What I Taught (And Something I Learned). Lessons From An 80s Movie:

I had the pleasure of presenting at a conference in Jekyll Island, GA, last week (I may or may not have finished prepping my talk while sipping a Mai Tai by the ocean…#solopreneurlife)

I took a risk: my entire talk depended on the audience knowing The Karate Kid (1984 version).

If you haven't seen the movie, quietly shut your laptop, go to the nearest television, and stream it now. It's wonderful.

In short: I discussed the scene where Daniel is furious that he's been doing chores for Mr. Miyagi (waxing cars, painting his fence, sanding his floors), not realizing that those “chores” were actually teaching him Karate in the process.

On a deeper level, Mr. Miyagi is also transforming Daniel into a person of character and strength.

In the same way, our businesses may seem like a collection of tasks to learn (marketing, productivity, sales, money, etc.), but what's really happening is that, like Daniel, we're learning an entirely different skill set: courage, confidence, self-compassion, service, and generosity, among others.

On a deeper level, we're being transformed into leaders living out a deeper purpose.

Let that sink in. And then I'll tell you something else I learned while preparing my talk:

While I was looking for movie clips to use, I stumbled across a documentary about the making of The Karate Kid.

Not only was Daniel's character transformed in the film's storyline: the people making the movie were transformed in the process of filming it.

• Ralph Macchio grew stronger/deeper like his character Daniel.

• Pat Morita (a comedian by profession) found his wise, calm, inner Mr. Miyagi.

• While playing a gang of best friends, the actors playing the Cobra Kai guys became…best friends.

• The previously-unknown screenwriter created a terrific screenplay by listening to his intuition and trusting the process. And so on.

Everyone involved in the movie said they felt changed by the experience of creating it.

The lesson?

Everything you do--even acting out the movements--is shifting you towards who you are meant to become.

Your business is growing you (yep, even the hard parts, even the failures).

Trust the process. Wax on, wax off.