The Whole 8-miles
#Todaysinspiration: Marshall Mathers aka Eminem
You may know him as one of the world’s best selling artists and rapper of famous hits like ‘Lose Yourself’, ‘The Real Slim Shady’ and ‘I Love the Way You Lie’. But underneath the name Eminem and the alter ego Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers is someone who’s determined to pursue and protect his dream of being a lyrical miracle no matter what hurdles he faced in life.
Today’s inspiration Eminem shows that you should follow your intuition, do what you are good at and don’t let anything stop you. There is no easy path to success and there are obstacles that you must face. It only depends on whether you are persistent enough to knock them down. Eminem does acknowledge that his past experiences have shaped him to become who he is today and he attributes his success to his harsh and poor upbringing.
Here’s some of the things Eminem faced that did not stop him from becoming the King of Hip Hop:
- Eminem grew up without a father figure in his life. His father abandoned their family when Eminem was just a baby.
- His mother’s mental disorder was one that would affect Eminem and his younger brother Nathan negatively. A person with that mental illness would intentionally cause illness in another.
- A frequent victim of bullying in school, one incident was so severe that it led Eminem to a 10 day coma.
- Failing 9th grade three times, Eminem decided to drop out of school.
- Experiencing tremendous grief, his best friend and one of his only stable relationships at the time Uncle Ronnie committed suicide when they were just teenagers.
- Constantly moving and changing schools meant he lacked a sense of security and was always an outsider.
- Eminem had the responsibility of raising Nathan from the start, acting as the adult figure in his rocky family without the help of his mother.
His songs full of meaning and anger channel the emotions experienced from his rough childhood to turn into musical masterpieces for others to relate to. His music grabbed the attention of Dr. Dre, his mentor who believed in him and gave him the opportunity to embrace his talent further to become the famous artist he is today.
Eminem’s story gives us two inspirational messages:
- Keep chasing your dreams, no matter what challenges life throws at you.
- Someone believing in you is all it can take for you to further yourself. Do you have a support network to push you past your limits?
Me Afterwork is all about having the support and building the support. If you need someone in your court and don’t, find a coach on our directory.
