PETALING JAYA: From his record-breaking hot air balloon feats across the Pacific to donning an air stewardess’ uniform, there seems to be nothing daunting that Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson wouldn’t do.

This included leaving school at 16 to start a magazine Student, his first business.

On his last day of school, his headmaster had told Branson, who has dyslexia and was a poor student, that he would “either end up in prison or become a millionaire”.

Today, he is said to be worth US$5.2bil (RM23.15bil) with the Vir­gin Group controlling over 400 companies, including airlines, music labels and a space travel venture.

In an interview, the British magnate said he owed a great deal to his parents, who had always seen his passion and given him the courage to stand by his decisions, be it right or wrong.

“I was not a great student and though I did not focus on academic subjects, I always had big dreams and ambitions ... I liked challenges in life and have always pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

“You can make what people believe is impossible possible if you set big enough targets,” he said.

However, Branson puts the success of his first business down to “a stroke of pure luck”, having found out much earlier that banks were not lending to enthusiastic teenage entrepreneurs and that it was almost impossible to secure funding for his ideas.

“My mother found a lost bracelet and when no one claimed it, this was returned to her. She sold it and loaned me the money for the Student magazine.

“If it wasn’t for that moment of chance, I might not be where I am today,” said Branson, who now passionately runs a non-profit Virgin StartUp that helps give new entrepreneurs the best possible opportunity at starting out.

“I’ve always said that the key to success is happiness. If you’re not happy in what you’re doing, move on,” he said.

Far from letting dyslexia get in the way of what he is doing, Branson has achieved a lot, including playing cameos in Hollywood blockbusters Super­man Returns and Casino Royale.

He has learnt to use his reading disabi­lity to his advantage.

“My dyslexia may have been an obstacle when I was at school, but I refused to let it hold me back in life. Learn to use it to your advantage – turning it into one of your most powerful tools.

“I learnt to delegate tasks I wasn’t so good at. So, try to delegate things that you struggle with to someone else. This helps you look at the bigger picture,” he said.

Branson will be bringing his own message of overcoming adversity to achieve seemingly impossible targets to the Global Transformation Forum, to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre this March 22 and 23. It is organised by Pemandu.

He joins other speakers such as Alibaba Group executive chairman Jack Ma, Olympic champion Usain Bolt, winner of 13 F1 Grand Prix David Coulthard and motivational speaker Chris Gardner of the Pursuit of Happyness fame.

This post was first published on The Star