You know you are in a downward spiral with fitness when you watch movies for inspiration... But hey, whatever it takes :-)
As I started watching the first Rocky movie, I realized the movies had a few life lessons. When I continued with the series, it had a handful of life lessons... I realized the 5 life lessons from the Rocky movies that are applicable to one's personal life as well to one's work life too.
Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched the Rocky movies, and really really don't want to know anything, stop now and come back later. There may be some minor spoilers here.
1. People matter
Rocky is who he is due to the people around him. They make sacrifices for his success. They pushed and pulled him. They yelled at him, fought with him, embraced him, argued with him, stood behind him, loved him, hated him but never gave up on him. Whether it is Adrian, who unconditionally loved him with all his imperfections. Or his coach or his friends or even Creed, who started as his opponent, became a friend, and a coach and later motivated Rocky to take on a Russian champ upon his death.
Rocky's success is not Rocky's boxing skills but the people around him.
2. Winning is not everything
Rocky doesn't always win a boxing match in these movies. In fact, he loses the first one to Creed in Rocky 1. He also fights his protege in Rocky 5 in a parking lot. While Rocky movies are about boxing, it is not about winning. It is about the heart behind the sport, the toil it takes to get to the rings, the grit one exhibits, and the desire to push oneself, even if you get beat down. It is about persistence, passion and purpose.
Winning is not everything.
3. Do something you love
Never once in these movies, does Rocky say "I love boxing". I can imagine other actors or movies adding a scene where Rocky stands in a boxing ring or at the top of the stairs in Philadelphia and shouts "I LOVE BOXING!!". It would have been a great 'punch' line, pun intended. It would have made a great t-shirt slogan or a funny meme, similar to "I will be back" from the Terminator movies (Side-note: Look forward to the "5 Life Lessons from the Terminator movies", COMING SOON).
Rocky really loved boxing, hence he gained the respect and love of not only his friends, but by the fans all over the world, including Russians in Rocky 4.
In the climax scene of Rocky 3, you see Rocky and Creed throw their first punch in a friendly match when all the media, cameras and fanfare is over, in their gym, when no one is watching, thats true love of the sport and sportsmanship.
Do something you love.
4. Money is not the only motivator
Rocky dabbles with money throughout these movies. He is initially poor, then rich, then super rich, then poor again, but his love and passion for boxing is constant. He doesn't care if he has money or not, but he continues to do what he loves. He also doesn't take decisions for the sake of money.
Money will come and go, do what is right, it will all workout at the end.
5. It is OK to be imperfect
With the social media platforms, and filters for our photos, we are moving into a world where one wants to always exhibit their perfect side to the outer world. I have seen couples posting happy and funny pictures in their social media feed, and breaking up days after those happy posts. I can go on and on about these social media posts not reflecting the reality, but a good lesson from Rocky is, he is very imperfect. That's what makes him the best.
Rocky didn't have money, he can't read or write properly, he f**ks up the TV commercials that he auditions for in Rocky 2, he doesn't manage money well, he can't express his feelings properly but he continues to be who he is, and he is greatly loved for that.
It is OK to be imperfect, be authentic.
I hope you enjoyed some of my thoughts watching the Rocky movies, one of the greatest movie series of the 20th Century. The 5 lessons were derived to be from the 5 original parts of the movie. Hopefully, one day I can revise this blog post for more lessons from the Creed movies.
Cheers!
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