Social Groundhog Day

 

Is it this time of year? Why do I feel like I’m on some kind of treadmill? 

Content, talking to people, sales calls, more content, delivering coaching, more content, parenting, more content.

I’m beginning to feel like Bill Murray’s character Phil the weatherman from Groundhog Day. 

SPOILER ALERT 

A self-centered weatherman Phil, played by Bill Murray) finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day, and the day keeps repeating until he gets it right. Stuck in this endless cycle, he starts to act like god, becomes depressed and starts inventing creative ways to kill himself. Then ultimately realises by helping those around him and letting go of his ego he becomes free of the time loop.

It’s often regarded as a film about buddhism (the concept of Samsara, is to be continuously reborn until we find enlightenment). The word literally means "wandering through, flowing on"

A change is as good as a rest they say. So I’ve come up with a few cheeky ways to kick start the process 

"Okay campers, rise, and shine, and don't forget your booties ‘cause it’s cold out there… it’s cold out there every day.”

An attitude of gratitude 

Celebrate your wins. I did this recently and the gratitude I felt from it was immense. Celebrating our achievements and having an attitude of gratitude helps us build on a foundation which can enact long term change.

I didn’t use to do this. Now I pause and reflect on what I have achieved (and more importantly) what I have achieved for clients.

Creating a sense of joy can put you in a space that makes you a better leader.

It’s also great for fostering relationships. It spills out of you like a wave, affecting those around you.

Phil: Do you ever have déjà vu, Mrs. Lancaster?

Mrs. Lancaster: I don't think so, but I could check with the kitchen."

A few ways to do this with those around you is 

• Respect other peoples time
• Recognise peoples efforts when things go wrong and celebrate that effort
• Say “thank you” more often.

Some stats to back this up

• 70% of employees would feel better about themselves if their boss were more grateful, and 81% would work harder.
• Employees who experience more gratitude at work report fewer depressive symptoms and stress.
• 95% of employees agree that a grateful boss is more likely to be successful.

"I'm a god — I'm not the God, I don't think."

Phil Connors

Shock yourself with content

Try new things, I call it swerving out of your content lane (just like Phil does in the film) straight into oncoming traffic. Like writing content? Great, then go write a script. Now you can make a video. No I can’t. Enough of that talk thank you. You’ll never know what you’re capable of till you push yourself.

Testing and challenging ourselves with new content types is a sure fire way towards growth. I am utterly convinced thats why LinkedIn promote lots of content types to challenge you with growth. 

Find some thing your comfortable with and master it, then use that to try something new. You could write a regular newsletter and then take that content and turn it into a script. Now boom. You’ve doubled up on your content and tried something new without it being too much of a stretch.

Growth comes from challenging yourself and you can do it in tiny increments. Don’t worry the earths gravity won’t suddenly stop and birds won’t start dropping out of the sky. You got this. Try it, you MIGHT just surprise yourself and fall in love with something new (I didn’t write a newsletter a year ago, now look at me go).

Phil Connors

"Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today."

Try new ideas

Listen to your audience, the are actively listening and might notice things you're missing. They might be the key to unlocking new product lines or ways of doing things that you never would of seen.

Easiest way is ask them. Want to test the water with a new product. Run a poll on it and collect the data. There might just be enough interest in this “new” idea to pursue it. I had the idea to build a community recently and did that very thing. The results surprised me.

Have a go at surprising yourself.

Phil: Something is... different.

Rita: Good or bad?

Phil: Anything different is good."

Be in service to others

My clients, the charity work I do, my wife and my kids. Serving others and seeing how other people react to how we treat them when we have their best intentions at heart can be beautiful.

It helps us sometimes get over our own frustrations and ruts as well. Seeing someone else succeed and knowing you had a hand in that is one of the most empowering things you can do. It's the reason I’m a mentor to young men. It's the reason I coach people in social and empower them to own their voice. Knowing I have helped enact some (sometimes even small) change in someone else's life and seeing that spill out into their life and beyond is pretty darn cool.

What I’m trying to say is I think in order to be more successful, help those around you, the more we do that, the more they elevate you. Just like Phil saves the kid from the tree every day and stops him from injuring himself in the movie (with no expectation of reward). Or as I call it digital karma. Give, give, give and you’ll get it back in waves.

See you next week kids, let’s hope it’s different to this week. Only one way to make that happen (actually there is several) 😉

"Rita: It's beautiful. I don't know what to say.

Phil: I do. Whatever happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life, I'm happy now... because I love you."