What the movie Office Space can teach us about Personal Development

I loved this movie the very first time I saw it especially since I was living in Northern California during the dot com boom. It was the kind of movie that made us laugh, but we all felt we could relate to on some level. The cubicle farms, long hours, and endless amount of traffic were a testament to the Silicon Valley culture of the late 1990′s. Although Office Space is hilarious, I think it is a social commentary on the state of our lives. I’m sure at this point you must be wondering what kind of personal development lessons I could draw from a movie like Office Space. So, let’s get right to it.

The most valuable lessons we can learn from the movie Office Space are the power of letting go and the power of indifference. Look at the behavior of the main character, Peter. When the movie starts, he’s a constant stress case about his job, he’s in a relationship with a girl who’s making his life a living hell and cheating on him. What is interesting to note is the results that occur from his change in behavior. After he stops caring, all of these wonderful things start to happen in his life. When the girlfriend that he hates calls, rather than putting up with her, he just hangs up the phone, and goes on to meet somebody he likes much more. At the office, he has absolutely no concern for getting ahead or making more money, yet he gets promoted. I’m not advocating that you behave in this manner at work, but I think you can learn something from his overall attitude.

Leo Babuta wrote an interesting post on Zen Habits about embracing what emerges, and noted that fact we can’t always predict the future. Yet, with our careers and jobs we have so much attachment to the future. Peter’s attitude in Office Space is a true testament to the fact that with indifference to outcomes and detachment, comes great power. By contrast his friends who are stressed and worried end up getting fired. When you are attached to an outcome, you are actually fearing loss, and the law of attraction goes to work, and that loss is exactly what you experience, loss. When you die, it’s highly unlikely that you will think “I should have put in more hours at the office or gotten that promotion.” Chances are it won’t matter at all and you wont’ care one bit. So, why wait? Start living today!!!