1849 Rejections

Once there was a young American man who was so poor that he couldn’t even afford to buy a suit. However, he persisted in chasing his dream of becoming an actor, filmmaker, and celebrity. 

At the time, Hollywood had 500 movie companies. He created a route and planned in what order he’d visit each company to propose his manuscript to them. He then visited each company one by one. 

After the first round of visits, all 500 companies rejected him. Despite this, he did not get disheartened. He started all over again from the first company and did a second round. 

Again, he received 500 rejections. He then tried a third round, but the result was the same. He grit his teeth and went for a fourth round. 

This time, the 349th company agreed to review his manuscript in more detail. A few days later, the company called him to discuss the movie in further detail. It was in this discussion that the company decided to invest in this movie and give this young man the lead actor role. 

This movie is called Rocky, and the young man’s name is Sylvester Stallone.

Do you have the courage to meet 1849 rejections? Have you experienced 1849 rejections? If not, don’t ask why good luck hasn’t come yet. 

(Source: Harvard Family Education)

Commentary

Everyone would probably agree that persistence is key to success. However, persistence alone isn't enough. Stallone "failed" over a thousand times, but he eventually succeeded, and I think that's because he reflected on his past failures and improved as a result. In other words, persistence only leads to success if we learn from our past failures.

Another important question that comes to mind is, "Why was Stallone able to persist for so long? What was his motivation?"

There are many sources of motivation, and I often think of four mentioned by Jay Shetty in his book Think Like a Monk: fear, desire, duty, and love.

The story above mentioned that becoming an actor, filmmaker, and celebrity was Stallone's dream. In other words, he has a strong love and passion for acting and filmmaking. 

Other people might be motivated by the fear of not having enough money to pay the bills, or a strong desire to gain something, or a sense of duty. Although we might not share the same passion as Stallone, we should reflect on what we do and our level of motivation. The stronger our motivation, the more we are able to persist in the face of difficulties, which are inevitable on the path to success.

Concluding Thoughts

What are some important lessons you've learned from past failures? What motivates you to keep going after failures?

Weekly Wisdom #337