Out there, in the cinematographic world, are a lot of great movies, and all have something unique, something different that sets them apart from the sea of mediocrity, and those are the kinds of films I’m looking for and trying to highlight in this series. And, of course, “Ocean’s Eleven” falls under this category perfectly due to its strong characters that are in the pursuit of a tremendous, and challenging to accomplish, goal; a thing that allows me to capture plenty of lessons from their actions.

Disclaimer: I have to note that these are my opinions, that I took from the movie, but I advise you to watch it yourself, maybe you will feel differently or pick up on something I missed.

I think this is one of the most important, and most obvious lesson that we can take away from this movie, and, if practiced correctly it can improve your life significantly. The team of criminals led by Danny Ocean is trying to pull off the biggest casino heist in history; a robbery so big, and so risky that nobody tried anything remotely similar before; a suicide mission.

Only so the team can get into the Casino’s highly secured, and monitored vault filled with lots of cash, they have to get through the security, and their cameras, down an inaccessible elevator, past armed guards, and through another secured door, without getting caught. It already sounds like a mad mission but, this is only the easy part because, they still have to get out with the money safely, and that is the most challenging part of the whole operation.

Now, to be able to pull off something this big and never before done, you can’t leave things to chance, to randomness, you need everything to be planned out since even one unexpected thing can have a drastically negative impact on the end result. Thus, the only way to accomplish such an insane goal is to have a clear, and very detailed plan that takes into consideration all variables, and possible outcomes, and figures out the best way to act forward.

You don’t need to be a criminal with the goal of robbing some casinos to create such a precise plan for yourself but, you do need to be aware that building such a masterpiece requires plenty of thinking time; you can’t figure out all the mysteries of the world in a single day. You will need to think about your goal, and what’s the best way to accomplish it, day in and day out, with the hope that you might arrive at a decent answer; without having any certainties that you will actually get there.

Planning, scripting your life out is such a powerful technique because most people are not using it; thus, it gives you a tremendous advantage over them if you’re applying it into your life.

A while ago, I was at a conference, and one of the speakers was this rather young but surely successful entrepreneur, and, after a while, he dropped a real gem on us, the listeners. He told us one thing that still mesmerizes me today, this guy had a plan for each of his dollars even back in the days when he was just a broke kid, and, now, years later, he has such a detailed plan that he knows even what he wants to do at 60, and that’s one big reason why he’s so successful nowadays.

Don’t expect things to evolve precisely to your plan, moreover, be prepared for the unexpected, for change but, if you do have a plan for how you want to accomplish your goals, it acts as a map that can guide you through life’s challenges.

Besides the highly detailed and thought plan, that is a must, what assured that Ocean’s vision would come true was the fact that he chose a team of highly trained individuals, each a master in his specific field. Danny Ocean, the character played by George Clooney, could’ve had the perfect plan but, without a skilled team, he would’ve failed sooner or later.

You probably don’t need to work directly with a team as vast as his to accomplish what you want, you might not need a real team at all but, the truth is that to some extent, everybody that’s in your environment, everybody that surrounds you is part of your team. A team is meant to help you progress, and evolve faster but, if not chosen correctly, it might end up doing the opposite.

And, the people around you, your friends and family, have, to some extent, influence over the way you, and your plan develops, thus, being metaphorically part of your team. The issue is that not all of them are helping you, plenty might drag you down only because they don’t know any better since that’s how they got raised.

You’re the one to decide if you want to get influenced by them or not; sometimes it might be helpful but, often, devastating. You can’t choose the environment you get born in, and, if by misfortune you don’t grow in a healthy one, you might face some challenges thanks to the people around you.

If you’re at a certain level, and you’re trying to get higher, way above the people around you, they might feel threatened, and try to drag you back down to their level, and that’s why you have to surrender yourself as much as possible with people that are better than you.

You can’t decide what kind of environment you get born in but, you can surely decide what kind of people you surround yourself with, and how much you let them influence you since they are all part of your team, and they might push you higher or, often, drag you down, destroying your plans.

Lessons Learned

This is just one movie part of a great series that I surely recommend thanks to its brilliant acting, in combination with a story that surely keeps you glued to the screen, and mesmerizing cinematic techniques, which succeed to put this series, and especially this movie, into my top favorites.

Having a solid plan that considers all variables, all possible outcomes while still being prepared for change, for the unexpected, and, at the same time being surrounded as much as possible with people that support you, with people that push you upwards, will undoubtedly improve the quality of your life more than you ever expect; and, these are the lessons I have got out of this movie.