May the Schwartz be with You (in 2016)

Who would have the gall to go up against George Lucas and ask permission to create a parody of his Star Wars legacy? The equally legendary Mel Brooks, director of the now cult classic Spaceballs movie.

The two couldn’t be more opposite when it came to movies and storytelling. Where Lucas is refined, Brooks is well … less than refined. Many other movie directors wouldn’t even consider the offer, but with Lucas, his only request was that Brooks not create any Spaceballs action figures to compete with the Star Wars actions figures.

Brooks even had Lucas’ company perform the post-production duties on the film so that it would look and sound the same as the original. In the end, Lucas wrote a note to Brooks saying that he “was afraid [he] would bust something from laughing.” To quote the film, you could say that “the Schwartz” was with Brooks. But what started Brooks down this journey was a simple task that most of us are afraid to do. He simply asked permission.

Sometimes when we are stuck or in a place ready for a renewal, like the start of a new year, we find ourselves writing down resolutions that look and feel more like wishes. We write things down like, “I want to lose weight” or “I want to find the time to write that book” or “I want to find the perfect job.” We might make a few valiant attempts at making the change only to become our own worst enemy, or Dark Helmet if you will. In order to feel the power of “The Schwartz” and succeed, you need a real plan to take action. Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Make a Specific Plan

This will probably take more time than you would think. Let’s say that you want to lose some weight for the new year. Great. Now, how are you going to do that? The easy answer is to say something like “I will watch what I eat and get more exercise,” but the more difficult answer is followed by a lot more questions like:

• What does it mean to “watch what you eat?”
• How will you change your eating habits?
• Will this require a new diet/meal plan?

Will you join a group like Weight Watchers or do it on your own?

• If you do it on your own, which cookbook should you buy?

And on it goes...

Now, let take the exercise portion of the initial answer:

• How do you plan to exercise? At home or at the gym?
• If you join a gym, which one will be the best for you?
• After you find a gym, when will you go?
• If you actually make it to the gym, what exercises will you do?

If you can dedicate yourself to continually answer these types of questions, you will reach your goal. The problem is that this turns out to be a lot more work than we bargained for. However, when looking to another successful person, know that they will never tell you that how they found success was an easy ride.

2. Ask For What You Want

Mel Brooks wanted to do a parody of Star Wars. He could have done it on his own taking the risk that he could be sued for doing so or he could take the high road ask George Lucas personally, knowing that he could be turned down. As we know, he chose the latter and had fairly good success with the silly comedy, but it wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t ask Lucas the initial question.

Sometimes the person we need to ask “the big question” to is ourselves. Let’s say that you always wanted to be a writer. You have had a book swirling inside your head for years just waiting to come out. However, to actually sit down and write that book, would take a lot of time and probably some frustration. But if it is really something that you want to do, why not do it? Why not ask yourself if you are willing to give up a set amount of time each week to actually work on the book? 

3. Stay Motivated

In order to reach any goal, find a way to stay motivated and figure out what it will take to sustain that motivation. You could ask a significant other to encourage you with your dream plans. Setup milestones along the way in which you can receive some kind of reward.

Take the writing example, you could agree that when you finally get fifty pages written, then you can celebrate a night out at a favorite restaurant. However, if you do that, you have to understand that you can’t go to the restaurant any other time before those fifty pages are written because you have to earn that meal. If you will go there anyway the next week, then it becomes a terrible goal and an even worse motivational tool.

Maybe it’s not a meal. Maybe a spa day or a hike up a mountain to find inspiration. It doesn’t matter what it is, it just needs to be what motivates you and only you can answer that.

4. Give Yourself an Out

This might sound like the wrong idea, but bear with me. Whatever your goal is, allow yourself the freedom to change your mind or even quit if things don’t work out like you want them to. Yes, quitters never prosper, but sometimes we need to face reality too. Sometimes what we really want isn’t a realistic situation for us, but often we will never know that if we don’t give it a try.

Let’s say that you are looking for work, but what you really want is to work on your own and be your own boss. If this is something that you really want to do, feel like you could be really good at and don’t really have anything stopping you (other than a regular paycheck) than see if you can come up with a plan to reach a milestone.

Perhaps you have enough finances to survive on without a regular paycheck for six months. Maybe you can find a way to reach a milestone within three months as a test to prove that you could make it as a freelancer. Then, after the three months come and you are far from your goal, than allow yourself to admit that that road isn’t the right one for you to travel after all and go back searching for a more traditional job.

Bummer right? It’s never fun to admit defeat, but if you agree to give yourself an out early on, you can rest knowing that you are still in charge of your life – at least the parts of it that you can control. You’re not a failure, you just found out what is not right for you and now you can move on and try again in another direction.

If you take in these suggestions, you can consider this journey as your own personal “Awakening.”

Thanks & May the Schwartz be with You!