During the holidays I usually take time to catch up on the year’s movies. This year I decided to take a look at the hype around the Hobbit.

I enjoyed the first two Hobbit movies, I was whisked away to the fantasy world created by Tolkien and recreated by Peter Jackson and his crew and cast. What really moved me was the passion, creativity and perseverance it must have required Mr. Tolkien to create the story and Mr. Jackson to visualize the intricate details of each character and life in Middle Earth. I was touched to learn that Tolkien wrote the Hobbit to process what he had endured while serving in the First World War; transforming the suffering into something remarkably beautiful for others to enjoy and learn from.

As I watched some of the production blogs to understand the movie’s creation, I learned about the enormous amount of time, work, determination and talent invested in the movie. Add to that the imagination, planning, organization, extraordinary computer skills, sweat and travel to far away places.

What does the making of the Hobbit have to do with the career and life choices we make?

To create something great, something we are proud of requires similar skills and traits, including hard work, grit and repetition to hone our skills. The actors of the Hobbit spent weeks learning how to be dwarves, and repeatedly reenacting scenes. To do a job well or to seek excellence we need to be open and willing to admit our shortcomings and brave enough to learn new and different skills.

The athletes at the Olympics didn’t make it by simply wanting it or thinking positively. They became world class athletes through hard work and by persevering even when they were tired and experienced setbacks.

As parents we often tell our children they can be anything they want. We do so to encourage them to pursue their dreams. But as adults we know that the reality is a bit more complex.  What we do with our lives depends on our skills, our aptitude, social & economic context, timing and the choices we make. But since our time is limited it is so important to do something meaningful, and strive for excellence in any area of our life. That asks for creativity, compassion, and, consistently showing up.

Do you live your life on autopilot? Have you let the old and familiar routine take over while the plane that is your life follows the path to the end destination? Or, are you actively engaged in your life, in the choices you make and the impact you have?

You don’t need to be an Oscar-winning director or an Olympic medalist to be your best and live a purposeful life.  The question is; how do you define excellence? While we often tend to assess it by money and fame, I prefer  a different definition, something similar to the Third Metric, which includes well-being, wisdom, wonder, compassion and giving as a model of success.

You may think that it is only those in the creative professions who can allow themselves to be passionate and creative. We “regular people” with 9-6 office jobs live under different stars. I believe all humans are innately creative but as we grow up we learn to tame our creative spirit and fit into the corporate bureaucratic mold. Yes, we need to work to pay the mortgage, and feed our family but we can still add some imagination, wonder and compassion to our lives. By how we work, what we chose to do outside of work (are you spending your leisure time-consuming what others have created or trying to create something yourself and help others?), and when the opportunity is there seek out that Unexpected Journey.