Life is a never-ending process of learning and personal development. I have benefited from my parents teachings, having had professional coaches and mentors, but some of the best lessons I have learned came to me from one of my biggest passions, movies. Here are my 10 favorite films and what they taught me about life.
The Godfather.
“It’s not personal, it’s business”. That’s the classic line that everyone uses to excuse some of the terrible things they do to one another. But actually it’s true, it’s not personal against you, they would have done the same to anyone in that position. If it comes down to a call between you and them, most people will choose themselves. It’s worth remembering that as it will save you a lot of surprise and disappointment.
Jaws.
Don’t go in the water. In fact don’t do anything that could result in your death unless you absolutely have to. Personally, I don’t need to be close to death to feel alive. It also taught me to make sure I was prepared, who can forget the classic line “You’re going to need a bigger boat”. It pays to think ahead and prepare properly.
Snatch
I loved the replica gun scene because it reminds me that, if you’re going to bluff, that it can be pretty embarrassing if you get caught out. So only bluff it if you really have to.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Sometimes you just have to jump, even though you’re scared. Just jump and everything will work out fine. Sure it might be a bit bumpy, but it’s often the only way to get to where you want to go and to achieve your goal.
The Silence of the Lambs.
There’s always someone who knows, we just find out who and then ask them. There are every few new problems that we will get to face in our lives, so get yourself a mentor, someone who has taken the route you want to follow and learn from them. It will make the journey a lot easier. Just make sure their not an insane cannibal.
Rocky.
When your shot comes, even if you don’t think you’re ready, just take it. You never know what might happen. We don’t get that many great opportunities in our lives that we can afford to let some of them pass until we’re ready. I would rather live knowing I’d tried and failed than live with the regret of not having tried.
The Shawshank Redemption.
Life isn’t always fair; we don’t always get what we deserve. So don’t wait for something you think you deserve or that you ’re going to get.Go out and make things happen for yourself.
Fight Club
I found this line to be very profound and it’s one of my most favorite movie lines of all times. “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need”. It really made me rethink a lot of what I was doing, it reminded me to follow my passion, rather than to fall into the materialistic rat race which is so easy to do.
Gladiator
It’s not the title or the position you hold that makes people follow you, it’s the actions that you take. This is classic leadership, leadership is all about action, it’s not about titles and we clearly see that here when a slave has more influence than the Emperor. So take action and build influence, don’t rely on a title or your position.
Matrix
Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. There is no spoon. Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself. Everything starts and ends with ourselves, we do not have control over anyone else, we cannot really change anyone, we can only change ourselves. So if we don’t like our circumstances, our relationship, then we should look change ourselves in order to change our situation.
If you want to achieve FAST Results call me on +1 561 501 0888 or email me at gordon@leadership-principles.com to arrange a free 30 minute strategy session.
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