Motivational Monday: Morning Glory
Full disclosure: This is not a blog about how great Monday mornings are. Today, actually, was horrible. Curse you, Ben Franklin, for coming up with the whole time change idea. BUT...once in a while I catch hold of some good-ol'-fashion inspiration and want to share. So this new feature will take the inspiration from the previous week and pitch it your way, neatly packaged as a motivational piece of prose.
Last night, Kimberly and I watched a new movie called Morning Glory. If you can ignore some sexual content and language, the movie is superb. Without giving away too many spoilers, here it goes:
The main character is a news producer working in morning news programming (thus, the title). Her dream job has always been to serve as a producer for The Today Show, but she's had a rough go at it. Apparently her dad was in the business and inspired her, but the issue isn't particularly well-developed in the plot. During her job search, even her mother tells her to give up on her dream of making it big-time and producing for a major program. Anyway, she lands a job producing for a national network who has experienced consistently poor performance. The line she repeats almost ad nauseam is "The show/staff/I just need someone to believe in it/them/me." This motif continues throughout the film until, inevitably, she pulls it off and the show becomes a hit. After navigating impossibly infuriating obstacles, her persistence and energy paid off. The show became a hit.
Now that's just a synopsis, but the movie really was inspiring to me. Sure, underneath it all there was a love story; the point was to find a balance between work and personal lives which allows for you to develop as a whole person. But the more inspiring part came from that line I said became almost nauseating: "The show/staff/I just need someone to believe in it/them/me." She was right, really. Throughout the show, no one believed in her as a producer. Not even her own mom! What made the difference for this character?
She started to believe in herself.
Sometimes, especially with young people, we can feel just like the character in this movie. It's easy to let older, smarter, richer, or wiser people crush a dream with the gravity of "reality". It's easy for us to betray ourselves and admit that our ideas aren't probable. It's easy to give up and accept mediocrity or sell out. The harder thing is to be the bold, confident person who makes a difference. You don't need the backing of a giant corporation or the approval of society. All you need is a good work ethic and a strong belief in yourself. Today, it's about choosing who and what you want to be. A person with passion and vision and direction will go far, but he will never achieve his potential unless he believes himself to be totally prepared and qualified to succeed.
Ever see those people who seem to be good at whatever they do? Make up your mind to be that person. You can be your greatest motivator or your greatest detractor. Whose side will you be on? Stand up for yourself and decide: "I can do this." Be bold and unafraid.
