The Inspiration of Cartoon Character Dilbert

The Inspiration of Cartoon Character Dilbert

This past weekend, I spoke at a Toastmasters International District Conference event. The inspirational speech I delivered was well received, so I thought I would share it with you this week. It is always good to receive inspiration as we work on achieving something in life.

I found a motivational quote from the comic strip Dilbert. The comic strip is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring the titular engineer Dilbert. Dilbert appears online and in 2000 newspapers worldwide in 65 countries, and has been translated into 25 languages, according to Wikipedia.

Here is a quote:

The Road to Success….is always under Construction

This seems to be so true. When there is a goal we set out to achieve, we sometimes run into a roadblock along the way. I have found this to be true many times in my own life.

When looking at highly successful people in the headlines, I always wonder how they made it. Did they run into barriers along the way, or did they have a straight path to success? The fact is, when looking at someone who has been praised in the media, we are looking at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years of overnight success.

For example, let’s take a look at some people you might know before they were famous:


Bill Gates

Bill Gates’ first business failed miserably. He had a company called Traf-O-Data. The product was a device which could read traffic tapes and process the data. It was a flop. When Gates and his partner, Paul Allen, tried to sell it, the product was not even working properly. That was his road under construction.

Gates and Allen went on to build Microsoft Corp. from the ground up until it became the biggest software company in the world. Today, Bill Gates is the richest person on the planet.


Nelson Mandela

The late Nelson Mandela went through severe hardship. He spent most of his 27 years in Robben Island Prison doing hard labor. He was jailed for life. That was his road under construction.

He was finally released in 1990 and went on to win the 1993 Nobel Peace Prized jointly with F. W. de Klerk, president of South Africa, for their work for the peaceful termination of apartheid. Mandela went on to be the first black president of South Africa a year later.


J.K. Rowling

She began as a single mother living off welfare in Britain. She is quoted as saying many times, “I was as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.”  She had also been diagnosed with depression and contemplated suicide. But rock bottom became a solid foundation on which she rebuilt her life.

She created the character of Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. Her passion for the character made her pursue publishers for years. Finally, after being rejected twelve times, her persistence paid off. That was her road under construction.

Today, Harry Potter is a global brand worth an estimated $15 billion. What an amazing rags-to-riches story!


Sylvester Stallone

We all know the blockbuster movie Rocky. “Yo Adrian.” Stallone’s road under construction started at birth. There were complications during labor with Sylvester and his mother. The doctor had to use two pairs of forceps to pull him out. It damaged a nerve and caused the lower left side of his face to be paralyzed. This would have an effect on the way he looked and talked. His road under construction continued as he tried selling the Rocky script to Hollywood. He wanted to be the lead actor in it and no one would give him a chance. He was so desperate and broke that he put his own dog up for sale in front of a liquor store. Someone paid him $50 for it. Stallone walked away and said later that was the lowest point of his life. That was his road under construction.

Weeks later, someone purchased the rights to Rocky. Sylvester’s career skyrocketed, and he received all the fame and fortune anyone could ever ask for. He even bought his dog back, whom you can see in the Rocky movie. Remember Butkus?

Anyone who has ever accomplished something has dealt with that road under construction. Dilbert is right. However, everyone has the opportunity to pick up that construction barrier, put it on the side of the road and create that path to success.

Therefore, you should never, never, never ever stop working on your road.

5 thoughts on “The Inspiration of Cartoon Character Dilbert

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