How To Win @ Life
What Does it Mean to Win?
Stan Lee created a dominant masterpiece with his Marvel universe. It became a global sensation and inspired entire generations. With the recent creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel has become a household name for quality and meaningful entertainment. I’ve literally watched every movie in the MCU ever since Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, half a dozen times (at least). So when I finally got to watch the culmination of a decade’s development for the MCU; Avengers: Infinity War, I was absolutely giddy.
Avengers: Infinity War
The whole point of this amazing movie is for the Avengers to win and to ensure that Thanos loses. I knew this from the moment I walked into the theatre and took my seat, but I did not expect to leave this movie with a question that could shape my whole world.
In what I would call the most pivotal scene in all of Infinity War: While waiting for the big bad Thanos to show up, Dr. Strange uses the Time Stone to explore possible futures.
When he finishes using the stone, Strange says: “I went forward in time, to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”
Star-Lord then asks: “How many did you see?”
Dr. Strange: “14,000,605.”
Iron Man: “How many did we win?”
Strange: “One.”
As the movie progressed from there, I became more & more perplexed about what Dr. Strange said. We saw many near victories and that was only with one possible future. Certainly, there had to be some futures that prevented the completion of the Infinity Gauntlet. There must have been some futures that didn’t even involve Thanos at all. I quickly realized that Strange’s definition of winning was specific, and it involved letting Thanos complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Dr. Strange’s victory needed Thanos to win.
What’s the Definition of Winning?
When I left the theatre, I realized that my preconceived notion of winning was wrong. I thought that the Avengers would win if they could stop Thanos from completing the Gauntlet, but that’s wrong. Maybe to some, that’s a victory but it’s not the best victory.
There are many ways to win, but only one specific way to win that turns out best for all those involved. I never expected an entertainment movie of this magnitude to impact my professional life. The lesson that Marvel’s Infinity War taught me was that we all have goals, dreams, and aspirations that we are working towards.
Winning @ Life:
We all want to win, to win @ life. But if you actually sat down and tried to quantify what winning means, you would probably discover many inconsistencies between how you’re going to achieve victory and what that victory means to you.
It’s taken many books, hours of self-reflection, and countless encounters with people on their own path to winning @ life in order to define what winning means to me. I expect that my definition of victory might even seem contradictory to my whole collegiate experience, but I think it’s the perfect definition of my aspirations in life.
The best victory in life for me is to educate my fellow humans. This might surprise you but education is critical for the business world! Effective businesses educate customers, their suppliers, wholesalers, and so on. Furthermore, adopting this approach will make you more patient, more effective, and more professional.
Let’s say you’re selling a product or service. If you want to be an effective and approachable salesperson, you already know that you are providing something that people can benefit from. You already know it’s FAB — Features, Advantages, & Benefits. Now take your sales opportunity and use it to educate the customer on the product or service so that they can acknowledge its benefits and decide if those benefits are right for them.
Let me leave you with this final question: What does winning mean to you?
- I was devastated to learn of Stan Lee’spassing, the world lost a really creative icon. Rest in peace, Stan. I hope you’re having some fun conversations with the Almighty. This is my tribute to you.*
Note: I originally posted this on November 19, 2018 on my personal LinkedIn profile.
