Remember the story of how the first Rocky movie was written? Here's Sylvester Stallone who stumbles into a public library in New York to get warm. He's got no money, hocked his ex-wife's jewelry to make some extra cash, and comes across the works of Edgar Allen Poe and he's inspired to write. He moves out to California with his dog, and rents out a shell of a one-bedroom apartment--and he starts writing. He's in near destitution to the point of being unable to feed his dog, so he walks him to the liquor store and solicits the owner to buy him for $50--the offers $25 and Stallone takes it. One day, Stallone auditions for a role and gets turned down. He mentions that he's got a script and the producers tell him to bring it by--and they love it. The problem was, they didn't want Stallone to star in it--desiring instead Burt Reynolds or Robert Redford--and Stallone did. They eventually offered $350,000 for the script--barring that Stallone would not star in it--but he refused! Exasperated they gave a final offer of $35,000 and $1 Million to produce--Stallone took it. And the rest is history: Rocky went on to win 9 Oscar nominations and 3 wins, including best picture.
One of the things Stallone talks about is the theme that remains dear to him: that of unfulfilled dreams. He explains that if he hadn't have mentioned to the producers on his way out the door of the audition that he was doing some writing, he never would have had the career that made him so famous.
So how do you go about fulfilling your dreams?
1. You can't give up--ever! Your dream may change a little along the way, but if you give up your chances of seeing it happen are zero. There are countless stories of people who didn't give up on their dreams and saw them fulfilled.
2. Take care of your dream. This comes from a tweet from the writer Paulo Coelho (who, by the way, began writing at 40 years old--after spending much of his childhood in a mental institution, and much of his 30s in failed business ventures) who said, "Take care of your dreams, and your dreams will take care of you." How do you take care of your dream? By believing in it; by envisioning it every day; by working at it day after day.
3. Put in the work. This comes from the famous author Steven Pressfield who wrote the story "The Legend of Bagger Vance," which became a film starred in by Will Smith and Matt Daimon. Pressfield writes in his "The War of Art" that he had failure after failure after failure, but he kept persevering until he got his break. He put in the work everyday and it paid off. The only way to do it is to work at it.
4. Talk about it. You never know whom you'll meet or talk to. Stallone got his break by telling others about the script he'd written. He tells writers all the time to talk about their work because you never know what buttons you'll press and who might be able to open the doors. Don't bury it--let others know about it.
5. Be crazy enough to do it. Life is full of people who seem to have made all the right moves at the right times, and are living the conventional life well--they're comfortable, but are they living their dreams? Chances are, those who look the most comfortable and well-off are those who have a 'Coulda story'--you know, "I coulda' become a painter but went for the money." Or, "I loved to play guitar, but my dad wanted me to become an accountant--the guitar's somewhere in the garage." Those who go after their dreams need to be a bit nuts, need to go against the grain, need to step out into nothing and land on something. Be
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