And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
‘Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man…
Last Thursday morning I was at Pilates and you know how it is, you’re supposed to focus on leg, arm, breath … and some how that “to do” list comes to mind.
“Must remember to do ….” And then it’s back to “three, switch, breath out, two, switch…”
The past few weeks have been some what challenging for me because I have 4 major projects on the go. Some mornings I just want to stay at Pilates or escape to the yoga studio and avoid all those “to do’s” and actions.
Maybe you know the feeling? What needs to be worked on is so daunting and overwhelming that instead of starting on what’s important, we head to our emails, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and get “busy”.
Back to last Thursday morning at Pilates. It was “Throw back Thursday” on the music channel and it was terrific. I knew all the songs and all the words and then there it was; Elton John’s “Rocket Man”.
I was asked recently in a podcast interview “What was your favourite song when you were 12 years old”? (strange question I know). Yep, it was “Rocket Man” (You can listen to the whole 12 minute interview here. I think you’ll enjoy it.)
Back to my projects, my “to do” list and my”Rocket Man.”
Chris Hadfield is one of my inspirations. Chris was 9 years old when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. He is Canadian and a number of families had gathered in one house in July 1969 to watch television and see the first man walk on the moon.
As Chris Hadfield walked home he looked up to the sky and said “I’m going to the moon one day. I’m going to be an astronaut”. At the time, Canada had no space program.
Chris Hadfield’s story is so inspiring to me. Every day he decides “What do I need to do?” He set a goal “I want to be an astronaut” and then asked “What would an astronaut do?”
As a child he asked: “Would an astronaut lay in bed? Or would that astronaut go out and do swimming training?” He liked to be prepared for all possibilities.
After many years of achieving everything necessary to become an astronaut, he was successful in being one of 5 people selected from thousands who applied to be a Canadian astronaut. He enjoyed an extremely successful career in space. His biography is terrific; “An Astronaut’s Life on Earth”. Make a note to read it one day.
Chris and his brother had taught themselves to play the guitar so on one of his space missions he took a guitar to record that Bowie classic “Major Tom.” It’s pretty cool. You can see YouTube here.
Bringing it back to “Rocket Man.”
One of his inspiring stories is about buying concert tickets to see Elton John. He thought it would be fabulous if Elton invited him on stage to play guitar with him.
What would he play? “Rocket Man” of course. (He did get to meet Elton, but sadly did not get to play his well-practiced piece).
I’ve decided “Rocket Man” is my Focus tune. It’s a trigger, an anchor for me to remind me who do I want to be and what do I need to do every day to be that version of Ingrid Thompson.
And now, funnily enough, “Rocket Man” is following me everywhere. We stopped for a cider in a local pub…. “Rocket Man”. It’s on that play list at Pilates at the moment. I was in a café and there it was. I’ve put it on my phone.
Every time I hear it, it reminds me of what I want to achieve in my business.
Those 4 projects? Well I’m happy to tell you that 2 of them are completed. The other 2 are still progressing and a new one has emerged. I guess that’s business and what it means to be in business; there’s always something.
What triggers do you have in your life to remind you of who you want to be?
Have you in fact determined who you want to be?
Do you have a vision of your future and your goals?
This bring me to three action steps:
✅ Be really clear about who you want to be and why?
✅ Be really clear about what the choices you have and the choices you make (knowing that some of them aren’t easy choices……)
✅ Find a trigger, or an anchor that will remind you of your vision of who you want to be and what you want to achieve.
That trigger will help you stay on track.
I’d love to hear from you what do you choose as a trigger, an anchor. Please let me know. I have a friend who is inspired every time she hears an Abba song – something clicks in her head. For her, ‘Dancing Queen’ is a real motivator.
So what is yours?
Thanks for reading this –
My guess is that you are here because you are curious about what it might be like to start a business?
Perhaps you’ve been wondering if you have what it takes? If your idea will work or even how much it actually costs to build a successful business?
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15 years of experience working with start up businesses are condensed into this book.
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Happy reading!