One of my favorite movies is Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day from 1993. The story follows a bitter weatherman who is covering Punxsutawney Phil’s emergence and winter prediction for his TV network. A storm moves in and they are forced to spend the night in town. He wakes up the next morning and it’s Groundhog Day again. This continues as lives all day and no matter what happens (even his death), he wakes up the next day and it’s the same day all over again.
There are real parallels to our lives in this movie.
At first is confused and not sure what’s happening. Then he starts to have fun with it. Then he uses it to manipulate people. Then he has a change of heart and applies himself to learn new skills, helping others and finds a new approach to life.
We are born confused and not sure what’s happening. We have fun for a while as kids (and even into adulthood). We don’t take things seriously and try to manipulate people to get what we want. Then we eventually learn that we must apply ourselves, take responsibility for our own personal and professional development, and treat other people with respect and appreciation.
So what if you used this approach for the next year? From Groundhog Day 2013 to Groundhog Day 2014, set out on a journey to develop yourself. Get out of the rut of living every day in the same way with what are likely diminishing results. Do something different and learn from the experience.
It’ll be an amazing year that sees you poke your head out of the ground, see your shadow and know that no matter how many more weeks of winter there are, you’re in charge of yourself and the path you take. And that will change your world and the world around you.
Today is a new day…what are you going to do with it?
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