Why deadpool, to me, is the greatest motivational movie ever ! Deadpool obiviously is a fun comic book movie with grerat action. But there is something in that movie that is quintessential in terms of motivation. What is that ? It is tha part in which the character Wade transforms from a human into a mutant. In the movie it is shown as an evil experiment by the villain, who has kept Wade in captivity and tortures him, which is a part of the experiment. But this evil transformation somehow contains one of the greatest lessons in motivation which is both practical and real.
So, Wade Wilson's character is dying. He is injected with a serum that would force mutation in his body, but for that mutation to occur, his body and mind are subjected to extreme almost fatal conditions which, by the help of that serum, would initiate an instant evolution that would transform him into either a mutant or render him dead. If we take out of all the evil intentions and jokes, that's basically what the idea behind the experiment is.
Lets take a few keypoints from this:
- on the fundamental level, this whole experiment is founded upon exploiting the strongest human need: SURVIVAL. This is what harsh extreme conditions are for. His physical limitations are to be pushed to such an extent where the body's natural physical functioning fails.
- 2nd phase of the idea is: Adaptation. In order to survive,the body is now forced to adapt itself to the extremely harsh environment.
- In order for that evolution to occur, pushing the body and mind to the limit where only two option exist: either you die or evolve. In that environment, adaptation is not a choice anymore, it is the only option to ensure survival.
- The final phase: Evolution. After the body successfully adapts, the person has now evolved permanently into a newer more powerful being.
The only fictional concept in this process is the Serum.
So how does this concept allude to real life ? The concept basically is pushing yourself to the point where you transcend your current limitations, your description of your capabilities and become someone you could have never imagined. And this is very real. The question you need to ask yourself is, have you ever tested yourself ? What is the hardest you have gone ? The truth is, willingly, we never try. It doesn't even occur to us, to try to find our true limits, let alone test them. And this concept that this movie has alluded to is step 2. So when even step 1 hasn't been tried, step 2 would only exist in imagination and look like a satisfying idea to portray how mutants are made in a superhero movie.
This idea basically asks you to willingly work super hard, push through your stress, beyond your body restraining you, beyond the exhaustion of your brain. Now I'm not asking you to break your body or mind, I'm asking you to test them. Breaking your body is going beyond 100% when you are current capacity is 10%. Testing yourself is pushing yourself to 15% until that 15% starts feeling like 10% used to. And this isn't an alien idea to you either, you have done this. You have had moments in which you outperformed yourself because you were threatened by a deadline, you surprised yourself seeing how quicker and efficient you become under stress. A lot of people seem to think they are amazing performers when the deadline is closing. That's bullshit ! You are a great performer. In duress, you for once perform dedicatedly and that's why the results are amazing. Only when the choice to not work gets removed, which is under stress, under authority, exam closing in, or a deadline, you are able to push beyond your current limits. Your limits right now is the current highest you have seen, your record is the most you know about yourself. That could easily be only 10% of what you truly are capable of, but you have never even thought about that.
Adaptation is not a theoretical concept, your body and mind are fully capable of readjusting and calibrating themselves to any newer harsher environments. In stress, people surprise themselves all the time because the choice of evading work is no more an option, much like in the movie where the choice to not adapt means death. To ensure survival, evolving into a mutant is the only option. This is true to both, the movie and real life. There are multiple versions of your efficiency, but the procedure to update, that requires manually instigated evolution.
People develop exceptional abilities under teachers who, through discipline and forced strict work ethics, transform their capabilities. Look at any world class athlete, gymnasts, fighters or any of the great skilled personalities in anything. They all have gone through this. There's a reason why people describe it as going through hell-- you are willingly putting yourself through something your body and mind aren't prepared to handle. Therefore they reject it and you feel exhausted, tired and drained. But by doing it again and again, soon that becomes normal. You evolve, your body and mind finally adapt themselves because you weren't going to quit.
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