How to Use Movies For Personal Growth

by Gregory V. Chapman

Movies are often just a hobby or a way to kill some time while procrastinating. However, it can be turned into a useful tool for personal growth. It would be especially useful for people who feel lost in heir daily routine, come home from work with a head full of numbers and stress. Movies are a work of art and by using them correctly, you can benefit from them a lot. Remember that we are the only ones to choose where and who to learn from and how to apply that knowledge to real life.

Movies As an Inspiration And Motivation

There are a lot of instructive things that we hear over and over again but never apply them in real life. It is characteristic for people to only recognize things when they experience them on their own skin. Therefore, movies are a great way to make your own inferences and use them for self-development. Movies about personal growth provide a push that so many of us need.

Here is a list of some movies that will help you disconnect and get motivation.

The Shawshank Redemption tells how precious patience can be. Pay attention to the famous quote: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living or get busy dying”;
The Greatest Showman will prove you one more time that you are who you are;
The Founder and Steve Jobs: We always wonder how the greatest people managed to achieve those summits - these movies will make you grab a notebook and write down some quotes.
The Fittest On Earth: a documentary by Netflix that displays the most devoted people that you will ever see in your life.

Make Connections

We only memorize the lessons learned when we connect them to our own experiences. Every movie has a lesson in it. Even the one that we might regard as the most stupid and demoralized. You just need to use the skill of analyzing. Some movies have the moral on the surface others have it covered so that the viewer can open it on his own. Movies are based on real people’s life so that is why they give a lot of life lessons.

By the way, you can watch a movie with the same topic that worries you at that period. For instance, if you are trying to cope with divorce, watch a movie about it. It can make you burst into tears, but you will understand that it is time to move. If you are struggling to build a successful career and life, then watch movies with inspirational figures in it.

Feeling lost? Watch movies about finding yourself. A great example is Rocky from 1976.

Movie As a Psychological Tool

Watching a movie can be a real therapy, here is why.

The intensity and the tension of the plot change through the movie, just like the therapy session.
The average duration of the film equals the duration of one session of therapy.
Education: Films are allegories, they are like fables. We just need to extract the right messages from them.
Identification: A lot of us can identify ourselves with movie characters. Thus, we can use self-development movies to see how others change and implement changes on our own.
Conversations about the film increase its value in the memory of an individual and is an integrative tool in the therapy.

Different Kinds of Movies For Different Moods

Everything is simple with it. When you feel tense and overwhelmed let a light comedy ease your life. Comedies make life look simpler. When you feel like you are stuck in a day-to-day routine and need something stunning then watch one of the masterpieces from the movie world. A sad or horror movie can help you release emotions that have been drowning you for a long time.

Rediscover Your Preferences - And Yourself As Well

You often act according to what we know we like but we rarely take the chance to try something new. We would not sacrifice another two hours for something “out of the box” and would rather relax by watching something which we stick to.

Make yourself a marathon of watching films from absolutely different genres. Horror, historic films, fantasy, action, drama, romantic film, sci-fi, fantasy, childish cartoons, documentaries - so many categories and there is always something for everyone.

Finding New Perspectives Is Possible with Movies

We live with only one perspective on life. It is impossible that one person faces all possible problems in the world. Everyone gets a unique set of experiences and hence it is imperative to understand, feel, think and live differently. It can seriously change our worldview and stimulate us to make a change or take the courage to make some kind of commitment.

Observe the reactions and reviews of others. You will reassure one more time that every person’s brain is functioning in a unique way. Let’s take Cats. People are literally throwing rotten tomatoes in it, while some people really admire it as a decent musical. This is how our world functions.

Use Movies to Learn Languages

Films are a powerful tool to learn new languages especially if you watch a movie made in the country which language you want to learn. What is more, you can listen to the pronunciation of the words and see the specifics of life language. It helps to familiarize yourself with the native speech and put the learned vocabulary into context.

Practice Journaling

Journaling is proved to advance your analysis and is effective for managing emotions. Besides, this activity can help turn regular watching of movies into a hobby and even something more. Record what thoughts and emotions you get from self-help movies. Who knows maybe you would become a respect film reviewer. If you have problems at first you can use Best Writers Online review service to check your writing mistakes.

Summary

To sum up, movies really are an amazing way to unplug from reality and dive into the virtual world. However, you should perceive them not as a procrastination saver but as a self-therapy. By choosing the right movies, extracting the right messages from them, you get a huge benefit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gregory V. Chapman is passionate about researching new technologies in both mobile, web and WordPress. Also, he works on Best Writers Online the best writing services reviews. Gregory in love with stories and facts, so Gregory always tries to get the best of both worlds.