Groundhog Day Magic

Welcome to wonderful world of groundhogs and shadows...double talk and no pressure to buy presents, dress up in a certain color or sing any silly songs. Happy Groundhog Day!

While Groundhog Day isn't a big day for retailers, it does have it's own movie, and an excellent motivational book that goes along with it. "The Magic of Groundhog Day; Transform Your Life Day by Day" by Paul Hannam offers simple strategies to help you break out of ruts.

I love how it becomes so clear that change has to start with you. Beautifully highlighting, in way that makes you laugh at the insanity of doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
....besides, I love movies with Bill Murray...and groundhogs ( "I'm all right, no buddy worry 'bout me"...Caddyshack anyone...the groundhog is my second favorite character) anyways.......

In the spirit of the Groundhog Day ceremony...read how to leave frozen winter behind and GROW again.

Groundhog Day Movie Plot

In the movie, the main character, Phil Connors is trapped in a recurring day - a freezing February day in Punxsutawney. The town never changes; the events and the people never change. Only Phil can change.

It is impossible for Phil to have any control over the external world. Every morning he wakes up and it's the same day again. He is compelled to find how best to survive and prosper, and decide if this is a curse or maybe a blessing.

What Works

Through the brilliance of this plot we can observe Phil as he deals with his unique predicament. We can see how he struggles to find meaning and purpose in his life. Each day he experiments with new thoughts and behaviors and he learns what works and what does not work. Any change that occurs must be inside of him because only he can change - all the other characters repeat exactly what they did the day before.

Change

This shines an intense light on Phil's ability to change himself. As he struggles through all his flawed strategies based on selfishness, manipulation and instant gratification we learn how empty they really are. Over countless days he learns that what pleasures he thought would make him happy have failed to, and he has to accept that his old self has completely run out of steam.

Interpretation

He is forced to place all his attention on changing the way he interprets the world, because everything around him is fixed. Once he accepts he is truly stuck, possibly forever, he has nowhere else to go and begins to rebuild his personal reality by changing his attitudes, values, thoughts and feelings. He literally recreates himself by focusing all his attention on inner change.

Transform

He changes his thoughts and this transforms every part of his life. In a silly comedy, Phil's journey proves that inner change is the key to our personal growth and happiness. Phil literally transforms the worst day of his life into his best day, and the only thing that changes is his thinking and his actions.

It's All You

The genius of the time loop means that there are no other variables that could be responsible for the change - the only changes in the town occur because he has changed. What a profound lesson in personal transformation. It's up to you.