Today is my favorite holiday of the year. Forget my birthday, July 4th, Halloween, or Thanksgiving; no, today is the best holiday of the year. Today is International Star Wars Day.
Those who know me well have discovered my passion for the galaxy far, far away. As a kid, the perpetual fight between good and evil served as a way for my dad and me to bond. Now, the movie represents something more, a deep and beating passion for creativity and storytelling. In that deep story, I’ve found myself reflecting on how I can be a better professional, a better colleague, and a better employee through the lessons of Star Wars.
The story of Star Wars can offer so much to those willing to listen, reach out, and experience it. As a professional, I’ve found myself time and time again pulled to its characters for inspiration and lessons for guidance. So to truly celebrate the impact this world has made in my life, I thought I would share some lessons I have found in the stars.
1. Fearlessness and courage come in all forms: While most casual Star Wars fans will look towards the stalwart Jedi or the brave rebellion fighters for acts of courage, I find myself constantly noticing the small acts and the more minor characters. Being a professional can often feel like a constant battle. The battle to grow, to be successful, to be noticed, and for some to survive. In moments of difficulty, a single act of courage can change everything.
In a world like Star Wars, where good and evil battle on a global scale, it is easy to forget the simple acts of courage, the dare I say, ordinary acts of courage. Sure, Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader to save his friends is pretty cool, but so is a little droid’s willingness to give a total stranger the chance to be a hero for the first time in his life. Everyone can be courageous, and even one small act of courage can send shockwaves through your world.
2. Attachment can be a strength and a weakness: As a kid, I always struggled with the Star Wars idea that love could lead to darkness. Why couldn’t a super powerful Jedi like Anakin Skywalker also be a solid and supportive partner? I wanted to be a Jedi, but it seemed like a lonely life. As Yoda teaches so many times, “Fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side.” Childhood, me couldn’t accept that.
However, like so many lessons, this one took me time to understand. On the professional side, we come into every opportunity, meeting, and new day with attachments. We are attached to our ideas, our methods, even our experience becomes an attachment. These attachments provide us strength, but they can also drag us down. These attachments can cause us to become defensive to coworkers who disagree with us, greedy towards our ideas, and fearful of our networks for stealing them. Before you know it, attachment leads to greed, greed leads to jealousy, jealousy to hate, and hate to the professional dark side.
Are you going to become a villain like Vader? No, but no one wants to work with the professional equivalent. Take time each day to clear your mind and prepare for what is ahead.
3. It Takes A Village or a Crew: Nothing makes a Star Wars fan light up like the image of our favorite heroes all together. From the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon to a stage at a convention, the image of our heroes is a reminder that good can overcome any darkness.
Every Star Wars story involves a crew. A collection of some of the most varied individuals from across the galaxy thrown together by circumstance (or the Force) and pushed towards greatness. Like a great Star Wars story, every company or organization is a collection of individuals from all over, brought together by circumstance. That is what makes it exciting!
As a professional, you learn quickly that not only do you need a crew with you, but that crew needs to come from all over the “professional galaxy.” I look at the most successful teams I have worked with (my current team comes to mind) and can’t help but smile. We are all so different, so unique, yet we come together to form a crew like none other. Oh, and yes, I see myself as the charming, witty, and scruffy one; this is my metaphor, so deal with it.
4. “Never tell me the odds…” Speaking of scruffy, I have to say that this line from everyone’s favorite smuggler still serves as a mantra for me. As a young professional, it becomes all too common for someone to “tell me the odds.”
People will always find a way to drag you down. Some will tell you that the odds of you being successful are slim to none. Others will be more concerned, hoping to save your company from the financial and business backlash of a poor decision. Here is the thing, they very well could be right.
Take me, for instance. I love to write; it is a passion and something that gets me excited no matter what mood I’m in. What are the chances that I will become a bestselling author or could pay my bills off of witty editorials written from a lounge chair in Florida? As C-3PO once said, “Artoo says that the chances of survival are 725 to 1.” However, that doesn’t stop me from writing!
As a professional, sometimes you need to take a leap of faith, you need to bet on the underdog; you need to try. Will you be successful? Who knows! What I have learned more than anything is that you are more successful than the people who doubt you by simply taking that chance. Han Solo never once stopped doing what he needed or wanted to do because the odds of success were against him. Don’t you want to be the Han Solo of your office?
5. “Do or do not, there is no try”: You thought I would ignore the second most well-known quote from a movie franchise that spans generations? As if. Here is a moment of truth, I always hated Yoda. Yep, there it is, I said it. Yoda, to me, was the equivalent of the kid in school who always messed up the curve and reminded the teacher about homework. Again, with age comes a whole new perspective.
Was Yoda the best character in the series? No, absolutely no (keep in mind I have met and spent time with the creator of Yoda and still feel this way). However, his wisdom, while frustrating, is simply unparalleled. There is no such thing as a participation trophy in the professional world.
When it comes to your professional life, you either do what you have to do or do not. That can be a hard pill to swallow, especially for those in my generation who grew up getting a pat on the back for trying their best. Now, please don’t misunderstand and think I am saying trying is wrong. Yoda wasn’t saying do not try, do not go out, and try to be the best you can be. Yoda wanted all of us to commit.
“Do or do not…” Everything you do needs to be done with conviction and confidence. Present your ideas with strength, submit work that you stand by with everything you have. Yoda was pushing each of us to be the best we can be. In that dark swamp, Luke was trying, but he didn’t honestly believe what he was doing and when things got complicated, he gave up. Instead of doing, he tried and failed.
Each of us tries our hardest to be the best at whatever we do every day. For some of us, though, we don’t understand why. Why do we need to be the best? Why do we need to present the best report, close the best deal, or run the best company? Because it makes us money or gives us praise? If those are your only reasons, then you are trying not doing. Do something every day you believe in, even if it isn’t where you want to be. Do it because it makes you better. Do something with passion or simply do not.
So to all my friends, family, and contacts, a very happy Star Wars day. May the Force be with each of you always!
Solomon Communication 