Hollywood films are often full of drama, entertainment and action but did you know that they can also teach us some powerful business lessons? Dawud Gurevitch explains how
Taking time to watch a film and paying real attention to the messages and reflecting on what you’ve seen, can really teach you something about business. Here are three Hollywood films that contain important lessons:
Lesson 1: The Pursuit of Happyness teaches us how to achieve greater health and happiness through wealth acquisition
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) is based on a memoir by Christopher “Chris” Gardner, who is played by Will Smith.
In short, the film shows us how Chris goes from lower-middle class to extreme poverty and finally to vast wealth. He doesn’t just dream of success but actually wakes up at 5.30am every morning and works hard to achieve it. Chris also becomes successful at the following:
- Soft skills – Chris doesn’t talk about his intelligence, flexibility, adaptability and desire, drive and determination to succeed when pitching to a head of HR, he actually finds ways to demonstrate his skills.
- Personal qualities – his honesty, humour and charisma.
- Retraining – as a stockbroker while working in his part-time sales job
- Strategy – Chris jumps up his prospective client call sheet and goes straight for the listed pension fund CEO.
- Being unconventional – by paying a personal visit a to a CEO and prospective client at his home one Saturday.
- Exploiting opportunities – by networking with the CEO’s associates, which later, through more networking via these contacts, leads to him managing to sign up thirty-one accounts for his employer and securing a permanent job.
Lesson 2: Eat Pray Love teaches us to have a holistic view of health
Eat Pray Love (2010), a film which ‘…is not just for the ladies, fellas’ (at least according to GQ magazine), is also based on a memoir, written by Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Gilbert who is an already successful and relatively wealthy writer. However, despite her ‘picture perfect’ life, she (played by Julia Roberts) experiences an internal crisis and goes on a year-long journey, seeking self-discovery through mediation, good food and trying to find true love.
Given the success that the real-life Liz has gone on to have – Eat Pray Love has sold over 12 million copies worldwide – I would argue that the book/film teaches us that our holistic health is the first and foremost way to work on all the other areas of our lives and so it pays to invest some of our thought, time, energy, and even our money, in exercising our mind, body and our soul/spirit/heart.
For example:
- For the mind, Liz learns Italian before and during her time in Italy.
- For the body, she walks, cycles, sails, and swims, bathed not just in fresh air but also fresh awareness of the sun, blue sky, green trees, and all the other sights, sounds and smells on offer to anyone who is truly present in the here and now.
- For the soul/spirit/heart, Liz practices being grateful for the people and things in her life.
Lesson 3: Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru teaches us to make life a masterpiece
The documentary Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016), featuring the giant life and business strategist Tony Robbins, reminds us that, in addition to focusing on all that we want to achieve in our professional lives, we must focus on what makes us feel deeply fulfilled in our personal lives. Otherwise, we may end up materially wealthy but also mentally, physically and/or emotionally bankrupt. Naturally, this requires us to:
- reflect on what our values and beliefs are; replace any limiting beliefs (e.g. ‘I’m not good enough’) with empowering ones (e.g. ‘I am good enough’)
- work hard to become the best versions of ourselves
- connect with like-minded people
- work with a mentor in our respective fields
- be grateful for all that we have
- help others to move up along the way.
In conclusion, movies – including the three films on which I have focused in this article – can empower you to improve yourself in business and your life, if only you choose to view them in this way.
Dawud Gurevitch is a life coach and author of May the Source Be with You: A Filmic Guide to Change Your Life, out 30 November, available on Amazon.
