Week 14 – October Sky

This week we were asked to review a movie and look for the 4 Habits that all Successful people have. My movie of choice was October Sky. Out of all  four movie  choices, I could not find one in the local movie store and had to venture and rent from Itunes for the very first time.

These 4 habits that we were to look for are the success formula which is  DMP+ POA+PMA+ MMA = Persistence

Definite Major Purpose (DMP)

Homer Hickam is the son of a Coal Mining Superintendent and is in his final years of High School. During this time the Russian Sputnik Satellite was launched. He was very inspired and influenced by this bit of history.  He had tried out for football, as football scholarships are granted for a few “lucky” students to get out of the Coalwood, West Virginia , which is a coal mining town with few options for employment. Homer was unsuccessful at football but still had the determination to get a scholarship. He found out that he could enter into his school science fair and if he won then he could move up to nationals with a possibility to earn a College Scholarship. Determined to not end up in the coal mines he prepares everything that he needs to build his rocket to enter into the science fair…  gathering physical materials, intellectual information, creating mastermind relationships while setting his eyes on winning the science fair.

Plan of Action (POA)

It took many attempts to perfect the formula for a flawless launch of a rocket. There where many obstacles that had to be overcome including… Homers father who did not support his efforts, money, lack of materials and their inability to weld. Homer and his friends even got dragged into the police station when a fire was discovered and they could not account for all their launched rockets. With every obstacle Homer was able to overcome and persevere and find a way to get past it.

Positive Mental Attitude

Homer was able to stay in a positive frame of mind no matter what obstacle was handed to him. Even when he was forced to drop out of school and work in the coal mine when his father was injured. He said that it was not as bad as he thought it would be. He was also able to reconcile his relationship with his father even though his father was unsupportive of him, calling him his Hero.

Master Mind Alliance

This is a huge reason why Homer was successful. He was able to get the support of his friends and they befriended a classmate Quinton who had a lot of intellectual knowledge. Their science teacher was supportive of them and supplied books to them. Also when they needed welding done for the rocket then they befriended Homer’s dads employees to weld rocket pieces for them. When the rocket launches became known throughout the town, people started showing up to watch and support. Homer was also in correspondence with Wernher von Braun who was a aerospace and rocket engineer who gave him an autographed photo.

= Persistence

Homer was determined to build a perfect working rocket no matter what. He walked 8miles to his launch site, tore up railways to get money to order rocket parts and struggled through advanced math that even his Science teacher could not help him with. With every obstacle Homer just kept on keeping his eyes on his goal.

I really enjoyed this movie and it touched my heart. In the end he won 1st place at the National Science Fair and got his Scholarship. He graduated from Virginia Tech, Served in the Vietnam War, became a NASA space engineer, New York Times best selling author and avid amateur paleontologist.

I am very inspired to see these skill put into context and to see how they can change the direction of a life lived. This is the SUCCESS FORMULA. Four tiny habits that build fortunes, rags to riches stories, win gold metals, and bring the best life ever dreamed of.  🙂 🙂 🙂

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