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What rules of success can we learn for our life and our career from the excellent movie Inception?
I love pulling life and success lessons out of every part of life. And I think it especially fun to pull them out of fictional storylines.
Often times we take movies or series just for entertainment purpose. But once you actually look at it from an educational perspective, you’ll notice many hidden lessons inside.
Don’t worry, I won’t go as deep into the interpretation of Inception as many of us were forced to do with school interpretations (I still remember how our teacher tried to tell us that the blue curtain in a scene is supposed to symbolize the sadness of the character -_-).
This list aims to be a light and fun way to open you up to some new tips for success.
Maybe this take will finally inspire you to get down and work on yourself versus the many times you just talked the walk.
At the very least, however, I know this will be a fun read. So enjoy!
Read also: 11 Rules Of Success From Tommy Shelby Of Peaky Blinders
1. Focus is everything
Shaping a dream into your liking and forging your way through it takes a lot of focus.
Dom, Arthur, Eames, Ariadne, and Yusuf from Inception know how to focus. Their job and, at times, their lives depend on it.
They can’t afford to be distracted by random memories or images zipping through their heads.
They need to focus on dreaming up what they want and need.
Just like them, you will do well learning how to focus correctly. If you can ramp up your concentration for any given type of work, you will be more effective and achieve more in less time.
Some critical elements of great focus are:
- staying hydrated
- having a good quality of air to breathe in deeply
- sleeping well
- 25min work sessions
- moving your body in the breaks
- learning to clear your mind by meditating
2. Train your mind
The dreamshare community knows that a trained mind is harder to invade. Its projections are more radical and will quickly get rid of unwelcome intruders.
This is very symbolic of real life.
You want to train your mind to keep out any intruders, which in our case would be limiting beliefs, judgment from others, traumatic events, and all the other harmful things that can make a catastrophic impact on your mindset.
If your mind falls prey to doubts, negative self-talk, limiting beliefs, a lack of self-worth, insecurity, or anything on that spectrum, you will have difficulty building the success you want in life.
The biggest obstacle towards our success is, more often than not, ourselves and not the outward circumstances surrounding us.
Now, how do we train our mind against these success sucking intruders?
First of all, you need to become aware of and change how you talk to yourself in your head. If you continuously tell yourself that you’re dumb, clumsy, and hopeless, you will easily believe everyone who confirms that for you.
Start talking to yourself as if you were your best friend or even a child. You wouldn’t bully either of those two, so stop bullying yourself, as well!
Another tactic is to start using positive affirmations daily. Basically, every time you find yourself worrying or anxious about something, tell yourself that everything will be ok.
If you are afraid to be late, say – I am perfectly on time. I always arrive on time!
If you are afraid about what other people will think about you, say – I am a natural people magnet. I fascinate everyone I come into contact with, and people love talking to me.
You should also train your mind by consuming as much uplifting and empowering personal development content as possible. Make it part of your routine. Listen to a podcast during your commute to work or work out, switch your Netflix time for motivational youtube video time, and block out 10 minutes every morning to read a non-fiction book.
Read also: Reading List For Personal Growth
There are endless opportunities.
And lastly, you should hire a coach. You will never be able to detect limiting beliefs as quickly as a qualified mentor can.
So take advantage of that and let them catapult you to heights of success you can’t even imagine!
Read also: 9 Ways To Overcome Limiting Beliefs
3. Do the inner work and get rid of past traumas
“That’s some subconscious you’ve got on you, Cobb! She’s a real charmer!”
– Ariadne
Not only do you have to train your mind, but you should also – and this is significant as it will make no. 1 much easier – get rid of the blocks and past traumas that are still residing in your mind and body.
Trauma can be a very simple thing, like having been disappointed once by someone you love. It doesn’t have to be something disturbing that could have been part of Game of Thrones.
Because traumas can be caused by very mundane events, we all suffer from them.
And I mean, literally everyone.
Getting rid of trauma yourself is incredibly difficult. To do it the right way, you should find a mentor or coach that you trust and gently guide you through this inner work.
The sooner you do this inner work, the longer you can benefit from it and reap the rewards.
Don’t be like Dom, who’s still shadowed by his wife Mal in Inception.
Get rid of your own shade as soon as possible.
4. Learn how to earn people’s trust
I don’t imagine you plan on stealing someone’s darkest inner secrets like our friends of Inception do.
However, you do desire to receive something from others. This could be money for a product you’re selling, acceptance in the group, a connection, approval for what you did, or any kind of help.
Whatever it is that you want from someone, you are already halfway there if you get them to trust you.
A very effective way to earn someone’s trust is to be honest, raw, and vulnerable with them.
In a twisted way, Cobb was also honest with Fisher when telling him that he was in a dream because people are trying to infiltrate his mind.
Obviously, he left out the part where he is the extractor, but the point is that being somewhat honest with the Mark earned Cobb his trust.
5. Focus on what you’re good at
Each team member of the Inception group has very specific expertise that they’re absolutely stellar at.
Eames is the forger, Arthur the point man, Yusuf the chemist, Ariadne the architect, and Cobb the extractor.
Every job in the dreamsharing community requires a group of these people.
They are the best of the best at what they do, and because they work together, they can solely focus on what they are best at while others do the rest.
You know the saying ‘Jack of all, master of none.‘
Of course, you should have some basic knowledge in a broad number of subjects. Also, there is no harm in learning from experts while they are at work.
However, you are plainly wasting your time trying to be as good as an expert at his subject.
Not only will you always fall short, but you will also waste time and money that could be spent on what you’re actually good at, and what get’s you ahead the most.
So if you’re a business owner like me, this means you shouldn’t try to be a one-woman show forever. There comes the point when you’re earning enough of an income to outsource some tasks and free up your time.
The same goes for our daily life. Maybe you hate shopping or cleaning, and therefore you’re very slow and ineffective at it. Consider swapping tasks with someone in the family, or if your bank account allows it, hire someone to do it for you.
In the future, focus on what you’re best at!
6. Make the world your oyster
The world is way too big to only take advantage of a small part of its opportunities.
You need to start considering other countries and cultures in your endeavors.
Why only invest in US stocks when there are rapidly growing markets elsewhere?
Why only consume western media when there are an infinite amount of thrilling books, series, movies, and music in the east?
Why start a German blog if you could reach more people in English?
Why are you always looking for the same familiar food on vacation when you could experience entirely new and utterly mesmerizing flavors?
The dreamsharing community is treating the world as their oyster. Whether it is Mombasa, Sydney, or LA, you can experience it all if you want to.
7. Carefully curate connections
You’ve got to know the right people in life. Knowing just the right person can give you a once in a lifetime opportunity for success.
I know that networking isn’t the most enjoyable way to spend your time. However, it is essential for success in life, so you should take advantage of it.
The dreamsharing community of Inception is benefitting immensely from knowing the right kind of people for the job.
Cobb knows Arthur, who knows where Eames is, who then introduces Yusuf, a truly unique chemist, to them.
Try to curate connections like that. The easiest way to do so is to raise your value.
If you become more valuable in this world, you are going to attract more high-quality people. And once you get the chance to meet them, all you have to do is leave a lasting positive impression.
I am working on raising my value daily. I read books and listen to podcasts daily to improve myself. I also focus on my nutrition and work out to be at my best at all times.
And I create content like this blog post for free to add some value to your day.
It’s the little steps each day that will compound, so that in a few years you will be able to be in a position in which you can meet all kinds of successful people.
What can you do today to raise your value?
8. Have imagination
“If you’re going to perform inception, you need imagination.”
– Eames
Don’t be a stick in the mud.
Most people just live life like it is modeled for them. Their parents, teachers, and society tell them, ‘look, that’s how you do it,’ and they go ahead and mindlessly follow those instructions.
You need the imagination to do what others will never do. You need the imagination to dream up an extraordinary life.
Imagination also makes you more resourceful.
You will find ways to provide value for others, even if the odds are seemingly against you.
Our brain can’t tell the difference between vividly imagining an activity and actually experiencing it.
So learn to use your imagination.
9. Dream impossibly big
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”
– Eames
There are people like Arthur who don’t believe Inception is possible or who use an ordinary gun when they could literally manifest a mass destructive weapon.
And then there are people like Eames and Dom, who dare to believe in the seemingly impossible.
Having imagination is necessary, as mentioned before. But you will never honestly use it to its full extent if you keep telling yourself to be realistic.
A realist’s life is painfully dull and predictable. They are the kind of people who’ve always said that it wouldn’t be possible right before the dreamers invented the next big thing.
If history teaches us anything, it should be that we can never even imagine the fantastic things we can truly create.
What reason is there to be a realist other than cowardly trying to avoid disappointment by playing small?
If you want to be one of the few people who make a difference in this world, you have to be a dreamer with impossibly big dreams.
10. Try the impossible
Dreaming is excellent and all, but you can dream for your whole life without getting anywhere.
No, the impossible is not only meant to be dreamed but also to be turned into the possible.
Go out there and work on making the seemingly impossible happen.
Don’t just let them tell you Inception isn’t possible. Try it out for yourself!
11. If It Doesn’t Work, Improve Your Strategy And Try Again
And if it doesn’t work after that first try? Well, then go back to the drawing board, improve your strategy, and try again.
This wasn’t Cobbs or Eames’ first try at Inception, but it was the one that succeeded.
The most significant success doesn’t happen on the first try. It takes patience and perseverance to get there. That’s what makes it so incredibly rewarding, and that’s why only a few get there.
Be one of the few and keep dreaming and trying until the idea takes – until the success comes!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading through this list of rules for success from Inception.
I know I had fun writing it. I have recently discovered that there is a pretty big and high-quality fanfiction fandom out there for Inception, so I’ve spent lots of time with the topic.
I’m curious, what rule did you like the most? Comment down below!
Until next time!
Sophie
