Balance And Spirit

Hulk Hogan and Personal Development

By Joe Marchelewski ⋅ July 30, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Subscribe By Email ⋅ Post a comment

Current family circumstances notwithstanding, Hulk Hogan is one of the ultimate personal development examples in America.  Growing up, he was not just a pop culture icon, but he was the guy everyone at school would love to be friends with, and for good reason.  It wasn’t just the hyped up red and yellow fury he would unleash on his opponents, but the character that Terry Bollea created lived out the best examples of how to develop yourself as a human being.

1. Hulk Fought Giants - In Wrestlemania III, Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant.  How many of us have giants we’re facing in our own lives?  Addictions, bad relationships, horrible personal finances and dead-end careers are the giants which keep us trembling in fear far too often.  Like the Hulkster, standing toe-to-toe with such giants is hard, but the only way to free ourselves from the headaches of mediocrity.
   
2. Saying Your Prayers and Eating Your Vitamins - Hogan’s persona was pure good guy (with the exception of his strange reversion to Hollywood Hogan for a few years).  Far too often we see ourselves in complex fashion, trying to compromise our ethics to move forward.  But we’ve all felt the emptiness inside of ourselves that can only be cured with purity and good.  It’s a complex world we live in today, with wars we may not agree with and corporations we despise.  Being a good guy is the only path to truth.
   
3. Transparency and Vulnerability - Cat Stevens sang a song that basically said he wouldn’t have known love if it weren’t for pain and hurt.  Pretty much every guy Hulk Hogan befriended turned on him (Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, Scott Hall) yet he was always willing to make friends.  Pursuing relationships is the richness of life, and while they will turn on us occasionally, that’s no reason to reject them.
   
4. Consistency - From 1983 through today, Hogan is Hogan.  He puts himself out there, and after decades of wrestling and public appearances (and some terrible movies) he was fans, friends and fortune.  He has his ups and downs, but he’s consistent.