Script Out Your Success Story
Congratulations, you’ve just been hired to write the script for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. What’s this movie going to be about? Your future of course!
Writing a script is much like outlining a story. With both, you want to start with that big moment, the big dream, the moment in the climax that will be featured on the movie poster and in the trailer—and then work backwards.
So, what is going to be the climax of this story? What is going to be your athletic achievement that would be a dream come true for you?
Is your team going to win the state championship? Are you going to make all-conference? Are you going to personally achieve the school record? Will you receive a full scholarship to play your sport at your #1 college choice? This is your story so you pick the best ending for you.
Once you have decided what that is going to be, close your eyes and visualize that scenario playing out as vivid and detailed in your mind as possible. What is happening at the climax of this story? What are you doing? Where is this taking place? Who are the characters in your story? What emotions are you expressing?
Once you have a clear picture in your head, open your eyes, pull out a sheet of paper and write out what you saw in your mind. Pay close attention to those details and describe that success as if it were occurring right at this moment.
With that all scripted out, you now have the conclusion of your movie complete. But you can’t stop there. That is only the last few minutes of the film and your contract states you’ve got to produce a two-hour movie!
So now is the time to lay out what will be happening in the story that will get you from where you are right now to that movie climax - the journey to your success.
On that same sheet of paper, brainstorm all the things that would have to be done in order to make the ending you just visualized possible. Again, take the time to think through these details carefully. How much practice will you need to complete each week? Will you need additional coaching? Who will be by your side during this journey? What failures, obstacles and hardships will you encounter along the way? How will you overcome those?
You may be thinking, why should I think about the failures, but these are certain to occur for any goal that is worth achieving. And all great movies have obstacles that stand in the way of the end goal. Although it may be difficult to think about these tough times, you shouldn’t get too frustrated with it. In striving for goals, there’s gonna be some friction, gotta be some roadblocks—if there wasn’t, you would have one boring movie!
Spending time thinking about these obstacles also helps prevent you from giving up when you encounter that first setback. You knew something like it was coming so you were ready for it. Overcoming these obstacles is also where you learn, change and grow – helping you not only achieve this goal but all the ones you set in the future.
Now that you have the events and obstacles all listed out, put them in chronological order. What will need to happen first, second and so on. With this altogether you’ve got a great outline for your movie script. More importantly though, you’ve got a list of the steps you need to take to achieve your goal. You’ve also got an idea of what you will do when the inevitable obstacles appear.
Now it is time to get back to reality. No one is actually asking you to write that script but this document can be much, much more valuable. It is your to-do list for your dreams.
So, take that script outline and begin to implement it in your own life. Start with whatever you wrote is the first thing that needs to be done and begin that today!
Through this simple exercise of scripting out your success story, you can make something even better than a movie, you can make it your real-life experience! Follow each and every one of these steps and achieve that ending for real. And then, someday maybe, your real-life story might just be a Hollywood blockbuster!
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