Professional keynote & seminar speaker using the wisdom & persona of Forrest Gump to inspire individuals and companies to self motivate and control own destiny.
This weekend I cleaned my chimney.
I knew it needed cleaning for the past few weeks.
Starting a fire was becoming more and more difficult.
The air vent had to be opened to the maximum just to keep a fire burning.
When the fire-box door was opened, smoke would billow into the room.
It was plenty clear that the chimney needed to be cleaned.
So, why the dread and the postponement for a few weeks?
Stories of Gumption is a regular column that profiles individuals who admirably demonstrate Gumption as we define it. These are the stories of real people who exhibit gumption in overcoming personal challenges, and validate the spirit of Gumption during their journey. Let’s take inspiration from those who seize 100% personal responsibility and show us how to live a life that exhibits Gump-like character traits worthy of applause!
This past weekend, I had the pleasure to speak to 1200+ of Montana’s finest students representing more than eighty high schools across the state. The annual conference of the Business Professionals of America (BPA) Montana Association met in Billings March 10-12, 2013.
BPA is a national organization with 43,000 members in over 2,300 chapters in 23 states. Their tagline is: “Today’s Students. Tomorrow’s Business Professionals.” The mission of Business Professionals of America is to contribute to the preparation of a world-class workforce through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academic, and technological skills.
If life is a journey, then a mindset of continuous learning makes sense.
And if life is a journey, then regularly taking action to adjust one’s course, based on the new knowledge, seems beneficial.
If the goal isn’t necessarily to get somewhere, but rather to enjoy the road being traveled, then all new learning becomes welcome, joyous, and extremely valuable.
If each life chapter is its own mini-journey along the bigger road of one’s life journey, then learning today prepares you for the next fork in the road … or the next new opportunity.
All learning today prepares you for tomorrow.
All learning today establishes a foundation for what you’ll learn and use tomorrow.
All learning today is a down payment for a knowledge-filled future.
It seems smarter to be a lifelong learner, rather than someone who already knows it all.
Are you a lifelong learner?
How many different shoes have you worn during your lifetime?
How many different shoes have you worn during your lifetime?
How many different shoes are you currently wearing?
Is it time to throw away those shoes that no longer support the life you want to live?
I’m not talking about actual pairs of shoes … I’m referring to the different roles you’ve played in your life. And the different roles you’re currently living.
Forrest wore lots of shoes
“Momma always says there’s an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. Where they’re going. Where they’ve been … I’ve worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard, I could remember my first pair of shoes … Momma said they’d take me anywhere.”
Forrest certainly did wear many different shoes. This chart shows some of those different shoes. Forrest’s shoes included football cleats, soldier boots, ping-pong tennis shoes, shrimp boat rubber boots, father loafers, and husband shoes. Plus the running shoes that took him across America –four times! Forrest wore lots of shoes.
Here’s the deal …
You too wear lots of shoes.
You too get to decide where your shoes will take you.
Here’s why …
The other day KJ asked me, “Have you ever seen it done that way before?”
The question stopped me momentarily, and I had to honestly answer, “No.”
That shook me a little as I started to question my strategy and myself. Was I making a mistake? Should I reconsider and do it the way others have done it before?
I decided to use my own three principles of Gumption to get myself regrounded. I need to follow my own instincts in pursuing this important project.
Over the past year, I’ve consulted with countless experts and read more than my bloodshot eyes can remember – it’s now time to take 100% personal responsibility and Function with Gumption … as opposed to following what someone else has done before me.
So here is what I’m going to do:
Feathers don’t have to be held on to forever.
At the very beginning of the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest bends down to pick up a feather that had floated out of the sky and landed directly at his feet.
In my presentations, I use the feather to make the following points:
What new feathers are currently floating around and about to land in your life?
What feather is currently sitting at your feet that you need to pick up?
What feathers are you holding on to that you’d be better off if you let go?
Next Blog Title: “You’re Gonna Have To Figure That Out For Yourself”
Next Blog Date: May 17, 2012
Steve Weber is a speaker, Forrest Gump tribute artist, facilitator, blogger, and author. The three principles of Gumption are specifically designed to get you (and your team) to Function with Gumption. Steve uses the simple, yet powerful, life lessons from the movie Forrest Gump to bring positivity back into the workplace. Learn more at SpeakingGump.com.
I may not be a smart man … but I sure am having fun!
Three posts ago, I described the little white lie I told about being the real Forrest Gump … the one they made the movie about. I mentioned that I told this fib hundreds of thousands of times.
Often, a person would approach me quietly after I’ve declared my Gumpness and say, “So, how’d you get this gig?” I’d confidently repeat my fib – most times that would end our conversation. But some small percentage of the people wouldn’t buy it. They’d demand more and say, “No really, how’d you get this job?” At that point, I’d lean in and whisper, “Genetic luck, a bad haircut, and the idiot part comes natural.”
My two previous posts focused on genetic luck and a bad haircut … today, we’ll complete my three-part answer by assessing and the idiot part comes natural.
Which one came first?
Everything is a matter of perspective.
The answer depends on the unique way that you are looking at the problem.
Math and science questions have definitive answers – your perspective doesn’t matter in those cases.
But in philosophical and human behavior questions (and chicken behavior questions) – it’s all about one’s perspective.
The right answer for you may be the wrong answer for the next guy. And that guy’s right answer may be the wrong answer for you … and vice-versa.
So my answer to the historical circular cause and consequence question is strictly based on my first-hand experience. With that caveat, I can now definitively give an answer to the age-old question: which came first … the chicken or the egg?
406.396.4611 | steve@speakinggump.com 
Forrest Gump is a fictitious character created in the book Forrest Gump, Winston Groom (1986) and the movie Forrest Gump, Paramount Pictures (1994). Steve Weber has been a Tribute Artist portraying Forrest Gump since 1996. Although Steve Weber has worked for the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. under license as Forrest Gump since 1996, nothing herein is intended to imply sponsorship or affiliation with either Paramount Pictures or Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
