Authors -Ajayya Kumar, Mohamad Abou-Zaki & Ghassan Khoury
The biggest lesson to take away from the inspirational movieThe Pursuit of Happynesscan be summarised in one word: Grit!
Having a dream is not enough, you need the courage and resolve to pursue it.Chris Gardner was a homeless single father living in shelters and lining up for food, he was a mediocre salesman who had invested all his savings in a failing business, he was broke, and he was alone. The one thing he had was grit and determination.
The pursuit of Happynessis the story of the personal struggle of that manwho evolved from a homeless father to a successful businessman who founded his own brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co.
A timeless classic released in 2006, the movie is a must-watch for every entrepreneur out there with a dream. Because it's not just entrepreneurship and leadership lessons, but 117 minutes of inspiration perfectly packed for you.
Five Entrepreneurship Lessons from Pursuit of Happyness
1.Protect your dream, chase success relentlessly
During one of the movie’s most touching scenes, Gardner is seen telling his son.
“Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something.You got a dream, you got to protect it.People can’t do something themselves; they want to tell you, you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.”
One could say that the entire story of the movie is weaved around these few lines. Despite facing setback after setback,Gardner persists and never gives up. At the lowest point of his life, his wife abandons him and his young son. Unable to pay rent he is first kicked out of his house, then out of a motel and is forced to live in shelters. He gets arrested for not being able to pay a parking fine on the eve of his interview at Dean Witter, a job that he sees as the door to a better future.
But Gardner doesn’t yield.
Every time one of the products he sells is stolen, he is determined to retrieve it. He relentlessly follows an executive at Dean Witter and manages to impress him enough to get his name recommended for an interview.
Even when, on his first day on the job, hegets hit by a car and loses his shoe in the street, he still proceeds to get to work on time.
That’s the kind of spirit every entrepreneur needs: agility, passion, enthusiasm and calm focus on your dream even as you face manyobstacles. If you aren’t passionate, you are compromising yourself every day(although you could avoid getting hit by a car.)
2.Recognise your opportunities (even if sometimes that means taking a step back)
Gardner’s little son once tells him a story. It goes like this.
One day, a man was drowning in the water. And a boat came by and said, "Do you need any help?" He said, "No, thank you. God will save me. "Then another boat came by. Said, "Do you need any help?" And he said, "No, thank you. God will save me." Then he drowned, and he went to heaven. And he said, "God, why didn't you save me?" And God said, "l sent you two big boats, you dummy."
One of the biggest traits of an entrepreneur is the ability to recognise an opportunity when it appears before him or her. But recognising an opportunity and grabbing it at the right time is easier said than done. In Gardner’s case, the opportunity came in the form of an internship at Dean Witter. Being an unpaid position, it was an extremely risky choice to make, particularly that he is struggling financially and had a family to fend for. In one scene, his wife is seen scoffing at him. “Salesman to intern is backwards,” she says. But Gardner knew that he needed to take a step back to make a leap forward.He was willing to constantly learn and adapt because you’re never too told to do something new.
3.Give things a positive spin
Imagine showing up for an interview board without having taken a shower, no shirt on, only a jacket, and paint spilt all over you? Would you show up? Due to an unfortunate turn of events that was exactly how Gardner appeared before the Dean Witter interview board. The conversation that followed went on like this.
Interviewer:Chris, what would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a shirt on and I hired him? What would you say?
Gardner (after a pause): He must've had on some really nice pants.
The board was thoroughly impressed with that answer, and he ended up being one among the 20 interns hired.
Apart from the resolve that was in display, this episode offers a big lesson: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Even if you are going through the worst crisis, try to see the brighter side. See how you can give things a positive spin and show that side of yours to people.
4.Work hard, work smart
Gardner was a man who made many mistakes. He invested his entire life savings into a product that was most often rejected by his clients, he worked hard extremely long hours day after day, but that alone wasn’t enough.
So what do you do when hard work doesn’t pay off? Work smart. For that, you have to make use of your core skills.Gardner was a smart man who had a real gift for numbers.
And it is only after he started putting his core skills to use and did something else than trying to coax people into buying his product, that results started showing.
It was his act of solving a Rubik’s cube for one of the Dean Witter executives that finally led to him getting an interview call. During his internship, unlike others, he had to fetch his son from day-care and run to make it on time to get a place at the shelter for the homeless. This meant he had to finish his work faster and leave early. To save time, he did not hang up between phone calls to potential clients, saving eight seconds every time, he wouldn’t even drink water all day so that it would save him from going to the restroom.
5.Pursue happiness
At the end of the day, what’s most important is to pursue things that make you happy.
In Gardner’s case, his happiness was to offer a better life to his son. Henever stopped visualizing his successes, and his persistence and smart work paid off in the end.
At every turn of your journey, it’s important to assess if you are making decisions that make you happy. A happy state of mind is the base for achieving success and glory. So make your happiness your priority and spread the joy.
