Posts filed under ‘Sucess’
Birdman Movie–What you are Not
The movie Birdman is my absolute favorite for Oscar wins. To me, this is what cinematographic art is about. In a way, it’s a trivial story. However, it’s masterfully put in a script, well directed with great acting to captivate the audience. I like this movie because it makes us think about a topic that is of great interest to me, that is who we really are.
No, the movie doesn’t tell us who we are. Rather it tells us who we are not as in this clip:
Here is what we are not:
• We are not our career
• We are not the businesses we create
• We are not past failures
• We are not past successes
• We are not what we think of ourselves (what we think of ourselves can be affected by ego, what others think of ourselves, past failures or past success)
• We are not what others think of ourselves (Another memorable quote from the movie: “A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing”.)
• We are not our demons (Clearly, the protagonist was a schizophrenic. That doesn’t define him either)
So, who are we?
I believe we are or can be:
• Who we decide to create, free from the burden of the past, our current circumstances, the judgment of others, our disappointments, fears or failure of being inadequate. We can create something on a blank new canvas that we are strongly passionate about. I think human beings are defined by how they live their beliefs, values and attitudes. What are your beliefs, values and attitudes?
• Imagine that you are an instrument part of a huge orchestra called the human race. The instrument maker created you to play a specific role. The music that you play cannot be reproduced by anyone else. Are you playing your role in that cycle of life? In other words, we each have an optimum representing who we are at our best. We should strive to be that.
The faith of the bird…
“The faith of the bird is not in the branch; but in its wings” Author Unknown
Imagine a bird on a branch; clearly the concern is not in the branch and what might happen to it. It seems obvious that the faith of the bird is not in how strong the branch might be but rather in its ability to react even if something happened to the branch.
Strangely enough for us human beings, we want to put our faith in the branch or external circumstances. There are so many things that we cannot control such as the economy, what happens in our job, people who decide to depart our life. However, we can control how we flap our “wing”; that is how we respond to these circumstances.
I’ve often been accused of being overly optimistic even in the face of adversity. To the point that I think, some close to me – family, friends and business associates – may have questioned if I am genuine or in touch with reality. What is my reality? It is that I have faith that whatever the problem or circumstances, we control the outcome by having the right plan and executing on that plan. It is not what has happened to us but what we do in response to what has happened that matters.
Talking about reality, one of the problems that we have as humans is that when we are faced with problems, we lack perspective. So many individuals are driven to despair when in fact their problems would seem trivial compared to those faced by others. Some of the questions that I often ask myself when facing adversity in business and in personal life are:
•Have others faced similar problems in the past?
•What did they do to resolve that problem or issue?
•What can Iearn from their success or failure?
•Can I pattern my response after their approach?
What I have come to realize is that in most cases, it is not the sickness that kills the patient but the lack of medicine. What leads to the fall of individuals and companies are not the external problems they face but the lack of medicine or bad medicine (lack of solutions or the wrong solutions).
My approach to life is to:
a)Confront whatever problem as it is without any sugar coating,
b)Understand the brutal facts of the situation,
c)Make sure that there is a plan A, B and even C to resolve it.
This approach is why the following quote is one of my favorites:
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end –which you can never afford to lose –with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.”
-Admiral Jim Stockdale
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