I often say – only partly in jest – that Kung Fu Panda is one of the wisest movies of all time. One of my favorite exchanges in the first movie is when Po, the panda, talks to his adopted father, Mr. Ping, about the secret ingredient in his famous secret ingredient soup.
Mr. Ping : The secret ingredient is… nothing!
Po : Huh?
Mr. Ping : You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.
Po : Wait, wait… it’s just plain old noodle soup? You don’t add some kind of special sauce or something?
Mr. Ping : Don’t have to. To make something special you just have to believe it’s special.
Of course, belief alone isn’t going to get the job done. But, as with Po, if you’ve put in the work, belief makes all the difference.
