Adopting the Forrest Gump Attitude

Adopting the right attitude whilst dealing with life's ups and downs, can be a vital ingredient in determining the outcome. It really can make or break you (or your business).

It has been found that a common trait shared by very successful people is their overall-winning attitude. Some research even suggests that patients who go into surgery with a positive attitude fare much better in the recovery process than those with a less optimistic viewpoint.

Forrest Gump is the main character in a movie with the same title. The movie traces Forrest's life from the time he is a child through to early middle age. Born with a below average intelligence, but an amazing ability to focus all his attention and energies on clearly defined goals, Forrest overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve great success.

His great ability to focus on a Table Tennis ball, gives him a talent for winning at world class level in Ping-Pong, it also leads him into money by way of product endorsement and he then realized a long held ambition (borrowed from a colleague in Vietnam) to buy a shrimp fishing boat that becomes the basis for great financial success.

The message of the film is very clear. Undistracted by extraneous happenings, Forrest focused on the few talents he had, and he rode them to great success and great happiness. What a lesson for all of us in these days, when so many have such great anxiety and self pity, and when so many are so busy placing the blame for their unhappiness and "failures" on others.

In business, if we discover what we are really good at and then focus on these areas, we could develop our business to the maximum. That way our company might not be the best at everything, but will be absolutely world class in its strongest individual areas.

There is a marvelous line in the film when Forrest recounts asking his mother "Momma, what is my destiny?" Her reply was, "You're going to have to figure that out for yourself."

Featured Program: 
    The Science of Self-Confidence - by Brian Tracy