The formidable foe in Rocky IV courtesy https://www.pinterest.com/bjornbrouwer/martial-artistactordirector-dolph-lundgren/.
I remember my brother, Bill, used to love the Rocky movies when he was growing up. In Rocky IV, Rocky's good friend Apollo Creed meets up with a formidable opponent from Russia named Drago. Drago is so muscular, so huge, he doesn't even seem real. Despite the odds, Apollo Creed rises to the challenge. He faces Drago in Las Vegas where the Russian is determined to show his Soviet superiority. Apollo's blows land but don't seem to have any effect on Drago. Then the Russian attacks the American with such ferocity he knocks him out and kills him.
Determined to avenge his friend's death, Rocky challengers Drago to a match. But how could anyone defeat the steroid-enhanced Soviet in the ring? Rocky rises to the challenge. He doesn't focus on the end result, on the fact that the odds are stacked overwhelming against him. Instead, he focuses on the process. He falls in love the process.
This is the part of the movie that Bill loves. To prepare for the match, Drago exercises with his high tech equipment and pumps himself full of steroids. However, Rocky takes a completely different approach. He travels to Siberia where he trains under the most primitive conditions: lifts and throws heavy logs, chops down trees, pulls an overloaded sleigh in the snow and climbs an icy mountain. What most would consider mundane and boring, he thrives on. The process becomes Rocky's "raison d'etre".
Through his training, he doesn't just build strength, but resilience. During the match, its this resilience which helps him go the distance with Drago. Battered and bloodied, he manages to knock the Russian out and win the match.
What is your goal? Who or what do you have to face? Rather than focusing on the formidable opponent who looms over you, focus on the process Fall in love with it. It won't seem like work anymore. You will go the distance.
A jubiliant Rocky after defeating Drago courtesy http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/rocky-movie-rankings-creed-sylvester-stallone-rocky-iv-ivan-drago.
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