Living Life by Design

After struggling with acting in New York, Sylvester Stallone moved to California to try a shot at Hollywood. Things did not go much better there. He had to sell his dogs because he could not feed them. But then, one night, he went to see Muhammad Ali fight Chuck Wepner.

• “What I saw was pretty extraordinary. I saw a man called ‘The Bayonne Bleeder’ fight the greatest fighter who ever lived. And for one brief moment, this supposed stumblebum turned out to be magnificent. And he lasted and knocked the champ down. I thought if this isn’t a metaphor for life.”

From here, cue the legendary story of Stallone writing Rocky, a 90 page script, in three days! The part that often gets left out is only a third of it was used in the movie.

Had Stallone waited to perfect the script over months, perhaps Rocky might have never seen the light of day. We’ll never know. But the story and spirit of Rocky was good enough to get made because Stallone seized an intense 3-days of writing. Sometimes, editing and re-editing will be the best option, but often, waiting for perfect just serves as procrastination to not ship anything.

While perhaps you do not produce the outcomes like Stallone, how good would it feel if you finished something you’ve been putting off this week?

Over the weekend, be inspired and write down all the things you’ve been wanting to “get around to” but haven’t done. They might include: calling new referral sources, joining a networking group, scheduling visits to referral partners, creating an email drip campaign to previous clients, etc.

How often do we get sparks of inspiration, but then let it slip into the ether? Inspiration is perishable. You either use it or lose it.