Have you ever felt like the mountain climber who’s standing at the bottom of the mountain? The climb ahead is intimidating.
While most of us will never scale the highest peaks in the world, we do know what it’s like to face a challenge that seems insurmountable. Perhaps for you it’s a New Year’s resolution.
In these cases, you may find the task becomes easier if you employ an well tested cinematic tradition: the movie montage. This is shown through a series of shots that quickly illustrate the challenges a hero faces in pursuit of a goal. This is especially the case in movies that feature a training montage.
An example of this, from a Rocky movie, can be found?here.
Every montage of this kind shares a few characteristics:
- The person is shown lacking something, like fitness.
- Next they are shown struggling to get in shape.
- Then you see them getting a little more confident in his or her abilities.
- Finally, the person is shown running at top speed, passing cars on the freeway.
When faced with a challenge, try a similar strategy. Imagine yourself feeling stumped (this part probably won’t be too hard). Then see yourself starting to make some progress. Finally, see yourself conquering your challenge.
Now try to fill in the blanks between each stage. What will you have to do to achieve each level? Suddenly you have a roadmap you can use to achieve something that might have seemed impossible.
By engaging your imagination, you get yourself out of a mindset of failure. You can see yourself eventually succeeding. You’re not saying that it will be easy but it is possible.
