The other night my husband and I rented a movie which, much to my surprise, turned out to hold a very powerful entrepreneurial lesson – and that without actually having anything to do with entrepreneurship.
 
Rather, it was a movie about – of all things – mixed martial arts. About fighting your way to a $5 million jack pot.
 
The movie, called “Warrior”, is a superbly written, acted and directed feature film, and I highly encourage you to watch it if you have not already. And, mind you, that’s a recommendation coming from someone who isn’t normally into fight movies.
 
But this film was different. This film was riveting.
 
A family drama set in the world of boxing and wrestling, two estranged brothers end up fighting one another in a mixed martial arts tournament. Though both are fighting for the money, the real stakes are obviously much higher.
 
Broken relationships, emotional pain, internal and external struggles, love, forgiveness – it’s all there.
 
But what I really wanted to get to here is the powerful entrepreneurial message I took away from it. (And I will try to do so without spoiling the movie for you!)
 
When Brendan, one of the two brothers, a school teacher by trade, is facing his opponent in the boxing ring and being given a horrible beating, it looks like all hope is lost. His opponent is forceful – much bigger and better trained than Brendan.
 
Brendan is being thrown around like a rag doll. He’s barely able to fight back. Until…after the 2nd round (which Brendan lost), Brendan’s coach, Frank, yells at him, trying to get his attention.
 
When Brendan’s hopeless eyes finally meet those of his coach, Coach Frank looks intently at him. “Why are we here?” he shouts.
 
No response.
 
“WHY are we here?” he shouts again, even more forcefully.
 
When Brendan lingers, the coach answers his own question. “Because if you don’t win, you won’t have a home in 90 days.”
 
Indeed. This was Brendan’s “why”…this was why he had to win the prize. This was why he had entered into the championship to begin with:
 
Unless a financial miracle happened, Brendan, his wife and two children, would no longer have a home. They were facing foreclosure and every odd was stacked against them.
 
And then something inexplicable happens: Once Brendan is reminded of his “why”, when he realizes that failure is NOT an option, that there is way too much at stake, it’s as if his power returns to him. He gets his strength back. He pulls himself together…he is suddenly able to focus.
 
And when he walks back into the ring, it is with newfound belief, knowing that he can still win. Because he HAS to win.
 
I won’t ruin it for you by revealing what happened next. But I hope you see the parallel here:
 
As a business owner and entrepreneur, you too are in the boxing ring, every single day. You’re fighting a forceful opponent – in fact, your opponents are many. One is called Laziness. Another is Discouragement. Then there’s Competition. Distractions. Procrastination. Not to forget the Dream Stealers…
 
(I bet you can think of several more.)
 
Every day you need to put your boxing gloves on and brace yourself to face the adversary. And you can only beat him if you know your why.
 
What I interpreted as an entrepreneurial lesson is perhaps more of a human one. Whether we’re business owners or mixed martial arts fighters or something entirely different, every one of us needs to be crystal clear on our “why”. Why we’re doing what we’re doing.
 
When we know what it’s really all about – what DRIVES us into action every day – we experience super human strength. And then, truly, we can do anything we set our minds to.
 
Just ask an underdog-physics-teacher-turned-celebrated-sports-hero named Brendan.
 
 
 
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If, today, you had only one hour to advance your dream – what would you do? If you knew you would get a “yes”, what action would you take?
 
I just got back from an incredible 5-day event for internet entrepreneurs in the Bahamas where the following challenge was presented by one of the speakers:
 
“Commit to taking 3 bold actions each and every day. The actions much be directly related to your dream, and they must be specific actions that advance your dream.”
 
The speaker went on to share how he several years back – at that time a nobody – approached a highly succesful writer to whom he was a total stranger, asking for an endorsement of his book… He was fearful, doubtful, anticipating rejection, yet he was determined to step outside his comfort zone and do it anyway.
 
Amazingly, he got the endorsement…and this in turn created a snowball effect in his writing and speaking career!
 
But what if he hadn’t asked because he was afraid of failure? What if he paid attention to his feelings?
 
“You must take action in spite of how you feel,” he explained. “Do it anyway, and then your feelings will change. You may even feel so good about your new bold self that you’ll want to do more of it!”
 
And this is why you should perform your three daring actions as early in the day as possible: your actions will set the stage for the rest of your acitivities throughout day.
 
So let me ask you now: What are three bold things that you can do TODAY to advance your dream? Remember, it’s got to be something that doesn’t come naturally to you – if it makes you sweat at the mere thought of it, it’s exactly the type of action you need to take!
 
I’m in the process of putting together my list of action items, and I’m pumped about carrying out this assignment in my own business over the next 12 months.
 
Three bold actions a day multiplied by 365 – that’s 1095 bold, dream-enhancing actions over the next year. WOW! You think that could change the course of your life? I can’t even imagine where I will be 12 months from now!
 
So, again, what are some of those action items for YOU? Is it asking someone for a break? Is it a phone call you need to make? Is it a project you need to finally get started on?
 
Be willing to put yourself on the line even though you know you may “fail”!
 
See, here’s the thing: What if you DON’T fail? What if, this time you actually succeed? What if you DON’T get the “no” you expected but instead a “yes”?
 
One thing is for certain – you’ll always miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take!
 
Make your list, and then join me in making your wildest dreams come true in 2012.
 
 
 
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Today I want to tell you a story. As you’ll see, it contains an important lesson in abundant thinking. Here it goes:
 
It was just before four in the morning. Two men were checking in at the airport, passenger A and passenger B.
 
Both were traveling coach. Both were dead tired, not having slept much the night before. Both were offered the same opportunity to upgrade as they entered their names into the computer.
 
“Would you like to upgrade to first class for $135?” the prompter read. “This includes breakfast and up to 3 pieces of luggage checked in for free.”
 
Both passenger A and passenger B thought about it for a moment. Neither was rich. They both had many financial obligations. (There was a reason why they were booked coach to begin with!)
 
Though tempted, passenger A declined. There were so many things he could spend $135 on, he reasoned with himself. More important things. Traveling first class, that was a bit extravagant.
 
He sighed, completed his check-in for coach, and headed toward security pulling his oversized carry-on behind him.
 
Passenger B wavered a bit longer. In his mind he pictured himself sinking into the soft, spacious seat in first class, enjoying the extra leg room and a tasty breakfast before drifting off to sleep. The thought was more than appealing.
 
“I deserve it!”, he finally said to himself.
 
He accepted the offer to upgrade, quickly paid his $135, and walked over to the counter to check in his rather large carry-on, at no extra charge.
 
30 minutes later he was standing in line for security, noticing passenger A arguing vehemently with an airport official a bit further back. His carry-on was, according to the officer, too big to fit in the overhead compartment.
 
He was instructed to return to the ticket counter to check his luggage at a charge.
 
Passenger B proceeded through security, thankful that his own oversized carry-on had been checked so that he didn’t have to go through that same hassle and risk running late for his flight.
 
On board the aircraft, passenger B sunk into his comfortable seat in first class, stretched his legs, and enjoyed a delicious hot omelette, fresh fruit and a glass of tasty orange juice before drifting off for a 3-hour long nap.
 
In coach sat passenger A, tired and hungry (the suitcase drama had taken so much time he’d missed his chance to purchase food for the flight), and unable to get any shut-eye because of a crying baby in the seat behind him.
 
As they arrived home to their respective residences later that day, passenger A was exhausted.
 
Passenger B, on the other hand, felt refreshed. He was even able to get several hours of work in before retiring for the night. (For him, as a new business owner, that meant a lot!)
 
The same could not be said about passenger A: He immediately collapsed on his bed and slept for a full 10 hours.
 
They didn’t know it themselves, of course, but in the near future, passenger B would become a highly successful and wealthy entrepreneur. Passenger A would continue to struggle financially.
 
The moral of the story?
 
Broke thoughts yield broke results. Prosperous thoughts yield prosperous results. Which is why your income will never out-perform your self image.
 
Which are you – passenger A or passenger B?
 
More importantly, who will you be moving forward?
 
 
 
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