What if Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson became Dwayne “The Sloth” Johnson Instead
Find out what The Rock’s got cooking to make him a success
Everyone’s heard of The Rock. Legend of the wrestling world, actor and celebrity. He might be what you would call successful. But his life could easily have turned out differently.
His family probably never saw him turning out the way he did. He wasn’t a model citizen. He was in trouble and arrested a few times before the age of 17 for fighting and stealing. I bet they were pulling out their hair and wishing he would just straighten out.
He could have been Dwayne “the Sloth” Johnson, if he hadn’t found a positive path forward. In an alternate universe, he didn’t do the work and instead picked the easy way out. He bulked up but not with muscle. He played video games and got in more trouble with the law. He never went to university.
No one in that universe heard of Dwayne The Sloth Johnson. He was a nobody.
But in our universe, he started working out and got into sports instead. He made his way into football and got noticed. After a full scholarship at University of Miami, he graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies in Criminology and Physiology. Then he ended up a linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL.
Massive action from a big guy
His wrestling career started in 1996 and carried on through 2004 when he became a full time actor and retired from the ring (for the first time- he was back later.) We can geek out about his WWF and WWE life in another story, but boy were there some twists and turns!
Since then, he’s gone on to star in almost 30 films. Thirty! What kind of work ethic do you think it takes to do 30 movies in 15 years?
The Rock had to hustle to get where he is. First, he practiced and practiced to play football while taking university courses. After football didn’t pan out, he managed to get into the World Wrestling Federation. He gave wrestling everything he had for years. And when he became an actor, he didn’t slack off.
Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?
He kept up the workouts, too. Without his hard work and consistent diet he could easily be known as Dwayne “The Blob” Johnson. Imagine if this same guy never exercised and ate fast food for every meal.
Would everyone see him as such a superstar? Would he be where he is now? But that isn’t what The Rock does. He shows up and does the work. He does massive piles of hard, hard work. He makes his own luck.
Mr. Johnson keeps showing up in the gym. He’s obviously a success at sculpting his body, building and maintaining muscle. And what’s his “trick” to massive muscles? He lifts heavy things, more than once. And he finds out what he needs to do, then does it. He maintains a schedule. You know he doesn’t skip leg day very often.
You might say he has luck in the form of genetics. But there are tons of dudes with similar body types and genetic profiles. Do we ever hear about them? No.
Not only is he a success in the gym, but he has it going on in movies. He isn’t just in the B flicks, but he could have been. That part of his career started out pretty rough. Does anyone remember The Scorpion King? What a dog’s breakfast. It looked like his movie career was over before it began.
And then he kept going.
Why not be like The Rock and build some luck
Perseverance and putting in the work. That’s how The Rock got to where he is. He built his own luck.
I take a lot of inspiration from people like Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson. He started out as a baby, just like the rest of us. He had to go from the bottom and slowly toil his way to the top. Anyone that works as hard as he has on his career deserves everything good that comes his way.
It’s true that most people will never become as rich, famous and muscular as The Rock no matter what we do. But we can all be successful at things that will make our lives fuller and happier.
Is there something you want to be successful at, maybe your career? Writing? Building muscle? See if you can smell what The Rock is cooking. He’s a great role model for personal growth.