I can honestly say that I did not plan on seeing  this movie so soon… but I’m glad I did. With my pricey Twizzlers in hand and my large mixed ICEEE at my side (that were both more than my matinee ticket price) I sat in an fairly empty theater zoomed to see what the rumors were all about.

I can be known to watch things with a critical eye, but today I chose to simply enjoy this movie, which was a ‘behind the scenes concert rehearsal capture’ directed by Kenny Ortega. “This Is It” was not suppose to be it for Michael Jackson, but instead it produced some great lessons to be learned. Academic success principles, business principles, biblical principles all could be pulled from this movie, but today here are 7.25 Life Lessons and Success Principles that anyone can use to improve their life.

FEW RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

Before I share my *deep* life lessons,  maybe you can help me with these or had the same randomness when viewing the movie. Feel free to tweet me if you have the answers

1. Early in the movie, did it seem like Michael Jackson dancing skills were off? Was MJ getting old? Maybe he was just in 1st gear.
2. Did you hear that  bass line reprise on the end of the Thriller part – HOT!! Was that from another song?
3. Why was that black coat so big that he was wearing, I’m assuming he borrowed it to stay warm?
4. I loved the little girl holding the world – you must stay to the end (after the credits).

So here are the 7.25 Life Lessons…

1 – Have a Strong Personal Coach.

Whatever you plan on doing in life, there is someone who has gone before you and both failed and/or succeeded. All successfull people have coaches, mentors or trainers. In this movie, Michael Jackson’s Dance Choreographer, Travis Payne, was by his side making sure he had his moves down. We didn’t see all of the hands on instruction that goes behind the scenes to his development, but the choregrapher was there to make sure he knew where to go next on the stage and what move would be most effective.

In my workshops and speeches, I make reference to other greats  like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods; both had personal coaches to help them get better. If the greatest basketball player and golfer of all time needed a coach, what makes you think you don’t need one? Both MJ and MJ did.

If you are pursuing an academic degree, starting a new business, or trying to become a better parent – locate a strong and proven coach that can propel you to the next level. I myself have several coaches that I invest into every year, because I want to get better as as a speaker, academic success coach, and author.  You should too – I challenge you to locate one.

If you want to know who I coach with then, or want me to coach you, ask me here.

2 – Your Vision in Life, Will Pull Forth Vision Out of Others.

I loved listening to the testimonies of the dancers and the musicians in the movie. A consistent thought from all of them was that by having the opportunity to work with Michael Jacskon was a big goal or dream of theirs. One male dancer even mentioned how at a young age he wanted to work with Michael Jackson, and when given the opportunity  to audition, he dropped everything he had going to pursue his dance dream.

I’m pretty sure that over Michael Jackson’s career, his vision of excellence and his vision to help the entire world caused those around him to enhance and focus their vision.  So I ask you, Will your life vision pull vision out of those you work with?

3 – Work  Only With The Best.

Every championship team realizes that it takes *total* teamwork to become a champion in their sport; and if you can get the best players to play together on one team then that is almost a sure guarantee for victory. Like the USA Basketball team has done repeatedly  in the  World Olympics, Michael Jackson gathered the best of the best to play on his team. From producers, videographers, costume directors, choreographers, staging, lighting and musicians he hired only the best.

One of my friends and mentors, Jonathan Sprinkles said to me one time, “Hang out with, study, and coach with the #1 person in any field (not the #2 person), because the #1 person is #1 one for a reason.”

4 – Have a Bigger Purpose For What You Do in Life.

Even though Michael Jackson was the king of POP, an icon and  has had so many songs on the top music charts, his greater purpose was to heal the world – heal how people love one another and how people love the world in which we live in.

What’s your greater purpose? Why do you ultimately exist? Why do you do what you do?

As for me, my greater purpose is to enhance the mindset, attitude, actions and life habits of students and professionals by developing and presenting resources to help them understand their unique and customized purpose. Then be thoroughly equipped to carry it out in the earth – thus making their lives, their families and their calling fruitful.

5 – Capture The Key Moments of Your Life and Learn From Them.

At the beginning of the movie, Director kenny Ortega mentioned that this movie came about because of the video camera that were in rehearsals and the footage was going to go in Michael Jackson’s personal private collection.

I’m sure that Michael Jackson was his own biggest critic about his craft and was going to use this footage to analyze himself, analyze his show, and use it to get better at his craft. Whisch is an awesome thing to do.

I myself do this after completing a great talk for a high school or college. I would sit down and replay the entire footage of my speech. Most time its’ painful to watch, because I sincerly want to be the best at what I do when engaging a crowd.

I encourage you to capture those key moments in your life. If it’s a presentation, perfrormance event, or simple conversation with someone – use that recorded footage to learn more about yourself and get better.

6 – Stay Teachable and Humble.

It is very obvious from his lifetime of music success that Michael Jackson was teachable and understood humility.

It was very powerful to see how the music director and production director knew when to submit their idea to Michael Jackson, and Michael’s to theirs. I’m pretty sure that his power packed team had a load of great ideas for the concert, but they were willing to adjust and be flexible for the overall objective. It was never about *their* agenda, but about the mission at hand.

Being teachable, flexible, submissive  and willing to adjust your thinking for another is a key to promotion and success.

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”(I Peter 5:5)

7 – Practice, Practice, Practice and then Practice Perfect.

I love seeing  MJ do the classic dance routines to His classic songs in the movie, like “Beat It”, “Thriller”, and “Smooth Criminal”. It was very obvious that because of repetition, he was able to do it sweatlessly and flawlessly. it even seemed to me that he had regained his youth when doing those moves, versus other times he looked kind of old and stiff. (Just my randomness again)

Practice does not make perfect, but perfect and correct practice makes perfect.

When it comes to school academics, business, or any life endeavor, your preparation phase will always determine your outcome of victory. You may have heard the famous saying,” When preparation meets opportunity it produces success”, which is so true. See this video and this video where I talk more about this concept of preparation.

7.25 -Know Your Craft Better Than Anyone Else.

The music director and various musicians in the band, said that Michael Jackson knew all of his songs. He knew the key, the tempo, the rhythm of certain riffs. He was a student of his own music and his craft.

Seeing and hearing this on camera instantly made me evaluate my life. As my mind wondered spanned the years of my existence, I was convicted and yet convinced to simply get better. Know my craft!!

You too must daily judge your life and craft. Where do you have cracks? Where are you weak? Where do you need to improve? How are you settling for average when you know that excellence is needed?

If you ever want to do the best, you must consistently do things that will propel you to be the best. Average people will never fully see the best, because their mindset and actions are like everyone else. Success is hard, and it is not for the weak. If you want better, then do better. Consistently learn, consistently train, and consistently improve.

So there you have it… The 7.25 Lessons I Learned from Michael Jackson’s This Is It”.

*** Now I’m sure that if you have seen the movie, there’s a lot that you learned from it as well. Please leave a comment or reply and let me know what you learned. Share your thoughts, it may be the exact thing that somebody else needs to hear.***

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When you think about achieving ACADEMIC SUCCESS, you must think about setting and achieving ACADEMIC GOALS.

Achieving SUCCESS EQUALS setting and achieving GOALS.

You cannot achieve success without working towards something that is measurable, memorable and attainable. Goals allow you to gauge when you have achieved success.

During my sophomore year of college, I received a 4.0 GPA. How did I achieve academic success that year?  I learned the power of setting academic goals. Because I set this goal, I had to develop various academic survival skills like taking notes, studying for exams, and knowing how to listen in class. I had to change specific academic and social habits in order to achieve success.  I changed my study habits, my sleeping patterns and even my dating routine  – yes “girls” had to take the back seat.

I achieved academic success that year because I set an academic goal and this goal became the motor (or motive) behind how I functioned as a student and today you can do the same. What I mean is this…

By establishing academic goals that are PRESENT, POSITIVE, and PERSONAL, all the required academic survival skills of listening in class, taking great notes, class participation, etc. will become the needed actions to support the goal you have initially set for yourself. They become the action steps required to achieve your goals.

Do you have goals? What is it that you want to accomplish in school? What is it that you want to accomplish in life? What do you consider to be successful? How do you measure the success of a good school year?

Now what are you willing to adjust for your goals? My favorite book, the Bible says, “Where there is no vision the people perish” and it also says “write the vision and make it plain, so that all who see it can run with it”.  Your goals are your vision. And your vision helps you focus on the final destination. Your goals are like the final destination on MapQuest.

To clarify setting academic goals and accomplishing them, here are 7.25 things to consider in your goal setting program.

1. Your academic goals must be personal.

What do YOU really want to accomplish? What is it that YOU desire in school? What do YOU desire from your social activities? What do YOU desire for your life? Not what someone else wants you to desire.

2. Your academic goals must not contradict any of your other goals.

Your goals must coincide in what is realistically possible. It is unrealistic to set this goal, “I have an overall 4.0 GPA, when I graduate from school” if you have already completed a few semesters with a 2.5 GPA. Mathematically there is no way to accomplish this goal. Setting unrealistic goals is setting realistic failure.

3. You academic goals must be specific.

Develop goals that are measurable; ones that can be reported and charted over time. Here’s an example: “I read two books a month that are non-school related.”

4. Your academic goals must be positive.

Positive goals help your subconscious carry out the goals stated. Your mind and subconscious should only interpret positives. Words like “not”, “never”, or “no” should be erased so your subconscious can produce the wisdom to carry out only positive goals.  Rather than saying, “I will NOT fail this test” say “I  make a minimum of 90% on this exam.”

5. Your academic goals must be set high, but reachable.

There’s a famous quote that says, “If you shoot for the moon and miss, you will still land amongst the stars.”  Set your goals really high, so that it forces you and stretches you to do better.

6.  Your academic goals must be present-tense.

Set goals in the present tense. Past-tense and future-tense goals cause your mind to think in the past and the future.  This keeps your goals locked in the past and in the future. Set goals that are present where your subconscious can work as if the goal is already achieved. “As a man thinks so is he”. Think positive, personal, and present.

7. Your academic goals must be clearly written.

Using the notes above, make sure you specify your goals on paper. Write them down legibly. Studies have shown that people who write goals are 50-80% closer to attaining them than those who don’t have them written down.

7.25. Your academic goals must be connected with practical actions.

For every goal you set, identify some practical things that you can do everyday to help you obtain that goal. If you set a goal like the one above, to make 90% on the test, then you must have an action plan.  To obtain this goal, actions like spending two hours a day studying, visiting your teacher once a week, reading other books on the subject matter and working extra subject problems. These are the actions to your goals.

Goal Setting and Goal Achieving is the hidden secret to the world’s most successful people. By applying the above, you have the keys to accomplish whatever you desire out of your academic career and your future life endeavors.

1. Ask the Instructor.

When preparing for test be aggressive and ask the instructor what to expect. Ask questions like… “What material will be covered?” What should you concentrate on?”, “Will the test be objective or essay?”

2. Look up past copies of exams or quizzes.

Take the time to search out old exams if they are available in the library. Also check with other students who took the class the previous year or semester. These tests can give you an idea of what your exam may be like. Use them as a study tool, but don’t rely heavily on them.

3. Predict.

Try to predict test questions beforehand. Prepare answers to those questions, and use it as another study preparation tool.

4. Review your notes.

Schedule time to go back and review all your notes and highlighted sections of your text again. Don’t try to re-read the entire text, but review the most important information.

5. Get in the bed

Get a good night’s sleep every single day of the test week. Rest gives the brain and body time to rejuvenate and Play its “A” Game, but most importantly it gives your mind time to digest your studies.

6. Eat lightly.

Along with eating lightly before an exam, also do some non-strenuous exercise before the exam.

7. Make up your own test.

Put yourself in the shoes of your professor, and make up your own tests. After making up a mock test, spend time answering all the questions from your mock test. This will give you the opportunity to get into test-taking mode and allow you to review the most important information.

7.25  Approach the Test with Confidence

If you put in the preparation, believe that you can succeed. The #1 downfall of  most students is self-doubt, thus leading to a lack of confidence. Therefore after putting in the proper preparation, don’t allow your internal ipod to speak doubt and failure. But  walk in confidence, speak confidently,abd approach the test with confidence. You CAN ace all your tests.