I love an 80’s movie and there are loads of great ones to choose from. A feature of many of them is the montage.
Think of Rocky Balboa running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Daniel’s training scene in The Karate Kid.
Or when Johnny teaches Baby his dance
moves in Dirty Dancing.
Set to inspiring music, months, even years, of hard graft and transformation are compressed into a few minutes. Rocky becomes a world class boxer, Daniel becomes a karate black belt, and Baby dances like a professional on Strictly.
How does this relate to us?
Most of us have dreams, goals, and things we aspire to, right? We envision the person we know we can be. The person who overcomes the obstacles, builds a thriving business, makes a bigger impact in clients lives, earns the big income, and has a wonderful life.
So, why is it that so many people fall short and settle for less?
Is it that we are just not capable? Or do not really have it in us? Or that we tried and kept coming up came up short?
Or could it be something else?
The sharp knife of effort shock
Coach Carolyn Freyer-Jones runs a coaching success school teaching coaches how to create a sustainable, successful, and profitable practice.
She is exceptionally good at this and a while back she wrote a blog post about the turning point that often happens for participants after about three months into her six-month long school.
After the initial glow of enthusiasm and excitement of being in the school there is the dawning of the reality of what it really takes to create the business you want. She says:
“The honeymoon phase has been pierced by the sharp knife of effort shock.”
In other words, it dawns on people that to create what they genuinely want there is a level of sustained, disciplined, and focused effort that they had not previously realised.
For many, it comes as a shock.
What does this have to do with 80’s movies?
Between where we are now and where we want to go there is a gap. Sometimes a big one.
The movie montage makes it look as if transitioning the gap can happen in a few minutes. And this is not just happening in the movies.
There are lots of people out there – marketing experts, social media influencers, self-proclaimed business gurus – who want you to believe that they can help you make it all happen in next to no time.
They lead you to believe there is some magic bullet that will ‘skyrocket’ your business that short-cuts doing the work.
Of course, there is brilliant stuff you can learn from genuine people. But they cannot do the work for you.
The shift towards success is to stop looking for a magic bullet and be willing to do the sustained, disciplined, and focused work of building your business through being of service.
Why does this matter so much?
Because in the end it’s not so much about what we get but about who we become in the process.
PS. Is building a business about attraction or action? Click here to read more.
