Establish Your Own “Rocky” Baseline
By: Brian Kim - October 23, 2007
So often, we’re tempted to look for inspiration and motivation outside ourselves whether through other people’s stories, movies, songs, etc., but we rarely tend to look within ourselves for our own stories and I believe that our own stories are the most potent ones of all.
In that respect, I firmly believe that every person should establish their own baseline and what’s more, it will probably be something they need to draw upon in the future.
What I mean by a baseline is something you can always fall back on when things get tough, when you start to have doubts about your own abilities, when hope starts to fade, when things seem bleak etc. You need something to fall back on and that’s the baseline.
The baseline is basically something substantial that you’ve done to prove to yourself that you had what it took to get it done. Against all odds, you made it happen, and it’s an experience you can draw upon for comfort, strength, and hope in your darkest hours.
Now what do I mean by a “Rocky” baseline?
If you’ve seen the first Rocky movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
The main character in the movie, Rocky, is played by Sylvester Stallone and he had been granted a match with the reigning world heavyweight champion in boxing, Apollo Creed. Rocky becomes very excited at this once in a lifetime opportunity and he trains vigorously in preparation for the match, but the night before the fight, reality starts to settle in. After talking a walk at night and coming home to bed with his wife, this is what he and his wife talk about regarding the whole boxing situation with Apollo and it’s all verbatim from the movie itself.
“I can’t do it.” (Rocky)
“What?” (Adrian - Rocky’s wife)
“I can’t beat him.”
“Apollo?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been out there walking around, thinking, I mean who am I kidding, I ain’t even in the guy’s league.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You worked so hard.”
“Yeah, it don’t matter cuz I was nobody before.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Aw c’mon Adrian. It’s true. I was nobody. But that don’t matter either you know? Cuz 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. Cuz all I want to 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 standing, I’m going to know for the first time in my life you see, that I weren’t just another bum from the neighborhood.”
You look at that paragraph and you can see Rocky establishing his own baseline right there. If he can go the distance with Creed, meaning if he can hold his own and not get knocked out by Creed and fight all fifteen rounds of boxing with him, he’ll know that he was somebody. Somebody who had what it took. Somebody who wasn’t just another bum from the neighborhood.
With this kind of ultimatum he laid down for himself, you can see why it was so imperative for him to make sure he succeeded in carrying it out and of course he did.
Granted, this was all a movie, but if it was in real life, can you imagine the kind of baseline Rocky would’ve created for himself when he succeeded? Can you imagine the reservoir of confidence, determination, and perseverance that he could’ve tapped into with this baseline he create for himself? An average Joe going the distance with the world heavyweight champion in boxing, not to mention knocking him down in a round?
That’s a “Rocky” baseline right there.
Similarly, we all need to create our own “Rocky” baseline - a goal, a standard, an experience that we put everything into and cut off all the bridges of escape to make sure there are no retreats, to lay it all on the line and say if we do this, if we succeed, then we know we have what it takes, we know we can get anything done.
This is why you hear people who are successful in business say if you take everything away from them except the shirts off their back, they can get it all back in a matter of years because they know what to do now and more importantly, they know they have what it takes to do it. They have their own baseline they can fall upon and not only is that baseline full of confidence, determination, and perseverance, but experience and knowledge too.
We all need our own “Rocky” baseline to fall back on when things get tough.
If you already have one, great. Fall back on it when you need to.
If not, create one for yourself right now. Lay it all on the line and when you succeed, which is exactly what will happen if you’re serious about it, that will be prove to your own “Rocky” baseline and once that’s established, you’ll find you will never go below it.
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One Response to “Establish Your Own “Rocky” Baseline”
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October 24th, 2007 at
Self-motivation is the best concept which moves one’s life in a positive and forward pace. It helps to face the day-to-day challenges and refreshes our mind. It boosts us up with confidence…. This is a very good article… which has a very valuable point. Keep it up!