Here’s a free pass to play hooky from your work mid-afternoon, and go to a movie instead of chugging down your list of 200 contacts. You will have better insight if you do.

You can learn a ton from Life of Pi, which is exquisitely shot, lives in the realm of fantasy, and takes off from the saga of a shipwrecked Indian boy.

Uncommon courage and insight in a story of man vs. beast amid the salty seas

See it, and see what you can pick up from Pi to achieve greater self-awareness, because it is scientifically proven that greater self-awareness is positively correlated with success.

Here are my 6 takeaways from Life of Pi:

1. What makes a huge impression on a youngster, sticks for life. In the movie, the lesson was not to feed a tiger; it is a wild animal. The character Pi never forgets this lesson, which ultimately helps save his life.

2. Be open to your reality; you have more courage than you know.

3. Every day is a blessing, every new challenge will demand your creativity. Without creativity, you will wither in the struggle. That’s for sure.

4. Foreign cultures, sights, and sounds aren’t frou frou. They are part of the core of a cosmopolitan person. I spent 16 months in my twenties tramping around Asia; that experience not only resonates “back then,” it lives in my psyche now, too, and whets my appetite for new cultural experiences, midlife.

Like me, be a person who is interested in other cultures and the wider world. Not solely for your personal growth. This will help you in the good ol’ US of A, where 38 million people were born abroad.

5. Look for the parallels in what you are experiencing. It is not about your deadbeat Dad, your difficult boss, or your dysfunctional family. It is about you. As my coach says, a business that doesn’t work is about you who doesn’t work. Fix yourself on the psychological, spiritual, and physical levels. Then your professional work will level up.

6. You are beautiful at every age. How many actors played the main character, Piscine Molitor, over the years? The credits showed a whole bunch. And each persona was lovely at that very age.

Mojo Moves

• Grab a friend and see Life of Pi at a theater. Some things simply cannot be appreciated on Hulu or Netflix. The gorgeous cinematography requires it.
• Think about what lesson from your childhood comes back to you on a regular basis, possibly even every day. Be aware of your “regurgitated” thinking. Self-awareness will inform why you reflexively respond as you do, and help you recalibrate to respond as you wish, instead of by rote.
• Get out and investigate one neighborhood that is rich in ethnic diversity. You will grow as a person and a colleague, when you do this.

Movie poster ™ and © Twentieth Century Fox.

What did you think of the movie? Please tell us in the comments.