Your Personal “El Guapo”
Have you seen the classic movie Three Amigos?
I came across this scene from one of my favorite movies:
“In a way, all of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be *the actual* El Guapo!”
- Lucky Day from the movie, Three Amigos
Of course I’m bringing this up for comic relief… but aside from the ridiculousness of the scene, the components are there for a beneficial life coaching session:
1. Identify an issue you’re struggling with.
2. Play with metaphor:
How is my shyness like this big, dangerous man who wants to kill us?
Or How does my situation with my boss resemble my approach to exercise?
Finding creative ways to relate our problematic situations to seemingly unrelated topics can help us to see our issues in new ways and possibly find solutions we couldn’t see before.
3. Work on the psychological flexibility to face your issue rather than run from and avoid it
4. Discover how your innate strengths already provide the guidance and tools for moving forward
5. Oh, and of course, use levity and humor to help you rise out of any stressful situation!