Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Perseverance Shawshank Style

Over the Holiday season, I watched, yet again, one my favorite movie of all times, the Shawshank Redemption. I know you’ve seen it. The main character is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He eventually escapes from the prison and starts living the life he always dreamed of. Ok it’s a tad “Hollywood” but it has numerous great lessons about our professional goals.

And, I mean numerous:
  • Geography of the soul! Remember Zihuatanejo? Over the course of his 20 years in Shawshank, Andy never once forgets Zihuatanejo the Pacific city “with no memory.” We all have that place, that geography of our soul where we are happy. Where we can recharge our spent batteries.
  • Make informed decisions, especially when building relationships.
  • Friendship without any ulterior motives makes your world a much better place.  And it is possible only when two people seeking to be friends have clear hearts.
  • Integrity.  Sometimes you may feel your colleagues or supervisors don’t appreciate or respect what you do. Never lose the belief in your own self- worth. Do not let yourself fail in your own eyes because of words stated by another.    Self-worth is the best gift that you can give to yourself!
  • Find a hobby. It could lead to a true escape.  Now…that does not mean you should be watching movies, painting landscapes or doing yoga at work. It means… enjoy your free time and your work time will be more productive and rewarding.
And those are just the small lessons.  My picks for the best business lessons learned from this exceptional movie are:
 
Persistence isn’t the best thing…it’s the only thing. When people said it couldn't be done, Rocky Balboa trained harder. When people said a girl couldn’t be a boxing champion, Million Dollar Baby showed us different.  When we thought a U.S hockey team victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad was inevitable…it became a Miracle. Persistence is a major theme in many movies. Why? Because it is a fundamental positive force for all of us, yet many of us give up too easily. Rejection and disappointment are part of every job. Keep focused and persistence pays off. When everyone tells you it can’t be done…do it!
 
Sometimes you have to crawl through the Muck. Sometimes, to reach our goals, we have to trudge through some pretty nasty stuff. Our main hero in Shawshank Redemption “crawls through a river of I don’t want to even image and came out clean on the other side.” Makes sitting through a mid-afternoon budget meeting seem easy in comparison.
 
Hope… above all else:  In my favorite line in this favorite film, the leading man says this most profound brief monologue to his best friend. "There are places in this world that aren't made out of stone... there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours... Hope. Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
Hope is the very essence of survival. If you believe in yourself and have passion for your job, with hope you have it all.  How can you survive and thrive if you have no hope?
And…you knew this was coming…
Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying:  Now...let’s not get too dramatic.  Work is not the only part of our lives.  But, if you are not doing a job that makes you happy how can you truly live?  Never give up on your dreams to find and work at the career you want, ever! When others tell you it is unrealistic, it is only to protect the status quo.  You create the life you want and if you want it, go get it!
Sometimes work may feel like detention. Decisions are made for you instead of with you. The other detainees aren’t always friendly.  Surround yourself with colleagues who have no ulterior motives. Challenges are many. But, with perseverance and a never ending belief in yourself, you will thrive in your position and will leave your mark in the rafters:  Brooks was here!

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