his guitar, packed some clothes, and headed to London to officially start his music career and see where it can take him.

Being on the road was in no way easy. He shares that when he couldn’t find a couch for the night, he had to sleep in parks or in the subway. He had some nights when he didn’t have any money for food and was often on the verge of giving up. But he didn’t.

In 2009, he played 312 gigs and often performed on the streets and for small groups. He said "it was very difficult time for me”.

His big leap came in 2010 when by the help of social media, he began getting noticed by big names like Jamie Foxx and Example , a rapper.

In 2011, some of his tracks went viral on iTunes and in 1 night his EP reached no.2 spot on the iTunes chart ,and he signed on with Atlantic Records that same month.

With Atlantic, Sheeran released his major debut studio album, +. An instant hit, the album sold more than a million copies in the U.K. in the first six months alone. Sheeran began co-writing songs with bigger artists, such as One Direction and Taylor Swift, and supported Swift on her 2013 arena tour.

On 19 October 2015, Sheeran received an honorary degree from the University of Suffolk in Ipswich for his "outstanding contribution to music".Sheeran commented: "Suffolk is very much where I call home. Receiving this recognition is a real privilege."

He has since seen several successes. His worth is $68 M.

4. Jackie Chan

Known and loved worldwide, this film icon has long kept audiences on the edge of their seats with his physical comedy and death-defying stunts.

He's no doubt a cinematic star, but only because he made several sacrifices and persevered.

Born in Hong Kong on April 7th, 1954 , as Chan Kong-sang, he was the only child of poverty-stricken parents – both refugees from the Chinese Civil War.

He earned the nicknamed him Pao-pao  "Cannonbal".

He was not academically bright, failing to pass Primary 1 as his peers moved on to Primary 3. This was noticed by Charles( his father), who decided to enrol the boy, now 7, at China Drama Academy.

He trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.

Students at the school were severely disciplined and were beaten if they disobeyed or made mistakes. It was a very harsh and difficult life but Jackie had nowhere else to go, so he stayed. He rarely saw his parents for years.

At the age of 8, Jackie became part of the “Seven Little Fortunes”, a group of children from the Academy who would be lent as extras in Chinese movies. Excited, Jackie played his parts with diligence.

In one of these movies, a Taiwanese actress playing his mother took a liking to Jackie and had him appear in her next features. Even though his Master took all his paychecks, Jackie was ecstatic and began to dream of becoming a world-famous actor.

At 17, he graduated from the China Drama Academy. Unfortunately the Chinese opera was no longer very popular, so Jackie and his classmates had to find other work. This was difficult because at the school they were never taught how to read or write. The only work available to them was unskilled labour or stunt work.

Each year many movies were made in Hong Kong and there was always a need for young, strong stuntmen. Jackie was extraordinarily athletic and inventive, and soon gained a reputation for being fearless; Jackie Chan would try anything. Soon he was in demand.

Following some of his early commercial failures in the acting realm, Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976 , when it became difficult finding stunt work.

While there, he briefly enrolled at Dickson College to learn English and got a “hard and boring” job in construction. When asked for his ‘”English name”, the Hong Kong actor replied with “…Jack”, as that was the name of the man standing next to him. Years later he changed it to “Jackie”, hatching the name we all fondly recognize today.

Jackie was very unhappy in Australia. The construction work was difficult and boring. His salvation came in the form of a telegram from a man named Willie Chan. Willie Chan worked in the Hong Kong movie industry and was looking for someone to star in a new movie being made by Lo Wei, a famous Hong Kong producer/director. Willie had seen Jackie at work as a stuntman and had been impressed.

He was soon featured in a string of Kung Fu movies but none were successful.

His major breakthrough however, came in 1978 film "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow", shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal. While  his former director wanted him to take on the role of Bruce Lee, director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience.Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.

Undeterred in his dream to become an international star,he has dislocated his pelvis, broken his nose three times, his ankle once, most of the fingers in his hand, his knee, both cheekbones and his skull, and had a permanent plastic plug in his skull while perfecting his craft.

He used to carry multiple guns and even a grenade to protect himself and his other artists from The Triad in the 1980s and 1990s.

An organised crime group sent after him by his former director Lo wei, when he(Jackie Chan) broke his contract with him.

Finally, after nearly 40 years in the business, he was able to reach worldwide stardom.

Though he could not read or write, Jackie Chan was able to achieve such greatness due to his hard work in his chosen field of martial arts. His innovative efforts in adding a comic touch to martial arts films proved to be a great success.

He was made an honorary doctor of social science of the Hong Kong Baptist University, and an honorary fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and has more than 27 awards to his name.

5 Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, the third of four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop.

"Leo" developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his older brothers,  and his cousin Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers, although neither had made the leap to a premier club or senior national team.

At the age of four, he joined Grandoli, a local club coached by his father. In 1995, he switched to Newell’s old boys where he became part of a local youth powerhouse. He scored almost 500 goals during the six years he played for Newell, and regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks during half-time of their home games.

He was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency and sought medical assistance. Messi's parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, it soon became impossible to continue the treatment because his parents could no longer afford it.

His salvation came at 13 when FC Barcelona offered Messi a contract written on a napkin paper and also, offered to sponsor Messi’s medical bills with the condition that Messi relocates to spain.

In February 2001, the family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the club's stadium, Camp Nou.

By the age of 16 , after completing his growth hormone treatment. Messi made his first appearance for FC Barcelona. He put himself in the record books on May 1, 2005, as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise. That same year, he led Argentina to the title in the under-20 World Cup, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team over Nigeria.

Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when the left-footer's team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. That same year, after two consecutive runner-up finishes, he took home his first FIFA "World Player of the Year" honor/Ballon d'Or award.

With a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards, four of which he won consecutively, and a record-tying four European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 30 trophies, including eight La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and five Copas del Rey. He holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga,  a La Liga season , a club football season in Europe , a calendar year , El Clásico , as well as those for most assists made in La Liga and the Copa América. He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.

Amazingly, he continues to improve, discovering new ways to elude defenders, scoring goals and breaking records.

Far and wide, he's acknowledged as one of the greats the game of soccer has ever seen.