“Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz grew up in a tough housing project. Oprah Winfrey faced horrifying abuse as a girl. Eleanor Roosevelt's father drank himself to death.

These aren't isolated incidents. According to a fascinating recent Wall Street Journal article by clinical psychologist Meg Jay, childhood trauma and exceptional achievement go together a lot more often than you might suspect.

In fact, Jay details one classic study of 400 super high achievers, those who had at least two biographies written about them due to their positive contributions. When the researchers examined the lives of these success stories, they found that a remarkable 75 percent of them had faced severe difficulties, such as the loss of a parent, dire poverty, or abuse in childhood.”