It’s 2015 and it has been nearly four decades since the first of the six “Rocky” movies was released (1976).

I recall being a sophomore in college and going to see the first movie when it debuted.

If you care to take a trip back in time, knock yourself out and take a few minutes to view the official trailer below. Trailer technology, if there is such a thing, has come a long way since then!

According to Wikipedia, Rocky grossed $225 million on a $1 million budget. When factoring in the succeeding five films, the worldwide gross was nearly $1.3 billion on a collective budget of $119 million. Not a bad return any way you slice it!

Are you ready for the seventh film, Creed, in the series? It releases in November, 2015.

What was (and is) the attraction of the original Rocky film and the succeeding releases?

It can be summed up in this thought – most of us can relate to the Rocky factor in our own stories (whether guy or gal) as we gaze into the mirror.

I have come to realize a scent of this truth as Rocky hit the big screen when I was nineteen and Rocky Balboa (#6) released in 2006, a span of thirty years or most of my adult life.

Whether you are still wet behind the ears or have some road under your feet (and a few gray hairs to show for it), unless you have resided under a rock my guess is you too have been able to relate to a bit of Rocky in your own life.

Can I admit something to you?

The thing I have struggled with the most, thankfully more so in the past than now, has been limiting self-beliefs.

At one point or another, these tunes were on my playlist and played like a bad, country song:

• He is better suited than I am for the position. Why apply?
• I don’t make enough money. It’s no use even thinking about making plans to do _______.
• I am too old to ________________!
• It is so hard to connect with her. She just doesn’t get it!
• Who am I kidding? Things will never change! 

You get my drift.

Rocky too, had his own playlist (OK, it was the 70’s – it was a record) playing out in his own mind.

As he looked into the mirror of his thoughts and own experiences, his perceptions kept him tucked in the corner of the ring as blow after blow landed on him instead of throwing a few punches of his own.

At one point, while thinking of his match with Apollo Creed, he declared, “Who am I kidding? I am not even in the same league as this guy.”

He saw himself as another “bum from the neighborhood”, a nobody.

He did not see himself winning the fight. In fact, it did not matter to him.

However, he began to think about “going the distance” and lasting more than the few rounds he thought everyone expected him to last.

He began to believe he could go longer than he expected of himself.

If he could “go the distance” it would be a win for him!

For Rocky, things began to shift.  He showed up and he “won” the fight of his life by “going the distance”!

There are still times in my own life where limiting self-beliefs pull me under like a strong undertow.

However, they are not nearly as frequent as they once were bordering on the acute.

There was a time in my life where I could not see my way out of whatever I thought was holding me back.

If I can be honest, I was the one holding me back!

What about you?

What are your limiting self-beliefs and how are they choking off the life you really want to live?

In a recent podcast, leadership expert Michael Hyatt states this:

“Most of the things that hold us back are not external. They’re inside our heads and our hearts; the limiting beliefs that keep us from making meaningful progress toward our goals—or even setting those goals to begin with.”

Do yourself a favor.

Turn off your TV or take a break from social media and tune into his podcast which you can find here.

At a minimum, it’s a prescription to at least get on the right track.

As I finalized this post, I took a short break to read an email from my friend, Jevonnah Ellison.

It is another confirmation to me, as she too speaks to the theme of limiting self-beliefs.

Again, it would be well worth your time to check her thoughts out which you can do so here.

In my own struggles I had to reconcile what I thought was truth (and really was a lie) and what in fact, was truth.

I had to come to terms with it.

Without getting long winded, I came to believe that I can be more than a conqueror. I could live as an overcomer!

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35; 37 (NIV)

I’d like to leave you with this.

There is a promise you need to grab hold of and not let go.

You too are an overcomer – take a moment to listen!

Stay in the fight as long as it takes, to the final round, as you “go the distance!”

Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons