Precious is a tough movie to watch.  It is the story of a 350-pound illiterate teenage girl.  She is pregnant for the second time.  But as she says at one point in the film, “I never even had a boyfriend.”  Her father abused her sexually and is the father of her children.  She is verbally and physically abused by her mother.  Nobody likes Precious.  She is obese and has little or no self confidence.  But a couple of people give her hope.

When the school Principal learns that Precious is pregnant, she helps her get into a special school.  There, one of the teachers helps her learn, and a social worker helps her deal with her home situation.  With their help, she blossoms.  This is a hopeful movie.  It shows how a teacher and social worker help build Precious’ self esteem and give her the courage to live life on her own. 

Precious received a 15-minute standing ovation when it was shown at Cannes.   I wanted to clap when it was over too.

The Blind Side is another movie about hope.  It is the true life story of Michael Oher, a professional football player for the Baltimore Ravens.  He was a very large black teenager living on the streets when he was welcomed into the home of a white conservative suburban family.  Sandra Bullock plays the mother – and she is great in the role. 

Michael and the family both grow over the course of the film.  He eventually gets a football scholarship to the University of Mississippi where he becomes and All-American player and a first round draft choice in the NFL.  It too, is a hopeful story.  It shows how one person, or one family, can make all the difference in another person’s life.  Michael Oher had great athletic talent that would have been wasted were it not for someone showing him some compassion and giving him some hope.

As these two movies show us, hope is powerful.  In The Audacity of Hope, President Obama (written before he became president) says…

“The audacity of hope.  That was the best of the American spirit, I thought – having the audacity to believe despite all evidence to the contrary that we could restore a sense of community to a nation torn by conflict; the gall to believe that despite personal setbacks, the loss of a job or an illness in the family or a childhood mired in poverty, we had some control – and therefore responsibility – over our own fate.  It was that audacity, I thought, that joined us as one people.”

This Thanksgiving I choose hope.  I am thankful for many things, but I am most thankful for my powerful self confidence.  It gave me the hope to start a consulting business 21 years ago and the hope to expand my business via the internet.  I choose hope.  I choose to be audacious, moving to a new business model when many people my age are retiring.  I urge you to be audacious and choose hope.  Hope begins with being aware of and thankful for all you have.  It helps you move forward by building on those things for which you are thankful.

I also urge you to do whatever you can to give hope to others – your family, your friends, your co-workers, people at your place of worship, strangers.  Hopeful and kind words can make a difference in the lives of people around you. 

Self confidence is one of the keys to personal and professional success that is part of my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success. 

I’m a tennis fan.  That’s why I was very interested when I heard that Andre Agassi was writing an autobiography.  He was one of my favorite players.  I liked his style and flamboyance as a young man.  I watched him mature into one of the all time great players.  He won eight majors and has a career grand slam – meaning he won the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open at least once.  Only five other men have ever done that.  On the other hand, his wife, Steffi Graf, won all four grand slam tournaments in one year, 1988.  She won the Olympic gold Medal that year for good measure.  But that’s another story.

Andre’s book is disturbing.  Throughout most of his career, Andre Agassi says he hated tennis.  His father forced him to become a world class player.  In an interview he did with Katie Couric for 60 Minutes he talked about having ping pong paddles taped to his hands when he was a toddler.  He quit school at 14 to attend the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy.  He turned pro at 16.  He had early success on the court and off – lots of endorsements and a marriage to Brooke Shields.  However, he hated his life — and tennis.  He told Katie Couric that he “had to do it for the family.”

He partied hard – even doing crystal meth.  He fell to number 141 in the world rankings.  I saw him play in those down years.  I was at a meeting in Scottsdale and he was playing in a tournament near the hotel where I was staying.  I got some court side seats and was really excited to see him play up close.  He lost 6 – 2, 6 – 1.  In those days, he seemed to be entering tournaments just to get the appearance money.

However, in 1997 when he was ranked 141, he says he made a choice.  He chose tennis.  “The hate for tennis began to change when I took ownership and chose tennis, which didn’t happen until 1997, which didn’t happen till I fell to 141 in the world, which didn’t happen till that moment when I either had to walk away or choose it, and I didn’t walk away, I chose it.”

And that’s the point about clarity of purpose and direction.  You have to choose who you are going to be in life.  Let me say that again.  You have to choose who you are going to be in life.

Andre Agassi didn’t have a choice early on.  He was forced into a life and career as a professional tennis player by his overbearing father.  He hated the game for his first 29 years.  Finally, he realized that he could choose.  As he said, he chose tennis and became an elder statesman of the game.  He was inspiring to watch as he grew older.  In 2005 when he was 35 he got to the US Open final against roger Federer.  He played a great match, losing in four sets.  The crowd loved him and he loved the crowd — and tennis.

Now he has chosen to help others.  He has raised tons of money to help poor kids and runs a tuition free school for at risk youth in Las Vegas.  His story has a happy ending.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are clear on what they want in their lives and careers.  They use their clarity of purpose and direction as a touchstone to help them navigate the twists and turns life throws at them.  Once Andre Agassi “chose tennis” late in his career, he won six grand slam tournaments – to go with the two he won as a youngster. 

I choose to help others learn, grow and prosper in their lives and careers.  What have you chosen?  The answer to this question is the first step in clarifying your purpose and direction.

Clarity of purpose and direction is one of the keys to career and life success in my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in detail in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.