Photo Credit : Disney imDd.com
My family and I decided to watch Mulan over the weekend. I had a lot of work to do but I wanted to make sure I spend time with the family and they made me feel bad for not watching the first one. This movie was so good entertaining and had lots of life lessons in it. Once the movie was over I felt empowered, inspired, and interested in watching it again. If you have not had a chance to watch this movie, young, or old its entertaining and has a lot to learn form it.
If you have not watched the movie these life lessons I am about to share does not necessarily spoil the movie but will have you ready to watch and learn how Mulan took her strengths and made work for her life. By reading my 7 life lessons you will see how you take your strengths, weaknesses, and use them as an advantage in your life, career, and business.
1st lesson - She was put in a box from her family. Mulan did not fit the mold her family prepared for her.
How many of us can relate to this? Our family wants us to have perfect grades in school, attend college, pledge their sorority, take over the family business, or go after the career they think is best for you. In the back of our mind we really do not want to do it but we are hit with the guilt trip when we don’t pursue their dreams.
2nd lesson - Strength. Her family thought running after chickens, and being her authentic self was a weakness but actually it was a Strength
In the beginning of the movie Mulan is running around her neighborhood trying to catch a chicken but while she was running you get to see her be athletic, focused, and determined in what she was after. The neighborhood thought what are you doing? You are making a fool out of yourself? I saw it another way. As a little girl she was using her strengths but never really knew what they were because of what she was exposed to.
How often are we exposed to toxic relationships, generational curses, negative family and friends. We sometimes feel crazy or looked at as if we are crazy because we are not gravitating to what they are doing. Don’t allow your outside circumstances or environment make you feel like something is wrong with you because you live your life they way they do.
3rd lesson- She tried to fit the mold of being a man, and left home in darkness because she felt she didn’t fit who they wan’t her to be.
Family and friends have an odd way of making us feel hopeless and in darkness because we don’t fit the mold they have created for us. So often we get jobs we don’t want, and live a life we do not want because we feel out of place. Being in darkness leads to anxiety, depression, loneliness, and God forbid even suicide. Society has so many high expectations we are expected to achieve or life a “normal” life.
This is why its so important for us to be okay with coloring outside of the lines, being okay if I live the life that makes me happy. If it does not work out don’t beat yourself up always remember at least I tried it.
4th lesson She found her true self from the enemy Who are you?
As Mulan was fighting her enemy she was three times who are you? Each time she answered the name she created for herself while pretending to be a man. The enemy told her you are going to die pretending to be someone you are not. The enemy actually thought she killed her but being someone else saved her life. This says so much in so little words. I ask you today reading this blog post Who are you? Not who your family and friends say you are ? Get a piece of paper and start writing down 5 things about yourself. Write down things no one knows about you. Those dreams you want to achieve write them down, the life you want to achieve write it down, the life you want to live write it down. This is who you are and who you are predestined to be. Why risk you life pretending to be someone else.
5th lesson- Her weakness ( strength) helped her defeat the enemy
There was a particular scene in the movie where Mulan was chasing a hawk. I started remember in the beginning of the movie how she was chasing that chicken. Those skills she acquired as a little girl chasing chickens became an asset as she was face to face with her enemy. I often ask women in AWR University what are your strengths? What did you enjoy doing as a child? What is something you can do so easily or people reach out to you for help for? Those skills, strengths or what the outside considers weaknesses can be strengths to help you get to the next level in life. For years we have buried our strengths to live a life someone thought was best for us. We don’t know what are strengths because we don’t see it as valuable or even an asset.
6th lesson- Once she embraced her true identity She was a leader.
Once you start identifying your strengths, your skills, and how to turn your weaknesses into an asset your leadership skills will become visible. You will now understand what you bring to the table, what you don’t and how to apply them. Once you identify your strength make every effort to master it.
7th lesson- Right when she thought the enemy was about to defeat her The Emperor told her to rise up and become the leader she is.
The time is now more than ever for you to rise up. Don’t let the enemy make you feel defeated because you lost your job, had a divorce, single mom, bankruptcy, foreclosure, or lost a loved one. Your life is not over. Take the time to identify who you are and make a list of your strengths. Master your strengths, and understand what your weaknesses are and use them to your advantage. Your weaknesses are a part of your story, your journey, and people want to know how did overcome that obstacle in your life.
Those are the 7 lessons I loved from Mulan. Another thing I want you to remember was Mulan was considered a Phoenix. Phoenix is a bird that rises above its ashes. Will you rise above your weaknesses, add value to your strength, and soar like a Phoenix?
