Success Lessons from MTV’s Made

Did you ever think you could turn to MTV to find success lessons? Neither did I, but then I realized that they have one of the more interesting and instructional shows on TV. It’s a program called Made, and I have to admit, I kind of love it.

On the show, a kid (usually someone between 16 and 20) decides that he or she wants to do something completely different and new, and they want to do it fast. The title comes from the fact that the kid wants to be “made” into something. Over the show’s history, people have been made into basketball players, cheerleaders, rap artists, beauty queens, ladies men, dancers, actors, opera singers, skate boarders, bikers, gymnasts, robotics team members, and many, many more.

The unifying factor is that the kids haven’t done anything like the new activity before. MTV sets them up with a coach, and they usually build up to an event (tryout, pageant, competition, performance, etc) 6-12 weeks out.

I enjoy this show because let’s face it: it’s kind of a personal development person’s dream. You get to watch people make dramatic transformations in short periods of time, and you get to see their ups and downs along the way. Usually, it’s quite inspiring.

I know that reality TV has a bad rap (justifiably) and there’s no way we’re seeing the whole story. Still, I think there is a whole lot we can learn from what we observe in MTV’s Made:

The First Thing That Goes is the Comfort Zone

“Made” is an entertaining show, if for no other reason than it’s fun to watch teens throw tantrums and resist change, even when they asked for those changes!

One of the first things to go is the comfort zone. The kids are asked to dress different, do different activities, meet different people, etc. And it’s very entertaining to watch them rail against these new activities.

Einstein famously said, “problems can not be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Same thing here: You can not keep doing the same things and expect to get massively different results.

If you are happy with where you are at, great! If not, you have to get out of your comfort zone. Makes sense, right? If doing things the way you have been doing them got you to where you are, then to get somewhere else you have to do something different. Too often though, people want to get different results without really changing anything or getting out of their comfort zone. We all do it, but that doesn’t make it any less stupid…

Question: What are you holding yourself back from achieving because you are unwilling to step out of your comfort zone?

Accountability

Talk about a golden opportunity! These people on this show get their very own “Made Coach.” This is a professional who works with the kid for the entire process, teaching them, mentoring them, and giving them assignments to help them get better.

Most importantly though, the Coach holds the kid accountable.

If the participant misses an appointment, skips a workout, doesn’t do an assignment, or just overall doesn’t seem to be trying, the Coach will be right there to get on his or her case. It’s not fun, it’s not pretty, but it works.

Based on the frequency with which the kids resist change and skip out on stuff, if they didn’t have the external accountability of a coach, they would never get anywhere.

In our own lives, we can often use the same. Sure, we’d like to think that we are mature, intelligent adults who can motivate ourselves, but you know as well as I that left to our own devices, especially when starting something new, it’s a lot easier to let ourselves down than someone else.

Our ultimate goal should be to be as accountable to ourselves as to someone else. Until that far off day arrives, consider getting someone to be your accountability coach. Whether it’s a paid professional who teaches and mentors, or just a friend who you commit to, having an external person to answer to can be a huge help.

Question: How is your accountability? Do you need to hire/ask/find someone else to be accountable to?

Sacrifice

A common theme on most episodes is the idea of “sacrifice.” In order to make time to become who and what they want to be, the kids often have to let go of people they currently hang with and and things they currently do.

Athletes have to be less involved with their teams, active kids have to drop some after school clubs, and everyone has to spend less time with their friends. Not permanently, but certainly for the period of time that they are working on their goal…

This is always a point of contention. The friends don’t understand. The clubs and teams don’t understand. The parents don’t always understand. And the kid never wants to make those sacrifices.

In the end (usually after a breakdown – see next point), the kid sucks it up and makes the sacrifices, the friends all reconcile, and everyone ends up happy.

The point is, achieving your goals and moving to the next level of success takes some sacrifice. The bigger the goal and the shorter the time frame, the bigger the sacrifice.

Question: What are you willing to sacrifice in order to achieve your goal?

The Breakdown and Massive (Re)Commitment

At some point in most episodes, 50-75% of the way through, the person will have a giant meltdown. They will quit, want to quit, or just have a big blowup argument with their coach.

Invariably, a day or two later, they will apologize to their coach and recommit, and from that point on everything seems to be smooth sailing. (I don’t know if that’s creative editing, or if they simply never show episodes where the person quits and stays quit. But on the episodes I have seen, every single time things get great after the meltdown).

It’s almost as if the person needs to hit rock bottom before they can turn themselves around and get on track.

The regularity with which this happens reinforces the idea that what gets in most people’s way is mentality. They are held back by their unwillingness to change. They need to get pushed so far that eventually they snap, break out of old habits, and embrace the new direction.

Think of a rubber band; every time you stretch it, it snaps back to it’s original shape. Stretch it far enough though, and it snaps.

Question: Have you really committed to what you want to achieve, or are you continuously “snapping back” to old habits?

Try applying these four lessons when you find yourself pursuing a goal. You don’t even have to ever tell anyone you got the ideas from an MTV show…

About

By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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