Taking the hits and giving your very best
January 25, 2009
Recently I came across two videos on YouTube. Both are clips from recent movies, and both very inspirational to me. I thought I’d share them with you here.
The first one is from a movie called Facing The Giants, about an underdog football team coach who learns to overcome his and his team’s difficulties through faith. Although it is a “Christian values” movie this particular clip contains wisdom for anyone of any faith or non-faith:
In this clip we see coach Taylor push Brock beyond his self-imposed mental and physical limits. Brock doesn’t think his team can win the big match on Friday night, and he also doesn’t think he can death crawl beyond the 50 yard mark. By blindfolding him the coach is making sure that Brock can’t see how far away his goal is. This way he won’t worry about not being able to crawl that far and won’t give up prematurely when he thinks he’s done enough. This is also why coach never tells him how far he as left to go. All Brock can do is focus on the immediate goal of taking the next step. Once Brock gets going coach never stops giving him words of encouragement, never stops urging him to push on through his pain. He won’t let Brock give up until his body can go no more. Coach does *his* very best to never let a negative thought enter Brock’s mind.
He wants Brock to realise that only when he gives his very best will he find out that he’s truly capable of. By giving his very best Brock will achieve his goals, improve himself beyond his current best and grow as a player and an individual. An anology to this is working out at a gym. If you goto the gym and spend your time lifting weights you can easily manage then you’re not going to see much improvement, if any. If you try to lift a heavy weight but then give up as soon as the going gets tough then you’re still not going to see improvement. The only way to improve is to give it your very best, to try doing one or more sets with weights just beyond your capability. Of course, you wouldn’t want to try lifting something so totally beyond your capacity that you would end up seriously injuring yourself. Instead you want to push yourself just beyond your current level; move forward one small step at a time, just like Brock did.
In summation, commit to excellence in everything that you be and do. Set clear goals and instead of being daunted by how big they are just tackle them one small step at a time. Trust that if you keep giving it your very best you will get there.
The second clip is from the latest Rocky movie. In this clip Rocky is teaching his son an important lesson in life:
Rocky’s son (Peter Patrelli) is struggling in his job, and perhaps his life too. He feels that until he has made his mark on the world he is always going to be living in his Dad’s shadow. In effect he is refusing to accept his responsibility for his life. And deep down he knows this, though he is not willing to admit it to himself and is instead openly blaming his Dad for his problems. Rocky understands what is going on in his son’s mind and decides to tackle the issue head on, as a true warrior does.
The lesson is very simple. On the path to achieving something there are often going to be setbacks. But these are just there to test you; to test how much you want to achieve your goal. Instead of complaining about them, accept them, learn from them and keep moving forward. If you haven’t yet achieved your goal then it’s not because somebody else has stopped you from achieving it, but rather because you haven’t yet figured out how to achieve it. And the only way you’re going to figure out how to achieve it is by “taking the hits” and moving forward. If what you’re trying right now isn’t working then try something else. But don’t give up hope because you haven’t reach your goal in the time you thought it would take you.
