Just about everyone has seen every movie in the Rocky franchise countless times. The series is highly entertaining but perhaps more importantly they are indeed great films. Films with a coherent narrative that builds upon the foundations set forth in each of the previous installments.
Like the big left hand that you don’t see coming to that lands and shatters your moment, it’s full of lessons and wisdom. Sometimes the things that we don’t see coming force us to fight the most when they arrive and sometimes when we get what we want we find out that an entirely new set of problems and worries arise. Such is life.
Round 1: Answering the Bell
In the first installment of the Rocky series, we find our protagonist for lack of a better phrase “dealing with life”. He’s a young hustler collecting debts for a local loan shark and making extra money by fighting in seedy clubs. Not the most auspicious beginnings for someone to become a legend.
As we all were or still are a young man trying to find his place in the world, the champion, Apollo Creed’s opponent has to drop out due to injury and he selects Rocky solely because he fits the gimmick that Apollo is using to sell the fight without expecting much of a challenge from a journeyman club fighter.
Rocky now faces a choice, is he going to be “just happy to be there” and take his lumps and the biggest payday of his fighting career without putting in full effort or is he going to see this for what it is and that’s an opportunity for a better and higher quality of life with a good showing or even a win?
Rocky, of course, puts in full effort and the champ just coasts along not taking him seriously. In their championship fight which was supposed to be a cakewalk for the champ, Rocky goes the distance and ultimately loses a tough decision, but to get to that point Rocky had to first answer the bell.
Never give up and give your maximal and honest effort. You’re not always going to win, but you can always give yourself a chance to win with proper preparation and honest effort.
Round 2: Sometimes You Have to Take a Standing Eight Count
In the second installment, our hero fresh off the pinnacle of his career and likely life at that point finds that fame and riches are both fleeting. Rocky, being a young guy that has never seen that much money before in his life spends lavishly and generally makes poor financial decisions.
As his opportunities for sponsorships and endorsements drys up and he finds it difficult to find gainful employment, at that moment he realizes that he’s a boxer. That’s what he’s good at and that’s what he should be doing to provide for himself and his new family.
We all face setbacks and difficulties in life and sometimes it’s best to get knocked down, get back up, take that eight count, and then get back into the fight.
There are very few fighters throughout the course of history that were never knocked down, but the ones that are remembered fondly are the ones that got back up and let their opponent know that they were still there and it would take more than that to keep them down.
When things aren’t going your way you can either be defeated or you can get back up and give yourself a fighting chance. We can’t all win the proverbial world title but we can all give ourselves a chance to do just that.
Round 3: Sometimes Getting All That You Seek Is Trouble
After defeating Apollo for the world’s championship, Rocky is on top of the world. He’s making big money from his fights and endorsements and has learned from his previous mistakes in regard to financial responsibility.
Life is good and he’s achieved his life long dream of being the champ and a multimillionaire, so where is the downside?
Firstly due to his manager booking his fights against high ranked but not dominant fighters he’s lost the edge. He’s always had and is coasting through the fights.
Secondly, while he is easily defeating these challengers, he’s beginning to coast through his training while focusing more on out of the ring endeavors. Enter the hungry young challenger, Clubber Lang, who has that same hunger that Rocky once had and has since lost. Clubber trains with full effort while Rocky coasts through and Lang absolutely dominates him en route to defeating him for the title.
Apollo Creed having developed a genuine respect for Rocky and he takes on Rocky as a protege and trains him for a rematch with Clubber Lang. Rocky isn’t still coasting through the training when Apollo asks Rocky’s wife, Adrian, to try to talk some sense into him to get his mind right.
At this point, Rocky confesses that he’s scared to lose all that he’s worked for. There is an old saying that “there are but two tragedies in life: not getting what you want, and getting it.” Rocky experienced both and this is a good reminder to all of us that so few things in life are irreplaceable.
Money and success will come and go like the seasons, but we must find what is truly important to us and fight for it. Fight for it with every fiber in our being. If you coast through life you’ll get knocked out by every challenge that you face.
Round 4: Sometimes You’ve Got to Chop Wood
In Rocky 4, things start to take on a more fantastical tone and it isn’t as grounded as the previous three films. This doesn’t mean that isn’t gold to be mined from the story, however, Rocky having reclaimed the title in the third installment relinquishes the championship so that he can have an unsanctioned match against the Soviet champion Ivan Drago.
The match is set to take place in Moscow and Rocky and his team fly to Russia to begin training for the epic showdown. While Drago has access to the best training facilities and latest fitness innovations, Rocky is lodged in a small farmhouse in the countryside. Surrounded by waist-deep snow and under constant surveillance from the KGB, he’s forced to make use of the things that he has to work with.
So while Drago trains in a heated gym, Rocky trains outside in the bitter cold. Running in waist-deep snow, carrying heavy logs, and chopping wood. We’re not always going to have ideal circumstances in anything that we do in life but if we look at what we do have to work with and find the best way to use it we can still achieve our goals.
Others may have an easier path to success, but if that’s the case then just know that sometimes you’ve got to chop wood. There’s something to be said for hard work. There’s a value to it and comfort in it. To know that you’ve done everything within your power. That’s something that will take you far in life.
The lessons contained herein thus can be broken down into four parts:
1) Get started.
You can’t win the fight if you don’t answer the opening bell. Sometimes the first step is the most difficult, it it’s also often the most satisfying.
2) Take a step back.
Not everything will always go your way. Don’t be afraid to take a standing eight count, regroup, and get back in the fray with renewed focus.
3) Find what is important to you and don’t let anyone take it.
Pray not for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure this life. So many things in life are temporal and in retrospect unimportant. Find the things that are important and hold onto them like grim death.
4) There’s always another way to do something.
Too many get caught up in “one size fits all” concepts when it comes to problems. Rise above that and use what you have to get what you want.
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