Movies are a great way to entertain ourselves, to escape from reality for a little while and join characters on an adventure of one kind or another. Yet movies are also a great way for us to learn lessons that the writers want us to know, whether it be some sort of underlying moral to the story or just some life lessons in general. Forrest Gump is a great movie that can teach us many morals and lessons that we can apply to our lives. One such lesson is about courage, and it’s a lesson that no only can be applied to our daily lives, but it can used in business as well.

So, what can Forrest Gump teach us about courage and being courageous, and how can it be used in business?

• “It happens.”

This line is from the scene when he’s running across America and meets a man looking for bumper sticker slogans. This quote is a great reminder about adversity: “it happens”. Adversity is a very common part of life and it will happen at one time or another. There’s no escaping it. Problems will arise, whether its trouble in your personal life or some issue in the office, like customer complaints or problems rolling out a new product. In our daily lives and in business, adversity will happen, and we need to be courageous enough to face it.

• “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Forrest says this many time during the movie, a reminder to us to accept our mistakes and shortcomings with a dash of humor. We can be faced with adversity either from outside factors or because of a mistake we made. Did you burn dinner or flub up a presentation at work? In both our daily lives and in business, we must be courageous enough to take full responsibility for our actions and mistakes. If we can do so, we can move on from them quickly.

• “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

This quote from Forrest is about choices, not just about your actions but also about the attitude you choose to take. When faced with adversity, you have choices about what you can do about it, but also in how you face up to them. In daily life and in business, we must choose to be courageous and face whatever problems we are presented with.

• “Do the best with what God gave you.”

As Mama Gump tells us, we each have special talents and interests and unique perspectives that God gave us. We all want to be perfect, but nobody is. Instead, we must be courageous enough both in life and in business to put our special, unique abilities to use the best we can and not worry about being perfect. Striving to be perfect will get you nowhere, but doing your best will get you far – as long as you’re courageous enough to try.

• “Never, ever take your eye off the ball.”

This was told to Forrest by a wounded soldier while he was recovering the Army hospital. It may have been meant to refer to ping pong, but it’s a great lesson for our daily lives and business. Keeping your eye on the ball keeps you focused on your goal. When a problem comes up, you need to be courageous enough to keep your eye on the ball while facing the problem, adjusting as you need to in order to deal with the problem and making new plans but never letting the problem get the better of you.

• You’ll never know unless you try

Forrest was born with a deformity that required him to wear leg braces and which caused him to be bullied a lot. A friend advised him to “run, Forrest, run!” to get away from the bullies. In doing so, he was able to break free from the braces and have a successful career as a college athlete. We must be courageous, in daily life and in business both, to try to do things. Step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Come up with innovative new ideas at work. You never know what will happen. It could be bad, but it could also be good.

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