I'm not a big fan of the movie Rudy. Every time I bring this up people jump down my throat for insulting one of the greatest underdog stories ever told. A story that promotes hard work and determination against insurmountable odds.
For those that don't know, Rudy is a movie about a guy that dreamed of playing football for Notre Dame. Rudy doesn't have the money to pay for the school, suffers from undiagnosed dyslexia, and is of small physical stature. He gets a job at the school, discovers and overcomes his dyslexia, gets into the school and eventually is allowed to play on the practice squad with the football team. He works his butt off, but still never plays in a single game. At the end of the movie, in a heartfelt show of solidarity with Rudy, the entire football team forces the coach to let him play in the last game of his career because Rudy's parents are coming to watch.
It's supposed to be a story about how with enough hard work and determination you can do anything. Except what you end up with is a story about a guy that doubled down on his weaknesses, toiled for years at a sport he would never have the physical stature for, and was given a pity spot in the last game. The silver lining is that in the process he managed to overcome his dyslexia and get degree from a great school. But all of that is overshadowed by his maniacal pursuit of becoming a Notre Dame football player.
This is the problem with following your dreams. Sometimes our dreams run contrary to our natural abilities. Sometimes our dreams come from places that aren't even ours. Rudy's father was a die-hard Notre Dame fan. Would Rudy have dreamed of becoming a football player had his father been a fan of Jazz? Or would he have spent his life trying to play trumpet like Louis Armstrong and succeeded! We'll never know because the tragedy of Rudy is that he never pursued something he had a chance of being exceptional at.
True mastery of a craft comes at the intersection of our abilities, our passions, and our desires. We will experience many of these things in isolation throughout our lives. We will be great at things we don't love. We will love things we aren't good at. We will desire things we don't have the passion to complete. It's why the advice, double down on your strengths, is so important. By doing this we have the best chance of finding and capitalizing on this intersection.
Rudy is an example of how limiting beliefs can take many forms in our lives. Sometimes they cause us to pursue a passion that we have not a hope and a prayer of ever being good at. These often aren't our dreams at all. Sometimes they come from trying to please our families and loved ones. Sometimes they are what we wish were true if we were someone else. They obscure from view what we could be great at and block us from developing into our greatest selves. Rudy was robbed of this self-discovery and was carried off the field never knowing what his potential would have been had he not embarked on this hapless quest to be a Notre Dame football star.
For those that don't know, Rudy is a movie about a guy that dreamed of playing football for Notre Dame. Rudy doesn't have the money to pay for the school, suffers from undiagnosed dyslexia, and is of small physical stature. He gets a job at the school, discovers and overcomes his dyslexia, gets into the school and eventually is allowed to play on the practice squad with the football team. He works his butt off, but still never plays in a single game. At the end of the movie, in a heartfelt show of solidarity with Rudy, the entire football team forces the coach to let him play in the last game of his career because Rudy's parents are coming to watch.
It's supposed to be a story about how with enough hard work and determination you can do anything. Except what you end up with is a story about a guy that doubled down on his weaknesses, toiled for years at a sport he would never have the physical stature for, and was given a pity spot in the last game. The silver lining is that in the process he managed to overcome his dyslexia and get degree from a great school. But all of that is overshadowed by his maniacal pursuit of becoming a Notre Dame football player.
This is the problem with following your dreams. Sometimes our dreams run contrary to our natural abilities. Sometimes our dreams come from places that aren't even ours. Rudy's father was a die-hard Notre Dame fan. Would Rudy have dreamed of becoming a football player had his father been a fan of Jazz? Or would he have spent his life trying to play trumpet like Louis Armstrong and succeeded! We'll never know because the tragedy of Rudy is that he never pursued something he had a chance of being exceptional at.
True mastery of a craft comes at the intersection of our abilities, our passions, and our desires. We will experience many of these things in isolation throughout our lives. We will be great at things we don't love. We will love things we aren't good at. We will desire things we don't have the passion to complete. It's why the advice, double down on your strengths, is so important. By doing this we have the best chance of finding and capitalizing on this intersection.
Rudy is an example of how limiting beliefs can take many forms in our lives. Sometimes they cause us to pursue a passion that we have not a hope and a prayer of ever being good at. These often aren't our dreams at all. Sometimes they come from trying to please our families and loved ones. Sometimes they are what we wish were true if we were someone else. They obscure from view what we could be great at and block us from developing into our greatest selves. Rudy was robbed of this self-discovery and was carried off the field never knowing what his potential would have been had he not embarked on this hapless quest to be a Notre Dame football star.
Michael Rispoli
Software Engineer & Creative Technologist
Software Engineer & Creative Technologist