
We were reminded of Bill Murray’s TV weatherman, Phil Connors, who ventures out to Punxsutawney, PA for that yearly event. At one point in “Groundhog Day”, Murray’s character realizes, “I’m living the same day over, and over, and…”
Once awakened to that fact, he changes his responses, his behavior, and his routines in the subsequent iterations of Groundhog Day. As he starts to discover the possibilities, he realizes, “We could do whatever we want.”
What’s Murray’s big motivation for change? He wants a date with Andie MacDowell, his TV station counterpart on this crazy assignment.
So, what lessons are in this wacky movie for us regular folks? A few, we think…
- Motivation – start by articulating a goal. What’s your brass ring? Ok, so it might not be a date with Andie MacDowell. :-)
- Awareness – what’s not working? What resources are we NOT leveraging?
- Acceptance – acknowledge that “my best thinking got me here”, but it may not bring me forward. As Einstein famously cautioned, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
- Action – What’s the first step? And, the next? Incremental change is most successful.
- Accountability – Who will give us feedback? Who will we check in with, to keep us honest - a coach, a mentor, colleague, or trusted friend?
Habitual behaviors are powerful – they are, literally, neural ruts in the brain. Thank goodness. If we they weren’t hard-wired into our thinking, we would have to relearn all the simple daily tasks, EVERY day – brushing our teeth, driving the car, making coffee. That’s why the 5 elements, above, are so crucial for change. We are, after all, re-programming our circuits.
We are particularly fond of practices and instruments that build awareness. Mindfulness is simple, and very effective. You can listen to our audio meditations right on our webpage. http://www.holisticperformancegroup.com/mindfulness-resources.html
Instruments, such as MBTI, DiSC, and others, help us reveal and frame our behaviors, so we can leverage what’s working, and flex where necessary. We’ve seen so many folks get powerful “a-ha’s” after such an assessment.
We’ll close with more wisdom from Einstein:
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Here’s to going beyond your personal “Groundhog Day”!