“Paul – I think you might like this, it’s talking about a young boy who was inspired by Andrew Carnegie to become a billionaire.

My eyes light up and of course, at that point, I’m in.  🙂 

So this kid (Red) in the movie, is born broke.

His dad tells him he’s never going to amount to much in life.

The Ultimate Life Movie – Lesson 1 – Never let anyone tell you “You Can’t” 

This is where the first BIG success lesson just JUMPS out at you from the movie.  

Red and his family are sitting around a dinner table, and Red tells his dad that he wants to be wealthy. 

His dad – HIS OWN FATHER – tells him…

“Red, you’re never gonna have money… You’re never gonna get any more than what I have, that’s just the way it is.”  

And this is the way it is for ALL of those – who decide that they want more out of life. 

The world seems to be full of people who won’t – trying to dictate to other people that “They Can’t” 

Well – Red says “BULL’ to that in the movie and I say BULL to that in life. 

Never let anyone tell you – you can’t do something because the truth is, like Art Williams said,

….no one has ever developed a test that can judge the heart of a man or a woman. 

You cannot see what’s on the inside – you can only trust, feel and believe it’s something great,

…and Realize the truth – and that is that the image we see of people – when we look at them – is only an image and by no means anywhere NEAR of an accurate representation of what they are on the inside or what they can become.  

Moving on with the story.. 

He leaves home – to seek his dreams.

Right after he runs away from home, he meets this homeless man who teaches him how to jump on a train – to get free passage to Tyler Texas. 

They get on the train and fall asleep. 

Red wakes up and sees the homeless man standing at the door of the train, circling his fingers in the air. 

“What you doing? asks Red. 

“I’m making my Golden List” – the homeless man says. 

“The golden list is when you list out 10 things you’re grateful for every day.  My mamma taught me to do that.” 

“I ain’t got nothin to be grateful for” Red says. 

Well sure you do.  You got your health right?  

“I’ll be grateful later on when I get what I’m going after” Red says. 

“No, it don’t work like that.  If you’re not grateful for the small things, you’ll never be grateful for the big ones.” – The homeless guy teaches him.  

The Ultimate Life Movie – Lesson 2 – Always Be Grateful For The Little Things 

I still remember living in a single wide trailerhouse and kneeling down every night to thank God for my blessings. 

The blessing of having food to eat. 

The blessing of having a nice warm bed to sleep in. 

The blessing of having a roof over my head that protected me and my family from the elements.  

There’s something so special, and almost sacred about gratitude and I’m grateful for this reminder. 

The Ultimate Life Movie – Lesson 3 – Keep A Journal 

As Red’s live and journey unfolds, one of the things you notice as you watch, is that he writes in his journal every night. 

He writes about his dreams and goals. 

He writes about his failures. 

He writes about the major life lesson he learns along the way.  

This is something that millionaire Jim Rohn teaches to do.  

Lately, I’ve been getting more serious about the habit myself, and writing in my journal on a pretty consistant basis.  

It was cool to see in the movie, how the simple act of writing in a journal – was able to help Red reflect on his life enough – to turn him into a billionaire.  

The Ultimate Life Movie – Lesson 4 – Be The Bellwether

After Red leaves home, & hops the train, he ends up getting hired on as a ranch hand to plant fence in Tyler Texas.  

One night, after a hard days work – all the workers are sitting around a card table, gambling their money away and this kid – “Red”, is writing in his journal.

He’s like “I do NOT wanna be like these guys.. The big buy over there, 50+ years old still planting fence posts for a living”…

“I want more.”

He puts down his journal, leaves the room where the card playing is happening and walks to the house where the owner of the ranch is sitting on the front porch.

He says…

“How do I become you sir?”

“Become me?” The ranch man asks questioningly…

 

“Yeah, I wanna be succesful – how do I get there?”

Slowly, the ranch owner responds, with what seems to be a world of wisdom packaged in a few simple sentences.

He said ‘Success comes from a great combination of things.  Many things working together.”  

Here’s something. 

Don’t be the sheep. 

Be the bellwether.  

What’s “Bellwether” you might ask.

(i had no clue what it was so I looked it up on Wikipedia this morning)  

The leading sheep of a flock, with a bell on its neck.

“Be an organizer of men, Red” the ranch man tells him. 

Red then goes on to ask … “If we get that fence done early – do you save any money?” 

“Well sure I do” the ranch man replies.  

“Would you split the savings with me?” Red asks. 

“Yes.” 

Red goes on to wake up at 3:oo AM in the morning – to get to work. 

When the rest of the crew shows up, they’re blown away that Red has pushed the fence another 100 yards already, by himself. 

Red then organizes the crew – in an assembly type operation – and they complete the job a day early. 

Red gets paid – and it’s the most money he’s ever seen in his entire life.  

Be the bellwether. 

The Ultimate Life Movie – Lesson 5 – Keep Your Eye On The Real Prize

This ultimate life movie contains a lot of GREAT success lessons and it’s worth watching for those alone.

The thing I appreciated the MOST about this movie, was the underlying spiritual message it contained.  

Red has this goal to become a billionaire and you can tell it really drives him throughout the first major portion of his life. 

It drove him so much that he missed Christmas with his family so he could close the final deal that put him into Billionaire status.  

His right hand man, an attorney named Ted – who insisted on going to home to be with his family for Christmas. 

Ted ends up getting in a car accident and Red flys home to be with him in the hospital. 

While he’s there, sitting in the hospital room, writing in his journal, reflecting on his life… he begins to find some of the REAL gifts of life. 

• The gift of friendship. 
• The gift of a day. 
• The gift of family. 

He realizes that  maybe, he’s sacrificed a little too much in pursuit of his wealth.  

He gathers his children together, apologizes for neglecting them and tries to make a change in their spirits. 

It’s such a great insight – and you’ll have to watch to the movie to found out how it turns out with his kids. 

The important thing to remember though, is that it IS possible to pay too much for wealth. 

I’m so grateful that – for whatever reason – I’ve always had this sense that – even though money IS important,

….there are other things that are important too and we never want to lose sight of those.

For some people – great wealth can ‘cost too much‘ – as Andrew Carnegie put it in the book Grow Rich With Peace Of Mind.  

Family, relationships, doing your best to do the right thing ——>   Super, Super SUPER Important and when people trade these things for money, I feel they’re trading too much.   

I’m also grateful to know that Money – in the hands of the unwise – can do damage that none of us wants to experience. 

Napoleon Hill mentions this, from time to time in his books.  

Kowing this, from reading books and watching movies like this one – can help us to… 

Keep Our Eyes On The Real Prize

…while we’re pursuing what we want in life.  

Hope you’ve enjoyed these 5 lessons I learned from watching the movie The Ultimate Gift.

It’s one I definitely recommend watching, if you haven’t seen it already.