There's a famous scene near the end of "Back to the Future" when Michael J. Fox, in his iconic role of Marty McFly, learns what might be the lesson of a lifetime.
Just before Doc Brown, the beloved mad scientist and cosmic mentor, departs, he offers this advice: "Your future is whatever you make it ... so make it a good one."
Despite serious and repeated health setbacks, Fox has taken that advice to heart.
Face Difficulties Like Michael J. Fox
No one could have possibly predicted that Fox, who not only starred in the big screen's "Back to the Future" trilogy, but also the television mega-hit series "Family Ties," would fall victim in his late 20s to Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a progressive brain disorder that causes symptoms like tremors and slowness of movement.
Nor could anyone have possibly predicted the superstar's real-life legacy might not ultimately be for his breathtaking on-screen successes. He's now just as famous for his remarkable off-screen accomplishment in creating the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. It blazed a new path for nonprofit fundraising. In the process it has raised nearly $2 billion dollars to fund Parkinson's disease research. Science backed by the foundation is making real inroads.
Fox's Foundation is now funding more Parkinson's disease research than the federal government. In 2022 alone, the foundation funded $269 million in worldwide scientific grants, specifically for Parkinson's research. By comparison, in 2022 the National Institute for Health funded $259 million in Parkinson's research.
Perhaps that's why the foundation has been ranked as one of the "Top 100 Charities" for the past two years by Forbes.
Live The Life You're Given Well
You might call this a life well-lived.
Fox, in an email exchange with Investor's Business Daily conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike, says the real secret to success for every business leader — and every person — is to remain both optimistic and appreciative. Even in the toughest of times.
"With gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable," said Fox. "If you grasp that, you might be living your best life."
Fox, 62, perhaps best demonstrates this gratitude and rugged optimism in the new autobiographical documentary "Still." He stars in the film, nominated for seven Emmy Awards, including best documentary.
The documentary (airing on Apple TV) is a no-holds-barred look at his life. That includes the period in which he nearly careened off the tracks after his Parkinson's diagnosis. Fox has since painstakingly wrestled his life back. His life is meaningful, hopeful and, yes, helpful to others in need.
The documentary "Still" is about his realization of his own need to slow down and take in life. The unpredictable shaking that results from his Parkinson's disease rarely permits him to be physically still. But he accepts Parkinson's as "the price I had to pay for my own success."
Accept Your Challenges In Life Like Fox
Success in life, Fox says, is about acceptance. "You're only as sick as your secrets," he said.
Fox's wife of 35 years, actress Tracy Pollan, helped him to unravel those secrets, he says. They met on the set of "Family Ties." She played the role of the savvy yet sensitive Ellen Reed, who was the love interest of Fox's character, Alex P. Keaton. She later became Fox's real-life love and wife.
It was Fox's late father-in-law, Stephan Pollan, who also helped Fox learn to accept life's challenges — and to grow from them.
Fox says that Pollan was like a second father to him after his own dad passed away at a young age. "A sincere aura of acceptance was a big part of his philosophy, and gratitude was at his essence," Fox said.
Embrace Gratitude
Fox has since adopted gratitude as his own core tenet. It's what makes him a leader. Few have seen this more closely than has Deborah W. Brooks, CEO and co-founder of the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
She vividly remembers a wine auction fundraiser for the foundation in Napa Valley held in 2003. One group of attendees begged to personally meet Fox. Brooks reluctantly arranged for this meeting.
One of the adult attendees, who was mesmerized at meeting Fox, excitedly turned to introduce him to her 80-something mother. But the elderly woman — who had Parkinson's disease too, and was seated in a wheelchair — initially had absolutely no idea who Fox was. That's when the daughter whispered in her mom's ear, "He's the one who wrote the book about Parkinson's disease that I've been reading to you."
At that, the elderly woman literally started crying. She reached up and grabbed Fox by the arm and pulled him toward her. "You are doing something so important for me and my family," she said through her tears. "Keep doing it."
Share Your Optimism
In fact, Fox has written four bestselling memoirs. The one that the elderly woman was referencing is "Lucky Man: A Memoir." Fox's most recent book about his battle with Parkinson's disease is "No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality."
In that book, Fox explains his foundation is on a mission. "In our quest to cure Parkinson's, we're absolutely certain we are the tip of the spear," he wrote.
Perhaps more important, he reminds folks that he's learned to stop beating himself up over personal health setbacks or the feeling that his disease has made him incapable of making positive changes in his own life. Instead, he says, with the many accomplishments past, present and future of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, he says he's learned that "good things can come from bad things."
Can they ever.
Push To Solve Problems
Recently, for example, the foundation announced a major breakthrough for better drug development for the disease. The test can detect pathology in spinal fluid in people diagnosed with Parkinson's. But it can also find markers for those not yet diagnosed but at high risk of developing it.
This discovery allows researchers, for the first time, to measure the biology that is occurring in Parkinson's disease. This is a critical tool for clinical trials.
Face Your Obstacles
Few know better than Fox how fleeting success can be — both on and off the screen.
"You think it's made of brick and rock," he pointedly says in the documentary. "But it's made of paper and feathers."
After all, he was only in his late 20s when he developed Parkinson's disease. He vividly remembers asking himself, "How could I possibly have this old person's disease?"
Now, he's fully candid about it to himself and to the public — and, as a direct result, is helping to improve the lives of millions of Parkinson's patients globally.
One at a time.
Embrace Compassion Even In Stress
Brooks, the CEO of the foundation, reflects back on a grueling satellite media tour she booked for Fox back in 2010. Fox did hour after hour of interviews with multiple TV and radio stations. Fox wasn't feeling well and it was a long rough day.
When the interviews were finally over and they got back into the car together, Brooks could tell that Fox was initially angry with her. She started to apologize, but Fox cut her off.
"To be honest, nothing really went wrong today," he said. "What matters is that 99% of the time things went right. I've got nothing to complain about." Then he thanked her for arranging the tour.
Brooks remembers being startled by the generosity of her boss's comments. "I made decisions that made life harder on him — yet he was thanking me."
That's leadership.
Laugh At Life's Difficulties Like Fox
Leadership, Fox says, is also constantly finding creative ways to move forward — with a sense of humor.
Perhaps that is best displayed in his personal passion for golf that he developed in his 40s — when his Parkinson's was already advancing.
"Every time I hit the links, I performed slightly better than I did the last time," he told Investor's Business Daily. "Golf summons up the same resolve I rely upon in managing my Parkinson's. They overlap in hubris, humility, delusion, desire, futility and resilience. I just deal with whatever presents itself."
Leadership is all about carrying on, he says, but always with a hint of a smile.
"Sometimes I end up in the bunker, in the deep rough or in the water. Carry on," he said. "If you're going to do something, just do it. And don't use too much club."
Michael J. Fox's Keys
- Successful TV and film actor who later started the leading Parkinson's disease research foundation.
- Overcame: Negativity following his diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson's disease while still in his 20s.
- "Sometimes I end up in the bunker, in the deep rough or in the water. Carry on."
