We’re all on journeys both in our personal and business lives. It’s a cliché to say that life is a journey, but it’s also a basic truth.

These thoughts come to mind after recently watching The Way, starring the wonderful Martin Sheen. The movie is an inspirational story about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating an ever-changing and complicated world.

Martin Sheen plays Tom, an irascible American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son (played by Emilio Estevez, his son in real life; Estevez also directed the movie), killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of Saint James. The Way of St. James is a spiritual journey that pilgrims of all faiths and backgrounds have traversed for over a thousand years. It’s also a physical journey of 800 kilometers that can take 6 to 8 weeks to complete before ending in a Pilgrim’s Mass at the Cathedral de Santiago.

Rather than return home, Tom decides to embark on the pilgrimage and honor his son’s desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn’t plan on is the profound impact the journey will have on him and his “California Bubble Life.” Inexperienced as a trekker, Tom soon discovers that he will not be alone on the journey.

I’ll stop the synopsis right there, but I urge you to watch this YouTube video with Sheen talking about the movie, his journey and his faith.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPljHIhZfP8

There are several messages at work that are applicable in life and in business. One is that you don’t choose a life, you live it. You can choose a business of course but the way you live in that business makes all the difference.

I often think of the Vested movement as a matter of having faith in the validity of the business model you’ve chosen, trusting your partners with honesty, respect and integrity no matter how long or difficult the walk. As Sheen says in the video, “by your fruits you shall know them.”

The key, I think, is to walk the walk and to have faith in all of your endeavors.

Image: Martin Sheen in The Way from the movie website