I love to go to the movies. I love to sit up close, really get engaged and lose myself in the story.

It’s such a great stress reliever - I usually leave the movie theater feeling very refreshed and creative.

However, going to the movies is pretty “dangerous” these days. It can create a fear of success.

Let me explain.

The more movies and television I watch, the more aware I am of all the negative programming going on.

Particularly when it comes to “feel good” movies and “family” or “kid friendly” movies.

Kid movies are pretty bad when it comes to this. I was at a family get-together the other day and happened to pass through the room where the kids were watching a movie.

During the few minutes while I was in there, I noticed the “bad guy” was wearing an Armani suit, a giant glittery watch, and was standing next to a Ferrari.

At the time, he was lying to the “good guy” about something, and then started to tell the good guy that if he would just go along with this plan he could make lots and lots of money. Of course the good guy wasn’t interested in any of that.

Movies like this are a big hit because they’re written for the majority. The majority of the population is not successful, and these movies are written with the intention of making non-successful people feel good about themselves.

They’re designed to make successful people look either evil or crazy (or both), so people who aren’t successful can feel better about the fact that they aren’t DOING anything about the dreams and goals they have.

The messages portray success as a negative thing.

While it results in huge box office numbers (because misery loves company and people love to watch and read things that portray those who actually DO achieve their dreams in a bad light), it’s very harmful to those of us who want to succeed.

Let’s talk about these “feel good” movies.

You know the type.

The star of the movie tries and tries and tries to get rich.

Their family is SO sad.

Their kids are always crying because they aren’t ever around.

Somehow they suddenly become a huge jerk in the process of trying to make money.

Sometimes - actually, make that most of the time - they finally succeed.

They make a ton of money, they buy a big house and a nice car and everything is going great for about 5 minutes.

Then out of the blue, one of two things happens:

1 - They suddenly realize what’s “really” important in life, and that chasing success all this time was just silly. They proceed to throw away everything they’ve worked for and live happily ever after.

2 - Or, the new friends they acquired after becoming successful have bad intentions.

One of them stabs the star of the show in the back in some way or another - and the star has to choose whether to become a horrible miserable person like all of their successful new friends, or go back to being a good little poor person.

Ok, now I realize not every single movie has that exact storyline. But I know you’ll agree that most are pretty much spot on what I just said.

The first scenario really doesn’t make any sense at all. What kind of sane person would work their entire life to succeed at something and then the very moment they succeed, decide they no longer want it?

And this is a GOOD thing?

We’re supposed to model these kinds of people?

The second scenario is just as bizarre.

If you’ve studied wealthy, successful people, you know the majority of them got that way by being good people.

By NOT being lazy like 98% of the population.

By NOT playing victim and trying to get a handout like so many people do.

By NOT lying, cheating, stealing and being an untrustworthy person.

They worked hard, didn’t give up when things got hard, faced their fears, got out of their comfort zone, swallowed their pride . . . and so forth.

Yes, that’s what it really takes to be a successful person.

Sure, there are plenty of ways you can get rich without any of that. (Of course, staying rich is another matter, as those who get rich quick without changing who they are inside typically lose it all)

As a general rule, people who get rich and stay that way - and are ALSO successful and balanced in other areas of their life, got that way by becoming a BETTER person - not the other way around.

Remember that the next time you see one of these types of movies.

Be careful about what you expose yourself to and let yourself believe.

Watching movies like these creates a stereotype in your mind that rich people are bad.

They can cause you to fear success, because your mind starts to believe that having money will make you a bad person, or that people won’t like you if you are successful.

Be especially careful about what you expose your kids too. They are even more susceptible to these messages. It’s too bad that most “kid friendly” movies portray success as such a negative thing.

I actually stopped watching movies like these about 5 months ago, and it has had a positive impact on my income and overall happiness.

I still go to the movies of course. But I’m very wary of what I watch. Luckily, movies with this type of storyline can be spotted from a mile away.

Instead, I watch movies that are truly inspiring and have a positive message. For instance, “The Pursuit of Happyness” was a very enjoyable movie.

I’d really love to hear what your favorite inspirational movies are.

Let me know in the comments.