The Real Pursuit

I was on a 4 hour flight back from Atlanta last night and decided to throw on The Pursuit of Happyness movie.

A movie I’ve seen more times than I can count and arguably my favorite movie of all time…and still it. wrecked. me.

Tears. Lump in my throat. All of it… I know, I know real man stuff! (muscle emoji needed here)

Now, I’ll communicate this, it caught me a little off guard because when you’ve seen a movie as many times as I’ve seen it, you begin to believe you’re immune to it.

Not so much.

Especially when life has given you more context.

A wife who just gave birth, 2 kids depending on you, the pressure and responsibility of being away every weekend for events and building a business/brand while that quiet internal voice sits there and vacillates between, “Am I doing enough? Am I being my best?”

The Pursuit of Happyness hits me different when you’re watching a mirror reflection of yourself in the pursuit as well and questioning A LOT…I wasn’t watching it for entertainment. I was watching it for reminders, for inspiration, for something to keep giving me a better edge to be better, do better, have better.

Here’s what stood out to me this time.

Chris Gardner was a smart sun’ a bitch that’s for sure, he nailed that rubiks cube under pressure in a cab ride with what would become his future boss … a masterclass of an audition for what intangibles he brought to the table.

His eventual success wasn’t from connections though he made them in the movie, showing up at a potential clients house after missing a meeting, because his intern instructor threw him a curveball to move his car on the way over to meet the pension fund CEO.

His success didn’t stem from everything going his way.

His success was from following up and following through when it sucked, truly, visibly, utterly sucked. Sleeping in train station bathrooms with his kid, running across town to make an interview from jail dressed as a garbage man with paint on his person, broken machines to sell to his doctors that he had to fix in the middle of the night after putting his son to bed in the middle of the night at a homeless shelter.

When he had no money and the IRS levied his account. While he was deathly exhausted. When he was in an unpaid internship. When he was pursuing happiness, a better life.

He still showed up, still made the call, still asked the question, still ran after the opportunity. Over and over and over again and over and over again.

This is follow-up and follow through.

What’s the big thing others miss with this?

Chris followed up on others to sign new accounts, sure. But big thing is he followed through with himself.

He made the internal promise and kept it. His wife left him and his son because she stopped believing and couldn’t handle the pressure…but he honored the commitment.
He didn’t quit on the days it would’ve been easy to and never gave up.

I’m obsessed with what most people think follow-up is - only emails, texts, calls.

It’s not.

Follow-up is the decision to keep going when you’re beat to a pulp. Follow-through is the discipline to finish when no rewards have come your way, YET.

That’s the real pursuit, not happiness...self respect.

A respect that’s a derivative from knowing you didn’t fold your hand when life applied all of the pressures.

Watching that movie reminded me of something even I forget, but practice to remind myself often.

I don’t need better timing. I don’t need better tools. I don’t need more motivation. I need need to stay in the damn game, the old song “put me in coach…I am readyyy to plaayyy tooday, centerfield”…How about KEEP ME IN COACH! You aint pulling me outta this game when it’s on the line!

Follow up one more time, follow through one more day. Can you do it one-more-day?

Get knocked down, get back up. Keep showing up until your moment finally breaks open.

This ain’t Hollywood.

This is follow-up, follow-through, the work.

See you next week, Follow Up Fam.

Manny “That Follow Up Guy” Vargas