Lessons from Batman's butler

Use the difficulty

I was watching old interviews on YouTube last night.

It started with a Pete Townsend (of the Who fame) interview on Letterman’s show and turned into a full blown rabbit hole deep dive…

You know how it goes.

Anyway, I ended up on this 2.5 minute video of Michael Caine talking about his early days stage acting.

Now, I’ve seen this video before, but I always stop to watch it again any time it pops up.

He’s talking about his life philosophy, “Use the difficulty".

What does this mean, you may ask?

Well, I’ll let Michael tell you:

I was rehearsing a play when i was a very young actor and i had to come in this scene.
It was a stage play and I'm behind the flats waiting to open the door.
There was an improvised scene between a husband and wife going on inside and they got carried away and they started throwing things.
He threw a chair and it lodged in the doorway.
I went to get open the door and I just got my head round and I said "I'm sorry sir I can't get in."
He said "What do you mean?"
He sees the chair there and he said to me "Use the difficulty."
I said "What do you mean?"
He said "Well, if it's a comedy fall over it. If it's a drama pick it up and smash it. Use the difficulty."
Now I took that into my own life.
How can we work it?
What can we get out of this, you know?
Use the difficulty.
And so there's never anything so bad that you cannot use that difficulty.
If you can use it a quarter of one percent to your advantage, you're ahead you didn't let it get you down.
That's my philosophy, use the difficulty.

Michael Caine

Pretty powerful stuff, right?!

Get’s me fired up. Every single time.

Last night I was so fired up, I ended up watching Jocko Willink's "Good” which paired pretty well:

Oh, the mission got canceled? Good… We can focus on another one.
Didn’t get the new high-speed gear we wanted? Good… We can keep it simple.
Didn’t get promoted? Good… More time to get better.
Didn’t get funded? Good… We own more of the company.
Didn’t get the job you wanted? Good… Go out, gain more experience, and build a better resume.
Got injured? Good… Needed a break from training.
Got tapped out? Good… It’s better to tap out in training than tap out on the street.
Got beat? Good… We learned.
Unexpected problems? Good… We have to figure out a solutions
That’s it. When things are going bad: Don’t get all bummed out, don’t get started, don’t get frustrated. No. Just look at the issue and say: “Good.”

Jocko Willink

The reason these messages are so powerful is this: life is always going to be hard.

If you try to hide from it you will suffer more. This only adds more stress from not confronting your problems, which compounds with time.

And we know nothing good comes from being comfortable.

So, use the difficulty.

Make hard decisions.

The obstacle is the way, so embrace it.

Your life will be better for it.

Cheers,

Swanagan