- December 3, 2018 -
They'd rather run from fights than be involved in a shootout.
They were the perfect pair of opposites.
...the male counterpoint to Thelma and Louise.
You know they're outlaws who couldn't resist an easy score...but you just can't help rooting for the lovable renegades.
And you know fate will catch up with them in the end, but you don't want to see the inevitable happen.
So you don't...the movie ends with a hail of gun shots heard but the frame is frozen.
They were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Rebels who went down in a blaze of glory.
But man, what a ride they had.
Totally remove the fact that they were con artists...and you can't help but see incredible parallels to that of the entrepreneur.
Butch (played by Paul Newman) isn't the toughest guy in his gang.
And he's certainly not the fastest gun.
...that's what he's got Sundance for.
But he manages to out-think pretty much everyone around him.
When the movie opens up, he's casing a bank to see if robbing it is a good idea. He checks out the bars on the windows, the safe at the rear of the bank, and the armed guards.
Later when he and Sundance are on the run from a posse who's dogging them at every turn, Butch is constantly analyzing the situation.
Comparing the posse's tracking abilities to his own and picking Sundance's brain:
"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do that? They're beginning to get on my nerves. Who are those guys?"
Knowing his competition helped Butch figure out his next move.
Smart dude. Like when Ford and GM bought their competitors' cars and took them apart to see how they were made.
Takeaways?
+ Know your competition way better than they know you.
+ Know what you're good at...and stick to it.
+ Know what you suck at or just really don't like to do...and don't do that stuff.
And when your competition is hot on your heels and you've tried everything you can think of?
Well...
Butch and Cassidy jumped off a cliff into the river.
Butch: Alright. I'll jump first.
Sundance: No.
Butch: Then you jump first.
Sundance: No, I said.
Butch: What's the matter with you?
Sundance: I can't swim.
Butch: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.
Sundance (as they run to the cliff edge and leap together): Oh, shiiiiiiiiiit...
Sometimes you just have to take off the bifocals, look beyond what's got you spooked...and jump.
And like Sundance told Butch (last quote, I promise):
"I'll do anything you want me to but I won't watch you die."
Ready to set yourself up for a better 2019 than what you had this year?
Talk soon,
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