My parents have a wonderful Groundhog Day tradition. That’s when they celebrate their love with snuggly stuff and romantic gestures. Somehow, early on, they preempted Valentines Day, and it stuck. Hey, it was the 60s, who needs Hallmark when you have a groundhog? This rodent continues to inspire.
As for me, somehow each Groundhogs Day, I wake up with the curse of contemplation not of love and romance but of which areas of my life I have become more like Phil Madden (played by Bill Murray, in the 1993 classic, Groundhog Day.)
Phil is cursed to live the same day over and over (if you don’t know the movie click here and for goodness sake, rent it) until he finally recognizes the patterns, looks deeply into his own behaviors, and changes his approach.
A curse can become a blessing.
How many times have your heard someone say, “this feels like Groundhogs day?”
We all get stuck. We get stuck in patterns, in behaviors, in outdated beliefs about ourselves and others, in jobs.
A Few Groundhog Day Examples
I ran into a once young guy (no longer so young) who worked for me years ago.
“What are you doing these days?,” I asked eager to hear about what he had become and what he was learning.
“Oh, I’m still doing exactly the same thing.”
I was shocked and saddened.
This was a bright kid, full of energy, ideas, a great team player. Why had he gotten stuck in that job? Why hadn’t anyone continued asking/encouraging (okay pushing) him to accomplish his potential? Who else was left behind in this same organization?
And then. I talked to an old friend. She shared,
“I finally figured out that I keep repeating the same patterns, both in dating and in looking for jobs. I have this perfect list of what I think I want. I go after him or the job full tilt. I attract the guy, I get the job, and then I realize it’s not really what I want. I break up with the guy . I begin looking for a new job. I’ve got to find a way to interrupt that pattern.”
Another friend’s Christmas card read “nothing much new has happened for me this year, but I guess that’s the way it is at this age (see It’s Never Too Late to Grow Great)”
Breaking Your Groundhog Day Patterns
So today.
I wish for you my Groundhog Day Curse.
I hope you wake up tomorrow looking at your own shadows.
Where would you interrupt?
Is it time to smash the alarm clock?
- What patterns do you keep repeating?
- What routines do you wish you could change?
- Where is your team stuck?
- What processes and rituals no longer serve your vision?
- What if you interrupted the patterns?
The first step to getting unstuck is recognizing the patterns.
Of course, if you chose February 2 as your day of romance that sounds good too.
A worthy tradition.
I have never given Groundhog’s day a second thought before. But wow, you have me thinking of new possibilities. I’m going to share this with my leadership team today. I’m going to ask for their Groundhog Report. A thoughtful reply to the question…. Where are we stuck? Where will we NOT be next year. Thanks for the inspiration.
Eric, ya… Groundhogs day is a goofy one… but the movie is inspiring… as are my parents 😉