Men. Intelligent. ™
Don’t start before completing Challenge #29.
If you want to join the IntelliMen Project, start from Challenge #1.
Challenge: Use others negativity in regards to you as fuel to get what you want.
Explanation: Perhaps you already know the story of the real Carl Brashear, the first black man to became a Combat Master Diver of the US Navy. He was the main character of the film “Men of Honor,” based on his story. If you haven’t seen this film yet, do yourself a favour: search for it on the Internet, and take two hours to watch it. (Here is a link to the movie. It’s working at the moment.) No IntelliMan should go without watching this film. The trailer is above.
Amongst the numerous lessons of this true story, one of the main lessons is how Carl Brashear uses the discrimination that he suffered as energy to conquer what he wanted. Instead of making himself a victim or hating his persecutors, he transformed all that rejection into strength and motivation. He outsmarted his persecutors because he used their weapons to his favour.
As a man, you have to learn to do the same thing. In this world, you will suffer negativity from people in various forms and in different intensities. Some are discriminated because of their colour, others because of their race, others because of their faith, others because of their appearance, others because of limited schooling… There’s no limit to discrimination. Have you suffered discrimination before? Have you suffered an injustice because of the prejudice of others? So you understand, at least a little bit of what Carl Brashear went through.
In light of all this, your challenge this week is to identify a dream or wish that was perhaps stolen or killed because of the prejudice and negativity of other people. What they said, thought, or did to you, in regards to this, made you give up pursuing it. Do you still want to achieve that dream? Is it something worth the effort, worth fighting, and sacrificing for? So you’re going to rescue it, resurrect your dream and use the negativity of others as fuel to pursuit it.
Of course, your main objective here shouldn’t be to prove anything to others, but to yourself. You should pursuit a dream that’s important to you, not because it’s some sort of competition or because you want vengeance.
Also, from this challenge on, every time you suffer rejection from someone, you will use it as energy to overcome.
Notebook: Take a couple of minutes to reflect on this challenge. Identify a dream that still beats in the bottom of your heart, though it was suffocated by the negativity of those that said you couldn’t. Write down the dream in your notebook. Perhaps you have more than one – feel free to write as many as you like. But in the end, choose one. That’s the one that you should start to work on to pursuit and reach.
Official Partner: Motivate your partner to pursuit his dream.
Deadline: You may begin working on this challenge immediately and complete it before Challenge #31 which will be launched a week from now. Achieving your dream may take years, but take the first step now!
Post: After – and only after – you have completed the challenge, post your comments – on the IntelliMenWorld Facebook or Twitter page, (not on your own page) and write the following:
IntelliMen Challenge #30 done: From now on, I will use every bit of negativity I receive from others as strength to pursuit my dreams.
Links:
www.facebook.com/IntelliMenWorld
www.twitter.com/intellimenworld (when tweeting, use @intelliMenworld)
Verification Checklist
☐ I watched the film “Men of Honor”
☐ I identified the negativity I suffered from others
☐ I wrote it in my notebook and took the first step in pursuit of my dream, this week
☐ My partner and I spoke about the challenge
☐ I posted my comments on Facebook/Twitter
Phrase:
“Why do you want this so much?” Carl Brashear’s girlfriend asked. Carl answered: “Because they said I couldn’t do it.”
Links:
www.facebook.com/IntelliMenWorld
www.twitter.com/intellimenworld (when tweeting, use @intelliMenworld)
Verification Checklist
☐ I discovered my ideal weight
☐ I discovered what changes I need to make to my eating habits, and have already begun
☐ I wrote down what I learned in my Notebook
☐ My partner and I spoke about the challenge
☐ I posted my comments on Facebook/Twitter
Phrase:
The best exercise is the exercise you do.
