Today, as of writing this post, I hosted a home business training call with my buddy, Adam. One topic was on the movie The Pursuit of Happyness (which is one of my favourite movies ever) and the lessons we learned from it.

I though it would be great to share these lessons with you too…

“The world is your oyster. It's up to you to find the pearls.”

– Chris Gardner

1. Never EVER give up on your dreams – no matter what

This is probably the most powerful lessons I learned from the movie. Chris Gardner (the main character played by Will Smith) did not give up on his dreams, no matter what happened. His first business didn't pan out like he thought it would and he was super broke that he could hardly provide for his family. By buying into his original business, we know that he started with a dream. This dream didn't work out, but instead of going to get a “safe, secure job” he kept on dreaming.

When he discovered that he could become a stock broker, things were the hardest and his wife left him. But what did Chris do? He kept chasing his dreams and in the end he won BIG TIME!

Learned here: Even if the world is crashing down, keep chasing your dreams. Life will be a million times better once you've achieved them!

2. Don't let people disempower you in following your dreams

There is one scene that stand out the most from the movie. That's when Chris and his son are in a basketball court and his son says he wants to be a pro basketball player. Chris quickly shoots down his dreams and his son starts packing his ball away.

Chris then realises what he did, apologises, and tells his son to never let anyone tell him that he can't do something. Chris said to him “If you've got a dream, you've got to protect it.”

Lesson here: When we're following out dreams, people will often try and shoot us down because they didn't go after their dreams. So if you really want something, then go get it – no matter what!

Watch this scene here – POWERFUL stuff:

3. Just because you're somewhere, doesn't mean you have to stay there

Chris had a dream – a big one – and he didn't let his situation and circumstances dictate what he was going to achieve. He could have stayed where he was and settled by getting a crappy job and struggling for the rest of his life. But no – he knew that life doesn't have to be this way.Lesson here: Just because your life might be hard right now doesn't mean it can't be amazing. You've just got to make a decision that you're not going to stay where you are and start taking action towards your dreams.

4. Do whatever it takes to succeed

Chris risked his family for creating a better life. You don't have to do the same but Chris' example shows that you need a “do whatever it takes” attitude for creating success. Chris and his son even slept in a train station bathroom because he knew what he was working towards and that he'd get there.

Lesson here: Would you sleep in a train station in order to achieve your dreams? If the answer is no, then you need to start changing your mindset to a “do whatever it takes” attitude.

5. Happyness is spelt with an I – Happiness

Well, that's not really the fifth lesson haha. The fifth lesson is: when you go after your dreams you are going to face adversity – it's inevitable.

Chris ran into setback after setback – he lost his car, one of his last machines he was trying to sell was stolen, he lost his wife, he ended up homeless, he was broke and he became a single parent to his son. I mean, how much harder could life have got for him! But he persevered and in the end he won at life.

Lesson here: Things like these are most definitely going to happen. They might not be as bad or they could be worse, but know that adversity goes hand-in-hand with opportunity and you've just got to keep pressing forward in the face of it. If you want to achieve success without setbacks, forget it – life doesn't work that way.

Remember, your life is in 100% in your control. If you're not happy with where you're currently at, change it – it's as simple as that. Will going after you dreams be easy? No way! But will it be worth it? Absolutely!

Did you get value? Is so, I would greatly appreciate it if you commented below and shared on Facebook.

Alex Ford
Digital Marketing Trainer
Email: [email protected]
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