Top Five Life Lessons I Learned From the Movie Elf

I watched the movie “Elf” starring Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel last night for the 15th time. Give or take. It’s one of my favorite Christmas movies. Last night I decided to write down some life lessons I noticed while watching the movie. Here are my top 5:

Top five life lessons I learned while watching the movie Elf:

Skipping makes you happy. There’s a scene where Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) takes Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) on a date. He takes her hand and starts
Skipping Is Fun
skipping down the sidewalk of New York City. I realized while watching this (and laughing for the 15th time) that it is IMPOSSIBLE to be unhappy while skipping. If you don’t believe me then the next time you’re upset, just start skipping. The lesson; If you’re having a bad day, start skipping and you will immediately feel better and be happy.
You can’t just tell people what you do well, you have to deliver value. A funny part of the movie was when Buddy first gets to NYC and he sees a sign “World’s Best Cup of Coffee” in the window of a diner. He walks in and at the top of his lungs says “CONGRATULATIONS” to them. Later in the movie he takes Jovie to the diner while on their date. He blindfolds her and has her try the coffee. She says “That’s a really bad cup of coffee”. The lesson; make sure you deliver what you promise.
Going “all in” will make the difference with helping you break out in your business. At the end of the movie, we realize that “singing Christmas cheer for all the world to hear” will make Santa’s sleigh fly. It isn’t until the point that 100% of the people gathered (especially the naysayers) start singing that Santa’s sleigh flies. Until that point it was struggling to leave the ground without major rocket boost assistance. The lesson; you need to be 100% committed to the activities that will propel your business. Anything less won’t work.
Don’t compare yourself to others. When Buddy was at the north pole, he had a hard time fitting in with the elves because he was human. Once he was assigned to make Etch a Sketches (side note; I used to love my Etch a Sketch). He was not able to hit his quota and, compared to the other elves, he was not good at making them. However, when Buddy was in NYC he found he was much superior to the other humans in making Christmas decorations and gifts. The lesson; don’t compare yourself to others. It will hold you back.
You don’t have to pay a lot of money to have fun. One of my favorite parts of the movie was when Buddy took Jovie out on a date. He took her to his favorite activities in NYC, and most of it was free. Skipping down the sidewalk, trying the World’s Best Cup of Coffee, spinning around the revolving doors of a building, and Skating in Rockefeller Center. They had a blast and didn’t spend much money to do it. The lesson; some of life’s greatest pleasures don’t cost a lot of money.