If you never have seen the movie “GATTICA” with Ethan Hawke and Jude Law, it’s a good one to watch. In the movie, children are conceived with genetic aid selection. Ethan Hawke’s character is born through natural birth without the genetic aid – different than his brother. His younger brother surpasses “Vincent” (Ethan Hawke’s character) in many aspects, including a game they call chicken – where both swim out to sea, and the first to give up and swim back to shore is the loser. Anton always wins due to his superior physical stamina. Vincent dreams of a career in space, but is constantly reminded of his genetic inferiority. Vincent challenges Anton with a game of chicken when they are both older. This time, Vincent swims farther out than his brother, while Anton runs into trouble and begins to drown. Vincent saves him, then leaves home shortly thereafter.
Toward the end of the movie, when Anton and Vincent meet again – they challenge each other to a game of chicken so Vincent can prove that he is worthy for a space mission he has been selected for and not have his brother, who is now a detective, turn him in for fraud – acting as a genetic selected individual. As they swim out to see, once again Vincent saves his brother – who in amazement asks how he has done the remarkable. Vincent simply states to his brother, “I never saved anything for the swim back!” In everything he did, Vincent gave everything he had.
How often do we hold things back? How often do we wait to see what others are doing before we jump in with both feet? Do you lead the pack or wait to see the direction everyone is heading and then work your way to the front of the line?
It takes a lot of strength and courage to “never save anything for the swim back”! I spoke to a Navy Seal who said one of the hardest things about going through the program was that many times you were given a task to do - but didn’t know the parameters. “Get your gear on, we’re going for a run”. If you were given these orders or instructions, what would be some questions you would ask? “How far are we running”. “How fast are we running each mile.” The list and questions could be long. What if you didn’t know the time, the distance, the path you would run? What if your life depended on your effort? Could you give it all you have on each step? Could you keep giving it everything you had after the 1000th step, the 10,000th step? That is the challenge.
Success is like that. We push, pull, struggle, battle and “give it our all” – and many times give up when the going gets tough. After all, we have gone through a lot! My question is, what if you would have gone another step, worked another day, put in 1% more of effort would the outcome be different?
Tomorrow, when you get out of bed, have our mindset be to “hold nothing back for the swim back!”. See if having that approach for the day makes an impact on how your day goes and the opportunities that come your way. Live your life like there is no tomorrow!
To your success!
Coach Rozy
Toward the end of the movie, when Anton and Vincent meet again – they challenge each other to a game of chicken so Vincent can prove that he is worthy for a space mission he has been selected for and not have his brother, who is now a detective, turn him in for fraud – acting as a genetic selected individual. As they swim out to see, once again Vincent saves his brother – who in amazement asks how he has done the remarkable. Vincent simply states to his brother, “I never saved anything for the swim back!” In everything he did, Vincent gave everything he had.
How often do we hold things back? How often do we wait to see what others are doing before we jump in with both feet? Do you lead the pack or wait to see the direction everyone is heading and then work your way to the front of the line?
It takes a lot of strength and courage to “never save anything for the swim back”! I spoke to a Navy Seal who said one of the hardest things about going through the program was that many times you were given a task to do - but didn’t know the parameters. “Get your gear on, we’re going for a run”. If you were given these orders or instructions, what would be some questions you would ask? “How far are we running”. “How fast are we running each mile.” The list and questions could be long. What if you didn’t know the time, the distance, the path you would run? What if your life depended on your effort? Could you give it all you have on each step? Could you keep giving it everything you had after the 1000th step, the 10,000th step? That is the challenge.
Success is like that. We push, pull, struggle, battle and “give it our all” – and many times give up when the going gets tough. After all, we have gone through a lot! My question is, what if you would have gone another step, worked another day, put in 1% more of effort would the outcome be different?
Tomorrow, when you get out of bed, have our mindset be to “hold nothing back for the swim back!”. See if having that approach for the day makes an impact on how your day goes and the opportunities that come your way. Live your life like there is no tomorrow!
To your success!
Coach Rozy
