There are times when you want to throw your laptop into the nearest lake and never try to get it back.
You may feel tired of doing the same stuff over and over again without seeing any results. Or perhaps you commit to something but never finish it, only to start something else and leave that unfinished as well.
You are not alone.
It happened to Julie Powell too.
Until she found a cookbook by Julia Child buried in her library. A cookbook that changed her life forever.
Here are 11 lessons I learned from the movie “Julie and Julia” to help you restart your journey and fall in love with work again.
1. Let’s find out what excites you?
At 6:30 AM, when the alarm goes off, Julia Child jumps out of her bed and rushes to her cooking class by 7:30 AM.
This was a time filled with joy and happiness. She was excited every day to go to the cooking class.
What excites you to jump out of your bed in the morning?
If nothing does, then find something that can make you do so. It can be a hobby, a job, or anything that has so much power that you feel like sleeping is a waste of time.
But did Julia Child love cooking so much? No, it wasn’t just cooking.
2. Start Your Journey and You Will Find Your Love.
Julia Child knew nothing about cooking. In fact, in the movie, she admits that her passion was initially more for eating than cooking.
Interestingly, her first choice wasn’t even to join a cooking class; she wanted to learn hat making. She liked hats but eventually ditched the idea.
Julia found joy in shopping for vegetables, claiming that she felt more happiness in a vegetable market than when shopping for clothes. It was during her cooking classes that she discovered her love for cooking.
It was the process that piqued her interest, not the interest itself.
You can find your passion too by examining what you like to consume.
What you enjoy reading, watching, or doing. Also, consider what you buy out of interest rather than need.
Check your Amazon history, your YouTube history, your reading history, and find an intersection.
3. You Can Always Learn a Skill and Master It.
Julia Child was not born with cooking skills; she developed an interest and then learned.
In a scene, she was mocked by other students for not knowing how to hold a knife properly. She took this as a challenge and practiced at home by chopping gazillions of onions until she became fast at chopping onions in her class.
If you have an interest and decide to pursue it, then you need to educate yourself and practice. People often keep on reading books, blogs, watching YouTube videos but do not practice.
Imagine if Julia Child had only taken the class but not practiced her skills?
4. Don’t Focus on the Result in the Beginning.
Julia Child wrote a bestselling book, but that was never her initial goal.
She enjoyed cooking and, during her journey, she met two partners who started a cooking class and were writing a book about French cooking.
Julia Child began teaching at their cooking class, but it was only later that her partners asked her to help them write the book.
You should not start with a focus on the result in mind. Instead, your process should be your focus.
Opportunities will hug you in your journey.
“Gods will offer you chances, know them, take them.” -Charles Bukowski
Let your process become your goal.
This concept is further explained later in this post when we look at Julie Powell’s story.
5. The Idea is to Help
Julia Child’s main goal was not to write a bestselling book, but rather to create the most helpful guide possible.
Julia aimed to assist American women with French cooking at home. She wrote a detailed book that was initially rejected by publishers because it exceeded 750 pages, and they doubted its profitability.
By then, she had already spent four years on the book.
Yeah, 4 damn years. And got rejected.
Faced with this challenge, Julia decided to rewrite the book, a process that took an additional four years. In total, her book took eight years to complete.
Her primary motive was not to make more money, but to help other American women with French cooking.
This commitment to being helpful made the book detailed and thorough. When the publisher commented on the book’s length, she chose to rewrite it.
The key lesson here is to never shy away from doing the work. Imagine if she had felt tired and decided not to rewrite the book, accepting it as it was?
If your work requires refining and polishing, then do it.
6. Find Joy in the Work
Julia Child found joy in the process of cooking rather than solely seeking happiness in the eventual success of publishing her book.
Many of us are conditioned to find joy in results, as that is the narrative often presented by society. When expected results don’t materialise, disappointment follows.
However, finding joy in daily work can liberate you from the notion of deriving happiness solely from outcomes.
One should be engrossed in their chosen daily tasks without overly fixating on the results.
As the saying goes by Bill Walsh, “The score will take care of itself.”
7. Experiment with Combining 2 to 3 Interests
Julie Powell, on the other hand, tried many things but never finished anything.
Her biggest challenge was to stick with one thing and finish it.
One night, Julie and her husband were having dinner. Julie expressed her concern about never finishing anything she started.
Her husband, appreciating her cooking during dinner, suggested, “You like cooking and you like writing, so why don’t you write about cooking?”
This sparked an idea in Julie; she decided she could use Julia Child’s cookbook as a basis.
You can combine two or more hobbies or interests and work on them.
Instead of writing about what everyone else is, focus on your interests. For example, this post. I enjoy writing, I like movies, and I’m interested in self-improvement.
Therefore, this post is about drawing self-improvement lessons from the movie ‘Julie & Julia.’
Mixing two or three interests can lead to innovative ideas.
8. Deadlines Will Save the Day
Julie took on the formidable challenge of cooking all 534 recipes in Julia Child’s cookbook within 365 days and blogging about her experience.
This time, she was determined. By setting a deadline, she imposed discipline on herself, knowing that without it, procrastination might take over.
In Julie’s case, her goal was not to create a successful blog or become the best cook, but rather to stick with her plan and complete it.
Once you set a deadline, your primary focus should be on adhering to your plan daily.
For instance, Stephen King writes 2,000 words daily. His goal isn’t necessarily to write the next bestselling novel, but to stick to his routine of writing 2,000 words every day.
Take the Challenge and set your deadlines.
9. Don’t Listen to Anyone Who Has Not Done It Yet
When Julie started her blog, her mother called her and criticised the idea, claiming she was wasting her time and energy.
Her mother’s perspective was limited, as she was unfamiliar with blogging.
Often, when attempting something new, people will project their beliefs onto you. If they haven’t done it themselves, or aren’t doing it, they aren’t the best sources for advice and tend to view new endeavours skeptically.
Don’t listen to these people. Instead, give your project a try and aim to complete it.
Interestingly, Julie’s mother, upon witnessing the success of the blog, later called her and encouraged her to continue blogging.
10. Time is Not an Excuse
Julie had a full-time job, likely involving 8 hours of work each day.
Her commute included taking trains from the subway, which also consumed time, and she had to deal with customer problems all day, which can be mentally draining.
Despite these challenges, she made sure to cook and publish on her blog daily. She stuck to her plan no matter what.
Success comes not from producing the best work in a single day but from consistently putting in effort daily over a longer period.
Time should not be used as an excuse.
11. Stick to Your Plan
Julie and Julia adhered to their plans without being overly fixated on the outcomes.
Their primary goal was to remain committed to their respective plans and find fulfilment in the process.
When we become too focused on achieving positive results from our efforts, we can become eager and anxious.
But what happens after achieving those results?
Julia Child was not driven by the end result; she simply revealed in the process, playing what can be described as an infinite game, where there are no definitive results.
Julie, on the other hand, took on a specific challenge and concentrated on sticking to her plan.
By completing her challenge, she not only created a popular blog but also secured a book deal.
Stick to your plan like a rock.
And Finally
All of these events transpired because one day in 1946, in France, an American woman, Julia Child, decided to take a French cooking class.
This endeavour eventually led to a book that was discovered by Julie Powell, who chose to cook and blog about the recipes, which then also turned into a book.
This book was later adapted into a movie, “Julie & Julia,” which I happened to watch last night on Netflix.
This viewing experience inspired me to write the blog post you are reading now.
All of this originated from an American woman’s decision to take a cooking class in 1946.
Who knows, after reading this post, you might take on a new challenge in your life, and it might evolve into something.
Who knows?