5 Life Lessons I’ve Learned from the movie ‘The Intern’

I love the movie ‘The Intern.’

In case you haven’t seen it yet, please watch it. You’ll pick up a lot of life lessons in the movie. “The Intern,” although fiction, depicts the reality of life. When Mike introduced me to the movie, he said: “Babe, watch this movie. Anne is like you. 24/7 work.” He sounded sarcastic but it hit me. It really portrayed me: juggles parenting, work, and business.

Here’s a teaser for you:

Anyway, it’s a 2015 movie that stars Academy Award winners Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, and Rene Russo. The story revolves around a young Internet sensation played by Anne Hathaway, who juggles business, marriage, and family. Her company thought of a community outreach program which is to hire senior interns. Robert De Niro is one of the interns, who is 70 years old and has a lot of experience in the corporate world and in life itself.

So, for the nth time, I watched it again last night and thought of sharing with you the life lessons every millennial, wife, husband, stay-at-home-dad, entrepreneur, can learn from the movie.

5. Don’t be scared to learn the old school way.

On Dressing Up

I almost forgot about this but at least Mike reminds me to dress accordingly.

Millennials are defined as someone confident, independent, and prudent. In short, we already know what to do and we hate being told. But what we don’t know is: EXPERIENCE NEVER GETS OLD. Old school is the best.

For instance, in the movie, Robert (Ben) showed what “dress to impress” means. Hasn’t this been true for you? When you’re dolled up, you feel so much better? You feel more confident because you’re dressed well? It’s the same thing with what Ben was trying to instill to the younger generations. I mean, the youngsters don’t dress accordingly anymore – and that’s me included. We already have this mentality that it’s not “how-we-look-matters-it’s-how-we-get-things-done” attitude. But sometimes, we really have to dress up.

Look at that. Don’t the youngsters look like they just got up, washed their faces, and went to work?

Try it tomorrow. Even if you’re not working. Try to dress well. You’d feel great!

On Pleasing a Lady

Gosh. I don’t want to sound like a mom here, but come on, there’s more than just a text message or a phone call. As you’ve noticed almost, if not, everything you see on the Internet is about relationships, how to find the right guy/girl in your life, as if the world’s gonna crash if you don’t get married at the age of 25. Ben taught the youngsters how to win a lady – the old fashioned way.

Who still offers a hanky when a lady cries nowadays?

4. Marriage is all about forgiveness

I have this book entitled: “If You Want To Have a Happier Marriage, You Would.” And one of the secrets to a long marriage is finding time with each other. In the movie, Anne Hathaway’s husband cheated on her because she is barely home and no quality time for them. But at the end, they patched things up and forgave each other.

In reality, marriage is a long-term commitment. Therefore, it needs a lot of patience and one must have an open-mind; ready to forgive, sacrifice, and love unconditionally.

3. Respect your co-worker’s advice and decisions

As what George Bernard Shaw said: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” If you’re working and leads a team, respect your staff’s or co-worker’s advice and/or decision for the team. If you’re the head, learn to embrace your flaws and welcome the new ideas. This is what happened in the movie: the old school vs the new school. But rather than following one genre, both have collaborated and as a result, they clicked and produced a more harmonious workplace.

2. Embrace the digital world with open arms

Ben (Robert De Niro) doesn’t know anything about e-mails, uploading videos, and only joined Facebook at the age of 70. Instead of being complacent, he stepped out of his comfort zone and gracefully embraced the digital world.

We tried to stick with the traditional, the one that we are used to, but the future is telling us to embrace the digital and virtual reality. The movie taught me that “time is an ongoing relentless effort of creativity.”

1. Aim for a work-life balance

This advice is commonly used but hardly practiced. But, this is true. If we can and our work permits us, aim for a work-life balance. Everyone is always on the go and we rarely pump the breaks to smell the flowers and just enjoy the things that take our breath away.

Take a walk.