Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Tip#23: Synchronicities From 'The Pursuit of Happyness'


There's this man drowning. A boat comes up to him and asks if he needs any help. The man says, "No, I'm waiting for God to save me. Another boat comes up to him and asks him if he needs help. The man says, "No thanks, I'm waiting for God to save me". Finally the man drowns and goes to Heaven. He asks God why he didn't save him. God says, "I sent you two boats, you dummy."
The Pursuit of Happyness

Little Christopher tells his father this tale in the biographical drama movie The Pursuit of Happynessand it's a wonderful metaphor for recognizing synchronistic events that occur in the film. You get to see how his father, Chris Gardner, follows his gut and passion and grabs every opportunity that comes his way to overcome the challenges of poverty. I wrote a little about this movie in my last blog entry and wanted to inspire you more with a few of it's synchronicities that eventually led to Gardner's real life success.

Synchronicity #1:
Gardner happened to be walking by a red Ferrari parking. He asked the well dressed driver what he did for a living to get that beautiful car and he said he was a stock broker. That event helped Gardner visualize what he wanted in a profession and it became a passion that fueled his drive.

Synchronicity #2:
Gardner accepted the opportunity to share a cab with a potential employer and made an impression on him with a hidden talent. The potential employer was not interested in Gardner's resume but more in solving a rubik's cube he was playing with in the cab. Gardner happened to have a talent at solving this puzzle and did it quickly to both their amazement. I loved that scene because it can remind you that people are just people even if they happen to be in high powered job positions.

Synchronicity #3:
Gardner took a chance during his sales call training and called a major company's CEO. Within seconds he had an appointment with him. Soon after, Gardner and his son get invited by the CEO to join him and his own son to watch a ballgame in his private box. Gardner ended up not getting his business but met the CEO's friends in the private box, made a genuine connection, exchanged cards and eventually got them as clients.

These chance encounters and opportunities happen all the time in real life. The key is to stay open to the possibilities in whatever form they arrive. Be alert to the signs that come more than once to you. Just go with the flow for what synchronistic events offer and stay open to the people and the messages that come your way. They are like magic arrows pointing you towards all your goals.

Emmanuel Lopez
www.motivatorman.com
© Emmanuel Lopez 2007

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Terrific post, Emmanual! I love this. What would we do without synchronicities?