The Pursuit Of Happyness

So many of our colleagues were raving about this movie, John and I went to go see it on Christmas Eve. They were right...it was fabulous. Talk about moving! The movie portrayed how powerful people can be when they are willing to give 100% towards the achievement of their dreams. Chris Gardner could easily have allowed being broke, frustrated, homeless, etc. deter him from his ultimate success. It would have been easy to use his circumstances as excuses. He could have blamed others for his problems. He could have used a million reasons to play victim, to give up, to settle for less. He could have spent his life saying sorry to his son for all the things he wouldn't experience, have, be or do.

Instead, he chose to fight. He chose to give 1000% of himself in the pursuit of his dream. That is what separates the Top 3% of society from the rest. No matter what came his way, he looked past it to follow his heart and his dream.

This is an amazing movie that every child should watch...to see how much potential they have, how much they can accomplish. I love it when Chris Gardner says, "Because other people can't do they'll tell you you can't". It's true...people are eager to convince you of all the things you can't do in your life, but few will support you in achieving what you want (see my earlier blog entry: Friends, Family and Neighbors). Surrounding yourself with people who believe in you is definetly a plus...such as the stock broker who believed in Chris.

When I got started in business, I was willing to pay the price of success. I gave 110%. Even though I was completely in new territory, often felt like a helpless idiot and knew nothing about sales, marketing or how to run a business, I was coachable, willing to learn and, (and probably most importantly) willing to ask questions risking looking like an idiot. Whatever...sometimes you just have to reveal howlittle you know to learn from the top people. I was eager, driven and had a huge amount of passion. I shared iwth people my intentions, kept it professional and learned from the top. Everyday I offer people the opportunity to have my life...wealth, freedom and accomplishment and they come up with a million excuses - I don't have the money, I don't have the time, I don't think I could do, it will work for others but not for me. It's all a bunch of bull...the real reason is they aren't committed to being successful...they want to stay in their comfort zone of WANTING better results, but never taking the action.

Congratulations Chris Gardner...you deserve every bit of your success b/c you were willing to turn your circumstances into REASONS to move forward, rather than excuses to not too. There's such a valuable lesson in this movie for everyone.