My favorite movie scene is from The Dark Knight Rises, a superhero film starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and as Batman.
Bane, a masked terrorist played by Tom Hardy, defeats Batman in a fight and takes him to an underground prison where escape is virtually impossible. Only one prisoner, a child born and raised in the prison, has ever escaped.
Inmates can try to escape the prison by scaling a huge wall. They typically tie a rope around themselves for safety, in case they fall on their way up.
Bruce Wayne tries to escape with the security of a rope, but he slips and falls. His back is badly injured when the rope snaps back around his torso as he falls.
One night after his fall, Bruce awakens from a nightmare. He tells the prison doctor that he is afraid of dying in prison while Gotham burns.
The doctor says, “Then, make the climb.”
Bruce smirks and asks, “How?”
The doctor replies, “As the child did… without the rope.”
Bruce reflects and realizes climbing without a rope is his only way to succeed. He makes his next attempt without the safety and protection of a rope. This time, he climbs to the top of the wall and escapes from the prison. 1
Sure, the prison scene in The Dark Knight Rises is only a movie. However, it serves as a powerful metaphor for achieving any big goal in life.
When we fail, it is often not because of a lack of ability. Instead, we often fail because of self-doubt and a lack of commitment.
We think failure is possible or likely, so we come up with a backup plan, like Bruce Wayne’s initial use of a rope.
A backup plan might seem logical when success is not guaranteed. However, think of the psychology of having a backup plan. You are telling yourself you might fail, which is not what you should be thinking when you are pursuing a big goal.
Don’t take my word for it or Batman’s. Scientists have also demonstrated the danger of having a backup plan. Research from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has found that simply thinking through a backup plan can reduce your chances of achieving a goal.
In a series of experiments, participants were given a task and told they would be rewarded if they performed well. Some participants were then told to create a backup plan and think of other ways to get the same rewards later in the day if they didn’t perform well in the study.
People instructed to make backup plans performed worse on the task. A follow-up experiment found that the presence of a backup plan reduced their motivation to perform well. 2
When a goal is truly important to you, go all in and commit 100%. Do not waste time or energy creating a backup plan.
A backup plan is a plan to fail.
Footnotes
- Here is a YouTube link to the prison scene from The Dark Knight Rises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5zdmA7HSoE
- You can read more about the backup plan experiment here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160811155913.htm
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About the Author
Pete Leibman is a speaker and author who helps consultants, lawyers, and advisors build the energy, focus, and resilience to sustain high performance. He delivers keynotes, workshops, and webinars for leading consulting firms, law firms, and financial services firms. Pete is the author of three books and more than 300 articles on high performance. His latest book is Stronger Advisor: High-Performance Habits for Consultants, Lawyers, and Advisors.
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