7 Secrets Of Success From Watching Rocky (really!)

I don't even like boxing, but I got to tell you I learned a lot from Rocky and Sylvester Stallone about creating your own success. In anticipation of the 6th sequel in the Rocky series, 'Rocky Balboa', my husband and I watched all five Rocky movies (one day we even watched four in a row!) to get up to speed with development of the character and his story. This is quite basic:

underdog hero experiences tough times, receives a challenge that questions his manhood and sense of what is 'right' and 'wrong', intense training scenes showing incredible physique, and a close, tough fighting scene with a feel good 'victory' for Rocky - the 'people's hero'.

It's not the story line or the films themselves that are as much an inspiration as Sylvester's Stallone's own story of rags to riches as a punk, nobody actor and screenwriter to multimillionaire writer and director of one the most successful film series.

With $106 left in his bank account, Stallone offered his script of 'Rocky' to various producers. He wanted to sell the script and star in the lead role. The producers rejected him as the lead but offered him $50 000 for the script. They did not think he was a bankable star -too ugly, too short, and talked too funny to be a good leading actor. They wanted to cast Ryan O'Neal, who enjoyed boxing, or Burt Reynolds or Paul Newman or Steve McQueen, or Al Pacino.

$50 000 was a lot of money considering he had so little cash and a pregnant wife to look after. However old Sly stuck to his guns, and refused to take the deal without the lead role. The bids for the script kept going up, but without the offer of the leading role. Stallone says of the negotiations,

"I made a simple declaration to my agent and whoever wanted to hear, that I would sooner burn the script, that I would sooner bury the script, that I would sooner put the script out to sea and blow it up than to have anyone else play Rocky. "If the price went up to half a million, if the price went up to a million, 'I said, 'No sale. ", Finally, the producers swung over to my side and used their influence to convince United Artists to take me on. The script went to Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, Mike Medavoy, and all the upper echelon of the United Artists organization and finally it came down, the word from above, that it was a "go" for one million dollars. Not a penny more, not a penny less. One million dollars!"

Rocky then won the Academy Best Picture award in 1976.

Ok so how does this help you on your own personal development journey you may well be asking? It's not as far-fetched as it may seem at first. Regardless of whether you like Rocky or not, there are some valued lessons from Rocky and old Sly about being the Director of your own Movie of Life.

1. Know that you are the Director of your own Life Movie. When Stallone wrote Rocky, he wrote the role for himself. It was his story and it was his role. There was no way he was going to leave it for anyone else, even if the script was buried for lack of buyers. His commitment went beyond temptation to sell out - he had an unshakeable faith that this was the right thing to do for himself and for his life. The universe rewarded his clear and true intentions with massive rewards. For Stallone, it was never about the money - it was about the expression of his life's passion.

Imagine for one moment you can create your own world, just as Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky. This is the truth that Stallone knew and you need to embrace too: you are the DIRECTOR of your life. You ARE creating it every moment. You are the scriptwriter, director, producer and actor in the Movie of your Life. Many people however, are unconscious directors, believing that life just happens; they believe that they are bit actors in someone else's (God's? the government's? their parents'?) movie, with little say on direction, content, and genre of the movie's production.

To understand that you are the Director of your own Life Movie, you need to feel this conviction in your bones like Stallone - you have to know at a cellular level that you are in charge of the scripting, directing, production, and execution of your own Life Movie.

It's time now for you to claim your role as the Director of Your Life Movie and get on with living the coolest version of your life.

2. Pick the genre for your Life Movie. Let your passion be your guiding force. Stallone explains how he discovered the passion that fuelled his success. He searched his feelings. He asked himself, "What did I really enjoy seeing up on the screen? I enjoyed heroism. I enjoyed great love. I enjoyed stories of dignity, of courage, of man's ability to rise above his station and take life by the throat and not let go until he succeeded." This was Rocky's story, and it was Stallone's too.

What do YOU wish to experience? What do you enjoy? What are your favourite movies and why?

How would you describe your life now? A tragedy? A comedy? An adventure? How would you like it to be from now on?

Knowing the overall theme and genre will guide you in the creative process.

3. Feelings make the blockbuster. One of my employers once said, "if you can make them laugh and cry in one movie, you've got a winner." Movies that are successful are the ones that make you feel something deeply and strongly - whether that is joy, terror, exhilaration, inspiration, sadness or any combination of the above. A movie that plays your feelings like a fiddle is one that captures the hearts and imagination of its viewers.

Your life is like that too - it is the feelings that make for a good time or not. You choose experiences (consciously or not) that allow you to feel the whole gamut of human emotions. This is what we are here on the planet to do - to enjoy the ride of human feelings.

Sylvester Stallone was very clear on what he wanted his viewers to experience when he wrote Rocky: he wanted people to feel inspired by the little guy who triumphs despite the odds. Some of the other emotions he wanted people to experience were:

* Pathos - compassion for the poor downtrodden hero

* Suspense - will he fight? Who will he fight? How will he fight? Will he win?

* Inspiration -very funky music and cool training sessions showing the most inhuman training regimen - you try doing a one armed push up!

* Fear - will he get his face pushed backward through a chair? Will he get brain damage?

* Exhilaration - Rocky triumphs despite the odds, showing astonishing spirit and resilience

* Joy- Rocky wins and shares it all with the woman he loves.

What feelings do you want to experience in your Life Movie. Joy? Exhilaration? Freedom? Creativity? Passion? Curiosity? Insight? Inspiration? Fear? Horror? Pain? What have you experienced so far? Do you want more of the same or something different?

4. Write the script. Knowing what he wanted to experience at the movies and the types of feelings he wanted viewers to feel, Stallone wrote the script to produce these results.

Write your Life Movie script. Pick a date in the future, maybe 5 years, or 10 years or 20 - whatever feels like fun to you, and write a text of what has happened in your Life Movie. Most important to include are the feelings you experienced throughout. Joy, challenge, exhilaration - write it all in vivid detail. Tell the story, put in plenty of detail in vibrant colours, textures, characters, tastes, smells - the more descriptive you can make the script, the easier it will be for it to translate in to reality.

Review the script once you have written it. How does it feel when you read it? Do you experience all the range of emotions you want? Does it feel exciting? Does it sound like a life worth living? If you have a resounding 'yes' as answer to each of those questions, then you are on a winner.

5. Get the music right. Nothing brings to life a script more than the music. There was no coincidence that 'Eye of the Tiger' featured heavily in one of the Rocky movies. This was strong, heart-pounding music that makes you want to jump up and run up a big flight of stairs and do crazy upside down sit-ups. Check any Rocky fan's I pod, and they've got Eye of the Tiger on there for their gym workout.

Pick music that evokes the feelings of your Life Movie. Play it often - in the car, at home, at the gym. This will keep you plugged in to the creation and production of your Life Movie.

6. Recruit a production team. Very few movies are ever made just by one person. You need a whole team. You need people on your team that are in line with your vision, theme, and passion. If they are not a match, dump them from your crew.

Check to see if you have the right crew:

Friends that support your goals or are on similar paths

Family that is as excited as you are about the possibilities of your Life Movie

A mentor to serve as a model - one that has done a similar movie and achieved the results you want

A coach to guide you through the hurdles and setbacks and to point out how to improve (do I have to throw in the obvious Rocky coach, "Mickey" as the allusion here?!)

Specialists in any technical area to bring out your best - business coach, accountant, financial planner, nutritionist, massage therapist, personal trainer, image designer, travel agent.

The crew is an incredibly important component to the successful production and delivery of your Life Movie. Make sure you get the right people on board.

7. Enjoy it. Creating your Life Movie should be a joyful process. It is not just about getting to the end to press 'play'. The real joy is in the creative process, the delight and surprises and miracles that occur along the way as you commit to creating the masterpiece that is your life.

Copyright 2007 Zoe Routh, Inner Compass