Decisions When Everyone Says You Can’t

I recently had a chance to meet Dan “Rudy” Ruettiger. You may not remember Dan, but you may remember the Movie “Rudy”. As you may or may not know from the movie, Rudy was 5 foot “nothin” 100 and “nothin” lbs. and was a C student in high school and his dream was to play college football at the University of Notre Dame. At the time, not only one of the top football programs in the country and that means the average player is usually over 6 feet tall and well over 200 lbs, sometimes even 250+ or 300 lbs. Not only that, but Notre Dame is one of the most selective universities in the US and they don’t really make exceptions for football players like some schools so Rudy’s dream of even getting into Notre Dame was BIG, let alone playing football there.

Rudy held onto his dream since he was a young boy despite most of his family never having gone to college and working in the local factory. For years and years, Rudy was laughed at and derided by both family and friends but he held onto his dream. One day after the death of his close friend, Rudy jumped on a bus to Notre Dame with little money and no plan (and still C grades in high school). The movie tells the story of how he managed to get into junior college despite being broke and getting turned down for admission to Notre Dame despite getting As and Bs in grades in college and for the first time in his life.

I believe what changed things for Rudy was when he made the DECISION to make his dream happen and he made the DECISION that he was no longer going to listen to the naysayers and despite his frustration , fear, and potential embarrassment he tried even harder. Research of hundreds and hundreds of the most successful people has shown that one of the common characteristics of successful people is that they make more & quicker decisions. And those decisions are unwavering commitments.

When Rudy made a TRUE decision, he said:

“Ever since I was a kid everyone said it couldn’t be done. My whole life people have been telling me what I could do & couldn’t do. I’ve always listened to them, believed in what they said… I don’t want to do that any more.” -Rudy Ruettiger

I believe this led to him finally being accepted to Notre Dame and he was selected to walk-on to the football team despite being half the size of other guys on the team. The rest they say is “history” and a movie!

Check out the photo of the real “Rudy” on the left and me in the center and the cover of the movie if you are interested in this inspirational story!

Where in your life do you have a big dream where you are doubted or discouraged by someone else?

What are you doing to make progress towards your dream?

Who can you ask to support you in your dream and how?

PLEASE comment and share your story or journey below!

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