Lessons from Rocky Balboa

I believe almost everybody who watches movies is familiar with Rocky Balboa. Played by Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone, Rocky is the main character, of film series Rocky. It is a story of a perennial underdog Rocky who is confronted with various life crises and stronger opponents, but instead of giving up he draws strength from the struggles to overcome the odds and succeed.

Here are four very motivational lessons we can learn from these films.

You will never succeed unless you get the work done

In the movie Rocky IV, Rocky has to prepare to fight a Russian opponent Ivan Drago who has never been defeated. To win the fight Rocky knows he has to train hard.  and push beyond what he had done before. Here’s what his trainer Duke tells him:

You are gonna have to go through hell, worse than any nightmare you have dreamed. But when it’s over, I know you will be the one standing. You know what you have to do. Do it. Do it.

Rocky is forced to train all by himself, in the middle of a Russian winter but he trains harder to push himself beyond what he had done before. The lesson is, there are no short cuts or hacks to achieve success. Regardless of the hurt, you have to work harder and be willing to do more.

Never Quit

According to Rocky Balboa:

Going that one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life.”

Getting work done is just a start. When the challenge starts, you will be pushed to your limits, there will come a moment when you are ready to give up and quit. That’s when you need to gather all your strength and keep going. It’s pretty hard to beat someone who never quits.

Going the distance, regardless of result

The films teach us, going the distance, is far more important than winning or losing. As Rocky says in one of the scenes:

I was nobody. But that don’t matter either, you know? ‘Cause I was thinking, it really don’t matter if I lose this fight. It really don’t matter if this guy opens my head, either. ‘Cause all I wanna do is go the distance.

Nobody’s ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I’m still standin’, I’m gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren’t just another bum from the neighborhood.

Many times we forget that it is much more about the journey we undertake, rather than the end result. The lesson is willing to go the distance regardless of the result.

Persistence

One of the most important lessons from the Rocky series is Persistence. Our ability to keep moving always can make all the difference between success and failure in our lives. As Rocky very eloquently puts it:

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.

You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!

These are very astute lessons from a fictional character. Whether you are struggling for motivation or just dealing with tough times, these lessons will motivate you to move forward. Determination and persistence brings resilience. Resilience brings Success.