your future is whatever you make it

Today is the day to which Doc Brown and Marty McFly traveled in “Back to the Future Part II.” It also happens to be eight years to the day that I said “I do” to spending the rest of my future with my husband. In the spirit of both anniversaries, here are some life takeaways from the eighties classic.

Overcome your fear of rejection. Marty was ready to admit defeat and never play music again just because someone told him he played “too loud.” His teacher Mr. Strickland didn’t think he would amount to anything just because his dad wasn’t much of an achiever. George needed a lot of coaxing to get up the nerve to talk to Lorraine, and even then he fumbled all over himself. Even if he didn’t appear to be much of a success at the time, he eventually got the girl. To go after anything worthwhile and secure the future of your dreams, you’ll have to put in hard work and suffer rejection. The most successful people in history have achieved thick skin and eventually success after a whole lot of rejection, and they didn’t let fear, resistance, or the opinion of others keep them from trying again.

Be resourceful. You may not build a time machine from a DeLorean or use Miller Light to fuel it in a pinch, but making do with what you have will serve you well. If you don’t need frills to be happy, you stand a better chance of staying happy. An attitude of gratefulness goes a long way. Appreciate what you have in the lean times, and you will learn to be prepared for anything.

Be true to yourself. Don’t let anyone push you around or get in the way of your dreams. Only small-minded people are bothered by people they view as less than, and bullying betrays an insecurity and fear of others’ success. Movies almost always show us that bullies never prosper. You’ll always encounter resistance from a Mr. Strickland telling you you’ll never amount to anything or a Biff waiting to pound your ass. You can’t let other people define you. Greatness is only ever accomplished by overcoming resistance. Haters gonna hate, but are they doing something worthwhile? Are they making a difference in the world? Don’t waste your energy worrying about the opinions of people stuck in their own small-mindedness.

Stand up for yourself. Goldie Wilson was sweeping floors at the diner in 1955, but eventually became mayor (just like he said he would) even though no one believed that was even possible. He encouraged George to stop letting people push him around.

Goldie Wilson: Say! Why do you let those boys push you around like that for?
George McFly: Well, they’re bigger than me.
Goldie Wilson: Stand tall, boy. Have some respect for yourself. Don’t you know, if you let people walk over you now, they’ll be walking over you for the rest of your life. Look at me. You think I’m gonna spend the rest of my life in this slop house?
Lou: Watch it, Goldie.
Goldie Wilson: No, sir! I’m gonna make something of myself. I’m going to night school, and one day, I’m gonna be somebody!
Marty McFly: That’s right! He’s gonna be mayor.

Finally, George is able to stand up to Biff when it counts and wins the heart of Lorraine. If you want to make something of yourself, it starts with believing that you don’t deserve to be a doormat. People can only give you as much respect as you project that you’re worth.

Forge your own path. “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Sometimes it seems like there’s not enough of a beaten path for what you envision yourself doing. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but it’s good to think outside the box (to use every cliche in the book). Not every successful person needs to be a pioneer, but where would we be if no one dared to do something that hadn’t been done before?

Let the past live in the past. We know you can’t actually change the past, and who knows what the consequences would be if that were possible. Marty got a very different view of his parents in their youth than he had of them in his lifetime. You fall in love with people for who they are at the time you met them and who they are becoming. Of course, people’s histories are formative to their character, but their past is not who they are now. Live in the present and plan the future with people you love. Only look back if it’s to fondly remember the good stuff.

And lastly, what Doc Brown said: “Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.”