If you’ve read my last blogpost you will know that I’ve recently lost my Mam.

Losing someone like that definitely makes you question a lot of things which has led me to do some soul searching resulting in unexpected lightbulb moments about me and my business which could help you and yours.

I’ve been working with a Coach who has been encouraging me to do some journalling.  This is something I had been doing for quite a while before we worked together but she asked me to write down the answers to specific questions including:

List a few films that made an impression on your younger self?  How did they impact you or make you feel?

Here goes (apologies for spoilers if you’ve never seen some or any of these by the way!):

1. Abba the Movie – I love music, I love Abba, I always will, end of.
2. Star Wars  – The underdog, being told you can’t do something, I mean, Darth Vader, massive Death Star, rebellion, stars, storm troopers who bang their heads off doors (have you seen that blooper?!)
3. Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind – You have a vision, of a mountain with the top cut off, you see where it’s at but you can’t get to it, you do though, you find a way and you get to see the aliens, you prevail.
4. Flashdance – You’ll always be a welder, you’ll never be a dancer……. you will be though, underdog gets an audition and blows them away!
5. Fame – Music, dancing, big loves of mine.
6. Desperately Seeking Susan – Madonna, music, friendship, catching criminals who steal Egyptian earrings.
7. Spinal Tap – I have never laughed so hard, I love this type of humour and I love rock music, sometimes my 1970’s Abba fan battles it out with my 1980’s rock chick!
8. Times Square – I had to google this one, I remember watching a movie with Tim Curry about two friends who want to stage a rock concert in Times Square, they are told they can’t, but, you guessed it, they do!
9. Arachnophobia  – I hate spiders, I will never know why I watched this.
10. Rocky IV – Underdog, not expected to win, battles through, trains in the snow, great music, there’s no easy way out, there’s no shortcut home.

That’s my younger self in the picture above, I’m one of only 2 girls in my year doing GCSE woodwork, it’s 1988 and I’ve already watched all of these movies with the exception of Arachnophobia and i’m proudly leaning on the book cabinet I made in my final year which I still have. 

I did question at the time how insightful this would be but reconnecting with my younger self reminded me that I love music, I love dancing, I love whacky comedy,  I enjoy boxing, friendship is important to me and I hate spiders.  I also love to champion the underdog, which is where my business comes in.  My mission is to encourage my clients and the wider industry to move away from the ‘race to the bottom’ on cost because right now it can feel like we are the underdogs.

Reflecting back has also reminded me about the importance of creating a business to give you the lifestyle you choose where you are able to do the things you love doing.  This is something I encourage my clients to do but I’m not always great at doing myself.

So, if you feel like your life is all work and you’ve lost sight of who you are and what you love to do, the clue could be in the films that made an impression on your younger self.  Grab a piece of paper or record a voice memo on your phone and take a trip down memory lane, I would love to know which ones spring to mind.

If your business isn’t giving you the lifestyle you choose then you may be ready to join my Construction Revolution.

You can sign up for my free kickstarter guide here.